Tim Shugrue's elephant in the room!

August 8, 2022

Hello Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington,

What is the backstory of your challenger for D.A. named Tim Shugrue?  On Planet Valenti's blog, someone posted a link:

justicedenied.org/issue/issue_24/berkshire_county.htm

I read the article, and I found out that Tim Shugrue was part of the 1980s and 1990s legal establishment's alleged persecution of men who were allegedly falsely accused of child sexual abuse.  Meanwhile, the Good Old Boys, such as the late-Carmen Massimiano, Jr., Angelo Stracuzzi, and so on, protected each other.

The article states: "An overlapping cast of characters is involved in the prosecution of these cases, including Daniel Ford, the prosecutor for the Bernard Baran case, who went on to become the judge in the trial of the bus driver, Robert Halsey; Timothy Shugrue, the prosecuting attorney in the Halsey case, who moved to private practice and represented Bruce Clairmont's ex-wife in her divorce; Joseph Collias, a detective who specialized in child abuse investigations, who worked on the Baran and Clairmont cases; Gerard Downing, who was involved in the Baran case and was an assistant District Attorney during the Halsey trial; .... and Jane Satullo (now Satullo Shiya), a counselor, who interviewed children in both the Baran and Halsey cases. .... Shugrue and Collias were the founding president and vice-president of The Kids' Place, an agency that coordinates child abuse investigations in Berkshire County. Amy Moran, who counseled the Clairmont children, served on the Board of Directors. RoAnn Vecchia, who also interviewed the Clairmont children, is the forensic interviewer at Kids' Place today."

Then I clicked on the iBerkshires.com news article:

https://www.iberkshires.com/story/68015/DA-Candidate-Shugrue-Says-Time-to-End-Awful-Experiment-.html?source=most_read 

Tim Shugrue is pictured standing with Judge Dan Ford!  These child sex abuse criminal cases have been the biggest news stories in the Berkshire County's District Attorney's Office over the past 40 years.  There have been news stories, editorials, and op-ed about them in the Boston newspapers.  There was an op-ed in the Washington Post that asked, "Why Dan Ford was still a Massachusetts Judge"?

The biggest thing that bothers me about Tim Shugrue is that he always criticizes your brief time as the sitting Berkshire County D.A. without him writing about his successes and failures as an Attorney.  That right there shows me that he has no character.  Now it is clear to me that Tim Shugrue's failures are a lot bigger than anything he writes against you.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 9, 2022

Tim Shugrue's one-side attacks against the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington omits his own legal failures.  I posted a blog page about Tim Shugrue's elephant in the room that needs to be addressed by the news media and blogs prior to the September 6th, 2022, primary election.  Tim Shugrue was allegedly part of the 1980s - 1990s legal establishment of insider Berkshire County Attorneys who allegedly railroaded men who were allegedly falsely accused of child sex abuse crimes to allegedly further their own legal careers, while they allegedly covered up similar alleged crimes allegedly committed by Pittsfield's Good Old Boys including the late-Carmen Massimiano, Jr., Angelo Stracuzzi, and so on.  How on Earth are Tim Shugrue's legal failures not being covered by the news media and blogs?  I have no faith in Tim Shugrue for allegedly persecuting men in Berkshire County who were allegedly falsely accused of child sex abuse crimes!  I see Tim Shugrue as a man with NO character who allegedly destroyed the lives of allegedly innocent people in Berkshire County in order to further his own legal career.  Down with Tim Shugrue!

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 11, 2022

Tim Shugrue is getting a free pass on his controversial connections to Pittsfield's Good Old Boy network's legal establishment that persecuted Bernard Baran and other allegedly innocent men who were allegedly accused of child sex abuse crimes.  I do not comprehend why the news media and blogs are not investigating and reporting on Tim Shugrue's role in railroading allegedly innocent men so that he and his fellow Good Old Boy Berkshire County Attorneys could all advance their legal careers, such as his associates being elected as past District Attorneys and being appointed to past Judgeships.  I posted a blog page about Tim Shugrue's elephant in the room that no one out there is writing about, while most of the news media and blogs endlessly attack the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington for Pittsfield's violent crime infested inner city.  Please take the time to read my blog's comments about Tim Shugrue being a man with no character who relentlessly attacks Andrea Harrington, but he refuses to list his own failures as a career Berkshire County Attorney who allegedly destroyed the lives of allegedly innocent men in the Pittsfield area.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 12, 2022

Hello Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington,

The Berkshire Eagle is using a double standard against you because Pittsfield's daily rag that is sarcastically called the Dirty Bird is not printing news and opinion articles about how your challenger, Tim Shugrue, is part of Pittsfield's Good Old Boy legal network of Attorneys who allegedly persecuted innocent men in child sex abuse criminal cases that destroyed the accused men's lives in order to advance the Berkshire County Attorneys' own legal careers in elected and court appointed offices over the past 40 years.

If I were in your shoes, I would be mad as all Hell about how Tim Shugrue is getting a free pass for his alleged failures as a Berkshire County Attorney, while you are being raked over the proverbial coals for your alleged failures as the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney.  No one out there has only successes without failures.  To illustrate, Babe Ruth had many more strikeouts than Home Runs in his legendary professional baseball career.

The news media and blogs need to tell the people and voters that Tim Shugrue is part of a long line of Berkshire County Attorneys who allegedly railroaded allegedly innocent men accused of child sex abuse crimes and destroyed the accused lives in order to be elected as past Berkshire County District Attorneys, along with the likes of Dan Ford, who is a retired Judge in Berkshire County.  I hate it when someone such as yourself is the subject of political attacks when the person challenging you gets away with his failures.

In my opinion, Tim Shugrue, Dan Ford, and the like associated Attorneys, have no character for what they allegedly did to climb the career ladder in the Berkshire County legal establishment.  I believe that they allegedly destroyed allegedly innocent men's lives to advance their legal careers in Berkshire County, which is wrong on so many levels.  This is what is happening to you, Andrea Harrington, right now.  Tim Shugrue, the news media and the blogs are all attacking you, which may advance Tim Shugrue's legal career if he ousts you and is elected as the next Berkshire County District Attorney on September 6th, 2022.

Tim Shugrue and his supporters don't care if they ruin your legal career so long as Tim Shugrue and his Good Old Boy legal network gain power.  It is disgusting, and I hope you will stop them all in their tracks before more allegedly innocent people get hurt in the future.  You are the people of Berkshire County's best hope for good governance as the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney.  You have my full support, and I hope you will win reelection next month.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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John Pucci: "I backed Andrea Harrington's first Berkshire district attorney campaign. Here's why she lost my support"

By John Pucci, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, August 12, 2022

Four years ago, I joined the effort to elect Andrea Harrington as Berkshire district attorney. My interest in doing so was rooted in dismay at the office’s prior administration.

I have watched closely the work of the DA’s Office under Harrington. Whatever one makes of the endorsements she is now announcing from politicians who live outside Berkshire County, her office’s performance on the nuts and bolts of its prosecutions has been woeful.

I have been a trial lawyer for 42 years. I spent 10 of those years as a federal prosecutor. In that period, I ran the U.S. Attorney’s office in Springfield. Among other cases I successfully prosecuted during those years was the biggest armed robbery case in the history of Berkshire County. I know what it is to be a quality prosecutor.

The failures of the DA’s Office under Andrea Harrington to effectively prosecute its major criminal cases have been frequent and noteworthy. Two of the most recent of those failures are telling.

Judge faults Berkshire DA's handling of case involving foster child's death and dismisses charges against Adams couple

In a ruling sharply critical of the Berkshire District Attorney's office, a judge this week dismissed an involuntary manslaughter case brought against Adams foster parents. "This is not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings," Judge John Agostini wrote.

In 2021, Harrington charged Cassandra Barlow-Tucker and Matthew Tucker, of Adams, with involuntary manslaughter alleging that they had, acting as foster parents, recklessly failed to provide basic medical care to a foster child in their care and so were criminally responsible for his death.

The Tuckers faced 20 years in prison if convicted, and suffered the devastating loss of reputation that attaches to those charged with killing a child.

Almost a year later, after conducting hearings and reviewing written submissions from Harrington’s office and the Tuckers’ attorneys, Berkshire Superior Court Judge John Agostini made detailed findings of prosecutorial misconduct by Harrington’s office and dismissed the case against the Tuckers. Judge Agostini is a highly esteemed Superior Court judge. In dismissing Harrington’s case, he wrote a thoughtful 17-page decision which concluded with the stinging comment that District Attorney Harrington’s presentation was “not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings.”

The Eagle wrote an editorial addressing the DA’s misconduct in this case and, in less circumspect terms, wrote that “Overreaching to obtain indictments is a dangerous abuse of discretion, but doing so in a case that tries to hold a foster parent criminally responsible for a child’s death is truly reprehensible.” Harrington has now appealed this ruling but has refused to respond to The Eagle’s request on behalf of the public for even the scant details of her appeal.

More recently, Harrington’s office lost a first-degree murder case where the evidence included the video confession of the defendant admitting to the murder. During the trial, the defendant testified that his confession was false and that he had given it only under pressure by police officers. But Harrington’s office chose not to call those police officers to testify and rebut that claim. After the trial, the police involved in that investigation publicly rebuked her office for not calling them as witnesses who could have thoroughly undermined the credibility of the defendant’s claim that his confession was coerced.

If Harrington did not believe the police who investigated the case and therefore would not call them to testify, she should either not have introduced the confession into evidence or not have prosecuted the case at all. If she believed the police, she should have called them as witnesses. At best, her office’s decision-making in this matter is inexplicable. At worst, it is prosecutorial malpractice.

These two cases exemplify the Harrington administration’s poor judgments in major prosecutions. It is fine for Harrington to lean on her progressive values and political endorsements to seek reelection. It is another thing to do the hard work of effectively and fairly prosecuting the real and dangerous criminals in Berkshire County, which is her office’s primary mission. That Harrington has failed to do.

Harrington’s public pronouncements criticizing others who serve in the criminal justice system also deserve some attention.

In May 2021, Harrington wrote a letter to Massachusetts District Court Chief Justice Paul Dawley, stating that District Judge Jennifer Tyne, who regularly presides over Harrington’s District Court cases, was a “significant threat to public safety.” Harrington described some of Judge Tyne’s rulings as “dangerous” and alleged that she engaged in “hostile treatment of victims and prosecutors.” She demanded that Judge Tyne be removed from the bench.

After carefully reviewing the tapes of the proceedings in question, Justice Dawley determined that there was “no factual basis” for Harrington’s allegations; rather, the recordings reflected Tyne’s “careful and thoughtful analysis,” and her rulings were “properly within the bounds of lawful judicial discretion.” Despite these findings and widespread support in the bar for Judge Tyne, including from many former prosecutors, Harrington has repeatedly and publicly stated that she “stands by” her criticisms.

DA Harrington backs indicted Baltimore prosecutor; likely challenger questions commitment to Berkshire County

And in January of this year, Harrington publicly proclaimed a strong but very dubious opinion involving the federal indictment of State’s Attorney for Baltimore Marilyn Mosby. Like Harrington, Mosby was part of a self-styled group of “progressive” chief prosecutors whose mission is to reform the criminal justice system. One day after Mosby’s federal indictment for perjury and other significant felonies, Harrington rose to her defense. Harrington wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “Seeing the justice system used against @MarilynMosbyEsq is scary for those of us taking on the status quo. I have tremendous respect for Marilyn’s leadership and her courage but she shouldn’t have to bear so much. This MLK day, I will be celebrating her.”

In essence, Harrington implied that the federal charges against Mosby were trumped up by the scary “status quo,” which apparently included the United States Department of Justice, which brought the charges, and the federal grand jury that indicted her.

Harrington’s unsubstantiated criticisms of others acting in good faith in the criminal justice system, like Judge Tyne and the U.S. Department of Justice, undermine the public’s trust in our criminal justice system to no good end.

All in all, the people of Berkshire County deserve better from their district attorney — a lot better.

John Pucci oversaw the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Springfield from 1990 to 1994. He is currently a trial lawyer in the law firm Bulkley Richardson, practicing throughout the four western counties of Massachusetts.

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August 14, 2022

I respect women, including Andrea Harrington. I support her professionally and politically only.  I don't want her sexually.  She is cute, but I support her for her progressive politics and equitable approach to law enforcement.  As for Tim Shugrue, he has been practicing law in Berkshire County for 36 years, which takes us back to at least 1986, not in 1994.  The Good Old Boys legal establishment Attorneys who support Tim Shugrue for Berkshire County D.A. in 2022 are the same people who persecuted allegedly innocent me who were accused of sex abuse crimes against children since the railroading of the now late-Bernard Baran and other accused men who lived in the Pittsfield area in the 1980s and 1990s.  The Boston Globe published a news story that explained that it was not until after Berkshire County D.A. Gerry Downing passed away that his successor Berkshire County D.A. David Capeless took several more years to release the audio tape recordings of the children's interviews that proved to be exculpatory evidence that led to Bernard Baran's release from state prison after over 2 decades of incarceration and legal appeals.  Dan Ford and Gerry Downing prosecuted Bernard Baran in the 1980s, but they (allegedly illegally) hid the audio tape recordings of the children for over 2 decades.  The Washington Post published an op-ed that asked "Why [was] Dan Ford still a Massachusetts Judge?"  Dan Ford is endorsing Tim Shugrue.  Please connect the dots!  Why is all of this not being investigated and covered by the news media and blogs?

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 14, 2022

You may write in Boss Hogg for Sheriff.  I am rooting for the A-Team: Alf & Andrea.  Whether it is Boss Hogg, Alf & Andrea, or Tom & Tim, these two elected positions pay a whole lot of money and benefits that most people could only dream of receiving from the public trough.  When Dan Bosley ran for Sheriff in 2010, people sarcastically wrote that he was like Boss Hogg trying to double his state pension.  Dan Bosley still cashed in with his public pension(s) plus perks on top of his 6-figure lobbyist salary on Beacon Hill and beyond.  Boss Hogg, Dan Bosley, and the four candidates for running for the two Berkshire County plum positions all like to roll in the taxpayers' dough!  Meanwhile, "Rome is still burning" in Pittsfield, but let's blame Linda for it all because we need a scapegoat to make ourselves feel better.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 15, 2022

Re: What did Dan Valenti expect Andrea Harrington's response would be?

For a long time now, blogger Dan Valenti has unmercifully attacked Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington with negative opinions and negative accusations that are downright horrible.  I have written to blogger Dan Valenti over and over again to ask him to please use facts, which even I agree with, in his coverage and opinions about the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney, Andrea Harrington, but he rarely does so.  What did Dan Valenti expect Andrea Harrington's response would be when she declined to appear at his debate forum?  Any reasonable person would tell blogger Dan Valenti to pound sand after he relentlessly and unfavorably blogged about them over and over again.

To be clear, I support Andrea Harrington's reelection campaign in 2022.  I do not agree with all of her actions and decisions.  To illustrate, how on Earth could she agree with the Pittsfield Police Department's CYA Use of Force report that defended in the Police Officer's shooting to death Miguel Estrella?  The PPD stated that this young man with a long history of mental illness was not a person in distress under the law at the time of the use of deadly force.  That is like saying 2 + 2 = 5!  Prior to his death at the hands of the PPD, he was self-harming himself with a knife, he was abusing substances, he was having mental health crises episodes, the police were previously called but took no action at that time, but they came back when things became worse, and then they shot him to death because he was moving towards them with a knife.  D.A. Andrea Harrington's report sided with the Pittsfield Police Department's use of deadly force, but the law is clearly supposed to protect a person in distress, which Miguel Estrella clearly was on the night of his death.

We live in a Free Country.  Andrea Harrington has every right to practice her progressive politics.  If her political activities interfered with her professional law enforcement duties, then she would be wrong and she should face repercussions.  I do not believe that her progressive political activities have interfered with her official duties.  I believe every law enforcement official, including Andrea Harrington, should treat those under their legal authority in a fair and safe manner.  At times, Andrea Harrington has let her emotions stand in her way of being professional, but she is also human.  Andrea Harrington's human side also has shown her to care about the people of and communities in Berkshire County.  She has guided people into mental health services and rehabilitation programs instead of throwing the proverbial book at them for minor crimes.  I believe Andrea Harrington is a good person.

Jonathan A. Melle

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"Berkshire NAACP sets a new forum date for district attorney candidates"

By Meg Britton-Mehlisch, The Berkshire Eagle, August 15, 2022

Pittsfield — The Berkshire County branch of the NAACP said Monday it will co-host two virtual debates with candidates for the Berkshire County sheriff and Berkshire district attorney in the final weeks of both campaigns.

The announcement appears to resolve a dispute over forum appearances by the district attorney candidates.

The debates, scheduled for Aug. 29 [2022] from 6-9 p.m. over Zoom, will be moderated by Dr. Leticia Haynes, vice president for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Williams College. The Central Berkshire County and Williamstown League of Women Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts are co-hosts.

The event will take place two days after the start of early voting, which runs from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2 [2022].

