The Massachusetts Double Standard

Swallow your morning coffee before you read that someone, anyone would support this buffoon for Governor. Haven't we witnessed enough corruption, arrogance and back room deals from this Administration that was going to change the "Big Dig" culture?

The Lt. Governor had a car accident and then created assorted versions and various contradictions, can't remember if it was the Herald or the Boston Globe he bought or was going to buy.

This isn't about the car accident.

It's more about the stupidity of the Lt. Governor and about the out-of-touch Governor's unjustified defense.

This clown is mired in the Chelsea Housing Scandal and Buying a judgeship for $39,775?


How many more lies will he tell? Refusing to provide cell phone records says it all.

Any other private citizen would have had their cell phone checked at the scene and been charged. Not so in Massachusetts where privilege prevails until the ballot box.

This was a sorely needed wake-up call to voters about some overdue housecleaning.


Tim Murray’s political adviser shifts to crisis management after car crash
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Still under fire for his unusual Nov. 2 car crash, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray has asked his longtime political adviser to take on a more formal paid role in responding to the wave of media questions that have overwhelmed his staff in recent days.

Scott M. Ferson, a former spokesman for Senator Edward M. Kennedy [and for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe] and president of the Liberty Square Group, said he has advised Murray regularly and informally on media relations and political strategy since he first ran for lieutenant governor six years ago.

“From time-to-time, he needs more of my time and he’ll pay me and this is one of those times,” Ferson said. “I’m just helping him out more formally.”

Ferson said he will be paid by Murray’s political committee, but has not yet sent a bill.

Ferson’s more formal position is another indication of Murray’s increasing concern that the 5:30 a.m. high speed car crash could endanger his political future. [It already has!]

He has been projected as a likely gubernatorial contender in 2014, when Governor Deval Patrick wraps up when he says is his second and final term. [In whose dreams?]

On Tuesday, the Massachusetts State Police released data retrieved from the car’s “black box” that contradicted Murray’s previous statements that he was driving the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, and that the crash was caused by black ice.

State police said they suspect he had fallen asleep behind the wheel and was going over 100 miles per hour before the crash.

The day after the black box data were released, Murray appeared tense and distracted as he chaired the weekly meeting of the Governor’s Council.

Murray’s official spokeswoman, Lauren Jones, said in a statement that his staff will continue to field questions about the lieutenant governor’s activities.

“Inquiries about the lieutenant governor’s official duties have been and will be handled by press staff in the Executive Office,” she wrote. “Inquiries about political issues have been and will be handled by the lieutenant governor’s political committee.”




New photos shed light on Mass. Lt. Governor Murray's car wreck
Mike Beaudet
Kevin Rothstein, Producer

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - As just-released photos shed new light on Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray’s car crash, the state’s second-in-command is trying hard to return to normal work at the State House despite being dogged by discrepancies in his story.


After chairing a meeting of the Governor’s Council earlier today, Murray again answered questions from reporters about what happened when he drove off Interstate 190 in the pre-dawn hours of November 2.



“Are you worried about your credibility being questioned because of the inconsistencies?” asked FOX Undercover reporter Mike Beaudet.

“Listen, this was an accident. It happened very quickly and I've taken responsibility for that. I don't know what more I can say other than that I’m anxious to get back to work,” Murray replied.

Murray initially told State Police, according to the agency’s reports, that he was driving within the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit and wearing his seat belt when he skidded on black ice.

He also told reporters hours after the crash that he left his house to buy a coffee and a Boston Herald and inspect damage from the recent storm.

An inspection of the photos shows a Boston Globe, but no Herald or coffee cup in the wrecked car. After asking a Murray spokesman about the missing Herald, a Murray spokesperson now tells FOX Undercover he did not buy the coffee or Herald despite being on the road for more than 40 minutes.

Murray’s original story is also compromised by the vehicle’s black box data, released after a FOX Undercover public records request. The data shows he was far exceeding the speed limit, not wearing his seat belt, and did not skid on black ice.

Now Murray thinks he fell asleep, but he can’t say for sure. State Police said his car followed the actions of someone who was sleeping behind the wheel.

“It’s the only reasonable explanation that I have and can understand how this happened. It happened in a matter of seconds. It was something that was obviously very traumatic,” Murray said.

An accident reconstruction expert, Bruce McNally of New Hampshire, who reviewed the black box data says, “There is no indication that the driver fell asleep.”

He says the data shows Murray didn't just accelerate; he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

Despite the questions, Gov. Deval Patrick is standing by his number two, saying he sees no reason to call for an independent investigation.

