Scott Brown in Hampden

Hey, I went to the fundraiser last night at the Hampden Country Club for State Representative candidate Jack Villamaino (above) with special guest speaker U.S. Senator Scott Brown. Of course the Senator's presence brought out all the local media, such as WWLP-TV22's Julie Tremmel and her cameraman.

Mike Dobbs of The Reminder.

David Miles of Turley Publications in Palmer brought his sense of humor in the form of one of his famous hats. 

The candidates trying to oust Congressman Richard Neal were in attendance, with Tom Wesley posing here with Jennifer Devine. A relative of mine? Among the Irish we're all relatives. 

Agawam City Councilor Bob Magovern is shown here on the left with Neal's other challenger Dr. and Mrs. Jay Fleitman. 

GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker didn't make it, but his running mate Richard Tisei did.

 



State Senator Mike Knapik.

State Representative Don Humason.

Tom McCarthy, the state senate candidate from my childhood stomping grounds of Springfield's old Pine Point was there.

But not all the candidates present were Republicans. Democrat Hampden County District Attorney candidate Jim Goodhines was there. Goodhines is a man of sterling character in a race otherwise populated by rogues such as Michael Kogut, a former stooge for Springfield's disgraced former mayor Michael Albano.

Non-candidates in attendance included Miss Teen Massachusetts Tamara Sacharczyk from East Longmeadow.

Also attending was my fellow Pine Pointer Kevin Gray, who used to live on the street behind me when I was growing up.

Senator Brown had to drive to the event all the way from Washington D.C. and was delayed by traffic, forcing former state rep and retired Judge Bob Howarth to tell bad jokes in order to pass the time. 

Finally the rock star arrived.

Senator Brown is famous for his unusual background, having been a model in his youth who once posed nude for Cosmopolitan. His wife has also reported that he wore pink leather shorts to their first date.

Eat your heart out Scott Brown!

Two of Massachusetts' grand eccentrics. 

A great time was had by all. 

Here's a picture of WGGB-TV40's Dave Madsen with James Taylor in Stockbridge. 

This is from the Green River Festival in Greenfield last weekend.

 

Forbidden Topic

Off Limits

 



One of the often stated virtues of the Obama Administration is its willingness to use "New Media" to interact with the public. In the aftermath of last week's State of the Union Address, YouTube invited their viewers to send in videos asking the President a question, the best of which would actually be presented to Obama at a later date and which he would answer.

Sounds like a high-tech public meeting and exercise in good government, right? However, a funny thing happened on the way to picking the questions - it turned out that the most often submitted question for the President involved the legalization of marijuana! Furthermore, instead of including a marijuana question among those presented to Obama, all of the pot inquiries were rejected by YouTube.

Here were the final votes and top five question topics that were sent to YouTube:

Marijuana Legalization - 2,406 questions, 195,198 votes

Jobs and Economy - 656 questions, 109,265 votes

Foreign Policy - 1,170 questions, 69,329 votes

Health Care - 883 questions, 66,329 votes

Education - 898 questions, 49,784 votes


Meanwhile, pot smokers are not the only one's growing disillusioned with Obama

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Odds and Ends

Coakley backer.

Brown in the snow. 

At the grave of Jay Libardi. 

View from the gazebo at Hillcrest Cemetery in Springfield.

The guy next to me in Amherst's Black Sheep today was getting arty. 

Art on....

Polito Versus Neal

Media Skirmish

 



Former WGGB-TV40 investigative reporter Jim Polito (above with Clare Higgins) is now a radio host in the Worcester area at station WTAG. Last Friday he had quite a controversial rant on his show about a request Polito received for an interview from a staffer of Congressman Richard Neal. Allegedly the request was being made because one of Neal's challengers, Tom Wesley of Hopedale, had been on earlier.

The press aide suggested that Polito had gone easy on Wesley and that Congressman Neal also receive a "break" during his appearance, seeming to imply that Neal should be served only softball questions. Polito was neither co-operative nor amused, as Tom Wesley himself reports in this press release. 

