Politics

Jim DiPaola’s career in politics

The news that Middlesex County Sheriff James DiPaola died suddenly today was stunning and saddening. I’ll leave it to others to report on the circumstances of his passing but perhaps a short summary of his political career might be appropriate. Motivated by last week’s news of DiPaola’s retirement, I wrote…

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Political patronage and hazing

Between the recent release of the report on corrupt hiring practices in the state’s probation department and the cancellation of several high school sporting events, patronage and corruption have been much in the news. In his “Talking Politics” blog at the Boston Phoenix, columnist David Bernstein makes a connection between…

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Deval Patrick: Basking in the afterglow of election victory is sweet but short by Marjorie Arons-Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Nearly a year ago, I used the word “circling the drain” in writing about Deval Patrick’s inauspicious prospects for reelection. I’m not the only one whose premature assessments proved wrong. Patrick turned around his campaign. And, in the…

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