Both district attorney candidates were invited in mid-July to a virtual debate hosted by the NAACP on Aug. 17 [2022] — this Wednesday.

The Shugrue campaign responded three days after the invitation letting the NAACP know he had a scheduling conflict. The candidate had committed to sitting down with local blogger Dan Valenti for a DA debate for his platform, Planet Valenti.

In emails between the campaign and NAACP, the Shugrue team attempted to reschedule the debate, but was told that the organization’s executive board voted in late July to keep the debate on Wednesday, deciding “that if only one candidate shows, then that candidate will simply debate an empty chair.”

The Harrington campaign, which had previously been chastised by the Shugrue camp for “ducking debates,” issued a statement last week criticizing the Shugrue campaign’s choice in events.

"The NAACP is the preeminent racial, social, and civil rights organization in Berkshire County. I'm looking forward to discussing my record of reform as Berkshire District Attorney and encourage my opponent to not skip this debate — the issues at hand are too important,” Harrington said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Harrington’s campaign later called Planet Valenti “an inflammatory, extremist, right-wing blog known for promoting race-baiting and misogynistic content.”

Valenti, asked for a response, called that description of his website "laughable."

"It’s the D.A.’s characterization of Planet Valenti that is 'inflammatory and extremist,'" Valenti said by email, when asked for his response. "This is just Andrea’s excuse for ducking out of yet another debate. She’s scared to appear in a live, in-person, forum that will require wits and the ability to think on her feet to handle the tough questions that citizens and voters have been asking."

"As for Planet Valenti, the only thing we promote is fair and accurate coverage, both news and opinion. We are the opposite of what the DA’s campaign says we are," he said. "My readers know it. We have a right wing and a left wing. That’s why we’re flying."

The Harrington spokesperson said the campaign believes it is irresponsible for any candidate to appear on Valenti's forum "to validate this sort of behavior, especially those seeking to be District Attorney .... It is deeply troubling that Tim Shugrue has chosen to embrace Dan Valenti ... over participation in a debate hosted by the NAACP on the same night."

The Shugrue campaign, in turn, said this: “Ms. Harrington's campaign is being disingenuous by saying Tim declined, where we are working with these organizations to find alternative dates.”

The campaign said it was NAACP organizers who declined to find a workaround on timing and that the campaign is attempting to juggle Shugrue’s court schedule as a defense attorney with his public appearances.

The situation shifted Monday with the NAACP announcement. Branch President Dennis Powell called on both candidates to “make the commitment to show up” for voters.

"Holding debates by nonpartisan organizations like the NAACP Berkshire County Branch, League of Women Voters, and American Civil Liberties Union, Massachusetts (ACLUM) allows voters to be able to hear the differences in candidates' opinions and approaches to things that affect our community,” Powell said in a statement.

“The hosts have rescheduled this debate to work around the candidates' schedules so we're asking them all to make the commitment to show up and allow voters to have the most information before they cast their vote.”

Harrington’s campaign said that it will not be participating in the Valenti event, which is still scheduled to be filmed Wednesday and posted on Valenti’s blog and social media accounts.

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"In first Berkshire DA debate, Harrington and Shugrue put their records head-to-head"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 15, 2022

Pittsfield — In the first debate of the Democratic primary race for Berkshire District Attorney, local defense attorney Timothy Shugrue told voters to look to his 36 years of courtroom experience to find an attorney with a deep understanding of both sides of the law, strong relationships with law enforcement and an ethos focused on “competence, confidence and compassion.”

Incumbent Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington conceded that her challenger has “more experience in the courtroom than I do," but said her election to the office nearly four years ago was a message from a community looking for a systemic reimagining of the county’s justice system. She called on voters not to “lose faith in the progress we are making.”

The hourlong debate was the candidates’ first opportunity to appear together in-person before voters, as well as pose direct challenges and questions to their opponent.

Harrington, speaking in support of the racial justice movement produced in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, pushed Shugrue to state his “position on systemic racism within the criminal justice system.”

She further challenged Shugrue to state his opinion on the Massachusetts Police Reform Bill, signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker in late 2020.

“We will not tolerate that type of action in our community,” Shugrue said of the Minneapolis police officers who murdered Floyd. “We will make sure our police officers are trained and educated, so these things don't happen.”

Shugrue said he wouldn’t comment on the police reform bill during the debate “because there's so many components to that, that I want to address and I'll address that in the proper time.”

When given the opportunity to question Harrington, Shugrue asked the incumbent to tell voters the three most significant jury trials she’d handled.

“Attorney Shugrue, everyone knows that you have 36 years of experience, everyone knows you have more experience in the courtroom than I do. That’s not something that needs to be debated,” Harrington said. “What I am is a leader in the office … and being a leader in the office doesn’t mean spending all your time doing trials.”

Harrington said her record shows that she has increased the office’s budget, the diversity of its staff and created new units, like the special victims unit and high-risk domestic violence team, to focus on people victimized by crime.

The debate showed off fundamental differences in the utility each attorney sees in the court system. A series of questions focused on the way each candidate would choose to treat crimes involving substance use, people experiencing mental health crises, and illegal gun possession and violence.

Time and again, Harrington reiterated her belief that the best response to some offenses comes outside of the courtroom in a partnership between community organizations and the DA’s office.

Harrington has attempted to end the use of cash bail, calling it a “racist practice” that criminalizes poverty. Under her leadership, the office has increased its use of dangerousness hearings — a practice in which the DA’s office petitions the court to hold a defendant without bail before trial on the basis they present a specific risk to the community.

Shugrue said he'd had clients subjected to the policy in Berkshire County and criticized it as a way to "punish people for crimes they haven't been convicted of."

Shugrue said he believes deeply that pretrial probation programs can provide vital supports and accountability to struggling defendants. He said he wants to build out the programs offered within the courts, proposing the county consider implementing a mental health court similar to the one put in place in Springfield.

“Make no mistake about it, tough, effective prosecution can coexist with criminal justice reform,” Shugrue said. “They go hand in hand.”

Shugrue’s “tough” approach to prosecution has been called by some Harrington supporters as a signal that the defense attorney would implement a kind of “broken windows" policing if elected to the office.

The broken windows theory, popularized in 1990s New York under former mayor Rudy Giuliani, suggests that visible signs of crime creates an environment ripe for further crime. Proponents suggest that tough policing of minor crimes as a kind of preventative.

The policy has been widely criticized for giving law enforcement free rein to continue racist practices and policing.

Harrington took up the call of her supporters putting to voters directly that Shugrue was “pushing for broken windows policing.”

“Not once have I myself or anybody in my campaign ever endorsed the broken windows policy,” Shugrue said, calling the claim misinformation from the Harrington campaign. “It doesn't exist, we don't believe in it. There's been racial inequality in that policy and we have never once said that we support broken windows policies.”

Harrington said she has “the tape” showing otherwise. Shugrue said “I’d like to see that tape.”

Despite an impassioned back-and-forth call and response from the candidates, the evening ended cordially with handshakes and smiles between both attorneys. Voters will decide which candidate will lead the office in the next four-year term during the primary vote on Sept. 6.

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August 17, 2022

Tim Shugrue and Tom Bowler are two old hacks that would continue predictable Pittsfield politics' Business as usual failed leadership that put the city into the proverbial ditch a long time ago.  I believe that Godfather Jimmy Ruberto (D-Naples, Florida) along with his "WHEN" ladies Linda Tyer (D-Gated Community) and Tricia Farley Bouvier (D-Country Buffet) not endorsing Andrea Harrington's reelection campaign for a second term as the Berkshire County District Attorney supports my argument that the A-Team: Alf & Andrea - will discontinue the city's failed leadership that has plagued City Hall over many decades.  It is time for change, not more of the same failed leadership that (Sarcasm) transformed downtown Pittsfield into an art and cultural mecca that rivals Paris, London, NYC & L.A., which hosted public art exhibits of "Pittsfield: A City in Decay"!  Jimmy Ruberto's endorsement - or lack thereof - is about as worthless as his Rolodex.  Andrea Harrington should be proud that she is NOT one of Jimmy Ruberto's "WHEN" ladies.  She is her own person.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "As a former judge, I can vouch for Shugrue's strength as a DA candidate"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 19, 2022

To the editor: I was privileged to serve as a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court for more than 30 years, and during that time I became acquainted with Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue.

Mr. Shugrue tried several cases in my courtroom both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney. I observed that he was always extremely well prepared and that he was well acquainted with both the substantive law and the rules of procedure. He was an aggressive but fair prosecutor, and always displayed a proper regard for the rights of the accused. As a defense attorney, he was a zealous advocate for his clients but never crossed the line into “sharp” practice. In fact, I cannot remember a single occasion when he was accused of improper conduct, and I always regarded his ethics as being above reproach. He is an excellent trial lawyer with sound judgment, and if he is elected to be our next district attorney he will able to hit the ground running on Day One.

After I retired, I came to know Tim on a more personal level. I found that he is a very kind person who believes in giving back to his community. He has built a lucrative law practice and could live the rest of his life in comfort if he chose to do so. However, he has decided to walk away from his practice and a life of relative ease in order to answer the call to public service. He has been told by many people who encouraged him to run that Berkshire County needs him, and I agree. I also discovered that Tim is a lifelong proud Democratic with progressive instincts, and in fact belonged to a labor union during his early years when he worked his way through law school and is now a big supporter of organized labor. I have no doubt that he will bring those values to the district attorney’s office.

I am convinced that Tim Shugrue has the experience, talents and work ethic to be an exceptional district attorney. I can vouch for his legal ability and his integrity, as well as for his passion for justice. I respectfully ask my fellow citizens to join me in voting for Timothy J. Shugrue in the Sept. 6 Democratic Primary.

Daniel A. Ford, Pittsfield

The writer is a retired justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court.

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August 21, 2022

A Parody of blogger Dan Valenti's writings praising Tim Shugrue and disparaging Andrea Harrington

Tim Shugrue is perfect.  He has practiced the law in Berkshire County for the past 36 years.  He never had any failures as an Attorney in all of those years.  I praise Tim Shugrue all of the time.  I never write about Tim Shugrue's dirty laundry with the past Berkshire County District Attorney's Office under the late Tony Ruberto (Jimmy's deceased brother who became a Judge), the late Gerry Downing (Did Ben Downing's father really die of a heart attack or did Gerry Downing move far away to a place such as South America prior to the D.A.'s Office releasing of the long hidden but the later released audio tape recordings of the young children in the Bernard Baran case?), David Capeless (who retired a while after he released the aforementioned hidden exculpatory evidence), Judge Dan Ford (who prosecuted/railroaded Bernard Baran with Gerry Downing at his side), along with the other notorious Good Old Boys who covered up the late Carmen Massimiano, Jr. and Angelo Stracuzzi and possibly other homosexual deviant Pittsfield men who allegedly sexually abused underage boys, while other Pittsfield area men were persecuted for similar criminal offenses by the past Berkshire County District Attorneys for decades.

Andrea Harrington is imperfect.  She has little experience practicing the law in Berkshire County.  During her 3 years, 7 months, and 21 days as the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney, violent crime in Pittsfield and other areas of the Berkshires increased, but I don't wish to point out that over 1,000 gang members now live in inner-city Pittsfield.  I don't wish to point out that Mayor Linda Tyer has been in charge of public safety matters, including the Pittsfield Police Department, in Pittsfield 3 years longer than her current counterpart in the D.A.'s Office.  It is all Andrea Harrington's fault because she uses her progressive policies that helps people in need of mental healthcare, social services, charitable organizations, community support programs, and the like.  Andrea Harrington cares about the disadvantaged people instead of just throwing the proverbial book at them to punish them for their personal struggles.

I want voters to oust Andrea Harrington so that Tim Shugrue can go back to protecting deviant men such as the late Carmen Massimiano and Angelo Stracuzzi, while persecuting and railroad men such as the late Bernard Baran and the other men who were allegedly falsely accused of child sex abuse crimes under the past Berkshire County District Attorneys.  I close by writing that Tim Shugrue is perfect in every way, while Andrea Harrington is an incompetent buffoon.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 23, 2022

There are so many corrupt career politicians out there from Pittsfield politics to BeaCON Hill to the Swamp and beyond, but the smallest fish named Andrea Harrington is the scapegoat for decades of failed leadership that put Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch; it is almost like the corrupt vested interests tanked Pittsfield's distressed economy for their own selfish financial gains.  Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington has only been in elected office for 3 years, 7 months, and 23 days.  Pittsfield has been in the top 10 cities in Massachusetts for violent crime, according to the FBI's annual reports, for a long time prior to 2019.  Over 1,000 gang members now live in inner-city Pittsfield.  Mayor Linda Tyer called the daily shootings in inner-city Pittsfield "an immediate crisis".  North Street is sarcastically called "Social Services Alley" and the impoverished neighborhoods that surround dangerous downtown Pittsfield are sarcastically called "The Ring of Poverty".  North Adams is the poorest city in Massachusetts.  Mayor Linda Tyer parks her Lexus luxury car in her garage where she lives in a mansion in an elitist Gated Community far away from inner-city Pittsfield.  Her political boss Jimmy Ruberto lives full-time in Naples, Florida and part-time in Lenox; he never purchased a home nor rented an apartment in Pittsfield.  The Ruling Elites in Pittsfield are totally disconnected from the common and disadvantaged residents who live and have to pay excessively high taxes in Pittsfield in return for Level 5 public schools, unsafe streets, severe economic inequality, political corruption, and so on.  The last person I would blame for Pittsfield's plight is Andrea Harrington!

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 26, 2022

What is more predictable: (a) Predictable Pittsfield politics always raising municipal taxes (by 5% every fiscal year going back nearly 40 years ago) for its Level 5 public schools and substandard public services, or (b) Blogger Dan Valenti always scapegoating Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington for violent crime after many decades of failed state and local leadership that put Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch?

According to Tim Shugrue, he never had any failures in his 36 years of practicing law in Berkshire County, while his opponent had a lot of them in less than only 4 years in elected office.  How many Pittsfield politicians have promised to fight violent crime without success?  Tim Shugrue is the 1,000th politician to make that false promise!

Lastly, the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) endorsed Tom Bowler for his campaign for his third 6-year term as Berkshire County Sheriff, while criticizing Alf Barbalunga for raising some of the problematic issues there.  The irony is that the Dirty Bird's endorsements usually help the other non-endorsed candidates because the Berkshire Eagle is no longer a respectable newspaper, but rather, it is mostly used a liner in a dirty bird cage.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Our Opinion: "The Eagle editorial board endorses Timothy Shugrue for Berkshire district attorney"

Editorial, The Berkshire Eagle, August 26, 2022

When Berkshire voters go to the polls to decide who should run the District Attorney’s Office, they’ll have a stark choice: an incumbent who has spent four years viewing herself as the county’s minister of justice as opposed to being a careful and competent chief prosecutor vs. a seasoned challenger with considerably more trial experience and a clearer understanding that the county’s top law enforcement official has responsibilities to every segment of our community. The latter is the obvious choice to bring some effective leadership to a DA’s Office that we and others have consistently noted is sorely lacking it. For that reason, The Eagle editorial board is endorsing attorney Timothy Shugrue for Berkshire district attorney.

Mr. Shugrue’s legal resume is lengthy, featuring familiarity with both sides of the courtroom — prosecution and defense. What’s more, his multifaceted background in prosecutors’ offices, private practice and co-founding the nonprofit Berkshire County Kids’ Place gives him a wide regional network of leaders in law and advocacy. Mr. Shugrue has received some weighty endorsements from people who understand the workings of the District Attorney’s office (some of which have appeared on these pages in the form of letters and op-eds), while District Attorney Andrea Harrington has boasted of being endorsed by high-profile but far-flung figures who show little or no direct knowledge of the issues emanating from the Berkshire DA’s office. More importantly, Mr. Shugrue’s extensive experience equips him for the task of building and maintaining an effective Berkshire DA’s Office capable of consistently accomplishing its crucial mission of seeking out justice on behalf of the people of Berkshire County.

A similar task fell to District Attorney Harrington when she assumed her office, because she chose to clean house of many dedicated staffers who worked for her predecessor and were deemed insufficiently loyal to the new leader. She has failed to meet this task, and we are not alone in being troubled by the resultant high staff turnover and reliance on outside prosecutors in key cases. Unfortunately, her ill-advised choice set a trend of sloppy mistakes and poor discretion.

This critique is not just ours. Consider the accounts of the DA’s job performance and leadership style from those who were once prominent supporters.

“Her office’s performance on the nuts and bolts of its prosecutions has been woeful,” wrote former federal prosecutor John Pucci, who donated to and backed District Attorney Harrington’s 2018 campaign.

“The office runs like a campaign. It is a culture of making sure that Andrea gets reelected in 2022,” said Helen Moon, who managed the 2018 campaign and then served as director of special projects in the DA’s Office until her abrupt departure in 2020.