“I know this man. I care about him. I've never had an accident as serious as this one, but I’ve been in an accident before and I know how it happens instantly and I know how flawed people’s accounts of them often are, and I think as I say the most important thing for me and I think most residents of the Commonwealth is to thank God he's OK and no one else was hurt,” Patrick said.

Murray says he will pay the $555 in fines the State Police have given him for speeding and other violations, and pay to replace his car.

Murray also asked for, and was given, a breathalyzer test at the scene. He said he blew a zero, but in response to a FOX Undercover public records request for the report, a State Police spokesman says he knows of no written record of a test, which was apparently done in the field and not recorded.

Gov. Deval Patrick says he still trusts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray -- and it’s time to move on from crash controversy


Gov. Patrick bypasses crash scandal


Columnist Dianne Williamson: Crash data doesn't solve mystery


Lt. Gov. Tim Murray denies cell records
Info withheld as wreck photos released
By Chris Cassidy, O’Ryan Johnson and Laurel J. Sweet

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, still swerving around unanswered questions about his death-defying, high-speed car crash in Sterling, has refused to turn over to the Herald his cellphone records from the days surrounding the Nov. 2 wreck of his state-issued Crown Victoria.

Deputy Chief Legal Counsel E. Abim Thomas said records of the Office of the Governor are not “subject to disclosure under the public records law,” in a letter to the Herald yesterday.

Besides, Thomas continued, “The Office of the Governor does not receive itemized bills from our phone company for our telephone and text services.”

The Herald requested the governor’s office obtain itemized cellphone and text message bills from its service provider if it did not have the information readily available. Thomas did not address that point in his response.

The Herald is appealing the ruling to Secretary of State William F. Galvin.

State police, meanwhile, yesterday released 126 new photos of the unmarked police cruiser the politician totalled when, he said, he fell asleep at the wheel while surveying storm damage and grabbing a coffee and newspaper at about 5:26 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Initially, Murray told state police and the media he was going the speed limit and wearing his seat belt when he hit a patch of black ice on Interstate 190. Data from the car’s black box — released by state police Tuesday in response to a Herald public records law request — revealed Murray was not wearing a seat belt and hit speeds up to 108 mph as he careened 140 snowy feet before hitting a rock ledge and rolling the Crown Victoria.

As to why the crash-scene photos were being released two months later, state police spokesman David Procopio said, “We just released them as part of the release of the materials related to the crash.”

Murray was slapped with a $555 ticket for the accident he miraculously walked away from.

“Operating to endanger is a discretionary charge. Negligent operation is a discretionary charge,” Procopio said. “In a crash like this, where nobody else was hurt, and no other vehicles were involved, we would not charge that person.”

Murray’s spokeswoman Lauren Jones yesterday told the Herald her boss “has made public all information our office and the state police have regarding the accident, and he has been willing to answer any and all questions.”


Crash, I’ve got an actual job for you
By Howie Carr

Crash Murray has enough problems trying to keep his various stories straight. But perhaps the Pillsbury Doughboy’s career-ending scandal can serve as a “teachable moment.” So I would like to suggest a new role for Crash.

Perhaps he could become the guy who goes to the state’s high schools in the spring, just before the proms, to show the class of 2012 the dangers of reckless driving.

An email was sent to his flack yesterday asking if he’d be willing to consider such a role. No response was immediately forthcoming.

Murray could handle this very important assignment. Over the past few days, we’ve all been very amused by his statements, with eyes wildly blinking, about how he was out there doing 108 mph in an attempt to “gather his thoughts” for the day.

Listen, your average housecat has more need to gather his thoughts in the morning than Tim Murray. Do you realize the lieutenant governor’s work schedule averages 10 minutes a week? Every Wednesday at noon he chairs the Governor’s Council and ... that’s about it.

“I want to get back to work,” he said the other day. What work? He stood by as state police Col. Marian McGovern “announced a State Police initiative to research trooper safety practices and procedures” at a July press conference.

Here’s the procedure. If a politician crashes his Crown Vic at 108 mph, tell the media it would be an “unnecessary step” to check the readings from the black box. Then stonewall their FOIA requests for two months.

Crash Murray loves these traffic-safety press conferences. A couple of months later, he was in Weymouth, sternly warning motorists to obey the new laws banning texting while driving.

This Crash quote comes from another state press release: “We encourage everyone to spread the word about the ban on texting for everyone.”

Oh man, I can’t wait till we get his cellphone records. Although of course we’ll find nothing there, because as a good liberal Democrat, you know Hurry Murray would never talk the talk while not walking the walk.