Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. President Nixon is roaming the halls of the White House in the midst of the Watergate scandal when he is visited by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. “How can I get the people on my side?” the beleaguered president asks the apparition. Lincoln replies, “Go to the theater.”
It’s an old joke, told about many a president by political opponents, usually to a like-minded group. But rarely is it said about a president in a public forum and by someone in law enforcement. It is, after all, suggesting an assassination can heal the country, joke or no joke.
That’s the tempest Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald finds himself in with the denunciations flying at him more from around the country than in his county fiefdom. McDonald told the joke about President Obama at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast for Republicans in Scituate on Sunday and the attention it is getting borders on viral. It’s the kind of joke that might even prompt a call from the Secret Service. McDonald is defending the joke, saying Democrats have said similar jokes about Republican presidents.
But the joke – and is it time to maybe rethink these breakfasts where unfunny pols trying to be humorous are just becoming painful and embarrassing? – is no joke in this day and age of heightened vitriol almost bordering on hate toward the country’s first black president by political opponents and the focus on gun violence in our culture. The fact that it was said in public by a law enforcement official makes it even more alarming to many.
What’s interesting is how it’s making the rounds. McDonald’s attempt to channel a comedian was first reported in the day-of online story in the Globe. But by the time the online site updated the next day with the print edition story, the anecdote was nowhere to be found. But the liberal blog Blue Mass Group called attention to it and then it got posted on the left-leaning website thinkprogress.com, then Wonkette, and before you know, McDonald’s Facebook page was getting inundated with messages to step down from around the country, with the nicest ones making crude references to his girth and others suggesting painful ways he should die. The page has been disabled and the string removed but it may be subject to the public records law because it is McDonald’s official site.
It’s noteworthy that the Globe has done nothing about the joke or the fallout since that story. Neither has the Herald, for which McDonald’s paid political consultant, Holly Robichaud, pens a regular column under the banner “Lone Republican.”
McDonald tells Fox 25 that he never used the words “assassinate” or “kill”, though you have to wonder if he meant Obama should see a play and relax. McDonald told the Ledger he has nothing to apologize for. The high sheriff says it’s no different than when Democrats suggested then-President Bush go hunting with Dick Cheney after the vice president shot a hunting companion.
But there are a number of differences that McDonald misses, first being that Cheney’s incident was an accident, not an assassination, and the victim didn’t die. What McDonald also misses is how this is being seen around the country. With no media attention, McDonald probably gets a few laughs and just as many groans, but it’s Plymouth County, where Republicans generally fare better than in the rest of the state. Outside the county, well, you just can’t joke about killing a sitting president, no matter how unpopular he is with your base. And in this day and age, nothing is overlooked. Or disappears from view.
McDonald has a good chance to weather this storm since he’s not up for reelection until 2016. But it’s a good bet that, repentant or not, he’ll learn not to shoot his mouth off about presidential assassinations. And maybe he’ll forego trying to be funny at St. Patrick’s Day breakfasts. And wouldn’t that be a welcome example for everyone?
–JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe approved a new casino compact with the state that would pay Massachusetts 17 percent of gambling revenue.
State housing officials gave conditional approval to a one-year contract for state Rep. David Sullivan to become executive director of the Fall River Housing Authority.
Middlesex DA Gerry Leone leaves office for private practice at Nixon Peabody, setting up a scramble for the plum seat. The Lowell Sun reports on Leone’s move to join the firm where former senator Scott Brown also recently took a job.
The Herald accuses Rep. Michael Finn of double-dealing, saying a bill Finn filed to reclassify court officers and bump up their pensions is aimed at inflating his own paycheck. Finn is a court officer on leave.
Wayne Matewsky, the frontrunner for an Everett House seat stolen by ballot fraud, denies he went on a restaurant tirade against a developmentally disabled youth. Everett’s ethics committee is investigating.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
A recent push to launch Boy Scout troops in Boston neighborhoods has met with surprising success, the Globe reports.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Republican opposition to sweeping immigration reform is melting away.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is not happy about Congress’s sudden turn away from an assault weapons ban.
ELECTIONS
A Globe editorial takes to task a California billionaire who has threatened to fund a campaign against US Senate hopeful Steve Lynch unless the Democratic congressman abandons his support for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford advances to a runoff for the Republican nomination for a congressional seat, the Associated Press reports.
John Connolly kicks off his mayoral run with a concert aimed at young voters.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
A Marblehead developer, seeing tremendous demand for starter homes in Lynn, decides to build 10 more in addition to the eight already constructed, the Item reports.
Investors who have scooped up foreclosed rental properties are hiking rents, setting off a battle with tenants and housing advocates who say some new owners are gouging without making improvements to run-down properties.
New Jersey casino regulators fine Caesars for a 2007 Las Vegas gambling spree in which a gambling addict lost $120 million during a month of nonstop betting. The man alleged Caesars officials plied him with free booze, painkillers, lodging, and meals. Caesars is the operating partner in a proposed casino at Suffolk Downs.
EDUCATION
James Peyser, in CommonWealth, says it’s time to remove the cap on charter schools.
HEALTH CARE
Nurses at Quincy Medical Center voted to approve a one-day strike that they hope will focus management’s attention on staffing levels and patient safety.
A new study indicates premature death is twice as likely in the least healthy US counties, Governing reports.
One in 50 American school children has autism, a government study reports.
TRANSPORTATION
The MBTA lays out its options to plug its budget holes if the Legislature doesn’t come through.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Marshfield officials are on the verge of buying into a solar power purchase agreement with a private developer.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Authorities say tips are pouring in following the announcement that law enforcement officials believe they know the identity of the thieves in the infamous 1990 Gardner Museum heist but do not know where the artwork is.
Lawrence police used the bait of a car with a GPS device and laptop in plain view to snare a thief, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
A convicted child killer whose bid to change his name was denied wants an attorney and private investigator paid for by taxpayers as he appeals the decision.
MEDIA
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services is locked in a battle with The Tennessean over records related to child deaths. The agency initially wanted to charge $55,584 for records, subsequently dropping the fee to $34,225, Governing reports.