“Leadership meetings focused as much on enemies and the press as on the difficult challenges the office faced in accomplishing its mission. … Harrington simply does not have the necessary skills and experience for the job and she has demonstrated little, if any, interest in acquiring them,” wrote Jeanne Kempthorne, whom District Attorney Harrington hired as her chief of appeals and public records officer. Sadly, Ms. Kempthorne felt obligated to resign in early 2020 when the DA blocked the release of public records in a politically fraught case. That courageous resignation earned Ms. Kempthorne the New England First Amendment Coalition’s Orfield Citizenship Award.

These accounts from within the DA’s Office are telling, but similar signs of questionable priorities and prosecutorial dysfunction have been all too readily visible from the outside, as well. Legal organizations across the state rightly ripped District Attorney Harrington’s egregiously misguided attempt last year to oust a District Court judge over rulings she didn’t like. Earlier this year, a Superior Court judge dismissed the indictment of an Adams foster couple on negligent manslaughter charges in the death of an infant in their care, issuing a rare rebuke of the DA’s handling of the case as “not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings.”

District Attorney Harrington dismisses substantive criticism out of hand as simply slings and arrows aimed at a reform agent. Claiming the title of reformer to deflect real concerns about the performance of an office with a monopoly on prosecuting public justice gives a bad name to the important work of implementing sensible criminal justice reform. Worse, it undermines reform by associating it with the sloppy and unethical behavior.

Yet ignoring all the evidence cited above, District Attorney Harrington told The Eagle editorial board that “based on any metric, my office has excelled.” Curiously, though, the district attorney declined to answer questions about individual cases that her office has prosecuted, including ones that are concluded. If the DA’s Office is excelling at its primary duty, why refuse to talk about it in detail on the record? And what does that say about the DA’s pronounced commitment to transparency?

Mr. Shugrue, for his part, seems to recognize the need for more transparency and, above all, competence from the county’s top prosecutor. He said he would resume public releases detailing all Superior Court rulings — a regular practice during previous administrations that District Attorney Harrington ceased. If elected, we’ll hold him to that. Beyond such relatively simple measures to upgrade the office’s transparency and competency, Mr. Shugrue also recognizes the nitty-gritty work and complex realities behind the news conferences and press releases that a quality DA’s Office must confront. That means actually using the great discretion granted to district attorneys to actively balance justice and compassion, not just dismiss certain low-level offenses to match a sloganeering blanket policy. And it means putting together, training and leading a roster of assistant DAs, victim advocates and other staff that can inspire the sort of trust in the county’s top law enforcement office that has been eroded among some in the Berkshire community.

Mr. Shugrue is ready, willing and qualified for that job. He is considerably more qualified and experienced in the courtroom than the incumbent DA was when she first ran or, for that matter, than she is now after one term. Courtroom experience is essential to the task of evaluating cases and training younger assistants, and Mr. Shugrue promises to build the “best law office in Berkshire County” to serve the entire community.

Given District Attorney Harrington’s widely recognized poor performance, we enthusiastically support Timothy Shugrue for Berkshire district attorney.

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"Shugrue has the wrong experience for District Attorney" - Stick with a proven leader.

By Michael Mah, Letter to the Editor, The Berkshire Edge, August 25, 2022

To the editor:

In the race for the Berkshire County District Attorney, Timothy Shugrue talks about experience but his seems about quantity, with little quality. Most of his career was in divorce court, not prosecuting criminals.

As Assistant District Attorney back in the 80s and 90s, he was never promoted. He has not prosecuted a case since the Clinton Administration or before email. That sounds like inexperience to me.

Quality prosecutors from the old Ruberto/Downing days became judges or partners at prestigious law firms. But not Tim. His career fanned the flames of divorcing couples burning their marriages down over possessions, more akin to an ambulance chaser, not a prosecutor.

He is not certified to accept criminal cases from the Committee for Public Counsel Services. His criminal work has mostly been pleading out drunk drivers. He criticizes District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s use of dangerousness hearings, but he has never done one.

Andrea Harrington has proudly led the District Attorney Office for four years. She has courageously transformed it into a progressive, modern prosecutor’s office; pioneered a high risk domestic violence task force; and countered the rise of alt-right hate.

Harrington created the first ever Hate Crime Section in the District Attorney’s office. She is endorsed by renowned Constitutional Scholars, fellow District Attorneys, Attorneys General, a Supreme Judicial Court Justice, and other public servants who have earned our trust.

Stick with a proven leader.

Michael Mah

Pittsfield

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August 26, 2022

The Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) endorsed Tim Shugrue for Berkshire County District Attorney to oust the sitting Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington, who the Editors heavily criticized as an inexperienced prosecutor with an alleged less than 4-year record of poor performance.

Tim Shugrue has been an Attorney in Berkshire County for the past 36 years.  According to the Twilight Zone-like news media and his campaign propaganda, Tim Shugrue never had any failures over the past 36 years, while Andrea Harrington had many failures in less than 4 years.  If one thinks that is difficult to believe, then he or she would be right.

I read a letter to the editor of the Berkshire Edge that points out that Tim Shugrue's record is one of representing clients in divorce cases and chasing ambulances all for the Almighty Dollar.  Tim Shugrue is not certified to accept criminal cases from the Committee for Public Counsel Services.  Tim Shugrue never served as counsel in a dangerousness hearing.  His long ago record as a prosecutor never saw him promoted to a higher position, but now Tim Shugrue is campaigning for a second time in 18 years for the top job.

I posted a blog page about Tim Shugrue's elephant in the room.  The past Berkshire County District Attorneys from Tony Ruberto (Jimmy Ruberto's deceased brother), to Gerry Downing (Ben Downing's deceased father), and David Capeless were all ensnared in the Bernard Baran case whereby exculpatory evidence - long hidden tape recordings of young children - were allegedly illegally withheld from the alleged child sex abuse criminal trial and appeals for over two decades.  Tim Shugrue was part of this legal nightmare, but no one other than me is writing about his role in allegedly persecuting and railroading allegedly innocent men in the Pittsfield area who were allegedly falsely accused of child sex abuse crimes.  The point I made is that all of these establishment men, including retired Judge Dan Ford, along with Tim Shugrue, took these nightmarish legal actions to further their own career while ruining the lives of allegedly innocent men.

It is disgusting to watch them do this to Andrea Harrington as we speak and write about the 2022 primary election for Berkshire County District Attorney.  The Dirty Bird, blogger Dan Valenti, and the corrupt Berkshire County legal establishment are all misguided, and they should be called out for their horrible history that allowed powerful men such as alleged child sex abusers Carmen Massimiano, Jr. and Angelo Stracuzzi, among others, whom they protected for their own professional gains.  The Dirty Bird should write editorials that say this is not how the law in Berkshire County and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should be used, but rather, they point out the problems in less than 4 years that Andrea Harrington experienced as the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney.

My view of Andrea Harrington is that she is the smallest of the many problems in government in Berkshire County and beyond.  I also see Andrea Harrington as the people of Berkshire County's best hope for reform, democracy and good governance going forward in time.  When her critics use facts, I agree with the facts about her public record, but when they unfairly attack her, I choose to defend her public record as the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney.  I support her progressive policies, her compassion for the people and community, and her good treatment of the people she serves in elected office.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 28, 2022

Sarcasm: Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington hates white men.  The police and other public safety personnel and their public labor unions all hate Andrea Harrington.  Despite decades of systemic violent crime in Berkshire County, D.A. Andrea Harrington's disregard for law enforcement caused these problems to go from very bad to even worse.  When Tim Shugrue is elected to the plum political post that he has sought after for 18 years on September 6th, 2022, the corrupt legal establishment will be back in charge again.  White men, the police and other public safety personnel and their public labor unions, and the unsafe streets will all return to the way things were prior to 2019.

NOT Sarcasm: Never mind that allegedly falsely accused white men in Berkshire County back in the 1980s and 1990s were charged and convicted - allegedly persecuted and railroaded - of child sex crimes, which Tim Shugrue allegedly had a role in when he worked as a prosecutor for the late D.A.s Tony Ruberto (Jimmy's deceased brother) and Gerry Downing (Ben's deceased father).  Meanwhile, powerful white men such as the late career Sheriff Carmen Massimiano, Jr. and Pittsfield politician Angelo Stracuzzi, and others, alleged child sex abuse crimes were allegedly covered up and/or mismanaged by the past Berkshire County District Attorneys and corrupt court system.

Could it be that D.A. Andrea Harrington is trying to right the ship after decades of mismanagement and questionable prosecutions of criminal cases?

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "DA candidate Shugrue's proved wrong on 'broken windows' remark"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 27, 2022

To the editor: One reason that people have lost faith in the political process is the perception that politicians lie.

We saw this on display at the Berkshire district attorney debate. ("In first Berkshire DA debate, Harrington and Shugrue put their records head-to-head," Eagle, Aug. 15.) District Attorney Andrea Harrington called out Tim Shugrue for his support of “broken windows" policing, a failed policy championed by then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani that criminalized people suffering from addiction, mental health challenges and people of color.

Candidate Shugrue vehemently denied this, but was later caught in a lie when an interview of him championing “broken windows” surfaced. Lying is not a good look for someone running to be chief prosecutor for Berkshire County. Frankly, it’s scary and disgusting to tell two groups of people two different things in order to win political points. Mr. Shugrue should be ashamed of himself for doing this. I'm sick of the dishonesty, and for me, it is a guarantee that I’ll be voting for Harrington.

Tisha Rose, Pittsfield

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August 29, 2022

I had brunch with my dad, Bob, this Monday late-morning.  I asked my dad how Tim Shugrue's 36-year legal career in Berkshire County of mostly representing clients in divorce cases and being a notorious ambulance chaser for the Almighty Dollar qualifies him to be elected Berkshire County District Attorney?  My dad (a former Berkshire County Commissioner from 1997 - mid-2000) answered me that it doesn't, but anyone out there can run for any elected office despite not being qualified for the public post.

In the news article, Tim Shugrue says that we are not Boston, we are Berkshire County.  Like the sitting Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, Tim Shugrue believes in diversion.  But Tim Shugrue believes that D.A. Andrea Harrington's progressive policies are deferring societal problems instead of solving them.  Unlike her challenger, D.A. Andrea Harrington looks for alternatives for troubled people who are in need of mental healthcare, public assistance, and addiction treatment before charging them for minor criminal offenses based on their personal problems.

Massachusetts district attorney races and the progressive prosecutor | WBUR News

Jonathan A. Melle

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Berkshire district attorney

DEATH PENALTY: Andrea Harrington said this week that her challenger should disavow what the campaign termed “his long standing support for the death penalty in Massachusetts.” The campaign said Timothy Shugrue once supported reimposing the death penalty in the state. It cited a media interview in which Shugrue said the threat of the death penalty “potentially gives you more of an ability to get a plea from the defendant.”

Harrington opposes the death penalty and calls it “immoral, demonstrably racist and fraught with potential for wrongful convictions.”

HARRINGTON ENDORSEMENTS: Harrington’s campaign announced endorsements from the following local officials and community leaders: Joe Nowak, Adams Select Board; Jamie Minacci, Stockbridge Select Board; Stephen Bannon, Great Barrington Select Board; Brian Tobin, Mount Washington Select Board; Jeff Johnson, Williamstown Select Board; and community activist Shirley Edgerton of Pittsfield.

Harrington was also endorsed by MassNow, the state chapter of the National Organization for Woman, and by VoteMama PAC, which supports women in office who advance issues that benefit mothers and families.

Editor’s note: The Berkshire Eagle will bring readers updates on candidates and campaigns ahead of the Sept. 6 [2022] primary elections. This recap is drawn from submissions from the candidates.

Source: "Thomas Bowler adds endorsements; 'Alf' Barbalunga questions Bowler handling of workplace bias complaints", The Berkshire Eagle, September 2, 2022

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Tuesday’s Democratic primary will settle hard-fought races after months of campaigning in Berkshire County | WAMC

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September 7, 2022

I posted the following link on my blog page: Tim Shugrue's Elephant in the room

Following dominant victory over Harrington in Berkshire DA race, Shugrue thanks controversial legal mentor | WAMC

Following dominant victory over Harrington in Berkshire DA race, Shugrue thanks controversial legal mentor | WAMC

WAMC's Josh Landes is the only journalist/blogger who wrote about retired Judge Dan Ford's legal record in Berkshire County that I have been writing and blogging about for one month now.  Tim Shugrue's remarks saying thank you to Dan Ford is SCANDALOUS!

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "Thank you for your service, DA Harrington"

The Berkshire Eagle, September 13, 2022

To the editor: Firstly, I would like to congratulate Timothy Shugrue on winning the election for Berkshire district attorney.

I genuinely look forward to hearing more about his goals and initiatives as he transitions into this very important role. While it’s no secret I have been an outspoken supporter of current District Attorney Andrea Harrington, hoping for her successor’s success is crucial for the sake of our community. Democratic societies are built around the principle of free and fair elections, and such was the case in this election. Mr. Shugrue won fair and square.

I would be amiss if I did not take the time to congratulate and express gratitude to Ms. Harrington for her accomplishments over the last four years. She came into the 2018 district attorney race like a wrecking ball — unapologetically passionate about modernizing the criminal justice system. I urge Mr. Shugrue to not lose sight of many of her invaluable initiatives, specifically tackling gender-based violence; expanding participation in the Drug Court and following evidence-based policy to ensure offenders with substance use disorder receive treatment over incarceration; and ensuring a more equitable justice system by continuing to follow a no-cash bail policy, which for decades has unfairly targeted low-income people and created racial inequity.

Whether you supported her or not, I urge you join me in thanking Ms. Harrington for her hard work and dedication to our communities over the last four years. As a mother to three young boys, I am proud to have included them in campaigning for Andrea, giving them firsthand experience and education in the electoral process. Being the first woman district attorney in Berkshire County is an incredible accomplishment and piece of history in itself, and it’s so important for our youngest community members to know that a woman is very much capable of doing anything a man can.

Thank you, Andrea. You undoubtedly have so much more to accomplish and much success ahead of you.

Meghan Kirby, Lenox

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September 26, 2022

The real reason why voters gave Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington the boot is because she is honest, which means that she was NOT in the pocket of the elitist political establishment, who went all in for Tim Shugrue: the greedy Ambulance chasing and divorce Attorney who controversially thanked retired Judge Dan Ford after he won the election.

Joe Biden ousted Donald Trump in 2020 because the billionaires on Wall Street wanted him to be in their pocket when the Financial Elites gave Joe Biden's presidential campaign more big money than any other political candidate in U.S. history.  They saw Donald Trump as a loose cannon whom they could not control.

Lastly, 2023 is predicted to see one of the worst economic recessions since 2008, 2002 and the Great Depression of the 1930s.  The Swamp will still spend tens of trillions in "Biden Buck$", and the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates until almost all of us declare bankruptcy.  But we may not live to see 2023 if Putin takes out his nuclear weapons toy box and blows up the world - he is NOT bluffing.

Jonathan A. Melle

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November 13, 2022

Hello Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington,

As a blogger, I blogged about your political career since 2016 - 2022, and hopefully possibly beyond 2022.  I support your progressive policies in Massachusetts politics.  I believe that your professional accomplishments are praiseworthy.  The people of our native Berkshire County, Massachusetts are fortunate to have you as the first woman District Attorney.  I believe that you did a good job in this position because your heart was always in the right place, and you tried to help the people nobody else cared about.

Once again, I wish to apologize to you for the way you were mistreated by the news media, especially by the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle), the blogs, especially by blogger Dan Valenti, and by the disingenuous state and local political establishment, especially by trust fund very rich boy Sherwood Guernsey II, who is a former Massachusetts State Representative and failed candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.  I read blog posts that falsely stated that you killed babies, that people like you are the reason why the mass shooting at the Uvalde, Texas public school occurred, and that you used black people for your own political gains while privately saying racist words against black people, and so on.  I never believed any of it.  In fact, I believe that you are a good and decent person with lofty ideals.

Some of the criticisms of you did not make sense to me.  Pittsfield Massachusetts has had an acute violent crime problem well before 2019.  It didn't make any sense to me why so many people and institutions scapegoated you for violent crime in Berkshire County.  Some of the criticisms of you centered around the allegations of political corruption.  It didn't make sense to me because you are the smallest hill among valleys of local, state and federal political corruption.  To illustrate, U.S. Representative Richie Neal only serves K Street corporate lobbyist firms, especially insurance companies.  To illustrate, U.S. Senator Ed Markey really lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and he campaigned on the Green New Deal, yet he supports GE's proposal to put a leaky landfill full of industrial chemical waste called PCBs inside of a watershed in the polluted Housatonic River in Lee, Massachusetts, over the objections of the people he represents.

I have a criticism of you, Andrea Harrington.  It comes from my own past negative experiences with the political establishment in Berkshire County during and after my dad, Bob, served as a Berkshire County Commissioner from 1997 - mid-2000.  The Democrats in state and federal politics say the loftiest of words, but when it comes down to it, they are all very corrupt.  The Democrats are all about the Almighty Dollar and power, and if you (or I) are not in their pockets, then we are toast.  Despite the fact that we are both the same age of 47 years, I dealt with these same group of corrupt career politicians in Berkshire County two decades apart from you.  I followed your failed 2022 reelection campaign, and everything that the Democrats did to oust you came as no surprise to me because I went through it all many years ago during my father's political career in Berkshire County.

