His Brother is the Dean Martin of Massachusetts Politics
If Ann Coulter described her nightmare vision of DemocRAT-ruled Tax-achussets, it would likely look exactly like the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfasts put on for years by former Massachusetts State Senate President and brother of Whitey Billy Bulger. I’m a liberal Democrat of Irish extraction and it still makes me uncomfortable.
It was a political roast, and had the same chummy hostility you might see on a Dean Martin Special. But because it was told from the points of view of some of the most powerful men in Massachusetts politics, it has an extra, off-putting taste. The subtext seems to be the invincible, unapologetic corruption of Billy Bulger.
This 60 Minutes piece includes a bunch of footage from a roast. Bulger leads with a joke about voter fraud before making a reference to his brother’s lottery jackpot. And along the way, he swipes John Kerry thusly:
“Poor old John Kerry, I pick on him every time. You know one year, he didn’t make it. He was on his way over and he got stuck in front of a mirror.”
Was Billy the President of the State Senate or Mayor of Zinger Town? And everybody who was anybody in Massachusetts politics had to show up for the madcap romps.
Here’s a Dukakis gag: “Whenever I go anywhere, it’s a junket. When he goes, it’s a trade mission.”
In 1994, the New York Times reported, President Clinton called in for the following exchange:
At 10:45 A.M. President Clinton himself was on the telephone. “I know that this morning I’m just the other President on the phone,” he said to Mr. Bulger, with his remarks amplified over the public address system.
Mr. Bulger said, “I commend you for your humility.”
And here’s a charming little tape of Billy joshing around with Whitey’s favorite FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly.
Hilarious! Incidentally, Connolly is currently serving a prison sentence for a murder conviction.
So aside from being this big Irish minstrel show, it’s a real life example of every awful thing Republicans say of Democrats. They’re smug and corrupt. They’re arrogant and in league with criminals. So bully for you, conservatives. You got one. Congratulations.
Nonetheless, I have doubts about the whole “Nancy Pelosi is the devil” thing.
Mister Bulger 