BREAKING: NEW POLL SHOWS TWO-POINT RACE

A just-released Rasmussen Poll shows the US Senate special election to be a horse race, a virtual tie. As opposed the last week’s survey from the same outfit showing Democrat Martha Coakley nine points ahead, this one has that lead trimmed to just two: a statistical dead heat.

Bloggers are already jumping on this as the national frenzy over our Senate race continues.

One key: this one asked about huckster “Joe Kennedy” by name, while the previous survey threw him into “some other candidate” territory. It appears Kennedy really does take votes from Coakley when his name is included:

The Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election has gotten tighter, but the general dynamics remain the same.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley attracting 49% of the vote while her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, picks up 47%.

Three percent (3%) say they’ll vote for independent candidate Joe Kennedy, and two percent (2%) are undecided. The independent is no relation to the late Edward M. Kennedy, whose Senate seat the candidates are battling to fill in next Tuesday’s election.

Coakley is supported by 77% of Democrats while Brown picks up the vote from 88% of Republicans. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, Brown leads 71% to 23%. To be clear, this lead is among unaffiliated voters who are likely to participate in the special election.

A week ago, the overall results showed Coakley leading by a 50% to 41% margin. The closeness of the race in heavily Democratic Massachusetts has drawn increasing national interest, and Brown made it clear in the final candidate debate last night that a vote for him is a vote to stop the national health care plan Democrats are pushing in Congress.

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh skewered Coakley today for claiming Afghanistan is somehow free of terrorists. Even Obama knows better than that!

In addition, Michelle Malkin has the story on ringers who were paid to wave signs for Coakley outside last night’s debate. One admits he’s actually a Brown supporter!

Here’s the clip, which was filmed by Fleming & Hayes, it’s a stunner, these guys are just following orders:

Finally, in this clip also from Fleming & Hayes, Coakley’s arrival is met with shouts of “Go, Scott, Go!”, while Brown supporters are suddenly pushed aside by thugs:

Brown-Coakley image: Boston Herald

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BREAKING: SJC RULES AGAINST FELON FINNERAN

Does this mean we’re stuck with him on WRKO?

Felon Finneran’s stubborn bid to regain his ability to practice law has once and for all been snuffed out. The Dem-friendly Supreme Judicial Court didn’t side with one of its own this time, ruling the former House speaker should be permanently disbarred.

From the Boston Herald:

Finneran, who pled guilty in 2007 to obstruction of justice, had sought a lesser punishment of suspension, but the court sided with the Board of Bar Overseers. “(Finneran’s)” misconduct implicates both the integrity of the judicial system and the honesty of a member of the bar,” Justice Margot Botsford wrote for the court.

“We have no reason to disagree with the finding that (Finneran’s) conduct during the voting rights lawsuit represented an aberrant event in his long career of serving his constituency and the public with loyalty and distinction. But the respondent was convicted of a serious crime involving false testimony to a court under oath in a significant case about fundamental rights.”

The decision is retroactive to Jan. 23, 2007, the date when Finneran’s law license was temporarily suspended.

Finneran pled guilty in 2007 to making misleading statements under oath about a redistricting plan that was challenged by advocates for minorities. In arguing for suspension rather than disbarment, Finneran’s attorney said his 26-year career in public service, as well as testimony asserting that Finneran’s crime was “aberrant” from his normal conduct, should mitigate his punishment.

The big question: is he now locked in at WRKO? The program is as boring as ever, it’s astounding he’s still there after three long years. What motivates Entercom in their desire to keep him on their schedule?

The bottom line: it’s a great day to be Howie Carr.

Image: John Wilcox, Boston Herald

Keep This Phony ‘Senator’ Away From Our Children

For days when you find The Globies just aren’t partisan enough, try enduring an issue of the Patriot-Ledger and its flunky sister papers scattered across various towns in the region.

The Patriot-Ledger combines the establishment-backing elitism of the Boring Broadsheet with a dippy, no-questions-asked approach to covering the Bay State’s ruling class.

Today’s edition has a fantastic example, but there’s far more to this than mere media bias, it really points to the brain rot that has infected Massachusetts political life.

