Kiss-fil-A Edition

August 4, 2012

Yesterday was “Same-Sex Kiss Day” at your local Chick-fil-A (which currently holds the franchise on the gay marriage rumpus), and coverage in the Boston dailies ran counter to form.

The Boston Globe played it, er, straight:

Another protest for Chick-fil-A

Supporters of gay rights hold kiss-in at mall

BURLINGTON — More than a dozen gay rights supporters joined the national debate surrounding Chick-fil-A on Friday, holding a kiss-in at the restaurant in Burlington Mall to protest the fast-food chain’s donations to antigay groups.

About 15 men and women filed into the mall’s food court shortly before 8 p.m. and stood outside Chick-fil-A, kissing each other, taking pictures, and chanting. The Massachusetts effort, organized by Join the Impact MA and GetEQUAL MA, was part of a national kiss-in campaign on Friday galvanized around the Chick-fil-A controversy.

“I think the greater point is to send a message to the CEOs of companies and politicians that it’s not OK to send money to fight against our rights,” said Keegan O’Brien, 23, of Dorchester. O’Brien, a University of Massachusetts Boston student, led parts of the protest at the mall Friday night.

And etc.

Interestingly, there was no photo with the Globe story – not in print, not on the web.

But the Herald came through with flying colors, photos included:

Protesters to Chick-fil-A: Read our lips

The Burlington Mall food court erupted in applause after about a dozen gay rights advocates descended on Chick-fil-A last night to lock lips for a national “Same-Sex Kiss Day,” a kiss-in to protest the millions of dollars they say the company has donated to anti-gay groups.

The protesters — who duct-taped signs to their T-shirts reading “Chick-fil-A funds hate groups” — were promptly escorted out by mall security. The activist smoochers marched out of the mall, handing out coupons for a “free side of bigotry” and chanting “Hey hey, ho ho! Homophobia has got to go!” as dozens of curious mall patrons followed behind snapping photos with their cellphones.

“When you are purchasing these chicken sandwiches, it’s going to these groups that promote hate against gays and lesbians,” said Sasha Kaufmann of GetEqual Massachusetts, who locked lips with fellow activist Kay Sweeney, 24, of Jamaica Plain for several minutes in front of the fast-food chain.

That’s the spirit, eh?

Herald readers, however, weren’t quite as affectionate.

 

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Tom Menino Good News/Bad News Edition

August 3, 2012

The Boston Herald wins today’s local news bakeoff with a Page One story about Tom Menino.

The good news? He might run for  another term.

The bad news? He might run for another term.

Via the Newseum’s Today’s Front Pages:

(Oddly, the column by Joe Battenfeld not only doesn’t lead the Herald’s web site, it’s all but buried on the News & Opinion page, the caboose to a Menino/Chick-fil-A piece.)

Regardless, here’s the gist of it:

[C]lose Menino associates and other City Hall watchers say they believe the mayor will give it another go in 2013, despite a host of health problems. His fundraising reports suggest he is getting ready to run again.

The mayor has raised $225,315 in just the first seven months of the year, and has nearly $600,000 in the bank, dwarfing the fundraising of even statewide office holders who are girding to run for governor.

“All signs point to him running again,” said Hyde Park City Councilor Rob Consalvo, a close Menino ally. “The guy is working harder than ever.”

Yes, well, that’s part of the problem. Another run – likely unopposed since his challengers get not just beaten, but vaporized – would produce a knee-buckling sixth term for Menino’s, who’s successfully turned Boston into the political equivalent of Mayberry.

Except he’s not likable.

UPDATE: See the column’s Comments section for details.

 

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Elizabeth Warren’s China Sin-drome Edition

August 2, 2012

Earlier this week, U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren (D-Hardhat) released this TV commercial, which is getting heavy rotation of the local Olympics broadcast:

At the time, the spot received glancing mention in the Boston Globe, while  Garrett Quinn gave it a whack on boston.com:

In Elizabeth Warren’s new ad she trots out Tom Friedman’s favorite thing in the whole wide world: Chinese spending on infrastructure. Warren claims that we just don’t spend enough on infrastructure anymore and somehow that makes us inferior to them. The gushing over China by the likes of Warren and America’s just-do-something authoritarian of record, Friedman, is upsetting because it generally ignores the means of how they do things. People who love China tend to complain about the sausage making in our democratic system but they rarely criticize the bulldozing in the Chinese system.

Now along comes the Boston Herald editorial page, a little late to the party, but in high dudgeon to make up for it:

Warren’s China envy

Memo to Elizabeth Warren: How did China — one of the world’s most repressive regimes — get to be your role model? Explain.

The Democratic Senate candidate is airing a new TV ad in which she says, “We’ve got bridges and roads in need of repair and thousands of people in need of work. Why aren’t we rebuilding America? Our competitors are putting people to work, building a future. China invests 9 percent of its GDP in infrastructure. America? We’re at just 2.4 percent. We can do better.”

Well, of course, we could, but see here there’s this little thing called the rule of law, and the Constitution and all that other messy stuff that makes this nation the kind of place most of us would rather live in than China — potholes and all.

The editorial ends this way: “Warren’s ad also coincides with a new report that shows the federal deficit is higher today than at any time since the end of World War II and that for every second of 2011 the federal government spent $41,210 it didn’t have. Warren’s China envy notwithstanding, isn’t that enough?”

Rule of thumb: Never say we should emulate China, unless you’re talking about men’s gymnastics.

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Elizabeth Warren Saves Capitalism Edition

August 1, 2012

U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren (D-Capital!) kicked off her Wall Street waltz with this quote in National Journal, according to Hillary Chabot in yesterday’s Boston Herald:

“Every now and again, I meet with someone who’s been very successful on Wall Street, who says, ‘I want to support your campaign because I believe you will save capitalism. I believe in capitalism, and I understand there have to be rules. And they have to be consistently enforced.’ ”

That earned Warren this front page photo in the feisty local tabloid:

It also generated this moonwalk by Warren shortly thereafter, as the Herald reported in a follow-up:

“I passed along a comment that was over the top, and it was silly for me to do so,” she told the Herald at a Somerville campaign stop.

Ya think?

Then again, ya think the Herald would leave it at that?

You should live so long. The Herald had not one, but two columns today (conveniently side-by-side) whacking Warren for the walkback, among other things.

First up, Joe Battenfeld:

Warren’s cop-out may represent a turning point in her campaign, because it’s the first time she’s actually disavowed something in such record speed.

But don’t expect Warren to go all silly on us. She is still claiming American Indian heritage, and that she created “much of the intellectual foundation” for Occupy. And she still claims she’s the sheriff who cleaned up Wall Street, despite what a few “over the top” executives may say.

Next up, Howie Carr:

How does Granny Warren do it? I mean, do you know how much time it must take, saving capitalism and simultaneously providing the “intellectual foundations” of Occupy Wall Street, which wanted to destroy capitalism?

Talk about keeping balls in the air. She’s both an Indian and “Okie to her toes.”

Do we detect a pattern emerging here? Or is the Herald just running out of dead horses to beat?

You can choose “Both of the Above” if you like.

P.S. The Boston Globe, not surprisingly, hasn’t had a word to say about this matter.

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