Any TV producer who puts Mike Barnicle on to talk about Bulger should be fired, immediately

For those who don't remember (raises hand), Salon recounts one of Barnicle's more infamous columns, after a guy won a $14 million lottery jackpot and then claimed Bulger was actually part owner of the ticket (purchased at the South Boston liquor store Bulger took over by threatening to kill its owner's child):

Hey, good things happen to good people, right? Of course, there is an army of malcontents who refuse to believe that the result of a mere game of chance is on the level when the cash cow moos at the doorstep of a man - Bulger - who, according to illegal eavesdropping by FBI agents and their cheap equipment (And I will show you how lousy their stuff is), runs a vastly overrated criminal enterprise in the area. ...

So, lay off Jimmy Bulger. For the first time in his life, he got lucky, legitimately, and won the lottery. Knowing him, he probably already has handed out money to St. Augustine's, figuring that when he goes - and the odds on that are better than winning Mass Millions - there will be some people left behind who will say, "Not a bad guy."

Slurp, slurp.