From hcunn1221@yahoo.com Tue Feb 26 17:04:15 2002 Newsgroups: ne.politics,ne.general Subject: Re: MA Gov. Jane "Not-so" Swift: Corrupt, Stupid, Evil From: hcunn1221@yahoo.com (Hugo S. Cunningham) Date: 26 Feb 2002 13:04:15 -0800POLITICAL MISCUES ARE A PROBLEM FOR SWIFT
"POLITICAL MISCUES HURT SWIFT
"Preparing for a tribute to those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy's staff asked if he could speak. So did aides to US Senator John F. Kerry and US Representative Martin Meehan. But the word came back from the acting governor's office: Only Jane Swift will speak."
[end of excerpts from article]
Was she afraid Ted Kennedy would speculate on possible connections between the Massport hack culture that Swift fed off of (though Buckingham would take the fall) and 9-11 terrorist "patronage" at Logan? I can think of a talk-show host or two who might be tempted, but Ted Kennedy is a pussycat at such events.
--Hugo S. Cunningham
From hcunn1221@yahoo.com Tue Feb 26 17:13:24 2002 Newsgroups: ne.politics,ne.general Subject: Re: MA Gov. Jane "Not-so" Swift: Corrupt, Stupid, Evil From: hcunn1221@yahoo.com (Hugo S. Cunningham) Date: 26 Feb 2002 13:13:24 -0800"Jane Swift recruited her staff by handing out free lollipops at 'Toys-R-us'." -- Barbara Anderson
[Later editor's note: Jane Swift was young herself (37 years old) and became governor only by accident. Being insecure before more talented people, she notoriously hired staffers even younger and dumber than she was.]
From the "Boston Herald," Thurs, 21 Feb 2002, p. 18:
"By deciding against Amirault early in the campaign [Swift] took
the second-most cautious political course -- consciously or not.
"'She came down on the side of victims and prosecutors, and that's
the right place to be in terms of policy and the public's view,' said
Rob Gray, a Republican consultant. 'My guess is that the majority are
unsure about the facts, so they tend to err on the side of caution,
which means keeping him in prison. She's come down in the right
place.'"
[end of excerpt from "Herald" article]
Comment:
Maybe in a freshman political science course, one learns that
"law-and-order" is a winning issue, especially with Republican primary
voters. But in a civilized community, voters can tell the difference
between public safety and a frame-up.
From the "Boston Herald," Sun 24 Feb 2002, [page uncertain -- 2? 3?]
"Miscues take toll on Swift campaign
"by Steve Marantz
[...]
"Swift's former legal counsel, Leonard Lewin, said ...
the acting governor consulted child psychologists, Amirault's victims
and family members, and people who wrote letters in favor of
commutation... She also read extensively on the case, he said.
"Lewin, who led the review, said he spoke to Middlesex District
Attorney Martha Coakley and Attorney General Thomas Reilly."
[end of excerpts from "Herald" article"]
Comment:
It looks like Mr. Lewin must share the lasting infamy for Gov. "Not-so" Swift's decision. I understand he is a divorce-law practitioner, with no experience in criminal law. That might explain why he was so easily hornswoggled by Reilly and Coakley, with their obvious motive to cover up the Fells Acres scandal. A conscientious and competent investigator would have cross-checked Reilly and Coakley's self-serving line with impartial prosecutors, such as the ones on the Parole Board.
The "child psychologists" Swift listened to were presumably the same sort of Massachusetts quacks who would be sent to prison in other States for the kind of malpractice they used on the Fells Acres children. I doubt if she talked to national authorities on children's testimony like Maggie Bruck and Stephen Ceci.
Lewin claims Swift talked to supporters of commutation. She, or some people working for her, did talk to Barbara Anderson, but obviously ignored her advice. Did any other Amirault supporters hear from Swift?
Swift did interview the Amirault family once last August, but refused to let them discuss guilt or innocence; the only point she raised was whether he was exerting maximum effort to "rehabilitate" himself. This, of course, was a Catch-22: sex-offender rehabilitation courses in MA prisons are only open to those who confess guilt. The fix was already in, though Swift would not confirm it until the priest scandal conveniently blew up this February.
--Hugo S. Cunningham
From hcunn1221@yahoo.com Fri Mar 01 16:09:53 2002 Newsgroups: ne.general.selected,ne.general,ne.politics Subject: Re: MA Gov. Jane "Not-so" Swift: Corrupt, Stupid, Evil From: hcunn1221@yahoo.com (Hugo S. Cunningham) Date: 1 Mar 2002 15:09:53 -0500Carl Witthoft
>In an epistle labelled
>->Hugo S. Cunningham
>->What a freaking moron.
