Tierney-Hudak updates

Tierney convinced Judge Cornetta to allow him to skip his subpoena.

Hudak subsequently dropped his suit, as it wouldn't be heard until after the election.

Pays to be in the party that appoints all the judges I guess.

Hudak wouldn't have won this, but it would have been interesting.

The ad causing the controversy.

The Salem News managed to post a copy of the Tierney ad to youtube.

Here it is.

The Salem news column cited in the ad can be found here.

First, a columnist saying something and "newspapers call Bill Hudak" is far from the same thing.

Second, this ad viciously distorts what some of these columns say. The impression is that Nelson Benton from the Salem News said Bill Hudak is toxic. What did he actually say?

Here it is:

Boxford's Bill Hudak appears to be the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination for the 6th District seat in Congress. But some early missteps — a lawn sign comparing President Obama to Osama bin Laden and comments suggesting the president might not have been born in the U.S. — have turned him toxic in the view of some.

Same thing? Not if you have a brain. The piece doesn't really take a position on whether Hudak is toxic or not.

All of the other 'newspapers say" quotes are from far left Globe columnist Scot Lehigh, who most thinking people disagree with on a regular basis. Lehigh is the type who doesn't think we pay enough taxes, and fights tax cuts tooth and nail. Read his columns over the last several months and you'll see that he is an enemy of the taxpayers. He isn't the editor, and doesn't speak for the Globe. What he actually said was:

But there are pretty clear signs that Hudak has wandered well north of the border that separates a hyperbolic political hopeful from a poisonous, insidious kook.

Again, this is the same guy who says that the sky will fall if question 1 or question 3 passes. I'm sure he took the same stance on prop 2.5 back in the day. It's very interesting that guys like Lehigh constantly pick on their opposition as doom and gloomers, yet the second you propose letting taxpayers keep more of their money they predict worldwide apocalypse.

The fact that Lehigh opposes Hudak should encourage you to vote for him. Lehigh hasn't met a fiscal conservative who isn't worthy of his scorn.

Interestingly, apparently the Tierney folks couldn't find many quotes that were scary enough, as they repeated the same citations that appear at the beginning at the end.

So, the ad is garbage, but it likely falls under protected speech, and I predict the lawsuit will fail. My guess is that the entire thing is about getting attention when you don't have the money that the sitting incumbent does to pay for smears.

Congressional race gets classier

Bill Hudak filed a defamation lawsuit against John Tierney today over the vicious attack ad that Tierney has been running. If you haven't seen it, it's truly repugnant. There will be an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday. This could be interesting.

From 10/19 to 10/22 Tierney spent over $171,000 running the ad 165 times. Strangely he didn't post the drivel on his own campaign website, where there is only one fluff video. I guess he doesn't have much to say about his own record, as his 14 year record is at least a little short.

As of this posting, the Salem News, who today endorsed our do nothing congressman has not posted this breaking news. Scooped again.

Salem News Columnist Brian Watson is klasshat of the day.

Today's klassy Salem award winner is Salem News columnist Brian T. Watson.

I considered awarding him for his ridiculous column about how Salem should embrace a methadone clinic. In fact, he did so twice. Note that Mr. Watson doesn't, of course, reside in Salem. I'm wondering why he isn't advocating for the locating of said clinic in his home town of Swampscott. But I never got around to awarding Mr. Watson for his "your backyard" mentality.

But Watson has gone too far today, and now he is the klasshat of the day. Please go read Mr. Watson's piece on the upcoming vote for State Auditor.

Brian T. Watson is talking about this race for one reason, and one reason only. Bump is in real trouble in this race. She risks losing this position that has long been akin to "keeper of Dem secrets." He practically admits as much when he talks about the fact that currently nobody knows what the auditor does, or who he is. The job of auditor is to be the taxpayer's watchdog, and shine light on corruption, waste, and misuse of funds in government. Clearly that hasn't happened with a Dem watching the Dems for the last twenty years.

