In fact, HJ, with gansters running Logan Airport I myself find it too dangerous- recently when I fly, I've been flying out of New Hampshire!
Latest adventure of union pal may sideswipe GOP
by Howie Carr
Friday, January 18, 2002
There is only one question left this morning amongst what little remains of the Massachusetts Republican Party.
Will George Cashman stand up?
My guess is no.
But now we certainly know why U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan was a no-show at the State of the State address the other night.
He was putting the finishing touches on the indictment of the reputed gangster acting Gov. Jane Swift until yesterday steadfastly refused to fire from the Massport board of directors.
For his long and inglorious service to the state GOP, Cashman did receive one courtesy. He was allowed to surrender. That's more than the feds did for the high sheriff of Middlesex County, Honest John McGonigle. By the way, after he got out of the slammer, would you care to guess which indicted pro-Swift gangster put Honest John on a Local 25 movie crew?
Before yesterday, the toll-crazed Swift was trailing a 59-inch retread Clintonite by 25 points in the latest polls. Then, after announcing her plans in the morning to cut payouts to Lottery players - an obsessed group of people with very long memories - she sees one of her top liegemen go down on a 179-count racketeering rap.
This is serious stuff. He may lose his Massport charge card. He's so worried he took off his pinky ring before pleading not guilty at the courthouse.
And the charges against Cashman and his mob got such positive play on the TV too. First Chyron: ``Truck hijackings.'' Second Chyron: ``Tied to Whitey Bulger.''
Cut to Jane Swift doing the humina-humina:
``I would like for him to resign and I'm hopeful he will do that.''
So far so good. But at this point, the wheels begin to fall off.
``Uh if that is not the case then I'll follow my legal counsel's instructions which tell me that um he, based on the indictment alone, because I don't have the information the U.S. attorney has and what underlies that indictment that we can move for his suspension.''
Mayday, mayday. Abandon ship. Does anyone have Mitt Romney's telephone number.
Usually you have to wait for an administration to officially go out of business before the indictments come down. Not this year. The slime is oozing so fast out of the Corner Office that a Republican prosecutor appointed by George Bush indicted the close personal friend of the former Republican governor who was appointed ambassador to Canada by Bush.
It's a small world, isn't it. As for Cashman, he does have one ace in the hole. He can trade up.
Mr. Cashman, did you pay off, or cause to be paid off, certain gambling debts incurred by a current or former elected official of the commonwealth of Massachusetts?
Argeo Paul Cellucci could not be reached for comment.
Did you see the videotape on TV last night of Cellucci declaring victory on election night 1998? Cashman was standing closer to him than Jane Swift. Weld-Cellucci-Swift spent a decade looking the other way, as this vicious labor thug conducted a reign of terror, surrounded by hit men from Winter Hill and tubby two-bit grifters nicknamed ``the Pig.''
And as he paid for everything with his Massport credit card, Jane Swift kept her eyes tightly shut.
Besides, who has time for getting rid of racketeers when you're busy firing two honest businessmen from the Mass. Turnpike board for doing something really evil - standing up for taxpayers.
Here's Jane Swift's philosophy. Jordan Levy and Christy Mihos, bad. George Cashman, good. Exposing Big Dig corruption, bad. Embezzling union pension funds, good.
She flat-out refused to lift a finger to do anything about this Cashman hoodlum, who according to sources once ordered the beating of a woman - a woman, Jane! Like Mihos and Jordan, she'd committed an unpardonable sin. She ran a movie-lot canteen truck that the GOP-leaning gangsters wanted to turn over to a crooked ex-cop. Cashman told his thugs, put a rocket in her pocket. And the Republicans reappointed him to the Massport board.
These are classic Teamster indictments. Ghost employees, stealing from the pension fund, truck hijackings. Swift's buddies are nailed cold for everything but setting up Peter Blute on the Nauticus booze cruise.
The recurring question comes, will Cashman stand up? |
