Month: March 2008

How to save $50 million a year

Gov. Deval Patrick plans to spend $50 million a year to treat the gambling addicts he would create if his proposal to build three casinos comes to pass. And his defenders want you to know that’s a good thing. The Herald’s Scott Van Voorhis writes:

Casino supporters say Gov. Deval Patrick’s big commitment to dealing with problem gambling should offset any concerns about “social costs” raised by foes of expanded gambling. The money would come from a 2.5 percent tax on projected daily casino revenues in Massachusetts.

You know, I just figured out how the state can save $50 million a year.

Clinton won, but can she win?

In my latest for the Guardian, I ponder what’s next for Hillary Clinton and the media. She had a big day yesterday, and thus she can claim some momentum as well. But given that Barack Obama’s delegate lead appears to be insurmountable, where does she go from here? And how will the media redefine the narrative?

Patrick’s casino obsession

Someday we may learn why Gov. Deval Patrick has been so willing to risk his entire governorship to fight for a proposal that will lead to increased crime, increased gambling addiction, and rises in the divorce and suicide rates — social ills all well documented by Casinofacts.org.

I don’t think it’s because his wife’s law firm stands to benefit, although that is a pretty blatant conflict of interest. He must know by now that he was sold a bill of goods in terms of the number of construction jobs and the extent of the revenues that would come in. My best guess is that, deep down, he knows he made a terrible mistake, but he can’t publicly admit he’s wrong.

House Speaker Sal DiMasi, a casino opponent who’s been reasonably diplomatic about the governor’s three-casino fiasco, signals that he may finally be ready to bring down the hammer, mocking Patrick’s ludicrous claim that the casinos will create 30,000 construction jobs (Globe story here; Herald story here).

Meanwhile, consider this post at Blue Mass Group by Lynne, who blogs at Left in Lowell and who is the sort of idealistic progressive activist who propelled Patrick to his rousing victory in 2006. Lynne’s anger and disappointment are palpable, as she accuses Patrick of “lying” to advance his agenda. Specifically, she cites his factually incorrect claim that if the state fails to get out in front on the casino issue, Native American tribes will be able to move ahead anyway, with no state regulation or benefits.

As Lynne rightly points out, federal law only allows tribal facilities that are in compliance with state law. If the state does not legalize casino gambling, then the most the Native Americans can do is open a glorified bingo parlor. Lynne writes:

I know that being disappointed in your leaders is par for the course in politics. I just thought this time might be a little different. Patrick has decided to hang his hat on bringing casinos to Massachusetts, ignoring large swaths of objective information, and using fear and lies to accomplish it. But it’s this last part that I may not be able to forgive.

Why is Gov. Patrick doing this? His proposal is guaranteed to end badly: He’ll lose or, much worse, he’ll win. Is there no one who can talk sense to him?

Trouble for a Globe columnist

Globe columnist Adrian Walker faces some serious trouble following his arrest Sunday on drunken-driving charges. The Herald runs with a fairly detailed story in which Walker’s lawyer, Michael Doolan, emphasizes Walker’s not-guilty plea and says that “we hope and expect he will be acquitted.” The Globe carries a brief item.

Walker is one of the good guys in local media. A respected Statehouse reporter, he landed a columnist’s spot following the Patricia Smith/Mike Barnicle meltdown of 1998. As a columnist, Walker has emphasized substance over flash. There are no verbal pyrotechnics in his pieces, but you generally learn something new.

Life imitates art

Medill School of Journalism professor David Protess, on suspicions that Medill dean John Lavine may have piped a few quotes from anonymous students in an in-house magazine article: “I am not alleging that the dean fabricated quotes. I am alleging that it is inaccurate to say there is no evidence that he did not fabricate quotes.” (Via Romenesko.)

Slate columnist Michael Kinsley, lampooning the New York Times’ hair-splitting defense of its “anonymous former aides think John McCain might have had sex” story: “What I wrote was that some people had expressed concern that the Times article might have created the appearance of charging that McCain had had an affair. My critics have charged that I was charging the Times with charging McCain with having had an affair.”

And Mondale and LBJ, too!

Scott Helman, writing in the Boston Globe, finds striking parallels between Hillary Clinton’s “red phone” ad and one used by Walter Mondale against Gary Hart in 1984. The non-missing link: Roy Spence, who worked for Mondale 24 years ago and is with Clinton now.

Over in TPM Land, Greg Sargent reports that Clinton honcho Mark Penn was asked whether the ad was based on Lyndon Johnson’s infamous 1964 ad, which exploited fears of Barry Goldwater by depicting a daisy-picking girl followed by a nuclear explosion. Not quite sure I see that, but there you go.

You’ve probably seen Obama’s response ad by now. But I’ll bet you haven’t seen this.