It’s hard to know what to make of our two Irish mayoral candidates and their heroic, if not clumsy, attempts to captivate voters of color. I’ve asked black, Latino and Cape Verdean friends about this, and, as expected, they offered…
Category: Opinion
Politics as Unusual: Walsh was the clear debate winner
I’m having flashbacks of the media coverage on the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Biden, it was assumed beforehand, would eviscerate the rube, and further expose her as a demagogic ignoramus. In practice, those predictions were spot-on,…
Politics as Unusual: The old school, not New Boston, will decide this race
For Bostonians who have been monitoring our race for mayor, the grind and bustle couldn’t possibly pump at a faster pace. One minute, everyone from columnists to online commenters are hammering the candidates about union pay raises and arbitration dilemmas.…
Editorial: Hubway welcome, secrecy not
The Hubway bike share system is a welcome, long-requested addition to JP. That only makes the City of Boston’s arrogant secrecy over choosing its locations all the more perplexing. Hubway has been a success by any measure, and stations in…
Editorial: JPNC involvement
It is our duty to encourage JP residents to vote in the Oct. 19 Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council election. But we recognize that enthusiasm will be hard to muster for a noncompetitive election whose results are essentially already known. So…
Politics as Unusual: The old school, not New Boston, will decide this race
For Bostonians who have been monitoring our race for mayor, the grind and bustle couldn’t possibly pump at a faster pace. One minute, everyone from columnists to online commenters are hammering the candidates about union pay raises and arbitration dilemmas.…
Politics as Unusual: Union-bashing blames victims, overlooks bank blood money
There’s a dangerous dialogue undermining the mayoral race. It’s irrationally contemptuous of organized labor, and is reflective of the rhetorical course that America is increasingly embarking on, in which economic realities are distorted by ignorance. In the past week, since…
Politics as Unusual: After Election Day, 2 winners and a million questions
The preliminary gauntlet we just pulled through was a fabulously bloodless municipal massacre, the kind of free-for-all preliminary that inspires thrilling political prose, and that makes, breaks and cremates careers. In the process—and certainly in the immediate aftermath—we’ve learned lots…
JP Observer: Three things to make JP’s great restaurants better
Jamaica Plain’s restaurants and cafes are really something, aren’t they? We have quantity, quality and great variety here. JP’s eateries help make shopping districts and sub-neighborhoods into destinations, so they increase and promote business and lively activity. The number of…
Editorial: Congrats to winners–and also-rans
We congratulate Marty Walsh and John Connolly on their top-two finishes in Tuesday’s mayoral election and we look forward to seeing them lay out compelling visions for Boston’s future in the coming weeks. Through hard, thorough campaigning, in JP and…