Our New Pride

Massachusetts Reborn?

 



Wow, I can't believe the number of people from outside of Massachusetts who have been sending me messages about how much they appreciate the way our state voted on Tuesday. The whole country, if not the whole world, was watching our humble state to see whether we would start a second American revolution just like we started the first one over 200 years ago. Once again, we in Massachusetts have distinguished ourselves as champions of liberty, and may the light of freedom shine in the coming months, not only in our own country but the entire world.

However, the chorus of praise for our electorate is not universal. Paolo alerts me to this appraisal of the Bay State by Alexander Cockburn:

A year after his inauguration Obama has disappointed so many constituencies that a rebuke by the voters was inevitable. Yesterday it came in Massachusetts, often categorized as the most liberal in the union. This is entirely untrue. It's a disgusting sinkhole of racism and vulgar prejudice, as five minutes in any taxi in the state, listening to Talk Radio or reading the local newspaper will attest.

Ouch! However, I must say I approve of Cockburn's last paragraph:

A final note on Coakley. She rose to political prominence by peculiarly vicious grandstanding as a prosecutor, winning a conviction of 19-year old child minder Louise Woodward for shaking a baby to death. An outraged judge later freed Woodward, reducing her sentence to less than a year of time served. Then Coakley went after headlines in child abuse cases. Innocent people are still rotting in prison as a consequence of Coakley's misuse of her office. For this alone, regardless of the setback the Democrats richly deserved, I rejoice in her humiliation.

So do I.

Assorted Stuff

I've been doing interviews lately. One was with Dutch journalist Tom-Jan Meeus on the Brown/Coakley race. It's about time they started reading about me in Europe! I'll pass along the link when something surfaces from that. Also here's a picture of Michelle, a UMass grad student who interviewed me about my life story for a project she's doing. More about that later. 

Early this morning on my way to cooking pancakes for the homeless, I ran into Republican/Masslive dude Greg Saulmon in downtown Northampton. He's smiling despite having just been given a parking ticket.

Bird's is one of my favorite Northampton/Florence stores. Going inside is like stepping into a time tunnel.

 



My neighbor's psychedelic sled. 

Dr. King in a window in downtown Hamp on his birthday.