I asked my mom a while ago why politicians make the most beautiful "Holy Sermon on the Mount"-like political speeches, but when it comes to their real public records, they only care about themselves and their wealthy campaign supporters and donors.  My mom replied to me, that is why so many people dislike politicians.  They say one thing, but then they do another.  That is what they are known for.  My mother said to me that I should know all of this.  I replied that I do understand it all too well.

You, Andrea Harrington, are Exhibit A in being shafted by the political establishment in Berkshire County.  All of the progressive ideals that the political establishment says they stand for in local, state and federal government, are what you embody as a politician.  But when it came down to the political establishment's own interests, they turned their backs on you because you were not in their pockets.  They replaced you with a greedy Ambulance chasing Divorce Attorney named Tim Shugrue, who controversially thanked retired Judge Dan Ford after his election night victory.  Clearly, the political establishment has their strings on their puppet, Tim Shugrue, who finally got his plum after 18 years of wanting the elected position of Berkshire County District Attorney.

I hope that you, Andrea Harrington, will continue to serve in politics beyond 2022.  As your sister high school classmate in 1993 in Pittsfield, I am proud of you and all of your achievements.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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Shugrue begins tenure as Berkshire DA by reasserting his tough on crime campaign message | WAMC

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Our Opinion: "Good luck to DA Shugrue — we look forward to holding Berkshire County's new top prosecutor accountable"

The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, January 5, 2023

As incoming Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue took the oath of office on Wednesday, a new administration took the reins of the county’s top law enforcement office.

What will this mean for the criminal justice system in Berkshire County? We hope it entails both a smooth transition and some positive change — and we don’t say that just because we argued for a changing of the guard by endorsing DA Shugrue in his challenge against incumbent Andrea Harrington.

Incoming Berkshire district attorney Timothy Shugrue claims he didn’t get the transition help he needed. Email records show repeated outreach by Andrea Harrington’s office

Three months after a heated primary battle, the present and future Berkshire County district attorneys still don’t agree – at least about one thing: The efficiency of the transition of power from one DA to another.

Having a democratically elected district attorney means this office is subjected to the pressurization of politics. While that need not and should not engage the worst of our political instincts, the DA primary was a bitter one. Unfortunately, some of that bitterness appears to have leaked into the critical transitional process, as well. Recent Eagle reporting revealed deep disagreements between the outgoing administration and the new one, particularly over the amount of DA Shugrue was allowed to access the office’s criminal files and whether he should be sworn in as a special prosecutor in advance of taking over the office.

The latter step would have let him review confidential information related the ongoing cases his administration is about to handle. Ms. Harrington similarly requested special prosecutor status when she won the office in 2018 — not for her but for her eventual first assistant district attorney Karen Bell — and was granted that access by the previous administration. Harrington’s administration, however, rejected that request when it was made by incoming DA Shugrue. In a statement, Harrington’s office said that Ms. Bell ended up “regretting it,” although it’s not clear what the downside would have been to simply allow the incoming DA to take such a step if he finds it helpful for the transition.

Tough as it might be to put the rumbles of a recent primary in the past, what’s needed now is a sharp focus on the present and the future of the Berkshire DA’s office. We have our eye on several key cases that will bridge these two administrations who pledged very different approaches.

A case relating to the death of a North Adams man that was caused by two other drivers allegedly racing on Route 8 has unjustifiably languished for years. We hope this changes with the leadership of the DA’s office and Anthony Emard’s daughter is given a better chance at seeing justice done after her father’s death, though the sobering reality is that cases rarely, if ever, get stronger as they get older.

Meanwhile, a negligent manslaughter case that should not have been brought on the evidence that has been produced against an Adams couple — at least according to the Berkshire Superior Court judge who tossed their indictments — still hangs in the limbo of the appeals process. The appeal itself appeared to be a stalling tactic to let the Harrington administration put off closure of the case until after September’s primary, and in one of her final acts as DA Ms. Harrington on Jan. 3 asked the appeals court for an extension on the filing deadline for the requisite briefs. All this while the fate of these Adams foster parents still hangs in the balance, and as such we will be watching closely as to whether a Shugrue-led DA’s office takes a different tack on this controversial case.

DA Shugrue was sworn in alongside two key additions to the prosecutor’s office. Marianne Shelvey will serve as first assistant district attorney. It won’t be her first time as a Berkshire ADA, but she now returns to the office with a decade of experience as a prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice. While Ms. Shelvey oversees cases in superior court, Second Assistant DA Kelly Mulcahy Kemp will lead the office’s efforts in the county’s three district courts. She, too, comes with deep experience as a former chief district court prosecutor in Berkshire County, a criminal justice teacher at Berkshire Community College and, most recently, as the director of training and specialty courts in the Hampden County DA’s office. These leadership choices suggest a needed course correction from what we perceived as systemic problems within the Berkshire DA’s office in recent years — most notably a sense of sloppiness in prosecuting important cases, abuse of the great discretion vested in prosecutors’ offices and an unfortunate focus on political positioning over the pursuit of justice.

Unlike his predecessor, though, DA Shugrue was not inclined to blindly clean house. Most Superior Court prosecutors are staying put, while Jennifer Zalnasky will be staying on as chief of appeals. That’s a good sign of a DA’s office that will value ability and competency over perceived loyalty, hopefully to the benefit of the entire county’s criminal justice system. We hope that this administration will further break with the last by increasing transparency. Too often over the last four years we found inexplicable opacity in an office meant to represent the people in the court of law — from the whistleblowing revelations of former public records officer Jeanne Kempthorne to an overreliance on prewritten and press staff statements instead of direct comment from the DA on critical matters.

We want to see that change, and we look forward to holding a Shugrue administration accountable to that end. The county’s top law enforcement office deserves no less, and we wish newly sworn-in DA Shugrue luck in leading that office.

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January 7, 2023

The Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) published an editorial wishing Tim Shugrue good luck as the new Berkshire County District Attorney, while also relentlessly bashing former D.A. Andrea Harrington.  Meanwhile, WAMC's Josh Landes published a news article about Tim Shugrue always kissing retired Judge Dan Ford's dirty behind, despite Dan Ford's controversial history in the Massachusetts court system, especially him railroading Bernard Baran, who passed away in 2014, many years ago.

Tim Shugrue is an Ambulance Chasing Greedy Divorce Attorney who wanted the plum position for the past 18 years.  The political and legal establishment, along with the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) and others, are foolish to put their faith in this greedy conman.  I believe that they ousted Andrea Harrington and backed Tim Shugrue because they wanted this corrupt greed-ball in their back pockets for more of the same old secrecy and insider's only corruption that Pittsfield politics is infamously known for.  Shame on everyone who supports D.A. Tim Shugrue!  You put your own selfish interests above your values, which means you sold your souls to the Devil!

Jonathan A. Melle

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January 7, 2023

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

You are a good friend, as well as a good friend of my family over the years.  I appreciate your public advocacy work on behalf of all of the people and taxpayers who do not have a real voice in the government.  I aspire to be as open-minded as you are when it comes to politics, especially state and local politics in Berkshire County.

I don't believe that I am being closed-minded by returning the favor to the Dirty Bird and the corrupt political establishment by bashing Berkshire County District Attorney Tim Shugrue.  Since when is it O.K. to bash former Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington, but it is not O.K. to bash the new D.A. Tim Shugrue?  

I feel that the political establishment in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, has long held a double standard rule that we must always kiss their dirty behinds, but they can with impunity use retribution against the people and taxpayers who do not have a real voice in the government.  I believe that Senator Ed Markey (D - HOT AIR) from Chevy Chase, Maryland, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D - Socialist millionaire) who in not from Main Street, PAC Man Richie Neal who is from K Street's corporate lobbyist firms, especially insurance companies, State Senator Paul Mark who is from Marxist-ville, John Barrett III who is from career politician-ville, Smitty Pignatelli who is from rubber stamp-ville, and Tricia Farley Bouvier, who is from the Old Country Buffet-ville, are all doing DISSERVICES to the people and taxpayers of Massachusetts and beyond.  I don't have to kiss their dirty behinds because we all live in a FREE country where we are allowed to speak our good consciences against the lousy corrupt career politicians who make their living off of the people and taxpayers.

Who the Hell does Tim Shugrue think he is anyways?  He openly bashes Andrea Harrington, but he also praises retired Massachusetts Judge Dan Ford, who has a very controversial record in the state court system, especially his role in railroading Bernard Baran.

It is fact that Tim Shugrue spent his legal career chasing Ambulances and getting rich off of divorce cases.  Everyone is treating Tim Shugrue like the second coming of Jesus Christ, but it is really groupthink at its worst!  Tim Shugrue is a greed-ball Attorney that gives lawyers a bad reputation.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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FACT: Berkshire County Tim Shugrue is 0-2 in Superior Court trials and just dropped 13 counts of animal abuse, as of Saturday, January 28, 2023. Posted in the comment section of the blog: Planet Valenti.

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Southern Poverty Law Center expert, Berkshire DA respond to white power signs, flyers, banners in Berkshire County | WAMC

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July 17, 2023

My hand is definitely not raised. Just as crime has become worse that is something clown shoes Shagrue and Bowler promised to change. Is the sheriff even around?.. More guns on the streets more junkies, more beggars. We have a newly elected Senator. Same crap NO jobs, No new Economic development for the city Nada!

New city council members same old infighting nothing gets done except spending on worthless endeavors.

So that brings us to the 3 running for Mayor. The only thing that will change is some plum positions for friends and family and a whole lotta of BS! This will be the lowest turnout in a Pittsfield election ever. Book it.

"John Dutton" post on PlanetValenti's blog.

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Berkshire DA’s office to use $100k state grant toward suppression of gang activity, drug trafficking through law enforcement efforts, youth empowerment programs | WAMC

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August 25, 2023

Former Berkshire County District Attorney was in elected office for one term over four years from 2019 - 2022.  For many years prior to 2019, Pittsfield was always in the top ten cities by population in Massachusetts for violent crime every year, according to the FBI's annual reports.  So far in late-August 2023, Pittsfield is and will continue to be a city plagued by violent crime.  One could draw a circle/oval around inner-city Pittsfield's distressed neighborhoods to show where most of the city's violent crime takes place.  As for homelessness, it is an ongoing national crisis because housing prices are at a record high, while working class wages only increased by $5 dollars per week over the past 50 years.  The underclass who depends on social services are not being trained to work in highly skilled living wage jobs.  Pittsfield is part of the nation's "rust belt".  Pittsfield is a very economically unequal city - if not one of the most economically unequal cities in the state and nation.  Mayor Linda Tyer lives in a mansion in a Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College within a few feet of the Hancock border.  35-yearlong banker Peter Marchetti said he would have to take a pay cut to serve as Mayor, which pays an annual salary of $115,725 in fiscal year 2024, but he wants the lucrative city public pension plus perks for life.  In closing, blaming Andrea Harrington does NOT let Peter Marchetti, John Krol and Karen Kalinowsky off the hook for Pittsfield's violent crime and homelessness crises!

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "Berkshire sheriff should put constitutional rights first"

The Berkshire Eagle, December 11, 2024

To the editor: I was surprised when I read the Dec. 7 Eagle article ("Recent ICE arrests of Berkshire residents spark debate over immigration detainers and justice for victims") about Berkshire Sheriff Thomas Bowler’s cooperation with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and his support for a bill to be able to hold immigrants even longer for ICE to come.

By cooperating with ICE before a trial to determine the defendant’s guilt or innocence, the sheriff is undermining and defying the Constitution of our country. The right to a fair trial by jury is enshrined in the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district where the crime was committed."

Our criminal laws are established by our democratic process. It is in the hands of the district attorney to prosecute under those laws to determine guilt or innocence. I do not see how it is up to a sheriff, or to ICE, to circumvent that process by notifying ICE to remove the defendant before he’s proven guilty. He is a potentially innocent man.

Everyone agrees that public safety is a critical concern. There is no disagreement there. That is why we have a Constitution and the laws of our society to be enforced in criminal matters by the district attorney.

It is not up to the sheriff to say whether a defendant is guilty or assume his guilt. He or she is only a public safety hazard if guilty.

By notifying ICE so that they can come and grab the defendant before he has a chance to prove his innocence, the sheriff is in effect acting like judge and jury.

I believe the sheriff is a good and honorable leader. I urge him to reconsider his position with regard to cooperation with ICE and support our Constitution and our district attorney.

Sherwood Guernsey, Williamstown

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December 11, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Sherwood Guernsey wants immigrants to be granted bail prior to their trials by juries instead of being held in the county jail for ICE to review their cases.

Sherwood Guernsey argues that Sheriff Tom Bowler and ICE are supporting the government circumventing immigrants' constitutional rights to a speedy trial to determine their guilt or innocence in a court of law.

Sherwood Guernsey is an old wealth, Ivy League educated member of the elitist wing of the Democratic Party who supported Kamala Harris for U.S. President in 2024.  She was a progressive prosecutor, but two years earlier in 2022, Sherwood Guernsey wrote a letter denouncing then Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington, who is also a progressive prosecutor, but 2 + 2 = 5 in politics sometimes.

Sherwood Guernsey is a former Massachusetts State Representative, an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Congress, and a latte limousine liberal who is a prime illustration as to why the Democratic Party lost the working-class vote to Donald Trump, the 53 - 47 U.S. Senate, the 220 - 215 U.S. House of Representatives, and the majority conservative Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2024.

If we were all as wealthy and privileged as Sherwood Guernsey, then we would not mention that immigrants are working some of the jobs that U.S. Citizens are competing for, the housing crisis, whereby many law-abiding people are priced out of owning and retaining a home, and the high rate of U.S. inflation whereby the government is spending many billions of dollars per fiscal year to provide costly social services and public education for the influx of immigrants during the Biden administration - not to mention our nation's huge and growing larger in numbers underclass population.

I wish that I could make somewhere around $200,000 plus state government public perks per fiscal year for life like Sheriff Tom Bowler.  I also wish that I were a trust fund baby with millions of dollars in my financial accounts like old wealth Sherwood Guernsey.  But I am the Have-NOT from Pittsfield (Massachusetts) named Jon Melle, whose last name comes from a small town named Melle, Piedmont, Italy, which has a far right national woman leader running Italy who openly supports Mussolini, but, once again, 2 + 2 = 5.

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Immigrants are entitled to due process, too"

The Berkshire Eagle, December 21, 2024

To the editor: 'Tis the season of Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and other holidays.

Let’s recognize the immigrants who travel far and near to seek the basics that we enjoy due to the rule of law and due process in our country: safety, food, shelter, clothing, jobs, education and love.

Let us find some compassion, mercy and justice in our hearts for the immigrants who have come to the Berkshires and other places in the United States of America.

I am referring to the Dec. 11 letter to the editor “Sheriff should put Constitution first,” regarding criminal law. Ensuring everyone the right to a fair trial protects each of us. Please, let’s remember the democratic process. Allow the district attorney to prosecute defendants under the criminal laws to determine the guilt or innocence of anyone. Let us remember that whether we are immigrants or not, we are innocent until proven guilty.

Sheriff Thomas Bowler: Please prioritize the United States Constitution and our district attorney before cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

With hope for fair treatment,

Marietta Rapetti Cawse, Pittsfield

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September 3, 2025

Berkshire County Sheriff Tom Bowler's annual picnic gives him the opportunity to meet people and families in the community.

https://www.iberkshires.com/story/80163/Sheriff-Bowler-to-Hold-Annual-Picnic.html

What would you say to him?

I would ask him if he believes that Pittsfield's crime problems have improved from former Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington (2019-2022) to sitting D.A. Tim Shugrue (2023 - early-September 2025)?

Of course, we all know with evidence that Pittsfield's crime problems have been over double the statewide average since at least 1980 (over the past 45 years), and that the 3 CLOWNS - Bowler, Shugrue, and Mayor Peter Marchetti - have not changed these negative trends in Pittsfield one bit.