Suzanne Bump is a lifelong democrat, and Deval Patrick loyalist, in a state with a legislature that is nearly exclusively Democrat. She's even served in said legislature for numerous years. Ask yourself this. If you were a farmer, and had a henhouse, would you ask a fox to guard it for you? Hiring a Democrat insider is akin to hiring that fox to watch your tax money hen house. Ms. Bump also previously worked as a lobbyist, or as they should be called, enemy of the taxpayer. When she was a state rep she was fined by the ethics commission for accepting an improper gift from a lobbyist. (Mr. Watson strangely failed to consider this.) She'll surely safeguard your tax dollars. For these reasons alone, Mr. Watson's choice in this race makes not a bit of sense. But oh, there's more.

Mr. Watson left out some extremely key points to be considered in this race, all of which favor Mary Z. Connaughton, the only person running for any office in this state that voters should be excited about.

First, Mary Connaughton is a CPA and auditor, running for auditor. Ms. Bump is neither. I'm not sure how that gives Ms. Bump, as Mr. Watson states, "a bigger quiver of skills for the job..." What a ludicrous idea. Being an insider, when your job is to police the insiders, makes you less, not more, likely and qualified to perform your job with vigor. These are Ms. Bump's friends. She's more likely to protect them than expose them. Ms. Connaughton, on the other hand, has always been an outspoken advocate for taxpayers, as her constant clashes with her fellow board members of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority show. That "in the interests of the taxpayers" attitude, combined with her outsider status, making her not beholden to those who run the governors office and legislature, and her actual qualifications as a CPA and auditor, which again, Bump lacks, make her FAR more qualified for the position.

Second, and more importantly, Ms. Bump, who is seeking to be the taxpayer's watchdog, has been cheating on her own taxes for the last several years, or is incapable of figuring out how to pay them correctly. The Boston Globe recently exposed the fact that Ms. Bump has been claiming primary residence exemptions in two different towns. When confronted with this tax cheating, Ms. Bump argued that it was legit, though any thinking person could clearly see that it wasn't. She then claimed that "they" told her it was OK. Sure they did, because she didn't tell "them" that she was getting the exemption elsewhere. Read the last three paragraphs of the Scot Lehigh piece linked below.

I predict that Scot Lehigh, one of the left leaning columnists from the Boston Globe, who rarely, if ever, votes for or endorses Republicans, will soon endorse Ms. Connaughton, over Ms. Bump. He laid the groundwork for this in his recent column.

Somehow, Mr. Watson failed to even mention or consider this ridiculousness in his piece. Ask yourself, does this sound like the person that should be auditing the spending of your tax dollars? I have to conclude that she's either not smart enough, or not honest and ethical enough for the job. I have no such concerns with Ms. Connaughton. Mr. Watson's column is titled "Voters should take close look at tight auditor's race." It's clear from his opinion, and key omissions, that he didn't follow his own advice. And for that, he is the klasshat of the day.

So, in closing, bump Bump, and vote for Mary Z. Connaughton, CPA and auditor, for state auditor. Do so, and we'll finally learn a lot about what's going on in our state government.

Frankenstien's (sic) Laboratory

If you spell the name of one of the world's most famous monsters wrong on your awning you might be a really cheesy tourist trap.

Check out the Salem News website right now and you'll see a photo of it in one of the slide show articles near the top.

A letter from a reader.

I received the following correspondence from a reader, and wanted to share.


____________
Dear Keep It Klassy Salem,

We are having a baby in a month and hoped to get our car seat installed and/or checked by a trained professional. Many communities have such individuals working for the Fire Department. I called SFD and they said, “No, call the police department.” I called the PD and they said, “Well we used to have three guys trained to do it, but they let the certification slip and none of them wanted to be retrained.” The reason? “Well, it seems like such a simple thing, but the training is a week long and very complicated.” I said, “Well that seems to speak to the need to have trained professionals.” “Yeah, but they thought it was excessive.” He told me to try the Marblehead or Danvers Fire Departments.

