The Uncommonwealth

Unless, of course, their parents didn't kick in to his campaign....

or... "ALL HAIL GLORIOUS NEW ERA OF THE BOY WONDER"

Here's to you, real newspapers of genius on Morrissey Boulevard...

Other newspapers might want to tone down the 96-point type when it comes to an obscure management personnel move involving a team that you have partial ownership of...

but not you, Boston Globe, where you wear your conflicts of interests as proudly as the denizens of Quincy, Mass. sports bars wear their jorts: "I REALLY LOVE YOUR JORTS - I mean, conflicts.."

Here's to you Mr. Journalism Conflicts of Interest Guy!

According to Preacher Hillary, when the majority of the voters in the majority of the congressional districts in the U.S. vote for Republicans, it conjures up dark memories of... plantations? Plantains?

Cimini, perhaps cutting to the crux of why Edwards' shortcomings, while obvious to fans, rarely made it into print:

"At times, Edwards' behavior galled the organization. He never fined players for being overweight, he let Ty Law miss practices and do what he wanted, he never nudged injured players back to the practice field, he never improved his clock management and he spent an inordinate amount of time with the media. He often schmoozed for an hour after his news conferences. Good for us, but his superiors felt he was neglecting his other duties."

In a related development, Boston Herald scribe-turned-talk-show-maven Michael Felger-Underwood takes a few cheap shots at Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini as soon as it becomes clear that Mangini is headed for Jetsville. Does anyone else detect the aroma of sour grapes?

New York daily News Jets beat writer Rich Cimini, who never had a discouraging word to say about Herm Edwards' abysmal performance during his squalid tenure with the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, waits about 10 seconds after Herm's plane lifts off from LaGuardia to weigh in with a much-overdue rip job.

This shouldn't be a surprise given that Cimini spent two-thirds of the season taking cheap shots at departed Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett rather than acknowledging the more relevant shortcomings of the tactically-challenged Edwards.

By Adam Gorlick, Associated Press Writer | January 6, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --A former state lawmaker facing federal corruption charges has started working as a political consultant and Beacon Hill lobbyist.

Christopher Asselin said he is a partner at The Global Group and is trying to attract clients.

The former Democratic representative from Springfield was voted out of office in 2004 after pleading innocent to a slew of corruption charges that sprouted from an ongoing federal public corruption probe in the state's third-largest city.

Federal prosecutors say Asselin and his family bilked more than $1 million from the Springfield Housing Authority, which was run for 34 years by Asselin's father, Raymond Asselin Sr.

Christopher Asselin's parents, wife, four siblings and a sister-in-law are among 13 people charged in the scandal.

Asked how he expects to be an effective lobbyist given his legal troubles, Asselin told The Associated Press: "I have to earn a living and provide food for my family."

AG calls DA investigating deaths of contributor's daughters

By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | January 4, 2006

BOSTON --Attorney General Tom Reilly called the district attorney investigating a car crash that killed the daughters of a campaign contributor, telling him he did not have to release reports revealing whether the teenagers were drunk at the time.

In the aftermath of the call from Reilly, Worcester District Attorney John Conte has not provided copies of the girls' autopsy reports to local police, hampering their efforts to file charges of providing alcohol to a minor.

"I was certainly surprised by the involvement of the AG's office," Northborough Police Chief Mark Leahy told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They don't ordinarily get involved in these matters."