Massachusetts: A Case Study in Treachery And Backstabbing...

This is amazing. Simply amazing.

Ex-Mass. treasurer facing corruption charges

BOSTON—Former state treasurer Timothy Cahill was indicted Monday on charges he used taxpayer-funded ads promoting the state lottery to boost his unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2010.

The indictments, returned by a Suffolk County grand jury, were announced by Attorney General Martha Coakley, who said Cahill abused his position of trust and put his political ambitions ahead of the public interest.

On its face, this is nothing shocking. This is Massachusetts, remember, where we have had three out of the last three Speakers of the House removed from office in cuffs, been indicted, and convicted of various and sundry illegalities. We're ahead of Illinois on numbers alone, although they have booted two Governors... A MA politician getting hit with corruption charges is about as shocking as a minor in possession charge at a frat party.

However...

Cahill ran in 2010 exclusively to siphon votes away from Charlie Baker - if he hadn't run as an independent, it's quite probable that Charlie Baker would have won the general election. Patrick received 1,112,283 votes to Baker's 964,866 - and Cahill's 184,395 would have put Baker over the top easily. Granted, it's not a guarantee that Baker would have gotten all of Cahill's votes, but given that Cahill campaigned exclusively against Baker and attempted - pathetically - to paint himself as a Tea Party-type candidate, it's not too far-fetched.

So, basically, Cahill ran as a favor to Cadillac Deval and *still* got the shiv in the back. He threw himself on his sword to protect the party, and is getting kicked while he's down because of it. There is absolutely no doubt he was aiming at right-leaning voters - just watch this ad and tell me that "rolling back the sales tax" and "tax breaks for small businesses" were aimed at Patrick supporters. He made Baker fight a two-pronged battle, and got Deval Patrick re-elected (and "Crash" Murray his shot at wrecking a state-owned car)...

And the thanks that Cahill gets is an indictment for misusing his position as treasurer to run ads for the lottery that allegedly support his run for governor... It's positively stunning here - Cahill ran to save Patrick from getting tossed due to his pathetic tenure as governor, and is now being not tossed under the bus, but ground under it. He's facing corruption charges which will haunt him in any future endeavor, a smear campaign that will doom his career in politics, all for being a good soldier and taking one for the team.

It's hard to decide what the rationale is for going after Cahill at this point. It's either a viciously cold vindictive streak in Patrick - the simple thought that Cahill would dare run against him - or else it's Patrick trying to appear as though Cahill didn't run simply to prop up Patrick's re-election bid. In any case, this is the kind of thing that should be a case study on why you do not - under any circumstance - trust a Massachusetts politician.

(Case in point: Scott Brown - thanks for hacking HR 822, Scott. I think about that every time you send me a "please donate to my campaign" message. Right as I toss it into the circular file. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I guess I deserved it, didn't I?)

Tim Cahill, on the other hand, is going to need a lot of scrubbing to get the bus tire marks off his back...

That is all.

Another dispatch from...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)