Jon Melle

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A corrupt career politician's legacy in the Swamp

Hello Patrick Fennell, and to the news media for publication (if they stop their blacklisting of my political email letters),

Sarcasm and Satire.  I am a corrupt career politician.  I go to the Swamp to tax you.  Instead of investing in your family's well-being, I spend your tax dollars on the vested and special interests.  The American Dream has been slowly dying over the past 50 years, so instead of investing in the American People, I vote to send your living wage jobs overseas so that the financial, corporate and ruling elites can enrich themselves at the public trough.  Don't cry too hard because I still put your tax dollars into Social Insurance programs, but I also do nothing about the trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and so on.  Instead of blaming the elites for corrupting the government for their own Money and Power, I engage you in wedge issues such as abortion, the death penalty, race, gender, and the ongoing immigration crisis.  I tell you that the U.S. Government stands for Democracy, Human Rights, and Diplomacy, but the truth is that the U.S. Government's number one non-farm export is arms sales to the world.  The U.S. Military Industrial Complex is how the U.S. Government makes most of its money.  Without war, the U.S. Government would be likened to a third world country.  I tell you about the Green New Deal without explaining that the Pentagon pollutes more greenhouse gas emissions than 140 countries combined.  The U.S.A. is the second biggest polluter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world behind China.  The U.S.A. and China combined greenhouse gas emissions account for a little less than 50 percent of the world's global warming pollution output.  I tell you to drive and ride in electric cars, while I charge you $5 in gas.  I have spent tens of trillions of federal dollars since Joe Biden became U.S. President, but I blame everyone else for the 41-year high U.S. inflation.  While Joe Biden attacked then sitting U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020 for his close ties to "the Pariah State" Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince MBS, on July 15th, 2022, Joe Biden is going visit Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince MBS to give him billions of additional federal tax dollars for them to increase its oil and gas exports on the condition that they purchase billions of dollars in additional arms from us.  The U.S. National Debt is over $30.5 trillion and rising U.S. Dollars, but don't worry because your children and grandchildren will happily pay for the Swamp's record high level of federal spending.  My colleagues are either said to be billionaires or multimillionaires from the Swamp's legal insider trading, legal bribes by K Street lobbyists, and our multimillion-dollar campaign war chests.  If you wish to contact my office, I will send you a banal form letter saying how great I am.  I spend decades in elected office whereby I enrich myself and my wealthy campaign donors at the public trough.  If I have to retire for some reason that I will not tell you about, I will become a greedy registered lobbyist, or a marijuana business owner, or a consultant for a big business I gave huge tax breaks to during my corrupt political career.  By the time I pass away, I will be worth more money than all of the people who live in your neighborhood combined.  Please keep paying me your tax dollars so I will continue to enrich myself at the public trough.

Thank you,

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 4, 2022

Happy Independence Day!  Instead of King George III we now have wealthy corrupt career politicians, including Joe Biden who has been in the Swamp for almost 50 years.  Pittsfield politics has Queen Linda Tyer living in a mansion in Pittsfield's only elitist Gated Community within a few feet of the Hancock border, while the fictional/proverbial Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski are paying record high municipal taxes and fees to City Hall for Level 5 public schools and substandard city services.  It pays to be a rich and powerful Democrat from little old Pittsfield on down to the Swamp; just ask said to be billionaire 82-year-old Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  The Founding Fathers signed and passed the Declaration of Independence into law 246 years ago, despite most of them owning Slaves, after Massachusetts went bankrupt and King George III refused to bailout his indebted British Colony.  King George III told his Massachusetts government to raise taxes from only 2 weeks of their yearly income to pay off his British Colony's debts.  The Founding Fathers rebelled by saying "No taxation without representation"; but we still pay taxation without representation because we have an Oligarchy of wealthy corrupt career politicians instead of a real Democracy.  The American Revolutionary War went on for years until the British Crown finally surrendered to General George Washington, who went onto be our country's first Constitutional U.S. President.  The American Experiment of Democracy - with Oligarchs serving in government as wealthy corrupt career politicians - lives on 246 years later on July 4th, 2022.

Jonathan A. Melle

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"Expert Analysis: Raising Interest Rates To Combat Inflation Is Bad Move When Supply Chain Considered"

By Josephine Nesbit, Yahoo! News, July 5, 2022

The Federal Reserve voted to raise the benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points in June, but some say this isn’t the right solution to fight off record inflation rates. According to one analyst, high prices have mainly been driven by supply chain constraints, CNBC reported.

“Supply is very difficult to manage, we are finding across a whole bunch of industries, a whole bunch of businesses, they’re having very different challenges just turning the taps back on,” Paul Gambles, managing partner at advisory firm MBMG Group, told CNBC’s “Street Signs.

Higher demand for goods and pandemic-related disruptions to the supply chain caused a shortage of goods across the globe. Record cargo volumes at major U.S. ports and a shortage of workers caused shipping costs to skyrocket in 2021.

By raising interest rates, the Federal Reserve hopes to reduce consumer demand, which has overwhelmed the supply chain.

In a June 15 [2022] statement, the Fed said it elected to raise rates as “overall economic activity” appeared to have picked up in the first quarter of 2022, with rising inflation reflecting “supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices and broader price pressures,” CNBC noted.

However, Gambles said that adjusting monetary policy is “the wrong solution to the problem,” pointing out that demand is lower than what it was even before the pandemic. Economists are also saying that using interest rate hikes to curb inflation could put us into an economic recession.

“If we look at where employment would have been in the States, if we hadn’t had COVID, and we hadn’t had the lockdowns, we’re still about 10 million jobs short of where we would be. So there’s actually quite a lot of potential slack in the labor market. Somehow that’s not translating to the actual slack,” he said, as reported by CNBC.

“And, again, I don’t think that’s a monetary policy issue. I don’t think monetary policy would make a great deal of difference to that.”

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com

Reader's Comment: "Jackie" wrote: Lower energy prices - use previous administrations dance card.  This will help with supply chain issues.  Raising interest rates fast and in big amounts will kill the economy.  Remember Paul Volcker's plan - raise interest rates until everyone is unemployed - crash the economy.

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July 12, 2022

Beacon Hill lawmakers still have not passed a state budget for fiscal year 2023 that began 12 days ago on July 1st, 2022.  On Wednesday (7/13/2022) afternoon, the State House of Representatives - including the Berkshire's state legislative delegates (hacks) Trippy Country Buffet, Shitty Pigpen, Paul Marxism & the Career Mayor - will mostly likely all vote to rubber stamp Speaker Ronny Mariano's state tax giveaway bill authored by outgoing Governor Charlie Baker with legislative amendment riders to shovel even more tax dollars to the politically connected Boston area big businesses who fill the corrupt career politicians' campaign coffers with a lot special interest money.  Beacon Hill lawmakers are still sitting on billions upon billions of dollars in surplus state cash, while they are still scheming on the late $50 billion state budget.

In the Swamp, Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince MBS later this week, despite his 2020 attacks against Donald Trump 2 years ago for his (Trump's) close ties with the "Pariah Saudi State" which has the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, and his (Biden's) promise to stand up to MBS about his abusive record of Human Rights violations and the Saudi's involvement in the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks against the U.S.A.  Donald Trump must be fuming about Joe Biden's 2020 attacks against him, and Joe Biden's outright hypocrisy on the matter.  So are a lot of people who believed Joe Biden's lofty promises that he will be breaking by visiting Saudi Arabia and MBS later this week.  So much for the Democrats Green New Deal nonsense because the Swamp wants more Saudi oil and gas to lower energy prices prior to the 2022 midterm elections that heavily favor the Republican Party.

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 14, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

I respect your views on and support for Donald Trump.  I wish to point out the facts that Donald Trump is the leader of the racist White Nationalist political movement in the U.S.A. - MAGA really stands for NAZI; he had Nazis also known as alt-right work on his campaigns and administration; he affirmed the Nazi hate marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, where an innocent young woman lost her life; he affirmed the Nazi hate protestors who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, where 5 innocent people lost their lives, including a Capitol Hill Police Officer; he has a record of using sexist, racist and violent words in his political speeches and attacks on his political adversaries; he uses the word "globalists" in his political speeches and attacks against his opponents despite everybody pointing out that it is a long used anti-Semitic word used against the Jewish People; his inhumane immigration policies and actions were Crimes Against Humanity; his foreign policies targeted Peoples and people from Islamic countries from entering the U.S.A., which hasn't been seen since the 1920s; and, he appointed far right religious Supreme Court Judges that will take our country back to the 1950s to the 1920s, which fits right into the cultural conflicts model of Divide and Conquer used against the American People with his and other extremist ideologies that only serve to distract us from the Ruling Elites' corruption and greed.

Why cannot we have a U.S. President who doesn't use cultural conflicts that end up hurting everyone, but instead, he (or she) uses the rule of law, economics and finance, and democracy to help everyone achieve the American Dream of everyone having the equal opportunity to live a middle-class lifestyle during our brief time on Earth?  You know that I have been critical of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden's respective public records, but you only write political emails defending Donald Trump like he is perfect when he has a history of scandals, conflicts, racism, and so on in the Swamp and beyond.

As for the lovely Linda Tyer, I disagree with her blocking the people from sending her political emails.  So does Smitty Pignatelli (Shitty Pigpen).  So does Tricia Farley Bouvier (Trippy Country Buffet).  So does Paul Mark (Paul Marxism).  So does Ed Markey (Maryland Markey).  The corrupt career politicians from Pittsfield politics to Beacon Hill to the Swamp have all enriched themselves at the public trough, while the people they block from emailing them have fallen behind.  That is NOT how the government is supposed to work, and they know it, but power and the Almighty Dollars is too much for any of them to pass up.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 14, 2022

Jonathon;

Linda is a BRIGHT BLUE Democrat! How could this happen. Democrats claim to be the party of free speech and democracy! They claim Trump is a racist Nazi! 

Dr. Jill just called Latinos breakfast tacos. Who can forget Joe's visit to a 7/11. Robert Byrd was Joe's mentor.

So again how can Linda block you from free speech, she a democrat? 

Sounds like you are bad mouthing the wrong politicians. At no time did Trump ever censure the press, or anyone on BIg Tech. Linda has though.

Patrick Fennell

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July 14, 2022

Yes, the lovely Linda Tyer, the wealthy Mayor of Pittsfield politics, has blocked my political emails to her at times.  I don't live in her elitist Gated Community lined with Mansions and Lexus luxury cars.  I am not a provincial state and local Ruling Elite either.  I never receive any kind of reply from her office.  I am not an important person in her world of overtaxing the people and small businesses in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in return for Level 5 public schools and substandard municipal services.  I have criticized her secretive public financial management shell games full of Creative Accounting schemes and multimillion dollar $lu$h Fund$ that tries to hide Pittsfield's hundreds of millions of dollars in public debts and other liabilities that will never be paid off in our lifetimes.  I point out that North Street is sarcastically called "Social Services Alley" and that dangerous downtown Pittsfield is surrounded by the sarcastically called "Ring of Poverty" neighborhoods that most people avoid.  I have written about the 24-year-old PEDA debacle that has millions of dollars in always increasing liabilities with no financial plan to pay for the polluted postindustrial so-called business park.  I have written about Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots stinking up abutting residential neighborhoods with his skunk-like marijuana odors with no action taken by City Hall.  I have written both praises and criticisms of the lovely Linda Tyer over the years.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 16, 2022

Someone replied emailed me: Good letter - would like to understand your thinking on 'shell games'.

My reply is that big government (billions of dollars in Boston and trillions of dollars in the Swamp) gives away a large percentage of the state and federal budgets to enrich the Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites at the public trough.  To illustrate, Beacon Hill lawmakers use (voluntary) regressive taxation schemes (i.e., the state lottery, casino gambling, excise taxes on marijuana, tobacco and alcohol taxes) in order to be able to giveaway a little less than $18 billion dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks to Boston area big businesses that do not benefit most regions of Massachusetts, such as my mostly rural native Berkshire County.  To illustrate, the Swamp deficit spends trillions of dollars per year, while the middle-class families in America have been systemically decimated over the past 50 years.  The gap between the Haves and Have Nots now parallels the 1920s, which was one hundred years ago, and the tens if not hundreds of trillions of dollars in federal debts will be paid for by the forthcoming generations of American households who will have to struggle to not fall into our nation's huge and always growing larger underclass.

The last time the world's underclass was decimated, the world saw evil dictators such as Stalin, Hitler, and Chairman Mao, among other malevolent despots, who killed hundreds of millions of innocent Peoples and people.  In 2024, the news media is warning us that our American Democracy could end in dictatorship.  One hundred years prior to 2024 was 1924, which was the beginning of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany.  We still have a chance in 2022 to fight for Human Rights, Democracy, the Rule of Law over the rule of men, economic equity and rebuilding the middle-class like we did post WW2, and holding the corrupt career politicians at all levels of government in check when they sell us out with their corrupt and inequitable financial shell games!

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 16, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

The sad thing about everything we wrote today is that most people don't understand how and why big government is so corrupt and inequitable.  Abortion should be a nonissue, but it is used as a wedge issue to keep us in cultural conflicts to distract the people about what is happening on Beacon Hill and in the Swamp.

Elizabeth Warren is NOT part of Main Street, and she has been criticized for playing both sides of the Wall Street versus Main Street political game.  Joe Biden took in more money from Wall Street than any other candidate in U.S. history, and it is a fact that Elizabeth Warren fully supports him.

Ed Markey lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, which is a wealthy suburb in the Swamp.  Ed Markey campaigned on the Green New Deal, but the U.S.A. is the second biggest polluter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world; China is number one.  Combined, China and the U.S.A. pollute a little less than 50 percent of the entire world's greenhouse gas emissions.  Ed Markey has not changed anything except spew more of his HOT AIR nonsense in the Swamp.  Ed Markey - as well as Shitty Pigpen, the lovely Linda, PAC Man Richie Neal and company - supports GE putting a toxic waste dump full of industrial chemicals that cause cancer and other illnesses inside of the watershed in the polluted Housatonic River in Lee, Massachusetts.  How in the Hell is Ed Markey not being called on the proverbial carpet for selling out the people who live in Lee and Lenoxdale, Massachusetts?  If Ed Markey was a Republican U.S. Senator, the Boston news media would have crushed him on his real public record, but he gets a pass for being a corrupt career Democrat Swamp politician. 

PAC Man Richie Neal is K Street's Golden Boy, especially with the insurance companies!  The problem with PAC Man Richie Neal being in K Street's pocket is that it has NOTHING to do with his mostly rural Western Massachusetts legislative district that he has been doing DISSERVICES against for over three decades.

Chrome Dome Adam Hinds married a wealthy woman who is a college professor at Amherst College, and he left Pittsfield behind faster than Jack Welch did decades ago.  Shitty Pigpen is a rubber stamp for Boston's corrupt State House leadership, which systemically underfunds his mostly rural legislative district that borders New York State and Connecticut.  Trippy Country Buffet did and accomplished nothing for a little over one decade in Boston, but she went bananas over passing a bill into law earlier this year of 2022 giving illegal/undocumented immigrants Massachusetts Driver's Licenses effective on July 1st, 2023.  Paul Marxism is all about representing the politically connected labor unions and the all-powerful State House leadership, which is symbolic of a true Socialist or even a Communist comrade.  The Career Mayor (John Barrett III) is in his fifth decade of being a career politician who supports the political establishment over grassroots democracy.

Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer passes record high municipal budgets that are not financially sustainable over the long-term.  Moreover, the Pittsfield taxpayers are paying top dollar for Level 5 public schools and substandard city services.  She lives in a mansion in an elitist Gated Community, while inner-city Pittsfield has over 1,000 gang members living there and shooting up the streets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What does all of this mean for the people of Berkshire County?  It means that the China-like one political party system is systemically screwing them over without the people having a voice to change their corrupt and inequitable government to represent their low to moderate income households' political interests.

This Summer, the Democratic candidates named challenger Alf Barbalunga and Incumbent Tom "Pudge" Bowler are campaigning for the no-show plum to be Berkshire County Sheriff, which is akin to a commoner winning the state lottery jackpot plus public perks.  The Democratic candidates named challenger Tim Shugue and Incumbent Andrea Harrington are campaigning for the plum to be Berkshire County District Attorney, which is also akin to a commoner winning a large financial windfall plus public perks.

Challenger Tim Shugrue, who ran for D.A. many years ago is saying that the Incumbent D.A. Andrea Harrington's progressive policies are causing an increase in violent crime in Pittsfield and the Berkshires, but it has been trending in that wrong direction for decades.  D.A. Andrea Harrington is running on gender and racial equality and justice without touching on the root causes of violent crime in Pittsfield and the Berkshires.  Why don't Alf, Pudge, Tim, and Andrea call out Pittsfield and North Adams for what they are: Politically corrupt and economically distressed and unequal cities that most young adults with the means to do so flee so that they will be able to earn a living wage, not send their children to Level 5 public schools, and not be at a high risk of being victims of violent crimes?

When I talked to Pittsfield powerbrokers such as Cliff Nilan, he told me that no one cares anymore.  I couldn't disagree with him more.  The answer to stopping the corrupt career politicians and one (Democratic) party system in Berkshire County is for the people to care about what is happening in local, state and Swamp politics.  We must demand that the politicians at all levels of government stop being so corrupt and inequitable, and that the politicians start investing in the people and communities they are supposed to be representing at Town/City Hall, Beacon Hill, and in the Swamp.

While I respect Cliff Nilan as a friend of my family, I have a difficult time trusting him when it comes to Pittsfield politics and beyond.  I believe that Cliff Nilan is a good and honorable man who loves and is loyal to Pittsfield.  I have heard stories over the years of Cliff Nilan helping people in need, which means that he has a good heart.  But I have also heard from people who oppose the provincial one-party political system of Cliff Nilan not being nice to them, which means he is a political agent.  The real problem is that Pittsfield politics has put the Berkshires into the proverbial ditch over the past over 50 years.

