Diaries to rec on Kos & BMG (por favor)

[beachmom]

Kerry in New Bedford.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/6/223310/5786/574/563879

http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=12413

[wisteria]

1. I made a visit to Kos to reccommend. n/t

[beachmom]

3. Thank you, Wisteria!

[beachmom]

2. Typical "left handed compliment" op-ed in Mass.:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/NEWS/808070366/-1/TOWN1001

Infuriating to read in total, so I'll just post the nicer parts:

I don't blame the mayor for being good to Sen. Kerry. Whatever you may say about him, the senator, along with Fourth District Congressman Barney Frank, has been a big supporter of cities like New Bedford on housing issues. In fact, he's been one of the most reliable Senate backers of the mortgage bailout bill that passed that week.

Though some have criticized the housing foreclosure legislation as an unwise rescue of borrowers and lenders who made bad decisions, in reality it's more like a neighborhood rescue bill for struggling post-industrial cities like New Bedford.

Without it, by the end of 2008 you would have had more than 400 foreclosures, with some troubled neighborhoods like the Bullard Street area in the near North End facing whole streets of boarded-up houses.

Many of those houses would be quickly stripped by thieves of their valuable copper, and in more than a few cases, set on fire before they could be foreclosed, dragging down entire streets along with them.

In fact, Mayor Lang is so worried about the city's ability to pay to demolish the tenements that have been burned out already that he's looking for a way for the city to get in the small-scale demolition business.

Sen. Kerry, as awkward a politician as he remains after all these years, is more than competent on housing policy that's in New Bedford's interest. And he's usually on the right side of all the progressive issues that are in the interest of the state's blue-collar cities.

So Sen. Kerry, the mayor, Pat Sullivan and Tom Gleason (the director of the state housing finance agency) all toured the boarded-up houses of Bullard Street.

None of these men actually needs to do that. Each already knows all about the foreclosure issues, and they know what's happened to inner city neighborhoods because of the sub-prime mortgage mess.

Sorry, bozo, he's not awkward.

He cited measures that earmark billions in tax-exempt bonds and billions more for non-profit housing agencies. Both actions are designed to protect low-income home owners and their neighborhoods and keep bottom-feeding slum lords from snapping up most of the tenements again.

Now I don't mean to say that Long John didn't have a lot to do with some provisions in the federal housing bill that, unlike the Republican ideas, really do sound like good ideas.

And I'm not even saying that even the post-housing tour, 10-minute campaign event at the Cafe Arpeggio that the senator staged to nod his head to the obvious real purpose of his visit bothered me that much.

I understand why he did it. And I understand why the mayor did it.

I just think it would be nice if political guys like John Kerry and Scott Lang didn't have to go through all this political posturing for events like this.

How DARE those politicians up for re-election actually APPEAR in cities and towns to talk about legislation they have gotten passed? I mean, this is hilarious. Before, it was, "oh, John, where have you been". Now it's, "oh, what are you doing here, just running for re-election. Well, why don't you just ADMIT it".

Ugh. Weird state. Massachusetts.

P.S. -- they front paged my BMG diary, but it has descended into a discussion of getting rid of the minimum wage (WTF?) and why hasn't Kerry debated EOR yet?