Herald on Tim Cahill Mistrial: Not Exactly Martha C(r)oakley

December 13, 2012

Not only did the prosecution of former Massachusetts Treasury Secretary Tim Cahill on ethics violations end in a hung jury, so did the Boston Herald’s coverage of the verdict.

From Hillary Chabot’s column today:

Defeat seen as big blow for Martha Coakley

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s stunning courtroom defeat in the Tim Cahill trial dealt another blow to her political career — spoiling her hopes of rebooting her image and marring her chances for a gubernatorial run, political observers said yesterday.

“Anyone eying the field for the ‘14 gubernatorial race certainly is no less enthusiastic about doing it after today,” said Dan Cence, a key state Democratic operative, after Coakley failed to net a corruption conviction against the former state treasurer.

Added Democratic consultant Mary Ann Marsh: “Obviously it’s a loss for her in that some people will think that while people are sick of politics as usual, this jury thought she was overreaching.”

 

Then again, from the Herald’s editorial on the trial:

Far from innocence

This was never going to be a slam dunk. This case against ex-Treasurer Tim Cahill was always tricky to understand, a complex stew of politics and of governing. And then there was the “but everybody does it” defense.

And so at the end of the day we can’t fault jurors who wrestled for seven days with weeks of testimony for not being able to reach a verdict. Nor should anyone fault Attorney General Martha Coakley for bringing the case in the first place — although there will be many who fall into that camp.

 

Yeah – like the Herald’s own Hillary Chabot.

Not to get technical about it.

Bottom line: Score one for the separation of news pages and editorials.

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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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