Beacon Hill politics is all about the Boston Pols enriching themselves and their wealthy financial backers at the public trough, while almost everyone else falls behind financially.  Swamp politics is all about the U.S. Government selling billions upon billions of dollars in arms to the world, bailing out and subsidizing Wall Street Investment Banks and Insurance Companies, and corrupt career politicians such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi being said to be a billionaire from her legal insider trading of Pentagon and related stocks.  The Ruling Elites do NOT care about people such as you and me, but I like that we keep writing about it year after year.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 18, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

Is it true that Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS last Friday, July 15th, 2022, whereby he asked - paid MBS billions of federal dollars - for more exports of oil and gas, is really a realpolitik shell game?  I read that Saudi Arabia not only sells oil and gas, but also, Saudi Arabia purchases oil and gas from Russia and other oil and gas rich countries as part of their country's economic trade.  When Saudi Arabia's MBS increases oil and gas exports, they may be also selling us more Russian oil and gas.  If true, it would mean that Joe Biden paying Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS billions of federal dollars for more oil and gas exports would also greatly benefit Russia's dictator, Putin, who is still at war with Ukraine.

Also, when Joe Biden used the U.S. Strategic Energy (Oil) Reserve to supposedly lower gas prices, it was mostly sold overseas to countries such as China and India, which also still purchases a lot of Russian oil and gas.  U.S. gas prices are down from the recent peak of $5 per gallon to $4.63 per gallon as of 18-July-2022.  That is only a savings of 37-cents per gallon of gas for the U.S. consumers, while overall U.S. inflation is near 10 percent, but it is really probably 4 percent higher than what is being reported by the federal government.

What the Hell is really going on?  Why is Wall Street making billions of dollars off of the global oil and gas trade?  Why is Wall Street making billions of dollars off of Russia's Putin's war in Ukraine?  Did Joe Biden pull another fast one late last week by giving Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS billions of federal dollars for more oil and gas - on the condition that they use a portion of the money to buy U.S. arms - that will lead to Saudi Arabia purchasing even more of Russia's oil and gas that will continue to finance Putin's war machine in order for Joe Biden to lower gas prices before the 2022 midterm elections to help the Democratic Party hold onto more seats in the Swamp?  If what I read is true, then Joe Biden is morally bankrupt!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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July 19, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

Joe Biden will be in Massachusetts tomorrow.  How do you like the following statement: “The President will deliver remarks on tackling the climate crisis and seizing the opportunity of a clean energy future to create jobs and lower costs for families.”?  The truth is that Joe Biden has oversaw the current energy crisis whereby he killed tens of thousands of U.S. energy jobs and raised energy prices on U.S. consumers that have not been seen since the 1970s.  The low to moderate income energy ratepayers who live in Massachusetts should send Joe Biden their energy bills tomorrow!

Best wishes,

Jonathan Melle

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President Joe Biden will be in the Bay State tomorrow, the White House announced Tuesday.

“On Wednesday, July 20, [2022], President Joe Biden will travel to Somerset, Massachusetts,” the White House said in a release.

Joe Biden is expected to speak about climate change and clean energy while visiting the commonwealth. The White House has not yet provided details about the trip.

“The President will deliver remarks on tackling the climate crisis and seizing the opportunity of a clean energy future to create jobs and lower costs for families,” the White House said in a release. “Additional details to follow.”

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July 28, 2022

Hello fellow U.S. Army Veteran Patrick Fennell,

The Swamp just stabbed American Veterans in the back today.  There is outrage after the bill to save Veterans lives that cares for burn pit victims that goes back the Vietnam Conflict era - where over 5 million Vietnamese People were killed and almost 60,000 Armed Forces Members were killed to make the Elites billions of dollars in war profits - failed in the U.S. Senate today.  As a 100 percent service-connected disabled Veteran who served our country honorably, I am disappointed by this breaking news today.  We need to vote out the corrupt career politicians in the Swamp!  The Swamp will go on their monthlong August 2022 vacation next week.  I hope the Swamp will take a permanent vacation because we will all be a lot better off without the corrupt career politicians in the Swamp.  Today marks one of the WORST days in Swamp politics!  What the Hell?

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 11, 2022

I betcha y'all didn't know that the 4 families who run Pittsfield politics pays me a lotta money to give them my advice on government.  I am kinda a big deal in Palookaville.  I attend secret society meetings in Naples, Florida with the Godfather of Rolodexes.  I get invited to elite parties in an exclusive Gated Community neighborhood with a few feet of the Hancock border.  I take a certain State Representative who likes to eat out to the Country Buffet.  I shine Chrome Dome's jewelry and big bald head.  I play PAC Man with the corporate owned Congressman from Springfield.  I have dinner out with Chevy Chase along with the Senator from Maryland who promised us all he will save the world with the Green New Deal.  I play financial shell games with the Senator who has a plan to make the Swamp work for Main Street, but somehow Wall Street always wins.  I even lend the Prez $10 trillion to spend so that big government will solve all of our problems.  I am a legend in my own mind!

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 24, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

I did not forget about your brief political email reply to me today.  BeaCON Hill lawmakers & Swamp lawmakers are all on their taxpayer-funded summer vacation.  The Swamp lawmakers will return after the long Labor Day weekend.  The Swamp is supposed to pass the fiscal year 2023 federal budget before September 30th, 2022, but we all know that is about as likely as a snowball in Hell not melting.  Record setting federal deficit spender Joe Biden said this year's federal budget deficit will "only" be a little above $1 trillion.  I had a good laugh at that one!  BeaCON Hill lawmakers are sitting on billions upon billions of dollars in state government surplus dollars, but they failed to pass the over $4.5 billion economic stimulus and development with tax relief for low to moderate income taxpayers, including Senior Citizens and Veterans.  Boston's corrupt career politicians are not scheduled to meet again in formal state legislative session until after the New Year, 2023.  The Solons in Boston are all enjoying their 5 monthlong taxpayer-funded vacation, but maybe some of them will be ousted in the November 8th, 2022, elections and then they can take a permanent vacation.  It would be too good to be true.  The only people who win anymore are the same people who always win over the past 50 years.  The Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites receive almost all of the income gains, while the rest of have to pound sand.  They should rename state capitals and the Swamp's legislative buildings "The Country Clubs for the Elites" to get their greedy hands on as much taxpayer loot as possible, while the rest of us struggle to survive.  In closing, I wonder if any of the powerbrokers actually believe they are really representing us anymore in the Corridors of Power?  I hope the answer is none of them.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 28, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

The average voter in Massachusetts and beyond is no match for the corrupt career politicians that get voted in year after year.

What is the difference between a politician and a prostitute?  The prostitute takes her hands out of your pockets when you run out of money, while the politician still keeps his hands in your pockets.  At least with a prostitute, you leave her with a smile on your face, but not with a politician. How do you know that a politician isn't stealing your money?  The politician has his hands in his own pockets - playing pocket pool.  How do you know when a politician isn't lying?  The politician's lips are not moving.

At this point, I think we would all be happier with a high paid hooker than a politician.  At least we would get a Happy Ending with our money instead of more hot air in return for 40-year high U.S. inflation.  Hunter Biden may have had it right by spending all of his money on sex workers in the U.S.A., China, Ukraine and Russia.  Hunter Biden may not have money laundered over $1 billion dollars from overseas after all if he spent all of his money on Happy Endings and a whole lot more.

Joe Biden said he is proud of his only surviving son, Hunter, who published a book in 2021 whereby he wrote that he used to smoke crack cocaine every 15 minutes and drown himself in alcohol.  Joe Biden and all of the other corrupt career politicians out there are making our country into an international embarrassment, but at least they are all enriching themselves at the public trough while we have to pound sand.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 28, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

The Student Relief will cost anywhere between $600 billion to over $1 trillion over the next decade, which will be long after Joe Biden will be a memory that we will all be happy to forget about.  Joe Biden is spending over $10 trillion federal dollars a year.  When the U.S. Congress returns to the Swamp after the long Labor Day weekend, they are supposed to be working on and passing the fiscal year 2023 federal budget prior to October 1st, 2022.  I read that they will most likely fail to pass the federal budget on time, but rather, they will pass continuing resolutions for a couple of months, and then they will pass the federal budget sometime after the Holiday Season in early-2023.  Also, the U.S. Congress won't pass the federal budget on time because the 2022 midterm elections are the most important event in the Swamp.  Neither political party wants to look bad until after the 2022 midterm election.

In Massachusetts, PAC Man Richie Neal will be elected to his 1,000th term in U.S. Congress representing K Street corporate lobbyist firms, especially Insurance Companies.  Maryland Markey will be spewing more HOT AIR from the Swamp.  Elizabeth Warren will be giving her useless speeches about Main Street versus Wall Street.  Joe Biden will be spending tens of trillions of federal dollars like a drunken Sailor on leave.  None of the federal delegation to the Swamp will be helping the common people who are paying thousands of dollars more for the same products than we did one year ago.  But what else is new?  What else do we expect?  Most voters are idiots, and most of us are no match for the Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites to screw us over with all of their propaganda and lies.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 30, 2022

Biden Buck$ have been used for a lot more controversial and questionable things than his bribe to young adults to vote for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections for forgiving $10,000 to $20,000 of their student loan debts that will cost federal taxpayers between $600 billion to over $1 trillion over the next decade while doing nothing to contain the always rising cost of higher education that benefits greedy college administrators and overpaid Ivory Tower Professors who get paid to indoctrinate college students with their various academic ideologies.

Biden Buck$ went to a 4-Star hotel in Florida, renovations to a minor league park in New York State, relief funds that paid off debts for the Ted Kennedy Institute in Massachusetts, and relief funds to pay off overdue child support debts for deadbeat dads (& moms) in St. Louis, and so on. Biden Buck$ were supposed to go to saving jobs, helping those in distress, opening schools, and increasing vaccinations, but instead, they went to disastrous pork barrel spending boondoggles.

Mayor Linda Tyer's secrecy behind her municipal administration's spending of Pittsfield's Biden Buck$ kept the fictional Mary Jane & Joe Kapanski family in the dark and without any tax and fee relief.

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 10, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

Thank you for sharing your open political letter to the editor with me.  I agree with the points that you made.  China is the number one polluter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, and the U.S.A. is number two.  Combined, China and the U.S.A. pollute a little less than 50 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.  The Pentagon pollutes more greenhouse gas emissions than 140 countries combined.  China's large military is also a huge polluter of greenhouse gas emissions.  Those are all facts that cannot be disputed.

During this upcoming Winter of 2022/2023, many low to moderate income people are at risk of freezing to death during the energy crisis, especially in Europe due to Putin's realpolitik energy wars and his ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.  Where is the plan to deal with the home heating costs during this upcoming Winter season?  If you have heard of a plan(s) by the Biden administration, please let me know about it.  If your answer is the Green New Deal, the Swamp's Hot Air propaganda will make things even worse than ever.

I concede that the things you wrote about were better during the Trump administration than during the Biden administration.  That doesn't mean that I support Donald Trump, which is something that I will never do.  I respect your political views and your support for Donald Trump.  I hope that we will have a new U.S. President in 2025!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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9/10/2022

To the Editor;

China dominates Solar Panel Production. China is far from a Green country. Electric Vehicles are expensive, costs out of reach for most Americans. Other green ideas flawed. Hardly a platform for running for office in 2022.

Most Americans today are worried about high inflation, high crime, a dangerous open southern border and taking taxpayers' money to forgive student loans. Why should we have to pay for spring break when we were working?

Why are democrat candidates ignoring the economy, gas prices, high crime, bad DAs, out of control college costs, and still suffering from bad Covid-19 decisions, like closing schools and closing small businesses.

Remember democrats control Congress and the White House and the legislature in Massachusetts is democrat and Veto proof. They are responsible for the bad economy, high crime, a dangerous open southern border and Covid-19 short comings.

Were we better off before January 20, 2021 or now?

Patrick Fennell

Great Barrington, MA

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September 11, 2022

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Happy Patriots Day!  It has been 21 years since 9/11/2001, which was a tragic day that changed the world.

You posted on your blog: "THE PLANET shall be addressing this ominous turn in Democrat tactics in our Monday column."

I assume that you will be writing a blog post that will defend Donald Trump from the Swamp Democrats who have impeached him twice, ordered the FBI to raid his home in Florida, and Joe Biden is warning us that Trump's MAGA extremism is dangerous to our nation's politics prior to the November 8th, 2022, midterm elections.

Please understand that after the 2022 midterm elections, the Republican Party will most likely have majority powers in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Chambers, which will mean that the tables will turn against Joe Biden and the Democrats.  Earlier this year of 2022, Joe Biden already hired Attorneys to prepare his legal defense for next year's predicted impeachment case.  I found that very interesting because it appears like Joe Biden is guilty of political corruption and other illegal activities at least one year before his would-be impeachment hearings begin sometime in 2023.

Why are our nation's leaders always engaging in political conflict?  The divide and conquer theory is as old as human history.  When two or more sides fight each other, the Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites win everything by distracting us from the issues that matter the most.  I believe that we are being manipulated by the Donald Trump is a dangerous MAGA extremist versus Joe Biden is a 50-year corrupt career politician in the Swamp ongoing media coverage.  What if both sides are right about Trump and Biden?  What the Hell can anybody really do about any of it, anyways?

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 11, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

I agree with your points.  Beacon Hill is Exhibit A in political corruption.  Boston's corrupt career politicians are sitting on billions of dollars, which is the most state surplus dollars in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts.  The State Legislature is currently enjoying their 5 monthslong taxpayer-funded vacation.  When they return to Beacon Hill early next year of 2023, they will receive up to three public pay raises.  Given all of this nonsense, Beacon Hill lawmakers did not pass any form of tax relief for low to moderate income people, including Senior Citizens and Veterans.  They did not pass any form of economic stimulus and economic development legislation.  If Boston's political establishment were dominated by Republicans, the Boston Globe and the other MSM newspapers such as the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) would be crying foul.

The Swamp has less than 3 weeks to pass the fiscal year 2023 federal budget on time.  They will most likely pass continuing resolutions to keep the federal government from shutting down prior to the 2022 midterm elections.  We are in an energy crisis.  Millions of people in millions of households are at risk of freezing to death this upcoming Winter season of 2022/2023.  Europe doesn't have the energy supplies needed to keep the people who live there warm in their homes during the coldest months of the year.  Given all of these problems, why aren't we all working together to increase our energy supplies to save millions of lives from the cold winter months?  Can low to moderate income residents even afford to purchase energy this upcoming winter season?  I wish the 2022 midterm elections were held on Valentine's Day 2023 instead of on November 8th, 2022!  That way the Swamp would stop its immature finger pointing and finally get back to work on the federal budget and the energy crisis.

Donald Trump's supporters shouldn't be called names such as racists and fascists by Joe Biden and his supporters.  Both Trump and Biden have histories of racism in politics.  I respect your views.  I respect that you support Donald Trump.  It is something that I can never do.  Donald Trump's racist white nationalist MAGA-movement is immoral, and it stands against Human Rights.  Donald Trump had neo-Nazis work on his campaigns and in his presidential administration.  Donald Trump's response to the hate march in Charlottesville Virginia and his involvement in the 1/6/2021 insurrection of Capitol Hill is unconscionable.  That is not to say that his opposing political contemporaries do not have a history of racism in politics.  Two wrongs do not make a right - even for the billionaire Donald Trump.  My wish is that we have two new presidential candidates in 2024, which means that I hope for the political retirements of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden in 2024.  We need change.  We need new leadership in the Swamp in the 2024 elections.

Lastly, I am upset about the troubles of Hunter Biden, who is the son of U.S. President Joe Biden.  Hunter Biden is an alleged money launderer of over $1.2 billion U.S. Dollars from adversarial countries such as Russia and China, as well as Ukraine.  Hunter Biden spent his cut of the alleged laundered money on sex workers, alcohol and a lot of drugs.  A U.S. Senate report stated that some of Hunter Biden's sex workers from Russia may have been sex trafficked.  Hunter Biden wrote and published a book in 2021 whereby he stated he used to smoke crack cocaine every 15 minutes and drown himself in alcohol.  Hunter Biden has a daughter from a young woman half his age who he says he has no memory of being with, and he lied to a Judge in a court of law that he wasn't the father of her baby girl, but the court ordered paternity test proved otherwise.  Hunter Biden has at least 5 children by at least 3 different women.  Joe Biden openly said that he is proud of his last surviving son, Hunter Biden.  We need a new U.S. President!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 11, 2022

Both political parties are scary because there are radical extremists in both political parties in the Swamp.  Donald Trump is innocent until proven guilty under the law.  Joe Biden's anti-Trump speeches and federal law enforcement actions are too close to the 2022 midterm elections to have legitimacy for the public to believe that Joe Biden is not using political retribution for the Democratic Party's political advantage, but it will probably backfire very badly.  Joe Biden's "Divide and Conquer" speeches will help bolster the Republican Party in the 2022 midterm elections.  The only U.S. President, who is a convicted Felon (twice over), is on the Democrat's side: Bill Clinton, who also has 26 flight log entries on Jeffrey Epstein's - who is deceased under questionable circumstances - private jet.  Earlier this year of 2022, Joe Biden hired Attorneys for his predicted impeachment hearings in 2023 after the Republicans will most likely have predicted majority status in both legislative chambers in the Swamp.  Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is an alleged money launderer of over $1.2 billion from adversarial foreign countries including China and Russia, as well as Ukraine.  Hunter Biden is a recovering addict who chronically used crack cocaine and alcohol.  Hunter Biden hired many sex workers, including ones from Russia, that a U.S. Senate report says may have been victims of sex trafficking.  Hunter Biden says he has no memory of the woman who is half his age whom he fathered a baby girl with, and he lied to a Judge in a court of law by saying he wasn't the father of the baby girl, but a court ordered paternity test proved otherwise.  Joe Biden openly said that he is proud of his only surviving son, Hunter Biden.  Joe Biden has no legitimacy because he has no credibility, and his judgments are misguided by his loyalty to his family and politics.  I hope that two new political candidates will run for U.S. President in 2024.  It is time for change!

