Vennochi to Carr: Phone home

Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi absolutely nails Howie Carr and Tom Finneran today. She writes:

Other than the late Boston city councilor Jimmy Kelly and the ailing former city councilor Dapper O’Neil, I can’t remember anything nice Carr has ever said or written about anyone.

His critiques go far beyond differences over ideology. His commentary is often rude and personal and he takes adolescent delight in mocking physical characteristics. His unflinching meanness undercuts an admirable willingness to take on the powerbrokers. But from a marketing perspective, Carr obviously knows what he’s doing, as proven by the bidding war for his services.

At the same time, Finneran’s long-winded odes to every establishment figure and cause in town cry out for an antidote. Finneran has the pol gene, which makes him congenitally unable to find fault with one of his own. Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, the Boston firefighters or the Boston police — they are all heroes no matter what.

Vennochi predicts that Carr, who’s been off the air since September, will eventually see the light and return to WRKO (AM 680), whose management has so far refused to let him out of his contract. She may be right.

I had thought that ‘RKO would eventually let Carr move to WTKK (96.9 FM) in return for huge piles of cash. But there may be no pile large enough to compensate for what ‘RKO would lose if Carr is allowed to take over the morning shift at ‘TKK and compete head to head with the likable but hapless Finneran.

Beyond sweets and flowers

Listen in as Dick Cheney tries, in September 2002, to persuade Dick Armey that going to war against Iraq is a good idea:

We have great information. They’re going to welcome us. It’ll be like the American Army going through the streets of Paris. They’re sitting there ready to form a new government. The people will be so happy with their freedoms that we’ll probably back ourselves out of there within a month or two.

I happen to think Cheney and President Bush actually believed this stuff. I’m not sure whether that’s better or worse than the alternative explanation.

Zapping free speech

A brief Associated Press item (scroll down) in the Boston Globe this morning led me to the Rutland Herald, which reports that the police chief in Brattleboro, Vt., has been fired in part because of questions over the Tasering of two non-violent protesters last summer.

Herald reporter Susan Smallheer writes the following about an internal investigation that was conducted into former police chief John Martin’s conduct:

The findings of fact repeatedly mention the Tasering of two protesters, who were then arrested and charged with unlawful trespass for refusing to leave private property on Putney Road. According to the findings of fact, Martin received a one-day suspension for failing to provide leadership to his officers during that incident.

According to the report, Martin was at home during the Tasering and arrests, or was already headed to a meeting in Montpelier with Vermont State Police. The town said Martin gave conflicting information about where he was that morning — at home or on the road.

The two protesters, Jonathan Crowell and Samantha Kilmurray, have since hired an attorney, who has said he plans to sue the town and the police department for excessive force.

This seems utterly unsurprising. Which is why I’m scratching my head over University of Florida student Andrew Meyer’s decision to apologize and admit to wrongdoing over an incident in which he was Tasered at a speech by Sen. John Kerry earlier this fall.

You’ll find the video here. Meyer was certainly being obnoxious, but that’s not a crime. I’m not sure why Meyer, like Crowell and Kilmurray, isn’t thinking about filing a lawsuit against the campus police.

Maybe there were previous offenses. The Independent Florida Alligator story doesn’t say. But there’s something here that just doesn’t add up.

Keeping Schilling and Lowell

The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont looks at the merits of keeping Mike Lowell, and adds to the conventional wisdom that Curt Schilling is as good as gone.

Well, it’s not my money, and I understand Dupont’s point that the Sox timed the departures of Pedro Martínez and Johnny Damon pretty impressively. But still — wouldn’t it be worth overpaying Schilling if he’ll agree to just a one-year deal, which he says he will? Certainly it would by crazy for the Sox to commit to eight figures for Schilling for 2009, but he says he’s not looking for that. Just one more year. Let him do it here.

Lowell might be a tougher call. He just had his career year. If he puts up 2006 numbers next year, that would be great. I’d say four years would be too much, but two years would be perfect. But I’m sure Epstein and Lucchino would say the same thing, and Lowell’s probably going to get a better offer. The question is whether a three-year deal makes sense. I guess I’d say yes, with the understanding that we may all regret it about midway into the 2010 season.

Gmail changes quietly

I noticed some changes to the Gmail interface yesterday as I was catching up on my mail. (That’s not quite an accurate statement. I’m never caught up on my mail.) It seems slightly more attractive, and “Contacts” has been beefed up considerably. But it also seems to be slightly slower.

I switched to Gmail last spring, and, for the most part, I’m glad I did. My mail is now available on any machine on which I happen to find myself, and searching is lightning-fast — a real boon, given that I can’t remember where I’ve filed anything. (Although Gmail’s labels are much more flexible than folders.)

My one complaint: Gmail lets me set up several different identities, so that I can send outgoing mail so that it looks like I’m using either my Northeastern account or my personal account. But my official Gmail address, which I do not use, gets stamped on my mail anyway. That’s led a few of my contacts to start using my Gmail address. I guess I’d put that in the “mildly annoying” category.

Nothing specific at the Gmail Blog about what’s going on, although I suppose this is related somehow. Thoughts?

Bug alert! Unless I’m doing something wrong — always a possibility — it looks like you can’t save changes in someone’s contact information.

Exposing the “casino culture”

Last week it was “objectivity.” This week it’s a complaint that the Massachusetts House shouldn’t hold a hearing into the harmful effects of gambling because, well, you know, it would hurt Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to open three casinos in the state. Here’s what state Sen. Michael Morrissey, D-Quincy, a gambling supporter, told Boston Globe reporter Andrea Estes:

If you’re going to give the guy a fair shake, you should schedule a hearing on the casino bill and then, if necessary, ask other committees to hold hearings. Have the governor’s bill up first and go from there.

Somewhere in the background, Jack Nicholson is sneering, “You can’t handle the truth.”

Fortunately, House Speaker Sal DiMasi is less interested in giving Patrick “a fair shake” and more interested in educating his members and the public about the downside of casino gambling.

As DiMasi’s spokesman, David Guarino, told Estes, “The governor has proposed opening the door to a casino culture in the Commonwealth. We think it’s imperative to look at what that will really mean, warts and all.”

My standard disclosure.

Will the Mashpee go it alone?

From the moment that Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled his casino proposal, those of us who are focused on Middleborough have wondered what would happen.

The Mashpee Wampanoags, as a federally recognized tribe, could build a gambling facility without taking part in the state process, thus avoiding the state taxes Patrick wants to collect. But because the federal process can take so long, the Mashpee could risk having to compete with two nearby casinos before their own facility could even open.

Now, in a sign that the Mashpee’s political advisers believe Patrick’s plan has become bogged down, the Boston Daily blog reports that the tribe has decided to take the federal route. If that’s the case, then casino opponents will have their hands full. Opposition to Patrick’s plan by the Massachusetts House is necessary, but it may not be sufficient. There are enough questions over the dubious process by which the Middleborough deal was approved that it ought to be possible to delay things for years. But who knows?

Meanwhile, the New Bedford Standard-Times covers the fledgling Casino Free Mass, a new statewide coalition that held its first public event yesterday.

And I’ll be helping Casino Free Mass on Nov. 15.