Tom Wesley with Agawam's Peter McNair and Bob Magovern. City Councilor Magovern is a direct descendant of the family of Amherst's Emily Dickinson.

WTAG radio host Jim Polito, during a broadcast on January 26, revealed that a press aide to Congressman Richard Neal had called him and requested that Polito have the congressman on his show. The press aide cited that Tom Wesley had appeared on the show, and Congressman Neal should receive the same treatment as Wesley during his appearance.

“Congressman Neal is running so scared and so desperate right now that he wants to come on this show,” said Jim Polito. “Now, his aide cited that I had his opponents on, and specifically the aide mentioned Tom Wesley of Hopedale ... I think he is more concerned about Wesley. He is that desperate. The best thing to happen was that election last week. Because it took people like Neal who have been sitting there and taking the voters for granted and just figuring he’s just going to get re-elected every two years and it gave him some religion.”

Polito explained that the press aide cited “equal time” in requesting Neal’s appearance, and said Polito must also give Neal “the break” that Polito had given to Wesley. Polito responded: “No I don’t. Absolutely not. If Richie Neal wants to come on this show ... its going to be about the Democratic Congress and its going to be about [his] failed policies. That’s what its going to be about.”

Here is a video of Jim Polito's complete remarks regarding Neal's request. 

 

The Golden Boy

Two weeks after his election, Scott Brown mania continues to sweep America. As if being immortalized by Saturday Night Live wasn't enough, there is also a Scott Brown action doll for sale. He comes with three outfits - senatorial, casual and Cosmo. The Boston Herald reports:

Faster than a speeding pickup! More powerful than a locomotive full of Kennedys! Able to kill off Obama-care with a single vote!

Look, up on the Web! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Sen.-elect Scott Brown - Action Figure!

Herobuilders.com, a Connecticut company that makes custom dolls modeled after celebrities, politicians, reality stars and crooks, will roll out its latest action figure tomorrow - the new Republican senator from Massachusetts....

BTW, if it’s any indication of the mood of the country, Vicale reports that the Obama doll is a “terrible” sell.

“He doesn’t translate into a good action figure because he never does anything,” he joked. “All he does is babble nonsensically.”

Each Scott Brown doll is priced at $34.95. Click here to place an order.

Today's Music Video

Dar Williams got her start playing the coffeehouses of Northampton. She doesn't live in the Valley anymore, but as you can see from her latest video, she's still doing alright.

 

Haymarket Mirror by C.M. Pauluh 

Brown in Chicopee

Rock Star Welcome

U.S. Senator-elect Scott Brown got an enthusiastic welcome this morning in Chicopee, where he came to greet and thank his Western Mass supporters. These photos by Joshua Clark captures some of the action:

The nation's most famous pick-up truck parked outside the Hukelau.

The local media goes wild as Brown enters the room.

Even Democrat Mayor Mike Bissonette couldn't stay away.

The star attraction. 

A pad of paper with the Senator's autograph. 

 

A Senatorial selfie with some young fans.

I don't know if I can endure another word about Scott Brown and how his election trashed the Kennedy legacy and crippled the Obama presidency. However, I can enjoy a few cartoons. 

Al on Zinn



I was not an admirer of Howard Zinn, the Boston University professor who died yesterday and who was best known for his fantasy novel "A People's History of the United States." However, rather than say sarcastic things about the newly departed, I'll just let former Valley media figure Al Giordano (below in 1990) remind us of Professor Zinn's role in local affairs.

In 1986, when students at the University of Massachusetts occupied school offices to block CIA recruiting, joined by my pal Abbie Hoffman and presidential daughter Amy Carter, and went to trial (a case that I was involved in at least to the extent of getting my attorney Tom Lesser to represent Carter and advise Abbie and the others how to turn the tables and put the CIA on trial in what was meant to be a mere criminal trespass case), Howard came to Northampton, raised his right hand, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. His testimony - about the patriotic and fully American traditions that the occupiers had practiced - was key in convincing the jury to acquit the defendants.