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 17, 2022

To the Editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader,

I do not reside in the New Hampshire Congressional District where Karoline Leavitt is challenging two-term incumbent Chris Pappas in the November 8th, 2022, general midterm election.  If she is elected, Karoline Leavitt would be the youngest Member of U.S. Congress in U.S. history.  She would be New York's Elise Stefanik 2.0, which means that she would be a far-right Trumper in the Swamp, and she would bring the same controversial politics to NH that Congresswoman Elise Stefanik brought to N.Y. State.

Karoline Leavitt is from a wealthy family whose money and political connections got her positions with Stefanik's office and Trump's administration.  Chris Pappas is also from a wealthy family.  Chris Pappas is NH's first openly gay man to be in U.S. Congress.  There will be a lot of big money spent on this race that has flipped back and forth between the two political parties since 2006.

To be fair, Karoline Leavitt is calling for much needed reforms in the Swamp, which is something that I agree with her about.  Chris Pappas votes with Speaker Nancy Pelosi 100 percent of the time, which shows that he represents corruption in the Swamp.  But the controversial leadership that Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and would be Congresswoman Karoline Leavitt both bring to national politics is something I will never support in government.

We should all support candidates for elected office that will work together to find common ground and purpose to form an agenda that best serves the government's interests to represent the people and taxpayers of the U.S.A. (but that would be too good to be true).  Controversial leadership from Donald Trump to Elise Stefanik to Karoline Leavitt stands against good governance.  I feel relieved that I don't have to vote in this midterm election race between the corrupt Congressman Chris Pappas and the controversial candidate Karoline Leavitt.

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 19, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

This week in the Swamp, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are both back in session.  They have 11 days left to pass the fiscal year 2022 federal budget on time by October 1st, 2022.  Of course, they won't pass the federal budget on time, but they won't shut down the federal government this time around because the November 8th, 2022, midterm elections are only weeks away.  I wonder how many federal taxpayer dollars will be spent by Uncle Sam over the next 12 months.  I also wonder where the tens of trillions of federal dollars also sarcastically called Biden Bucks went since January 21st, 2021.  I do understand all too well that the 41-year high U.S. inflation rate is not helping the common people save money.

Billionaire John Forbes Kerry warned African nations not to rely on natural gas that would bring electric power to millions of people there.  Unbelievable!  John Kerry owns at least 5 homes.  Just last year in early-2021, John Kerry had millions of dollars in personal investments in oil and natural gas stocks prior to being Joe Biden's chief climate bureaucrat.  John Kerry should tell the world that it is an undisputable fact that the U.S.A. is the number two polluter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, while China is the number one polluter, and combined, the U.S.A. and China account for a little less than 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.  The Pentagon pollutes more greenhouse gas emissions than 140 countries combined.  But God forbid that John Kerry - the biggest elitist, flip-flopping hypocrite and phony in human history - would support millions of people in Africa having electric power through the use of natural gas.

Joe Biden is continuing his ongoing threats of World War 3 with China over China's military aggression against Taiwan.  Joe Biden called Putin a "KILLER" and a "BUTCHER" over Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.  Joe Biden's relations with China and Russia are ugly and his campaign promises of uniting our nation and world have been proven to be another false tagline.  The fact is that the U.S.A., Russia and/or China cannot fight each other in a war because it would result in the deaths of billions of people around the world.  World War 3 means nuclear weapons warfare.  Joe Biden should not be so hostile with his name calling and ongoing threats of World War 3 with China.

Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton all voted for George W. Bush's war authorization against Iraq 20 years ago.  The U.S.A. invaded Iraq, which has the second largest oil reserves in the world next to Saudi Arabia, which has the largest oil reserves in the world.  Earlier this year, Russia invaded Ukraine.  China is threatening to invade Taiwan.  Why was O.K. for Joe Biden and John Kerry to have voted 20 years ago for the U.S.A. to invade Iraq, but it is not O.K. for Putin's Russia to have invaded Ukraine and Xi's China planning to invade Taiwan?  I feel like it is the pot calling the kettles black.

Best wishes, 

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 19, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

I wish for new political leadership who will fight for democracy, liberty, justice for all, the rule of law, and middle-class families.  I know it would be too good to be true, but I can still make wishes for good things to happen in life.  I do not want Donald Trump back as U.S. President.  I do not want Joe Biden back, either.  I wish both of these old bags of HOT AIR would retire from politics.

I agree with you, Pat, about the Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites' systemic class warfare that is decimating the middle class.  Systemic class warfare has been in place in our country for the past 50 years, which is the same amount of time Joe Biden has been in the Swamp.  It makes perfect sense that Joe Biden would favor the elites as the 46th U.S. President because he is one of the elites.  I wish that the middle class, elderly, disabled American Veterans, and the working poor had more power in the Swamp, but, in reality, we have little power among the elites who always only want more money and power for themselves as the years pass us by.

Joe Biden is hostile to call Putin a "KILLER" and a "BUTCHER" on the world stage.  Joe Biden is wrong to continue to threaten World War 3 against China if China invades Taiwan.  Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton were all wrong to vote for George W. Bush's invasion of oil-rich Iraq 20 years ago.  What is the difference between the U.S. invading Iraq versus Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine or China's planned invasion of Taiwan?  If Biden starts WW3 against China and/or Russia, it would be a nuclear weapons war that would result in the deaths of billions of people around the world.  Why is Joe Biden being so ugly towards China and Russia when his threats against them would end with WW3?  It makes no sense to me.

Joe Biden should step down from the American Presidency because he is a failed leader.  It is predicted that Joe Biden will be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives sometime next year of 2023.  He already hired his impeachment Attorneys earlier this year of 2022.  I wonder who will ultimately take Joe Biden's place if he resigns his office like Richard Nixon did nearly 50 years ago.  If it is V.P. Kamala Harris, I wonder how long she would last as the next U.S. President.  What is this political gamesmanship really all about?  I don't know the answers.

I am a disabled American Veteran.  I didn't deserve any or all of this failed leadership, Pat.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 20, 2022

Howie Carr missed the facts: "AOC graduated from BU cum laude with degrees in economics and international relations. Her dad was an architect with, heaven help us, a college degree. He died while she was in school. She then went home and worked as a waitress and bartender to help her mother fight foreclosure. If you don't like her fine but don't try to paint her as some one who grew up privileged. Quoting James Michael Curley? What, no Henry Cabot Lodge? James Taylor was born in Boston and lives in Lenox MA. Speaking of privilege, how did you get into Deerfield Academy. Must have known someone." - Brian Mahoney

Howie Carr missed the facts: [Donald Trump] Inherits over $400,000,000 from father, doesn't pay his bills, inflates value of assets to get loans, deflates value of assets at tax time, has people donate $250,000,000 for his fight to overturn election and then transfers money to one of his PAC, Save America leadership PAC raised over 100,000,000 during 2022 election cycle of which millions have been used to pay legal bills, says he donates to charity but doesn't and starts up Digital World Acquisition Corp with the help of ARC Capital a Shanghai firm specializing in listing Chinese companies on American stock markets that the SEC has investigated for misrepresenting shell companies. Call up Wharton and ask if all that is taught to their students. - Brian Mahoney

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September 21, 2022

Hello Patrick Fennell,

New York State Officials announced that they are investigating Donald Trump and three of his five oldest children in a civil lawsuit case for allegedly fudging the value of their assets to commit tax fraud.  Meanwhile, Hunter Biden is still being investigated by the Feds for allegedly money laundering over $1.2 billion from Ukraine, Russia and China.  Joe Biden's "Crime" Family are all fabulously wealthy.  It looks to me that the Trumps and Bidens all allegedly play financial shell games with their political power and money.  I don't have any money so I cannot play financial shell games with nothing in the bank.  I wouldn't be able to be a financial fraudster politician anyway because I need to sleep at night with a good conscience.  I even try to help people with my limited money who are truly in financial need.  I have always given my money to charity, even when I was in the U.S. Army many years ago.

Joe Biden took in more money from Wall Street, K Street and the billionaires than any other politician in U.S. history.  K Street corporate lobbyist firms bragged about their record earnings in 2021.  The Federal Reserve raised rates again today, which is killing the common people's personal finances to benefit Wall Street's trillions of dollars investment banks and insurance companies.  The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not been raised since over 13 years ago in 2009, which was when Wall Street and even foreign banks received huge taxpayer-funded bailouts.  The billionaires wanted Joe Biden over Donald Trump in 2020 because Joe Biden is in their pocket, while Donald Trump was seen as a loose cannon in the White House.  The Democrats are facing a backlash in the 2022 midterm elections, but the Financial Elites may not be able to buy enough votes to stop a Republican Party majority victory in U.Sad. Congress.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 27, 2022

What is wrong with this picture?  Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski will soon be paying hundreds of dollars more per month than last year to heat their home this upcoming winter, while the Swamp is always sending tens of billions of dollars in so-called aid to Ukraine that really goes into the pockets of the military industrial complex and other special interests.

Jonathan A. Melle

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"Cha-ching! Biden embraces his election-year fundraising role"

By Seung Min Kim and Aamer Madhani, Associated Press, October 1, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whenever a donor’s unsilenced cellphone goes off at a fundraiser while President Joe Biden is talking, he has the same joke ready to go: It’s Donald Trump on the other line.

“If that’s Trump calling me again, tell him I’m busy,” Biden said at an event this past week for the Democratic Governors Association, repeating a variation of the quip he also relayed during receptions in Illinois and New York earlier this year. The crowd of a few dozen, as they always do, chuckled as the president continued with the rest of his remarks.

It’s one glimpse of Biden as fundraiser in chief — a man who schmoozes with aplomb while raking in millions at receptions that will be a fixture of his political schedule during the final stretch before Election Day, Nov. 8. At these events, celebrities are spotted and alcohol is consumed, while Biden gets the one-on-one interactions he had missed for much of his campaign and presidency due to COVID-19.

The fundraisers — held in lavish Manhattan apartments, drab conference centers and backyard tents glammed up with chandeliers — have been one of the most visible ways Biden has been deployed this election year at a time when his approval ratings remain underwater and many Democrats aren’t eager to stand by him on the campaign trail.

“Joe Biden is Joe Biden. He’s real, he’s down to earth, if he knows the people in the room … he’s even more relaxed,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., a close ally. “He gets all kinds of questions, he answers them honestly, he probably gives his staff heart attacks.”

So far this year, Biden has headlined 11 receptions to raise cash directly for the Democratic National Committee, and they have brought in more than $19.6 million, according to the committee. The events have ranged from a $300,000 haul at a yacht club in Portland, Oregon, to a cozy, 18-person affair (with four others on video screens) at Hotel Washington near the White House that took in more than $3 million. A pair of fundraisers at mansions in Southern California during the Summit of the Americas in June raked in $5 million in a matter of hours.

Separate from the DNC events, Biden spoke at a fundraiser in September benefiting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that brought in more than $450,000 for the state Democratic Party.

The governors association event raised $1 million, and Biden was to have appeared on Tuesday at a fundraiser on behalf of Charlie Crist, the nominee for governor in Florida who has not been shy about wanting the president to campaign with him. That political trip was postponed due to Hurricane Ian.

The DNC also enlists Biden for solicitations sent to its grassroots donor list, with emails signed by the president consistently raising the most money for the committee, party officials say. As of this past week, the DNC has raised more than $107 million, the most at this point in any year and an amount that Democratic officials credited in large part to Biden’s direct involvement.

Biden seems to particularly relish the in-person interactions that a private fundraiser offers.

A famously chummy politician, Biden makes sure at any big-dollar event that his hosts are made to feel special and recognized. For instance, at a late August fundraiser in the Washington suburbs, Biden first spent some time giving a child near the front of the gathering a bit of attention and then the president gave his remarks for several dozen big-dollar DNC supporters.

“Honey, what’s your name?” Biden asked a little girl, sitting through what he joked had to be the most “boring” event. “Well, let me tell you something. Is that your daddy? He owes you big for having to sit here.”

At a June fundraiser in Beverly Hills, California, at the home of billionaire media mogul Haim Saban, the president mused to Saban’s wife, Cheryl, that both men had “married way above our station.” And standing in the 65th-floor apartment of Henry and Marsha Laufer overlooking New York’s Central Park, Biden gushed over the “magnificent” view, noting: “I don’t know if there’s a better view in New York than here.”

Indeed, the residence is a “piece of heaven” for the Laufers, who appeared fastidious about keeping their place spotless. Attendees checked their shoes – expensive Jimmy Choo mules and Saint Laurent pumps among them — at the door and listened to Biden while in socks or slippers provided by the couple. A small group of reporters in attendance were asked to place “booties” over their shoes to protect their hardwood floors and light-colored carpets. (None of the shoe rules applied to Biden, who kept his on and did not wear the disposable coverings.)

At Biden fundraisers, celebrities such as the actor Robert De Niro (in New York) or filmmaker Ken Burns (in Boston) make the occasional cameo, although neither stayed long enough to hear the president speak.

To donors, Biden's comments, which can run from a few minutes to a half-hour, are a much more casual, off-the-cuff version of the campaign speech that he delivers in front of the cameras. Journalists have access to Biden fundraisers, although just with a notepad and pen, meaning cameras are barred.

Especially as of late, Biden takes care to underline his administration’s accomplishments — a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, a bipartisan infrastructure law, a climate and health care bill that came after months of internal Democratic wrangling. He then stresses to donors how the upcoming November midterms are a choice, not just between keeping his achievements and Republicans unraveling them, but on other issues such as abortion and guns.

While aides dispute that his message varies in more private settings, Biden frequently speaks extemporaneously and can be far less guarded than at his formal remarks at a lectern or on a stage.

It’s been at fundraisers where Biden has invoked variations of fascism – be it “semi-fascism” or “tint of fascism” -- to refer to Trump-fueled forces within the Republican Party that Biden has said are a threat to the nation’s democratic foundations. While his spokeswoman declined to assess the implications of the recent election in Italy, where a political party with neo-fascist roots won the most votes, Biden at the DGA fundraiser pointed to the results as he warned about the fate of democracy both in the United States and abroad.

At the Laufers’ home, Biden – who tends to avoid talking about his faith when discussing policy — notably referenced the Catholic Church’s position while castigating Republicans who had pushed for broad bans on abortion.

“I happen to be a practicing Roman Catholic. My church doesn’t even make that argument,” he said, referring to abortion bans that leave “no exceptions.”

The quintessential Biden qualities — his candor and his warmth with the crowd — become more pronounced once the press is kicked out and audience members have a chance to ask Biden questions, say people who have attended such gatherings.

The questions Biden gets vary from event to event and they veer from political strategy to the news of the day. During a Manhattan fundraiser at the home of businessman and social justice activist Henry Munoz, Biden was pressed on his plans on immigration and how he would describe his closing message to voters, as well as the impact of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to relay details of a private event.

The bulk of Biden's fundraising activity has been for the DNC, and Biden earlier this year greenlighted a $15 million transfer from it to the party’s House and Senate campaign committees, a sign of his personal investment in trying to ensure Democrats retain their majorities this fall. A White House official said Biden receives “quite a few” requests from Democratic candidates to appear at fundraisers, and aides work to accommodate as many as possible depending on his schedule and other factors.

Whitmer took priority because she was a co-chair of both Biden's presidential campaign and his inauguration.

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October 28, 2022

Sarcasm: Please Vote for all of the corrupt career politicians running for reelection in the 2022 midterm elections because they have vast institutional knowledge of how to get rich off of the government.  Our politicians should serve decades upon decades in elected office because they spend 90% of their time raising money and the other 10% of the time doing nothing but DISSERVICES to the people and taxpayers.  Just look at our 80-year-old Prez who has spent the last 50 years in the Swamp.  Joe Biden is rich, powerful, and he has all of us paying hundreds of dollars more per month for the same goods and services than prior to January 21st, 2021.  I wish to thank all of the corrupt career politicians for decimating the middle class since Joe Biden entered the Swamp 50 years ago.  I like reading about the hundreds of U.S. billionaires and all of the multimillionaire corrupt career politicians who run our country.  Thank you, once again, to all of the corrupt career politicians, greedy lobbyists, and the government for everything that all of you elites do for yourselves at our expense while we have to pound sand about it all.

