The Koch-Walton front National Parents Union appears to be facing serious mismanagement: two boards of directors (again), two presidents, the unexplained disappearance of the co-founder/board member/secretary-treasurer as money was pouring in and leaders were not being paid, and an upcoming election of officers (not!). The organization is holding a #parentpower2020 “convening” September 2-4. Last year…
Is Maura Healey Having a “Sister Souljah Moment”?
Maura Healey is more well positioned to win the 2022 governor’s race than any candidate in an open seat Massachusetts governor’s race in at least half a century. Nonetheless, Healey is apologizing for an analogy she used at the end of a 2020 Chamber of Commerce speech that is being used against her by Bay…
National Parents Union’s Mythical Membership: Letter to Los Angeles Times
On July 24, 2022 a story in the Los Angeles Times included this whopper: “. . . according to Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union. Her organization has seen its membership rise from 185 local activist and advocacy groups to over 600 since its inception in January 2020.” The LATimes doesn’t give an…
Bidding Now Open in the Political Futures Market
The Boston Globe’s Matt Stout reported with some amazement yesterday on a new SuperPAC “that could command millions of dollars” for the sparse political investment of the office of lieutenant governor. There’s no reason for amazement if you understand things like the Lexington (KY) Selected Yearling Sale. The sale is one of several occasions when…
National Parents Union and Parents Defending Education in Faux Civil War! Can Charles Koch Save Them?
A mock civil war is raging between bogus National Parents Union and sham Parents Defending Education and only one man can feign to suppress it: Charles Koch. Koch funds both National Parents Union and (almost certainly) Parents Defending Education so he has a fantasy moral obligation to pretend to step in. The latest blanks in…
GOP Effort to Stop Permanent Mail-In Voting Highlights Unique Aspects of Mass Politics
The MassGOP lawsuit to stop permanent mail-in voting is more interesting than you might think. The state’s Republican Party Chairman, Jim Lyons, has taken a very weak outfit and turned it into an exceptionally incompetent one that is now engaged full-time in garden variety “lib trolling,” an activity that hasn’t been as useful for party…
New York Times Covers AG’s Race and Misses the Story
Last week as the Massachusetts Democrats gathered in convention the New York Times rolled out Inside the Audition for Democrats’ Next Crusading Attorney General projecting the race for the party’s nominee as a signal of where the national party is headed. Then the Times just went for the usual horse race stuff. Too bad because…
Will the MassDems Address the Money Corruption in Their Midst?
“It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and congress members. So now we’ve just…
Knives Out (and the Voters Get It in the Back)
Imagine my surprise, as an amiable old retiree trying to find my misplaced orthotics while sipping Metamucil-laced protein supplement, to find myself almost mentioned in a Massachusetts Politico piece titled “Knives Out” today. I say almost because attorney general candidate Quentin Palfrey used research from my blog posts to make a point about the Walton…
Legislative Opacity Makes Voice Votes a Safe Bet on Beacon Hill
The state senate recently passed a bill legalizing sports betting in the Commonwealth. It passed the chamber by a voice vote, which means that senators’ individual preferences on the bill’s passage were not formally recorded. The Boston Globe editors were shocked…shocked to see voice votes on gambling in the state senate. “A lawmaker’s first duty…