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After the lone walk, a couple

Deval and Diane Patrick

Gov. Deval Patrick left office this evening in the traditional manner: All by himself, through the normally locked center doors of the State House, down the steps and onto Beacon Street, where he officially became another citizen again - which he celebrated with his wife Diane.

Photo by the governor's office. Posted under this Creative Commons license.

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Comments

Finally....

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I hope he rode away in a Cadillac. That would be delicious ...

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Let the derp go. It's over.

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He was a good governor. He may not have been the best governor, nor the most dynamic, but he did his job. He served the People of Massachusetts for 2 full scandal-free terms. Even if you don't like him, or didn't agree with him, at least give him a little credit; he didn't dishonor our state like so many other politicians that went before him have.

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And he didn't leave his office before the end of his term, in search of greater whatever. As a friend of the President, he could have.

And he or his assistants responded to every query I ever sent to his office, on behalf of my employer, myself, or my union(s). Still waiting to hear from Weld and my current congressman on that.

He was a solid gov, not a wiz kid, but not half-assed and using in the job to score points for himself. Half-assed pretty much describes most of our governors for the past 25 years.

I wish him well.

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There animosity seems to have more to do with the color of his skin than the content of his character. Governor Deval Patrick did his job to the best of his ability. He was the people's governor. There was no divisiveness in his cabinet.

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...get a Cadillac.
Nice office decor.
Plenty of PR types. Plenty of folks moved to other agencies.
$700 million deficit for Charlie Baker to fix.
Children's Services scandal.
Ann Dookie scandal.

But, if I say anything negative...racism...

So I guess we'll have to celebrate his mediocrity.

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He was allowed to buy a vehicle, got an AMERICAN one and you complain?

Oh, but Black Governor should know his place. That isn't racism, though, because you don't own a Confederate Flag and log into Stormfront.

mmmmkay.

The other stuff? nice to see some sources for that "deficit" you claim - with some solid evidence that the Governor has any power but veto power over that.

Yah.

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"He was allowed to buy a vehicle, got an AMERICAN one and you complain?"

Yup. Crown Vic is standard, but not good enough for him. I believe he had to pay the difference himself when it became public.

"Oh, but Black Governor should know his place. That isn't racism, though, because you don't own a Confederate Flag and log into Stormfront."

'Black Governor' should know his place is not to squander the taxpayer's dollars on 'the trappings of office'. 'Black Governor's' job is to administer the administration, a job that by all comments here, he seemed absolutely mediocre at.

I happen to own a Confederate flag, and no, I don't fly it. It's on a three wheeled bicycle (um, tricycle) that I inherited that was made many years ago by a company down south called 'Rebel '. I also have an American flag with 48 stars on it. I don't fly it because it's a bit decrepit. It's folded neatly and properly.

Not sure what 'Stormfront' is. Maybe you could use your legendary 'goole-fu' powers and enlighten me. While you're at it, you can use www.duckduckgo.com (The website that doesn't track you!) to look up 'ad hominem'. Clue: 'short for argumentum ad hominem'.

"The other stuff? nice to see some sources for that "deficit" you claim - with some solid evidence that the Governor has any power but veto power over that. "

He spent about $7 mill on his office. Totally justifiable because 'terrorists'. He had no veto power over that, though.

Children Services scandal. Look it up.
Dookie. Faking it in the medical profession, an unheard of thing. Look it up.

I read it in the Herald. Maybe you should broaden your horizons...

But 'Racism', mmmkay, yep.

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I read it in the Herald. Maybe you should broaden your horizons...

Nice hole you are digging for yerself. About right for this here outhouse.

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Hey Swirly. Is it possible to disagree with you or any liberal for that matter without being a racist? Any divergence from the lockstep progressives thinkers' opinions must be because those who disagree are racists, bigots, homophobes xenophobes and every other 'phobe' your ilk likes to throw around without even knowing the people you are condemning. If some one chooses a different flavor of ice cream than what you think is the best one there must be something wrong with them, right?

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Deval was honorable, a word I don't think has or will ever be used to describe his predecessor, Willard.