In 1990, when Boston University president John Silber sought and won the Democratic Nomination for Governor of Massachusetts, Zinn drove out to Springfield regularly to co-captain my WSPR radio show and explain to the populace in the western part of the state the authoritarian nature of this bizarro-land political candidate whose autobiography, Howard quipped, should have been titled Mein Campus. Howard understood the inspiring power of humor, too.

 


Today's Music Video

Oh cool, Phish is on the cover of the Valley Advocate!

John Sendelbach graphic

Brown Victorious

Yesterday morning I went to vote at the quaint New England building that serves as my voting place. It was snowing out on and off all day, but turnout was high. 

A number of people commented over the last several days about seeing signs for Scott Brown around Northampton. Normally it is rare for signs to be seen for Republican candidates in Hamp, if you can even find somewhere to get them. This Brown supporter painted their own.

Yet despite the unexpectedly high enthusiasm among Hamp's Brown supporters, it didn't translate into many actual votes for their candidate. Martha Coakley carried Northampton with just shy of 80% of the vote. Yet even that total was topped in Amherst where 84% went for Coakley, tying the results out of Cambridge.

Overall the entire Pioneer Valley supported Coakley, but Republicans did manage to show growth in a few parts of the Valley. Longmeadow, which has been trending Democrat in recent years, solidly returned to the Republican fold yesterday, and the same can be said for Wilbraham, as well as a surprising win for the GOP in generally Democratic Ludlow.

Democrats appear nervous about what happened at the polls, and with good reason. The results are a warning as loud as a thunderclap - NO SEAT IS SAFE! Without a doubt other candidates will now be looking to use Brown's victory as a model to making further Republican inroads in Massachusetts. Tom Wesley, one of two challengers (so far) to Congressman Richard Neal, released a statement today that sounded like it was very much modeled on the Brown playbook:

We knew when we launched our campaign against Richard Neal that it would be a tough fight, but we also knew that the people were ready. Scott Brown’s victory now proves this.

Richard Neal continues to be part of the problem. He has been left unopposed and unaccountable for too long. He has taken his position for granted. He no longer represents the people that originally elected him. I plan to give the people of the Second Congressional District an option in November of which they can be proud as I seek to serve as their congressman in Washington.

However, Neal himself appears unfazed by the Brown victory, in fact he urged a continued commitment to a leftist agenda, at least according to this quote in Politico.

The alarm clock has gone off," said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), a senior member of the Ways & Means Committee, who called for a sharper and more confident leftward tack. "We fell into the trap of post-partisanship," he said. "I'm all in favor of being post-partisan as long as the other party is post-partisan."

Maybe Neal said that after seeing the Northampton results, which is where one of his opponents, Dr. Jay Fleitman lives. Neal may feel he needs to shore up his liberal creds in order to help prevent Hamp voters from bolting to the hometown favorite should Dr. Fleitman win the nomination.

I think one of the things that has made the Democrats loss so stinging is that their defeat was at the hands of an opponent they had once laughed at. But it was not just Democrats who were underestimating Brown. Back in early December I described Scott Brown as "a political unknown with no money who probably has no chance of winning."

I am now happy to eat those words with ketchup. Congratulations Senator Brown, you really did the impossible. What a ride!

 

Scott Brown in Holyoke

And West Springfield

 



U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown was campaigning for Tuesday's showdown for Ted Kennedy's old seat in Holyoke this morning, as seen in these Kyle Burns photos.

Among the visiting dignitaries was the Westfield Knapiks, mayor and state senator. That's Longmeadow's Mary Rogeness in back wearing red. 

This supporter wants to make sure everyone knows that he is not paid to be there, like many of those onstage at rallies for Martha Coakley.

A new definition of blue and red.

A worker proudly in defiance of her union's demands.

The red, white and blue Brown bus arrives. 

The next senator from Massachusetts?

Tom Wesley, one of the candidate's running to defeat Congressman Richard Neal.

 



Earlier there was a Brown rally in West Springfield along Riverdale Road.

Neal's other challenger Dr. Jay Fleitman and his wife.