…But the Dream Should Die – Why Ted Kennedy Should be the Last Kennedy Ever Elected – Joe Keohane
David Kennedy was 12 was his father was murdered. He had been sitting in a room at the Beverly Hills Hotel with Diane Broughton, one of Bobby Kennedy’s campaign aides, watching his father on TV address the crowd after beating…
Ted Kennedy: A True Man of Boston
Ted Kennedy’s first major humiliation—the first of many (and many of those self-inflicted)—came at the hands of Eddie McCormack. The scene was Southie High in 1962. Young Ted was squaring off against the popular two-term attorney general in a debate…
Man Versus Machine
At a Roxbury Senior Care event at the Charles Street AME church on a rainy day in June, 40-year-old mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty finds himself suddenly embroiled in competition. On one side is Sam Yoon, a fellow at-large city councilor…
The Making of a Mayor for Life
From time to time, Tom Menino transcends the corporeal urban mechanic and begins to resemble something out of a ghost story. Never is this truer than during an election year. An example: On a sunny day back in March, a…
Every Legacy Needs An Architect
Late this summer, work will begin on the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. The vision for the $50 million facility includes a full-size replica of the Senate chamber, exhibitions honoring Senate history, even in-depth tutorials for incoming…
The Argument: A Turncoat's Manifesto
Bless me, Father, for I have gone and done the unthinkable. I have moved to New York. Not long ago, this would have been an act of profound betrayal, even cowardice. Betrayal because to voluntarily move somewhere else implies that…
The Haunt: Where Everybody Knows Your Byline
The formidable metal front door leads into a well-worn room where even the midday light struggles to penetrate the windows peering out onto East Berkeley Street. There are no seats at the bar, and patrons drink their Guinnesses and Buds…
Invasion of the Policy Snatchers
The conventional wisdom is that what we do in Massachusetts is for the most part politically meaningless. That we’re so detached from mainstream (read: fat, incurious) America that anything that happens here must be viewed as an un-American aberration, or,…
No-Sin Zone
Down a steep, narrow staircase off Hanover Street in the North End is Stanza dei Sigari, one of the city’s few remaining cigar bars. It was a speakeasy during Prohibition, and it still looks the part, with its leather chairs,…
Topical Trick-or-Treating
Firefighter Materials: Firefighter’s hat, muscle shirt Strategy: Approach house, procure candy, and skip off. Return an hour later with a doctor’s note claiming you fell down the front steps of said house, hurt your back, and are now "totally and…