>hyauh, bozo: it applies to trial. Supreme Courts of both liberal
and
Personally, I would not have invoked the Constitution. The Fells
Acres scandal is a matter of right and wrong (keeping an innocent man
locked up so prosecutors will not have to apologize for misleading
their *own* victims), harkening back to a Law even more venerable than
the US Constitution.
Nevertheless Mike has a point. The Fourteenth Amendment
guarantee of "due process" has been read by courts as an incorporation
of the Common Law. Perhaps the single most honored theorist of the
Common Law was Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), who famously wrote:
"It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent
suffer."
In the Fells Acres scandal, one could rewrite Blackstone as follows:
"It is better that ten dupes of the prosecution suffer hurt feelings
that that one innocent continue to suffer."
You are correct that more recent case law requires a
preponderance of evidence for an appeals court to overturn a
conviction, but even that case law is tempered by common sense. The
main reason for it is that trial courts are more likely to have the
"full story" (personal observation of the behavior of witnesses, etc.)
than appeals courts with limited time. But in Fells Acres, the
appeals court (SJC) has repeatedly ignored the judgement of trial
judges, and bizarrely excluded a mountain of evidence (Dr. Bruck and
Dr. Ceci's proof of the suggestibility of child witnesses) that would
meet the preponderance standard of any reasonable person.
--Hugo S. Cunningham
--Hugo S. Cunningham
"For once, it appears, she wasn't lying."
(Howie suggests the troubles of the Archdiocese have distracted the
public from the troubles of Jane Swift.)
//////////////////////
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/062/metro/New_roles_old_standard+.shtml
"You don't have to share Jane Swift's politics to share her
exasperation with all the unsolicited advice the acting governor of
Massachusetts gets about how to live her life."
(Eileen McNamara sympathizes with Jane Swift's complaint that
"powerful men" are picking on her.)
Comment:
--Hugo S. Cunningham
>->: Rob Gray, a Republican consultant. 'My guess is that the
majority are
>->: unsure about the facts, so they tend to err on the side of
caution,
>->: which means keeping him in prison. She's come down in the right
>->: place.'"
>->Mr. Bozo should read the Constitution - it tells us to err on
>->the side of INNOCENCE, not prosecutors.
>conservative ilk hav required significant (not "err on the side") to
get a
>convict retried.
-- Commentaries on the Laws of England (Book IV), Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1769 (Reprint of first edition with supplement by Dawson's of
Pall Mall, London, 1966); chapter 27, p. 352.
From hcunn1221@yahoo.com Sat Mar 02 11:15:55 2002
Newsgroups: ne.general.selected,ne.general,ne.politics
Subject: Re: MA Gov. Jane "Not-so" Swift: Corrupt, Stupid, Evil
From: hcunn1221@yahoo.com (Hugo S. Cunningham)
Date: 2 Mar 2002 10:15:55 -0500
Her Cluelessness's not-so-swift handling of the Fells Acres scandal is
dissected by Katha Pollitt in this week's "Nation."
http://www.TheNation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020318&s=pollitt
From hcunn1221@yahoo.com Sun Mar 03 20:44:00 2002
Newsgroups: ne.general.selected,ne.general,ne.politics
Subject: Re: MA Gov. Jane "Not-so" Swift: Corrupt, Stupid, Evil
From: hcunn1221@yahoo.com (Hugo S. Cunningham)
Date: 3 Mar 2002 19:44:00 -0500
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/carr03032002.htm
[Later editor's note: link is no longer active.]
"Jane can thank Law for delaying her swift demise
"by Howie Carr
"Sunday, March 3, 2002
[...]
"A few weeks back, at Camelot High in Cambridge, Swifty told a
wet-behind-the-ears Harvard audience that she ``relies'' on her
Catholic faith to get her through trying times.
[Later editor's note: link is no longer active.]
"EILEEN MCNAMARA
"New roles, old standard
"By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist, 3/3/2002
It is true that unpopular female politicians attract
different sorts of insults than unpopular males. Chub Peabody was
accused of playing football without his helmet, and Michael Dukakis,
in the post-Presidential letdown, was called a "shrimp." I can't
imagine either of them being called a "cow." On the other hand,
Margaret Thatcher survived being called "Attila the Hen" and
accusations of "hand-bagging."
Return to index of Fells Acres articles.