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I didn't particularly like Patrick, but he wasn't the worst governor in the world. That said, is that how we're judging politicians now? "Well, he wasn't the best governor, but at least he didn't get indicted!". There were a fair amount of mini-scandals, DCF, compounding, Tim Murray, but Patrick had an amazing ability to give the old "there's nothing to see here" speech and have it work.

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So what if there were a few problems, snafus, mistakes during his administration. That's pretty normal. He wasn't perfect. But he was honest and decent. I never got the idea he was in it for himself. He wasn't using his office as a steppingstone to something bigger. And he didn't screw over his gay supporters like that rat Dukakis did in the name of presidential aspirations.

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Patrick - “I have no plan to raise taxes” and in his tenure succeeded in increasing them by more than $1.1 billion.

Also he promised to lower property taxes, but instead they rose from $2.4 billion to $13.4 billion statewide.

We lost $43 million on Evergreen Solar at Devens.

We now have the most expensive healthcare in the nation. What a bitch, we had a functioning system in place and he never once tried to fight the federal implementation of Obamacare.

How much is the connector going to cost us now? I think the latest tally was around $600mm.

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...forgot about that one...Swirl? Some help here? Maybe you can look up 'Cape Wind going down the shitter' or 'Electricity rates skyrocket because we killed power plants with no fuel supply for the new ones ' well, maybe unicorn farts.

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Accurately citing one of hundreds of pure fails by Deval is not allowed, in dog whistle nation.

The Marian Walsh appointment (then withdrawal) to a $175K do-nothing state job that had gone unfilled for years was my personal favorite. So I guess that makes me both racist AND sexist. A real two-fer. If we throw in my objection to the fundraiser BBQ at Chez David Scondras (a registered sex offender btw) prior to the first election, I'm eligible for the PC Police Trifecta.

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In the context of the actual legal powers of the Governor?

There are reasons that we have such a limited Chief Executive - and they are similar to the reasons that you aren't speaking the Queen's English.

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I mean, even Deval backed off on that one, the sexist bastard!

I think you're better off with the phony racism charges--they're easier to defend.

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Patrick - “I have no plan to raise taxes” and in his tenure succeeded in increasing them by more than $1.1 billion.

Also he promised to lower property taxes, but instead they rose from $2.4 billion to $13.4 billion statewide.

You guys actually think the Governor decides these things. Sorry, but you might want to check into that Great and General Court thing we have up there on the hill who does decide these things.

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So then what *is* the governor responsible for?

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Exactly right - and people also need to keep in mind that MA does not have a strong Governor by design. The downside may be that the Governor's office is viewed as a stepping stone by some, but Patrick served out his whole term as governor, without resigning or "two-timing" us as he ran for office.

The upside is that it helps us avoid idiots like LePage and Walker trampling and pissing on anything and everything in their "Me Strongman" path, including civil rights and collective bargaining (while distracting people from their running up huge deficits with ill-advised austerity and tax-cut policies).

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sales tax? Who idea was it, who put forward the proposal?

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The Governor may have suggested it, but he doesn't have that power - he only has veto power.

You might do well to learn a bit about how government works to better inform your complaints about how it doesn't.

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Swirly, I suspect that if Deval assaulted a Nun in a wheelchair you would somehow justify it and label anyone who criticized his action as a racist.

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A 'few Snafus'? Is that what you call it when a state agency on Deval's watch lets children in state care die?

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Maybe your new years resolution could be to pull your head out of you ars.

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Adorable!

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The whole process is basically a legal shakedown by the incoming Governor. Baker is spending $1.6m of "private donations" on this silliness. And Deval, who was going to change the culture on Beacon Hill, kicked things off by accepting four $50K "donations" from auto insurance companies as part of his. The whole thing is basically unregulated pre-buying influence by deep pocketed corporations and lobbyists, and should be completely shutdown.

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As an incoming governor, they should be allocated $50k for an inauguration. If they're voted in for a second term, $25k. No private donations, no obscene parties.

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I certainly didn't agree with him poltically on all issues, but to me he is a man of compassion, patience and understanding.

He always struck me as someone I'd be glad to know personally.

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