Watch as a Scituate mother is inspired by phony “Senator” Mark Kirk, the Friend-Of-Ted who was handed a seat in one of the sleaziest political moves in American history:

SCITUATE — U.S. Sen. Paul G. Kirk urged a group of middle schoolers to make life a learning opportunity.

Kirk, who was appointed on an interim basis to the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward M. Kennedy in August, visited the Inly Montessori School on Friday at the invitation of literature teacher Shelley Sommer. She worked for him at the John F. Kennedy Library.

“Whatever you do in life, don’t waste your time,” Kirk told about 40 students from Inly School and the Thacher Montessori School of Milton.

Kirk said he made the visit in hopes of inspiring students to volunteer and do community service work rather than be idle.

Phoebe Knox, an eighth-grader from Scituate, asked Kirk to describe the positives and negatives of being a senator.

Kirk said differences between political parties are disappointing.

“There’s not enough working together,” he said. “Working across the aisle is missing.”

Kirk told students he believes President Barack Obama is committed to a government health-care plan and that he agrees with the government bailouts to stimulate the economy.

Parents and teachers said students learned a lot from the visit.

“It’s an incredible honor that someone of that status would come to this little school,” said Holly Clifford, an Inly School parent.

So what did our children learn from Phony Senator Kirk?

— That success in life isn’t earned, it’s seized through connections to sleazy politicians.

— That “democracy” has outlived its usefulness, leading to a Senate chamber that looks more and more like the House Of Lords.

— That adults in Massachusetts have been conditioned to believe that decision-making is best left to appointed rulers, as we are not intelligent enough to think for ourselves. Accept the burden of a massive government bureaucracy and the hefty bill that comes with it (which will be covered by our children and grandchildren).

A creep like Paul Kirk has absolutely nothing of value to teach our children, can we at least keep him out of local schools?

No Heavy Lifting Required Today

… At least if you’re a talk show host, the news cycle is driving the broadcast.

Questions:

— Given Senator Robert Byrd’s (D-WV) rapidly-declining health, what is the mad rush to make the Senate appointment here in Massachusetts? Dems would still be short of the 60 votes needed for complete control of the chamber. Byrd isn’t voting and could be down to his final days.

— How does a US Senate vacancy represent an “emergency”? Because Beacon Hill corruptocrats didn’t get the necessary two-thirds approval, Governor Deval Patrick must now request emergency permission from the secretary of state to make the appointment immediate. This is a stretch to say the least.

— Why are we allowing Vicki Kennedy to name his replacement? Are we living in a banana republic?

— Even worse, a non-resident of the Bay State, Ocean State Basket Case Patches Kennedy, is also pushing the underwhelming option of naming Paul Kirk to the seat.

Giving Us The Middle Finger

Thanks, Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, for so accurately representing your family’s sentiments toward the little people of Massachusetts.

That middle finger aimed out the window during Ted K’s motorcade perfectly sums up the situation: we’ll behave any way we like, while you will continue to reward us with eternal political power, all because of our “royal” surname.

Now that the circus is over, the focus has shifted toward political fallout. Harry Reid has already admitted that Ted’s death was really about boosting the party’s fortunes in Congress, while here at home, the local media is ready to assign the seat to crooked Joe Kennedy.

Though The Globies and their apologists are ready to turn the US Senate into the House of Lords, with its former tradition of hereditary peerages, opposition researchers representing a number of candidates will be pounding away at Joe’s shady background.

For its part, talk radio has a chance to be relevant: it may not be able to revitalize a moribund GOP, but it could easily stop Joe with a bit of effort.

Also in target range: Beacon Hill’s Corruptocrats. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg’s ill-fated, clumsy “run” for the vacant Senate seat in New York helped to damage Governor Paterson’s public standing beyond repair. Ultimately, he was stuck in a lose-lose position and made a different selection.

How our legislature and governor proceed from here could absolutely imperil their respective political careers as well. Let the implosion begin!

Resisting The Body-Snatchers

Inside any American mainstream media outlet today, the internal pressure to conform to the Obamist Overload is clearly enormous. For many newspapers and Barack’s over-the-top cheerleaders at NBC, newsrooms are already so far to the left that good news judgment is now a distant memory.

To see just one of thousands of examples from recent days, take a look at Friday’s Providence Journal, which features a gaggy fluff piece on a furniture purchase by the Obamas.

