WHEN STEVE LYNCH paints congressional Republicans as an extremist band of ideologues detached from reality it carries a bit more weight. The one-time Southie ironworker is nobody’s idea of a lefty bomb thrower. The Progressive Punch scorecard rates him the 174th most progressive House member out of 213 Democrats, the lowest rating among the state’s eight-member House delegation.
That gave his remarks some extra, well, punch, when Lynch addressed a big Democratic Party breakfast last Saturday in Quincy honoring late party chair John Walsh.
“Look, I’m a moderate Democrat,” Lynch said. “I’ve always tried to build bridges and work together. But right now, we don’t even have a shared reality with the Republicans that we have in the House of Representatives. We have crazy people, people who believe in Jewish space lasers.” Lynch called Vladimir Putin a “gangster who invaded a democratic nation,” while ripping Republicans for balking at providing additional aid to Ukraine. “That is shameful when you think about our fathers and mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers, and what they stood for and what they sacrificed for,” he said.
Lynch said the upcoming election is “saving America, about preserving who we are,” and made it clear that all roads in Republican thinking these days start in one place. “Trump has not hidden his intentions here,” Lynch said. “And he’s got a coterie of quislings who betray their own country for these crazy ideas.”
Interpreting will of the voters
Over the past two weeks, Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell have focused on bringing Milton in line on the MBTA Communities law by withholding grant funds or securing a court injunction. They haven’t said much about the town’s 54-46 vote against its original zoning plan, and what that means.
At the town level, however, that’s been a major topic of discussion. Supporters of the original zoning plan say the vote was just a rejection of that plan and that plan only, so the next course of business is to come up with a new plan.
Opponents of the original plan, however, say the vote didn’t just reflect opposition to that specific plan but broader opposition to the law itself. Many of them, for example, view the vote as a mandate to pursue reclassification, so Milton wouldn’t be designated a rapid transit community subject to the most stringent pro-housing zoning.
These different perceptions of the vote are making it difficult for town representatives to move forward. That could become a big issue in the days and weeks ahead.
Salacious storyline or part of the job?
The Governor’s Council took heat in some media circles for largely ignoring what one councilor called “the elephant in the room” – Supreme Judicial Court nominee Gabrielle Wolohojian’s past romantic relationship with Gov. Maura Healey.
When Wolohojian was confirmed Wednesday on a 6-1 vote, Councilor Paul DePalo of Worcester took umbrage at the criticism, suggesting the focus should be on the judge’s excellent credentials and not a “salacious storyline.” He added: “I don’t want the government concerning itself with a woman’s past – emphasis on past relationship choices. And I’d ask, when do we stop policing a woman’s body?”
Mara Dolan, a veteran Democratic Party player making her second run at replacing Marilyn Petitto Devaney on the council, offered a different take. Dolan said she is confident Wolohojian will be a fine judge, but thought it was fair to press her on when she thought she might recuse herself on cases involving the governor.
“If you don’t want to ask hard questions, then don’t be a governor’s councilor,” she said. “It’s part of the job.”