Watching our local felons stage career comeback attempts is fascinating, though sometimes one is almost tempted to feel sorry for them.
While WRKO’s convict-in-residence rakes in big $$$ and sets up a lobbying practice to sway corrupt legislators on Beacon Hill, his Ocean State fellow-traveller isn’t quite so lucky.
Not only is WPRO’s budget significantly smaller, it’s owned by a company that may not be around in a year or two. That leaves Buddy Cianci in a far more precarious position.
In the meantime, however, Buddy is focused on regaining local credibility, which means inviting himself to local parades. From EastBayRI:
BRISTOL ‚Äî He won’t ride atop a horse borrowed from the Providence police, and a helicopter (most likely) won’t drop him off at the Bristol County Medical Center or Colt School. But Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, one of Rhode Island’s most colorful characters and a long-time fixture in Bristol’s Fourth of July parade, is coming back to town this year.
Bristol Fourth of July Committee parade chairwoman Judy Squires told her fellow committee members last Wednesday night that Mr. Cianci will “march” in the parade through his affiliation with WPRO radio, where he holds a job as an on-air talk show host. There will be no horse, she said, but Mr. Cianci will likely be driven down the route in a red car donated for the day by Tasca Ford.
“It should be interesting, to say the least,” said Mrs. Squires.
Mr. Cianci’s addition to the parade was actually happenstance, Mrs. Squires said. Early in the parade planning process, she contacted radio stations and asked officials if they’d like to march in the parade as a unit.
“We didn’t have much (in the way of radio) at past parades,” she said.
When WPRO responded, officials said Mr. Cianci would be along for the ride.
[...]
Other years include stories of Mr. Cianci falling off horses, being “un-invited” from the parade, and being called “rude” by the parade chairman. But one of his most storied connections to the parade and Bristol’s residents will mark its 25th anniversary this year.
For the last quarter century, one of Mr. Cianci’s toughest stretches of the parade route has been 2 High St., the house owned by Raymond DeLeo. In 1983, shortly after being indicted for assaulting Mr. DeLeo over a rumored mutual romantic interest, Mr. Cianci defiantly marched by his house, pretending not to notice him. Over the coming years, guests in Mr. DeLeo’s yard were known to turn their back when the mayor approached.
The rift ballooned in 2002, Mr. Cianci’s last year marching, when guests in Mr. DeLeo’s yard sang him an impromptu song in “honor” of his recent indictment on corruption charges that would eventually send him to prison for five years:
“For he’s a RICO felon, for he’s a RICO felon, for he’s a RICO felon, which nobody can deny,” they sang.
While Buddy is still obsessed with regaining public popularity, Finneran’s focus is on big paychecks and maintaining ties with Beacon Hill’s corrupt regime.
Both have one thing in common: they truly stink at talk radio. I have listened to Cianci several times in the past several weeks and it is a chore to say the least.
He sounds older than Don Imus (Buddy’s roughly a year younger) and the entertainment value is less than zero. Rather than really stir it up, Cianci bores the audience with budget figures and inside baseball political drivel of interest to few.
Perhaps someday we’ll learn why WRKO and WPRO so adamantly pushed the idea of convicted felons on the radio even when it was clear the shows were clunkers. It’s amazing to believe Rush Limbaugh was pushed aside for Buddy’s sad return.