But those who have the courage to stand up to this wild (and frankly divisive) excess will quickly experience a newfound appreciation from grateful readers, viewers and listeners. Certain conservative talk show hosts have already recognized the need to fight back, but we are also lucky enough to have a newspaper willing to balance its coverage as well.

In recent days, the Boston Herald has carried at least two catty anti-Palin columns and today offers a sappy love-letter to Barack written (shockingly) by one of his Harvard buddies.

But it was also willing to consider that many here at home are feeling overwhelmed by the nonstop reminders of Obama’s supposed (yet unproven) greatness. Friday’s front cover provides a rare example of fairness. In an environment where the mainstream media believes it can compel us to love him, it’s a refreshing approach.

Another welcome perspective comes from conservative talk icon Rush Limbaugh, who on Friday refused to cave into the silly notion that all Americans “want Obama to succeed”. Keeping the country safe is one thing, expecting single-party rule with no political opposition is another.

From his show:

I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, “Well, I hope he succeeds. We’ve got to give him a chance.” Why? They didn’t give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I’m not talking about search-and-destroy, but I’ve been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don’t want them to succeed.

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don’t want this to work.

So I’m thinking of replying to the guy, “Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.” (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here’s the point. Everybody thinks it’s outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, “Oh, you can’t do that.” Why not? Why is it any different, what’s new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don’t care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.” Somebody’s gotta say it.

Were the liberals out there hoping Bush succeeded or were they out there trying to destroy him before he was even inaugurated? Why do we have to play the game by their rules? Why do we have to accept the premise here that because of the historical nature of his presidency, that we want him to succeed?

With the Obamists poised to assume power, his media supporters have now shifted their focus back to hyping “threats” against their Messiah by bitter, gun-clinging whiteys. See coverage here, here, here, and here.

For those of you not yet grabbed by the body-snatchers, now is no time to get sucked into to this absurd excess.

And finally, for the remaining respectable media types reading this, here’s a tip: it might be worth your while to check out local and state offices on Tuesday. Apparently, some workers may be planning to take a fun-filled four-day weekend culminating in local Obamist celebrations on Tuesday.

Nice work if you can get it!

Department Of Virus Promotion

My anti-virus software sent a red alert upon entering the Commonwealth of Mass Bureau of Environmental Health’s website.

The program detected and isolated a virus the site attempted to use to infect my computer.

At least I know the software is working correctly, but what the hell is going at the BEH?

Another Bay State Headache

There’s just no other way to say it: jury duty in Massachusetts is a major pain in the arse.

It’s a frequent discussion topic in my neck of the woods, with frustrated locals amazed at the frequency of summonses and remote locations to which one must report.

Despite a large and shiny new courthouse within 30 minutes of here, just about everyone seems to be sent to locations an hour away or more: Brockton, New Bedford, Boston and elsewhere.

Most people I know around here would rather take a long ride with Ted Kennedy than visit scenic Brockton for any reason.

County lines don’t seem to matter and it takes one hell of an excuse to get moved to the nearby venue. Are Brockton residents sent this way for their duty? That wouldn’t surprise me one bit in Massachusetts, The Endless-Hassle State.

One person here had to ask for her “local” jury duty in Brockton to be postponed because the feds had also tagged her for the same purpose in Boston, scheduled for the same day!

According to the AP, there’s a reason for this: the Bay State is unnecessarily calling many more to serve than is actually needed.

All of this unnecessary jury duty is costing the commonwealth millions, not to mention the hassle of shifting one’s schedule around for what often turns out to be no reason at all.

I’ve actually served on a jury only once, in a silly, only-in-California trial loaded with fringe left-wing politics. A group of self-described “homeless-by-choice” activists set up a makeshift soup line in the city center, intentionally refusing to get the necessary health permits, hoping for a showdown with the police.

The resulting trial was of the one person to fight the charges, their “chef”. Between a hippie defense attorney who was later disbarred and miserable prosecutors wondering how they could have been foolish enough to settle in such a nutty city, it was a farce.

I’d just begun college and still had liberal leanings. Within a few years, I was happily working on Republican campaigns.

There’s simply no way to describe the derangement that is a part of daily life in California, yet almost impossible to imagine occurring anywhere else.

UPDATE: speaking of juries!