Mr Goldman Doesn't Do Analysis

For John, BLUF:  The Sun's Mr Goldman is a blowhard.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

I suspect I use the term "Hack" too little in describing some of those engaged in politics.  My computer dictionary says;

a writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work: [ as modifier ] : a hack scriptwriter.
• a person who does dull routine work.

But, once in a while Mr Michael Goldman's column in the Sunday edition of The [Lowell] Sun makes we think that he is a Democratic operative, vice a columnist, and a hack.  This last Sunday was an example.

Mr Goldman starts out by slamming Senate Candidate Gabriel Gomez for saying that our Commonwealth "doesn't need limits on the availability and size of ammo clips".  A whole lot of angst and no analysis.  Where are his facts?  He has none.  So much for that.

Then Mr Goldman jumps on the Patriot Act and those who voted for it.  Remember, it passed the House of Representatives by 357 to 66 (423 votes out of 435 possible).  It passed the US Senate, 98 to 1.  So, while Mr Goldman may think they "voted in a panic", it was a very large number of them.  On the other hand, Mr Goldman would appear to be clueless if he thinks reading other peoples' mail hasn't been going on for a long time, notwithstanding US Secretary of State Henry L Stimson stating "Gentlemen don't read each other's mail."  This was about withdrawing Department of State money from funding of the US Black Chamber operation.  In a way, the Patriot Act is a continuation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), introduced in 1977 by Senator Edward Kennedy and cosponsored by Senators Birch Bayh, James O. Eastland, Jake Garn, Walter Huddleston, Daniel Inouye, Charles Mathias, John L. McClellan, Gaylord Nelson, and Strom Thurmond.♠

There is something about Rutgers University, which is a New Jersey issue, but it was a chance to take a swipe at Governor Christie.  Swipe away.

Then Mr Goldman is on to racism.  The problem is again a lack of asking the second and third level questions.  Yes, it is a bad thing that police are arresting Black people in Brooklyn and Manhattan ten times as often for marijuana possession than they are white people Caucasians.  What are the odds that if you sliced the statistics another way it would be a class issue rather than a race issue?  There are problems that need to be fixed, but if we focus on the wrong aspects we will not fix those problems and perhaps make them worse.  Thanks for not helping us here, Mr Goldman.

Then there is Mr Goldman's putdown of candidate Gabriel Gomez and his polling numbers.  I figure he is correct to call into question the polling by Republicans.  On the other hand, I am finding folks who are interested in Gomez bumper stickers and lawn signs.  Not everyone is happy with Mr Markey as a candidate.  Damon Runyon would tell us that Mr Markey is the way to bet.  The disruptive thinkers out there are always looking for a way to shake up the market.  Mr Goldman wants things to continue the way they are going, no matter the fact that they are not going well.  Good luck to you Mr Gomez.

As for the idea that a member of the General Court might ask for reports seems beyond belief to Mr Goldman.  One suspects he just doesn't want his fellow hacks to be disturbed by providing information on what is going on.

Then there is the praise of Representative Niki Tsongas.  The point about "patent trolls" is good, although it should have asked why she was not also doing something about our Mickey Mouse copyright laws.  Is the absence some sort of deference to Editor Jim Campanini or some other entity?

But, the issue that I think is also a sign of an inability to do analysis is his comment about Ms Tsongas and the issue of sexual assaults in the military.  Mr Goldman makes no mention of the fact that more military men report being sexually assaulted or harassed than military women in our uniformed members.  He doesn't answer the interesting question of if he thinks his daughter would be safer from sexual harassment or sexual assault away in some college environment than she would be in the US military.  The military does need to change, but the fact is that, like with race relations, the military will be in the forefront in changing how the nation deals with these problems.  This paragraph is just a way of throwing praise at Ms Tsongas, not a serious comment on the issues involved.

As for his comment on the trial of Mr James "Whitey" Bulger, he is right on the mark.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  This was a reaction to the revelations of the Church Committee findings based upon an examination of the Nixon era, although the more cynical might suggest that President Nixon was just the end of a line that passed back through LBJ to, who?