U.S. Senator-elect Scott Brown got an enthusiastic welcome this morning in Chicopee, where he came to greet and thank his Western Mass supporters. These photos by Joshua Clark captures some of the action:
The nation's most famous pick-up truck parked outside the Hukelau.
The local media goes wild as Brown enters the room.
Even Democrat Mayor Mike Bissonette couldn't stay away.
The star attraction.
A pad of paper with the Senator's autograph.
The Senator holds the camera at arms length so that his fans can get in the picture.
I don't know if I can stand to hear another word about Scott Brown, and how his election trashed the Kennedy legacy and crippled the Obama presidency. However, I can endure a few cartoons.
Al on Zinn
I was not an admirer of Howard Zinn, the Boston University professor who died yesterday and who was best known for his fantasy novel "A People's History of the United States." However, rather than say sarcastic things about the newly departed, I'll just let former Valley journalist Al Giordano (below in 1990) remind us of Professor Zinn's role in local affairs.
In 1986, when students at the University of Massachusetts occupied school offices to block CIA recruiting, joined by my pal Abbie Hoffman and presidential daughter Amy Carter, and went to trial (a case that I was involved in at least to the extent of getting my attorney Tom Lesser to represent Carter and advise Abbie and the others how to turn the tables and put the CIA on trial in what was meant to be a mere criminal trespass case), Howard came to Northampton, raised his right hand, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. His testimony - about the patriotic and fully American traditions that the occupiers had practiced - was key in convincing the jury to acquit the defendants.
In 1990, when Boston University president John Silber sought and won the Democratic Nomination for Governor of Massachusetts, Zinn drove out to Springfield regularly to co-captain my WSPR radio show and explain to the populace in the western part of the state the authoritarian nature of this bizarro-land political candidate whose autobiography, Howard quipped, should have been titled Mein Campus. Howard understood the inspiring power of humor, too.
Yesterday in Wales
Today's Music Video
Oh cool, Phish is on the cover of the Valley Advocate!
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