Our Klassy town, Karing for the Kids!

Signed,
Salem Mom-to-Be


__________________________



I find this extremely disturbing. Frequently, during election season we are bombarded with messages stating that all of our taxes are necessary, "for the children." We must keep our police and firefighters, and teachers, and not let any of them go. They are all here to "protect and teach our kids." Don't cut the sales tax, the children will suffer.

What, I ask you, is more important to keeping kids safe than a properly installed car seat? What is more likely to harm a child than an improperly installed one?

The mayor, the fire chief, and the police chief should hang their heads in shame if this is how much they really care "about the children." Maybe the guys sitting in the folding chairs in front of the fire station should go take this class. You'd think if anyone would understand the devastation that can be caused by a poorly installed child seat it would be them.

Have a pressing issue you'd like to discuss? e-mail me at keepitklassysalem@gmail.com. No, cheap viagra doesn't count!

UPDATED: A few October observations

UPDATE to number 3 below. The mayor just announced that the city received a 2.5 million dollar grant for the Blaney Street pier expansion, in addition to the previous grant. You heard it here first.

1. The Bizarre Bazaar is nothing but a giant crap fair.

2. Some idiot threw a cinder block through the Salem Chamber of Commerce window last night, and stole the executive director's laptop. I wonder, was there any confidential or personally identifiable information on it?

3. The mayor recently announced that the city received a 1.3 million dollar grant from the Seaport Advisory Council, the lion's share of which will be used for improvements to the Blaney Street pier. I think it's nice that the city has such grand plans for the pier, but to date we've shown a very limited ability to even do the little things at that location.

When the Salem Ferry started the land was cleaned up, a pedestrian walkway put in, and wooden parking markers placed throughout. Fast forward to the first snowstorm the following winter, and the Salem plow trucks uprooted and destroyed both the path markers, and a good chunk of the parking space markers as well. Go down there right now, and see how overgrown with weeds and shrubs the pedestrian walkway is, during our biggest tourist month, and one of the busiest ferry months. Over the years since the city started leasing this land, it has continually had several abandoned cars, is constantly strewn with nip bottles and beer bottles, broken and not, fishermen constantly leave dead fish on the rocks, used condoms and underwear can frequently be found, people have been seen naked, engaged in sex acts both behind the ferry trailer, and in the old trolley info booth, and let's not forget our own version of the Montauk monster, which washed up on the pier. Finally, this pier is a constant meeting place for people meeting those who are not their spouses, and drug deals can be frequently witnessed here. So, if the city can't deal with those problems, or the sinkholes that appear every year, how do we expect them to care for it when it's paved, and has a permanent structure?

4. Bill Hudak has come out swinging in the wake of Congressman Tierney's family scandal. He just released his first TV ad. View it below. (Open this post for best viewing.)

Now, I'm not sure that there was any actual tax evasion here, but there may be. Much of this money was taxed as personal "commission" income, it sounds like, rather than business profit. Not sure if there's a net gain there, but the rest appears to be pretty spot on, especially JT's love of tax increases.

Tierney is simply tone deaf. Oh, and a liar.

Congressman Tierney met with the Salem News yesterday. It's very clear that he is both tone deaf and a liar. One only need to read the interview to see that he's dead set on continuing to claim that this isn't a big deal, and a non-issue. I'm sorry sir, but your involvement with felons is not a non-issue. Your claim that you received no financial benefit, when your mother-in-law was largely supported by those funds, and she donated $4800 to your campaign, which she clearly couldn't have afforded on her social security alone, is a big deal, and not a non-issue. Committing criminal acts while not receiving financial benefit wouldn't make your wife a non-criminal. It only makes her a stupid one.