Jonathan A. Melle

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February 19, 2024

Dear Congresswoman Annie Kuster,

Please read the letter, below, that states that in less than 2 weeks from now on March 01st, 2024, WIC benefits for millions of women and children will be lost, as well as cut by $1 billion, due to the ongoing 2024 federal budget negotiations in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Why is the U.S. Congress so dysfunctional?  Shouldn't the federal budget have been passed into law by October 1st, 2023?  The answer that I believe to be true is because career politicians spend most of their time raising money instead of governing.  It is called "Play to Pay" politics in the Swamp whereby K Street corporate lobbyist firms recently reported record earnings, while hungry babies are an afterthought to the ruling elites.

Best regards,

Jonathan A. Melle

Amherst, New Hampshire

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Letter: "We must prevent a decrease of WIC funding due to congressional inaction"

The Berkshire Eagle, February 17, 2024

To the editor: We rapidly approach March 1, when millions of women and infants may lose their nutrition benefits as WIC — the special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — runs out of funding due to the 2024 budget negotiations.

“If funded at the same level as the January 2024 continuing resolution, WIC would face a shortfall of $1 billion, equivalent to 1.5 months of benefits for the nearly 6.7 million people that rely on the program,” according to the deputy under secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services and the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That shortfall would mean 2 million pregnant and postpartum women and their children won’t get necessary food and health assistance.

This one of many problems arising from congressional dysfunction should be a nonpartisan issue: decreasing child poverty and nourishing women and children. Yet it has become a victim of Congress’ inaction. Our future depends on the well-being of our children, which in turn depends on healthy nutrition prenatally and after.

Recently, the House passed a bipartisan tax package including an expansion of the child tax credit, 357-70. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 expands the credit over the next three years so that more families with low incomes, including those with multiple children, can access the full credit amount. This would ensure that 16 million children receive some amount of this benefit. And we know from the 2021 expanded credit that this money contributes to decreasing food insecurity.

Now, with no time to spare, we must push the Senate to pass this law as well.

As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it is a travesty for us to rank so poorly on measures like child poverty, infant and maternal mortality, and food insecurity. We can and must do better. I invite you to not only participate actively in the upcoming elections but to continue to advocate for these measures post election. We have the privilege of constituency, which means that our voices are counted when reaching out to our legislators. They are in Congress because of us and to work for us.

Leslye Heilig, Great Barrington

The writer is the Massachusetts Group co-leader of RESULTS.org, a nonpartisan anti-poverty advocacy organization.

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February 20, 2024

Hello Congresswoman Annie Kuster,

Is it true that the Democrats since Bill Clinton was the sitting U.S. President many years ago now have created issues that can be blamed on the Republicans?

Is Governor Maura Healey cutting Massachusetts health benefits for citizens so she can spend more state dollars on public schools and the like?

Are illegal immigrants and Ukraine taking away federal dollars from programs like WIC, U.S. Veterans, housing, etc.?

My dad, Bob, who will turn 80 this Summer 2024, was a Berkshire County, Massachusetts, politician several decades ago.  That is why blog posters in the Berkshires refer to my father being a Democrat elected official.

Disgraced former Pittsfield (Massachusetts) State Senator (and failed candidate for U.S. Congress in 2012) Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior has persecuted me ever since the Spring 1996 when I was 20 years old back then.  He also tried to ruin my dad's life by filing multiple state "ethics" complaints to multiple Massachusetts state agencies from the Fall 1997 - Spring 1998.  He also tried to jail me by lying about me to the Pittsfield Police Department during the Spring 1998 - Summer 1998.  Due to his many abuses, mean-spirited actions and corruption, Nuciforo's political career ended in disgrace a long time ago.  Nuciforo is sarcastically called "Luciforo" and Pittsfield's Pot King, and he is currently suing the City of Pittsfield.

The then U.S. President, George W. Bush, ordered a hearing at the VA Central Office near The White House that I attended (with my mother) in the Summer 2004.  I am a 100 percent totally and permanently disabled Veteran who served honorably.  Your office has helped me with matters before the VA over the years.  Thank you.

Are the Democrats in DC going to eliminate my VA benefits?

Thank you for your time,

Jonathan A. Melle

Attn: Congresswoman Annie Kuster:

I posted my letter to you on the PlanetValenti.com blog.  These are the responses that I read.

* Just the Democrat mantra JM since Clinton, create an issue you can blame the Republicans for and it always seems to be aimed at the poor and weak. Our current Governor played the Dem play and cut MA Health benefits so she can give more money to scohols. Keep voting for them JM so at least you will have stuff to write about!

* JM, you do realize that the cuts to programs like WIC, help for US veterans, housing, etc, are being cut by the people YOU VOTED FOR, in favor of illegal aliens and Ukraine.

Let that sink in before you pen your next letter and look like a fool. YOU VOTED FOR THIS.

Actions have consequences. This isn’t your father’s democRAT party.

Get off MSNBC and go ask a recent Vet how he feels about democRATS and their policies.

Have you considered allowing a few illegals to live with you? You’d be a democRAT hero.

You could tell them your tales of woe and misery. Starting with your Army DI’s offending you by screaming and cussing at you in basic training. Followed by the Andy “Luciforo” Nuciforo story and how he has tormented you for 35 years and counting.

* I - Jon Melle - wrote: I served honorably just like you did, but I believe that you were the better Soldier than I; thank you.

As for Nuciforo, I am not the only one who feels like vomiting when his name is mentioned. Please ask him how his lawsuit versus the City of Pittsfield is going? I am not suing anyone.

The U.S. Congress should pass the late federal budget already.

* John, the current Junta in DC are treating the CRIMINAL ALIENS better than American citizens. Maybe they will eliminate your VA benefits and give those to the invaders too!

Guess what? YOU VOTED FOR THEM!!!!

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May 26, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Hitler was a mentally ill, drugged up, Sociopath who committed a GENOCIDE called the (TRAGIC) Holocaust that systematically murdered 6 million Jews, along with millions of "other" innocent human beings, and WW2 has the largest death count of any war in human history.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, have public records history of racism and other "-isms".  Moreover, the Democrats "stand by their man": the twice Convicted Felon Bill Clinton (for perjury and suborning perjury), and who settled a sexual harassment case for a little less than $1 million with Paula Jones, whom he invited into a room with his pants down with his penis pointed at her when he was the Governor of Arkansas many years ago now.  The saying: Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky turned the Oval Office into the Oral Orifice.  The fact: Bill Clinton has 26 registered flight logs on Jeffery Epstein's private jet.

After the end of WW2, whereby the U.S.A. is the only country in human history to deploy atomic bombs, which were dropped on two Japanese cities named Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. Government's military has killed many millions of innocent human beings, has the largest military industrial complex in human history, its #1 non-farm exports are arms sales, all of which has made Wall Street many trillions of dollars over the past a little less than 80 years now....BUT AT WHAT COST....to: human life....the environment's global warming....international peace....the very real threats of nuclear weapons and the ongoing threats of WW3....etc.?

Joe Biden has raised more campaign dollars than any other politician in U.S. history, and in 2024, Donald Trump is very close to matching the record high campaign fundraising mark for U.S. President.  We say that the U.S.A. is NOT like Nazi Germany and our U.S. President is not like Hitler's dictatorship, but it seems like the White House is being bought in 2024 so that either Biden or Trump can pump up the profits of war for Wall Street from 12-noon on January 20th, 2025 - 12-noon on January 20th, 2029.

I love my country, but I don't always agree with the government.  I did not want either Joe Biden or Donald Trump in 2024, but like most everything else in life, I have to pound sand.

Jon Melle

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July 17, 2024

Joe Biden is the best gift to not only Donald Trump, but also, the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.  The Swamp will have Republican Party control of all three branches of government in 2025, thanks to the old man with dementia and other illnesses in The White House.

The only silver lining will be that the Republican Party will have to prove themselves to be effective leaders in the D.C. Beltway.  The Republican Party won't be able to blame the Democrats once they are in power in 2025.

I remember back in 1995, when Newt Gingrich was elected the Speaker of the U.S. House, the Republican Party saw Bill Clinton re-elected in 1996, impeached over receiving blow jobs from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office (also sarcastically called: "the Oral Orifice"), and Newt Gingrich stepping down for the Speaker's post.

30 years later in 2025, I hope that history will not repeat itself with the banana republic political clown show we all witnessed in the mid-1990's.

Jonathan A. Melle

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As of August 02nd, 2024, the U.S. economy is closing in on a recession, but the Fed won't vote on cutting the interest rate until September 17th - 18th, 2024.

The Fed is the biggest cause of the economic crisis we are facing.  The U.S. dollar is losing it value faster than the wealthy financial institutions would like, but only by an additional few percentage points.  U.S. inflation is not going away.

Other than the multi-billion-dollar hedge funds losing 2 percent of their value due to inflation, why would the Fed want to cause a recession that would see millions of U.S. workers lose their jobs?

The U.S. national debt is now over $35 trillion.  The U.S. Government prints trillions of dollars out of thin air.  Who will pay the price?

The Fed should not protect Wall Street over the Have-Not's due to the decades of failed economic policies in the Swamp.  The U.S. middle class has been shrinking for over 50 years now.  Enough is enough.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 14, 2024

I don't like how Kamala Harris was anointed by the Democrat Party as their nominee for U.S. President.  I don't understand why Sherwood Guernsey is currently supporting one liberal prosecutor: Kamala, while only 2 years ago, Sherwood openly criticized another liberal prosecutor: then Berkshire County D.A. Andrea Harrington.  It may be that the latte limousine liberal establishment's big MONEY is all in for Kamala.

Donald Trump represents the Republican Party's WEIRD legacy of MORAL HYPOCRISY.  Donald Trump is the ultimate MORAL HYPOCRITE.  Donald Trump's campaign is about the racist White Christian Nationalist political movement.  Donald Trump is basically telling the U.S.A. that he will represent Jesus Christ in the White House.  Does 2 + 2 = 5?

Let me let everyone out there in on an obvious secret, please.  Nobody's military record is perfect.  When I go to my VA groups, it is an unwritten rule that Veterans do not judge each other's military records.  Tim Walz is a Veteran who has a mixed military record like everyone else out there.  He could have deployed to Iraq, but he chose to retire.  Sarcasm: Big deal.

The Republican Party's Project 2025 will abolish VA benefits.  I am a 100% service connected p/t disabled Veteran.  If Trump implements the aforementioned far right's WEIRD political agenda, then I will be at-risk of being a homeless Veteran (again) like I was many years ago; I am now 49.  The Republican Party is pro-war, but now they are proposing feeding disabled Veterans to the wolves.  Part of voting for war is paying for the VA benefits for disabled Veterans.  Volunteering to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces includes receiving VA benefits.

Jon Melle

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September 1, 2024

If Trump wins and Project 2025 is passed into federal law, the VA would be abolished, along with the Dept. of Education, the gutting of social insurance federal programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and the stripping away of women's rights, especially a woman's right to privacy from the government's moral hypocrisies.

If Trump wins, and the U.S. Supreme Court's recent conservative rulings on federal agencies oversight authority is expanded in the future, the VA would be privatized.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-end-veterans-affairs-department-supreme-court-1235093343/

In U.S. economic news, consumer spending is outpacing consumer spending, the federal government's deficit spending is increasing U.S. inflation, and over the next few months, the Stock Market is going to be volatile with large swings of gains and losses.  Household savings rates are low for the common family and individual.

In political news, the U.S. election is going to be a coin toss between Trump and Kamala.  Overseas, in Germany, the far right is winning elections, while the extreme left is gaining ground in elections.

My thoughts on these matters are that the VA is a lifeline for me and millions of other Veterans, privatizing the VA would put hundreds of billions of dollars in the hands of greedy insurance companies (PAC Man Richie Neal's favorite K Street lobbyist firms in the Swamp), the government's deficit spending is caused by the wealthy paying less than they should in taxes, and massive trade deficits with foreign nations, the U.S. economy is inequitable and only benefits the billion-dollar Hedge Funds on Wall Street, the close presidential election will see well over $1 billion in campaign spending, and the distressed areas of Germany are going back in time to the 1930's Adolf Hitler Nazi regime's fascism and hate.

Jon Melle

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September 07, 2024

At least blogger Dan Valenti is consistent (unlike old wealth Sherwood Guernsey) because (like Sherwood), blogger Dan Valenti did not like Andrea Harrington, (but unlike Sherwood), blogger Dan Valenti does not like Kamala Harris - as both women are progressive prosecutors and liberal politicians.

Donald Trump's Republican Party agenda is based on Project 2025, which would screw over the common people, give all of the power to the financial, corporate and ruling elites - who already have most of the power anyway (de facto fascism) - and turn the U.S.A. from a so-called democracy to an authoritarian state (de jure fascism).

If you support Donald Trump: Do you want to abolish the U.S. Department of Education?  Do you want to either abolish or privatize the VA?  Do you want to see the end of social insurance federal programs such as Medicare and Social Security?  Are you that heartless of a human being to throw everyone off of the proverbial cliff?

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance lost the women's vote by a large margin to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.  No one in modern history has ever won the White House without receiving somewhere around 50 percent or more of the women's vote.

Donald Trump said that he likes to grab women by their genitals, he cheated on all 3 of his wives, he paid hush money to a porn star and a Playboy Bunny model, and he probably has even more scandals too boot.  When one looks up the illustrative definition of the ultimate moral hypocrite, one sees a large image of Donald Trump!

J.D. Vance calls childless women miserable cat ladies.  J.D. Vance has a history of being involved with far right politics that stands for hate of minorities and women.  When one looks up the illustrative definition of a WEIRD middle-aged man, one sees a large image of J.D. Vance!

Kamala Harris has her own personal history of past scandals, but at least she will stop Project 2025, stand up to the Republican Party's long and WEIRD history of MORAL HYPOCRISY, and she will represent all of the American People in the White House instead of only the billionaires.

Jonathan A. Melle

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January 01, 2024

2024: 34 political cartoons about U.S. politics last year.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/cartoons/2025/01/01/2024-in-review-cartoons-taylor-swift-donald-trump-joe-biden-kamala-harris-jd-vance-cats-dogs/77358581007/

Jon Melle

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What about Donald Trump and the Republican Party's huge amount of deficit spending?

They have a RED credit card, while the Obama & Biden's had a BLUE credit card.

It happened today, Friday, June 20th, 2025: $37 trillion-plus U.S. national debt.

https://usdebtclock.org/

How soon will it go to $38 trillion U.S. national debt?

The Swamp is over-flowing with RED INK (pun intended).

Jon Melle

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The U.S. National Debt topped $38 trillion today (Wednesday, October 22, 2025).

It took only 2 months for the Swamp's deficit spenders to add $1 trillion to the U.S. National Debt.

The Swamp's deficit spenders are outpacing U.S. economic growth for many years.

The over 3-weeks and counting U.S. Government Shutdown is costing taxpayers billions of additional federal dollars, which adds more red ink to the U.S. National Debt.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-debt-38-trillion-government-shutdown-2025/

But, as blogger Dan Valenti writes, it is all digital number photons bouncing around on federal computer screens.

https://usdebtclock.org/

Most of the U.S. National Debt is the federal government lending itself its own money, while some of it is to bond holders at home and overseas alike.

I had dinner tonight (10/22) with my dad, Bob, who is 81.  I asked him if Trump's tax cuts on the federal level are adding to the U.S. National Debt, as well as increasing state and local taxes, if it is real tax cut?

My dad, Bob, who was a politician in the beautiful Berkshires decades ago, told me it is nothing new.  President Ronald Reagan played the same game with similar results 40 years ago.

I told my dad, Bob, that I went to CVS today.  The cashier was an elderly woman who told me that she may not be able to afford her healthcare in 2026.  My dad told me that Medicare still costs money, and that it will increase in cost next year.

I feel fortunate that my healthcare is free to me because I am a disabled Veteran.  But I also feel sorry for the millions of American Citizens who are facing increased healthcare insurance costs.

Jon Melle

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November 18, 2025

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

The wheels of JUSTICE moves slowly.  The color of JUSTICE is green = MONEY.  There will be wealthy and powerful people who will be disgraced by the release of the Epstein Files.  They will all be presumed innocent until proven guilty, but many lives will be ruined.

Do we all remember what preceded the 09/11/2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.A.'s homeland?

Answer: President Bill Clinton receiving blow jobs from White House Intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office room in The White House.

Why did we allowed ourselves and the U.S. Government to be distracted by Bill and Monica's mouth-love affair instead of stopping 09/11's day of terrorism?

Is U.S. history repeating itself 30 years later in the mid-2020's?  Are we going to allow ourselves and the U.S. Government to be distracted by the release of the Epstein Files?

Where will all of this lead to?

I am not writing that President Bill Clinton receiving blow jobs from White House Intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, and his 2 Felony Convictions - Perjury and Suborning Perjury - are not serious.

Nor am I writing that the Epstein Files that involve wealthy and powerful people are not serious.

What I am writing here is that the unintended consequences may lead our country down another dark path, and we should learn from the past 30 years of U.S. history to not let similar events repeat themselves.

Best wishes,

Jon Melle

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