Politics/Good Old Boys/Downtown Middleboro

The Republicans, a party on the Massachusetts endangered species list, are making waves on Beacon Hill for the Patrick administration to be accountable for information regarding the failed Health Connector web site. The cost for this latest administration boondoggle is somewhere in the range of 500M and counting. I have taught dogs to roll over and that is exactly what the fraudulent and self-proclaimed “Party of The People,” otherwise known as Democrats have done.

You closely examine three states in particular that are overwhelming one party – Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Michigan and the level of patronage, overbearing taxes, excessive welfare handouts and decades of mis-management become uncontested. All three are Democrat strongholds. Connect the dots.

I am truly amazed at the lack of determination by the national media to hold Elizabeth Warren’s toes to the verbal flames after her use of a faux Native American background to move up into the very visible public limelight. That she used the race card to her advantage is one issue, but who, without a fraudulent race card to play, lost out to Warren in advancement? Warren can cure cancer, balance the budget and give us all internal life and I have more respect for a cockroach I find skittering around my domicile.

Cruz and Rubio have made some headlines for the Republicans in their own quixotic search for a viable “minority” candidate. In this case the ever shifting Hispanic vote is the key target. Cruz, in particular, has the blessings on the Tea Party – or is it not a party? Strange group that managed to get off a message of fiduciary sensibilities and into the political melting pot of the far right

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At one time the Republicans were the party that attracted the burgeoning Black political forces in this country. Blacks have now shifted from “The Party of Lincoln” to the “Party of Free Stuff.” That comment, no doubt, is considered “racist” by that cesspool of PC loonies that have so infiltrated the Democrats and, to avoid negativity, have pronounced themselves, in extraordinary hubris fashion – “Progressives.”

Middleboro continues to shift in the political winds as more and more folks have ventured further south seeking cheaper home prices. My wife – The Lovely Cynthia – and I were such folks over forty years ago. The house we looked at in Hingham was $58,000 and the same one in Middleboro -exactly the same – came in at $29,500. But back to politics.

George Wallace – a true and unreconstructed racist – made his first New England campaign stop in Middleboro. I know since I was there to see the little troll in person. Ross Perot carried Middleboro. Even Romney did. There is significant southern connections to Middleboro from migration patterns that occurred a hundred or so years ago. Those and a smattering of Yankee types cry out “Self-reliant conservatives.” That is changing.

Politically Middleboro is a non-participatory community. A Little League baseball game will attract a higher turnout than a town meeting. IMO the town still has a well-entrenched “Good old boy” network that, depending on point of view, is either a blessing or a disaster. Nothing wrong with experienced hands at the tiller as long as the first mate (John Q) keeps a watching eye

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In Middleboro the GOB (Good Old Boys) are not a mirror image of the state of city brand. Few of the GOB’s will be in that well known area of “Hacks,” that breed that is totally and 100% depended upon the legacy of patronage. In Middleboro, and a surprising number of similar communities, the GOB’s actually are employed in the DPS (Dreaded Private Sector) which gives them a unique vantage point where institutional entitlement is removed from the equation.

What I have noticed about the GOB factor is sometimes entry – do they have a Skull and Crossbones type ceremony? – is having a long bloodline locally. A real generational thing where my great-grandpappe knew your great grandpappe, similar to what separated the nouveau rich from the long entrenched money class back about 100 years ago. Since, from my experience here and elsewhere, some GOB’s consider themselves local royalty, maybe a better comparison would be newly minted European faux royalty versus the thousand year old brand.

No matter what I certainly have no entry status nor would I ever desire it. I will keep my paternalistic instincts to family.

I have often viewed Middleboro as a cultural desert. In the past the occasional bright light has surfaced such as “That’s Entertainment” and a local theater group. Now even that little piece of Hooterville that my non-Middleboro friends poke me about is disappearing. Alley Theater has brought high quality entertainment to the masses – if the masses care to reach out. Few towns have such a venue.

What has caught my ever critical attention is, to me, the still somewhat floundering downtown area. Middleboro has no real strip mall blight to speak of. No Old Colony Place. That should result in a more prosperous downtown. Why is that missing?

One of the key factors downtown is accessibility. Seems that a healthy 500 foot walk is out of the question for most. I actually will go to the post office and stroll downtown to the Bank Building – will it be the Bakery Building? From there I will cross the street and continue up to Benny’s. There are a few stores with resale items and/or antiques that will get my attention. A café for a late morning snack. It isn’t much, but it has improved and has what I never really used in life – P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L.

What is the factor for supporting downtown?

The feel good attempts such as Crazy Days or Daze or whatever are synthetic. They may bring in the occasional out of town drifter, but I don’t see it. What I do see is personal purchasing commitment. Can a small business downtown get my business? If it is just price they will not – except for the chain store Benny’s. However comes that word commitment.

Am I willing to spend a few dollars more? If a local can sell it to me for $10 I feel more comfortable buying it that wandering north or south (wasting time and fuel) to get the same item for $8.99. If I need a quick lunch is it the Flatiron or Milano? Certainly as viable an option as going to the pick a chain sprawl on route 44 in Taunton. Even Boston Tavern is a better option.

So, to my insular mind, buying local has a point since the business is invariable operated by a local who will employ a local (hopefully). But that parking!

Now Somerville is under executive order of the mayor not to have cops lock up illegals. Amazing!

Looks like the full court press is on for a new cop shop. The local boards have all fallen in line and the local paper has been running letters from those who either consider themselves "local players" or hope to be. All that blather is enough to almost convince me of a no vote.