As for your claims that you and Patrice didn't know, couldn't have known, what Robert Eremian was up to in Antigua. I say, lies, damn lies. First, your wife's guilty plea to aiding and abetting was based on her admission that she was "WILLFULLY BLIND." Blind by choice, blind in that anyone who didn't force themselves to be blind couldn't help but realize that something was wrong. It's basically saying, "I refuse to admit that I knew that this didn't pass the smell test, but clearly I did."

Second, the paper of record, the New York Times, published a story in 1998 featuring dear brother in Antigua, overseeing his sports betting business.

From the article:

But in the cozy back room of a modern house that once served as the Chinese Embassy, past the lazy dogs in the yard and the bicycles in the driveway, Bob Eremian was entertaining Americans in a different way.

It was two hours before the start of Sunday's Super Bowl game in San Diego, and Eremian, in short pants and bare feet, was sitting in front of three computer screens, overseeing a sports betting operation that would take over 10,000 bets on the game before the day was over.

"They're calling from all over the U.S. today," he said, as the 25 telephone operators seated in front of him quickly logged bets into their computers. "That's what people want to do," Eremian said. "Bet on sports."

The congressman claims that he and Patrice were unaware of this business in Antigua? He wants us to believe that this feature wasn't passed around the family? I've never been in the New York Times, but I'm pretty sure if they featured my life I'd pass it on to everyone I know. Congressman Tierney, nobody believes you.

More Klassy congressman Tierney

The candidates to represent Salem in congress "debated" on Fox 25 last night.

Our current rep must be a little scared, especially in the wake of his wife's recent legal trouble. He refused to allow his challenger to speak, shouting over him every time he tried to speak. Check it out below. It showed a true lack of class and decorum.





I have to say, the birther stuff, and the lawn signs Hudak displayed are in bad taste, but I don't question either his intelligence, or his thruthfulness, which you have to with Tierney at this point. The New York Times published comments from the brother-in-law regarding his gambling business, but now neither Tierney new he was running a gambling ring? Seriously?

Adding to the Tierney klass

Did you know that John Tierney was Patrice's divorce lawyer when she was divorced from her first husband? That's super klassy.

There is lots of good coverage on this scandal in today's Salem News.

The Globe also demands more answers than Tierney is offering in their editorial today.

Klassy Congressman Tierney and family

Breaking News!

Patrice Tierney, the wife of U.S. Congressman and Salem resident John F. Tierney, has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax charges stemming from her assisting her brother conceal his multi-million dollar illegal international gambling operation. She of course claims she didn't know what was going on. Lots of people just randomly deposit 7 million dollars in the bank, right? We all just come up with that in a new job, making commission.

Somewhere challenger Bill Hudak is smiling. His new slogan should be, "Wouldn't you rather have a nut than a crook?" The choice Salem voters face is the definition of klassy. This voter will take the nut over the yes man with criminals all around him. Tierney has proven over and over that the best interests of his constituents always come second to the demands of his party. Now it looks like he may be even worse.

UPDATE:

Garrett Quinn sums this scandal up well.

UPDATE 2: Adding to the klass here, Congressman Tierney voted no on a bill that would have outlawed internet gambling in the U.S. Passage of such a bill would have clearly impacted the family business. This adds another circumstantial implication of impropriety. Notable is the fact that this was a rare instance where Tierney broke with Nancy Pelosi, as she, and many other Democrats voted yes on this bill, which passed the house with bipartisan support.

In light of what we now know, this vote looks very sketchy.


Read more:
Boston.com story
Salem News has the AP story.

Klassy copper thieves

Salem News reporter Stacie N. Galang brought this story to our attention on Twitter this morning.

Seems these two mental midgets thought it would be a good idea to try to steal the copper downspouts off of a house while the homeowner was inside. Even better, one of the perps, when caught, said he was doing it to pay his court fees in another case. Guess what bozo, they just went up!

These criminals currently live together in Beverly. Hopefully they'll get to be roomies in a much smaller space later.