--"That means, 'Shut up. Don't lie.'"

That would be Wendy Murphy, co-host of WRKO's Finneran's Forum, explaining that the right to remain silent is actually an obligation limiting the right of alleged criminals (like Chuck Turner) to try to sway public opinion in their favor.

Interesting, especially given Murphy's volubility as a pro-prosecution commentator during the Duke lacrosse rape case.

Bad news coming out of Horticultural Hall: Boston Daily blogger Amy Derjue is now a casualty of the ongoing financial meltdown.

The good news, such as it is, is that Derjue will continue blogging here. Of course, DIY blogging tends not to pay the bills. But given the talent Derjue demonstrated during her BoMag stint, I'm guessing she'll catch on somewhere soon, shitty economic conditions notwithstanding. (How about it, Boston.com?)

Sarah Palin and Boston city councilor Chuck Turner probably don't agree on much, but they're definitely united in their low regard for the Fourth Estate.

At a press conference this afternoon on City Hall Plaza, Turner--who was recently arrested on a federal bribery charge--seemed angrier at the press than at law enforcement or City Council president Maureen Feeney, who stripped Turner of his committee chairmanships last week and then scheduled a meeting today at which Turner's fate on the council was going to be decided.

Today's New York Times Magazine story on "screen literacy," written by Kevin Kelly, begins with a brief synopsis of technology's effect on human thought. Basically, Kelly seems to believe that today's image-centric culture challenges authority in a way that the text-centric culture of the past never did:

Readers of this blog know that I'm more than happy to rip on Sarah Palin when just cause exists. And it usually does.

But mocking her for "pardoning" a turkey, and then ignoring that other turkeys are being killed?

For the love of God, what's she supposed to do? Order the workers to stop the slaughter? Fall into a feminine faint? C'mon, people.

The Herald's Hillary Chabot reports that--according to US Att'y Michael Sullivan--the corruption investigation that's already snagged state senator Dianne Wilkerson and Boston city councilor Chuck Turner won't be implicating the governor, Boston mayor Tom Menino, or any members of the state legislature. But Sullivan seems to leave the door open for more city councilors taking a hit.

Boston.com is currently hyping an interview with recently arrested Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner on its front page. This is an exceedingly smart move, since the Q-and-A (conducted by former city councilor Tom Keane for a piece in next Sunday's Globe Magazine) has Turner arguing--passionately and at great length--that politics and ethics don't go together:

In the wake of Mitt Romney's Times column on how to fix Detroit, Blue Mass. Group's David Kravitz suggests that Mitt Romney take over as GM's CEO:

It's perfect. GM needs new management; Romney's free; he's a turnaround guy; he's from Detroit; his dad ran a car company; he's already got a national profile, which would really help GM; he's already filthy rich, so he could take the job for a pittance.

Bad, bad day for the Boston Globe's parent company. From the New York Times's own write-up:

The New York Times Company sharply reduced its dividend on Thursday, just a year and a half after a major increase, as the company seeks to conserve cash amid concern about dwindling profit.

Directors cut the quarterly dividend to 6 cents from 23 cents, which would save the company $97.

I'm loathe to pose this question, since race is always an incendiary subject, and the alleged concern about Boston's alleged racism that Kevin Garnett was erroneously saddled with upon joining the Celtics has been justifiably forgotten. But I'll do it anyway:

Why do white players seem to bring out the worst in Garnett?

In an op-ed in today's Times, Mitt Romney makes a pretty good case against bailing out the domestic auto industry. But he seems to lay an inordinate amount of blame for Detroit's woes on the extra costs that current labor agreements impose on American manufacturers in comparison with foreign competitors.

It's hard to imagine a more service-y Globe story on the Red Sox than today's front-page piece, which describes the Sox's decision to freeze ticket prices. Consider:

Wall Street is panicking, businesses are collapsing, home foreclosures have swept the land. As the government looks at bailing out banks and the nation's behemoth auto industry, one of New England's venerable institutions, the Red Sox, is trying to do its part to ease the pain of a troubled economy.

Today's subject: new media!

Like Romney spokesguy Eric Fehrnstrom and pretty much every sportswriter over forty, Sarah Palin isn't a big fan of blogs. Or, more precisely: she's not a big fan of "those bloggers in their parents' basement just talkin' garbage"--a phrase she apparently uttered twice in an interview with Fox's Greta Van Susteren.

More as it develops.

Slate's generally excellent Jack Shafer today offers an impassioned defense of Matt Drudge's continued importance. Among his claims:

If you could access only one home page for breaking news and chose Washingtonpost.com or CNN.com over the Drudge Report, you'd be a blockhead. His newswire-meets-tabloid sense of story—hysterical and playful at the same time—links to both what you need to know and what you want to know, and he updates more frequently than conventional media sites do.