The Bay State Praetorians
By streiff Posted in 2008 — Comments (33) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Creepy.
Probably no other word accurately describes this part of the Romney electoral juggernaut.
From the New York Times.
He travels with an entourage that includes two or three “operations” guys who serve as advance men and a security detail. (Between stops in New Hampshire, this reporter found himself trailing the former governor’s S.U.V. on a back road, only to be led to the shoulder and instructed to “veer off” by a man wearing an earpiece who emerged from Mr. Romney’s car. “We ran your license plate,” he told the reporter, and explained that no one was permitted to follow Mr. Romney’s vehicle.)
The operations guys are ready to assist with any unpleasantness, like the people who keep showing up at Mr. Romney’s events dressed as a dolphin named Flipper to highlight the candidate’s so-called flip-flops on issues. (Two Flippers stood outside Mr. Romney’s event in West Des Moines. One held a “Señor Flipper” sign, presumably to appeal to Spanish-speaking voters or dolphins.) In Laconia, N. H., Flipper was accused of creating a disturbance and was ushered out of the hall by Mr. Romney’s staff members during his speech.
This operation goes back a ways. According to the Boston Herald ($)
The advance team, led by 27-year-old Jay Garrity, precedes the governor to public appearances to arrange the lighting, sound and seating and ensure the governor looks and sounds his best.
In February, the team relocated to a suite in the basement of the State House. The door is affixed with the number "LXX," Roman numerals for 70, because Romney is the 70th Bay State governor.
Some office staff, who all wear LXX pins, fashion themselves as U.S. Secret Service agents, referring to Romney in their earpieces and audio-equipped wrist pieces as "70" - similar to the way the Secret Service agents identify President Bush as "43" because he is the 43rd president.
Garrity, it seems, falls into that A-for-effort-F-for-judgment demographic that is often at the root of political unpleasantness.
Let's take the instance in the New York Times. Federal law limits who can access vehicle registration data and why that data can be accessed under the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. Protecting your boss from a reporter is not there. Trust me on this.
While Romney's "security detail" didn't break the law, someone else clearly violated federal law in disclosing the information as Romney is now a private citizen. Waylaying a reporter on a public highway seems also to flirt with the edge of legality.
Of course, working at the edge of legality, or even crossing over the line into illegality, isn't unknown to Garrity.
From eyeon08's quoting of a Boston Herald article
A top aide to Gov. Mitt Romney was cited last week for tooling around with illegal police equipment in his private car - from lights and sirens to batons and heavily tinted windows.
Romney’s director of operations, Jay A. Garrity, had parked the car illegally in the North End and police ordered it towed.
Police discovered a set of red-and-blue flashing lights hidden in the grill - equipment for which Garrity has no permit.
Cops also found a siren and public address system, multiple police radios, strobe lights on the wheels, a police baton and a metal plate with a photo of a state police patch that said “official business.'’
“Apparently this kid’s a wannabe cop,'’ said one source familiar with the situation.
Any rich guy is entitled to the best security detail he can buy. A rich guy running for president might arguably need one. But the security detail has to play by the same rules as the rest of us. If we are to believe that Romney is the super hands on manager his minions allege then we have to assume that Garrity is acting with his boss's permission now and when he was fined for having illegally pimped his ride, so to speak.
If we don't assume that, then we have to assume Romney either doesn't know or doesn't really care what this group of yahoos is up to which calls into question just how "hands on" he really is.
They were a laughingstock in Massachusetts. They are a public nuisance now. Do we really want to take the chance on these clowns trading in their "LXX" lapel pins for "XLIV" pins, a federal law enforcement badge, and a Glock .40?
Luckily for Romney there should be plenty of time to clean house.
Run like Reagan!
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
The Romney Bash!
Seriously though, it's funny how there are SO MANY things to bash Mitt Romney on, isn't it?
Run like Reagan!
It would be nice to see less effort devoted to trashing our own candidates. God knows they get their fair share of it from the Democrats and their willing accomplices in the drive-by media. So, Mitt has a VERY devoted legion of supporters and staff and they annoy some people. It would be nice if everyone got taxpayer funded secret service protection like Barack Obama.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
if you say anything about Romney, other than he should be appointed president for life without him having to lower himself by going through anything more rigorous than the formality of a coronation, it is a "Romney bash."
Here you have a man with a "security detail" led by a guy who was fined for possessing police equipment and ID to which he is not entitled, a security detail which got someone to break federal law in tracing a license plate, a security detail that basically waylays a NYT reporter on a public highway.
But if we comment on the fact that this detail exists or that it is obviously undersupervised we are "Romney bashing" and not pointing out the obvious. Romney either needs to get rid of his personal praetorian guard or he needs to bring it within the rule of law.
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
I will support whoever the GOP nominates. My two favs currently happen to be Fred and Romney. I'm not a Romney devotee, but I think he has a lot to offer, despite a lot of his flip-flops. I just don't like the inordinate amount of time devoted to trashing Romney. I'm of the mindset that we need to boost all of our guys, and conservatives in general.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
you like however you wish. Just don't expect everyone to avert their eyes at obviously aberrant behavior.
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
Please don't insult the Praetorian Guard. This is more akin to elementary school bus patrols gone bad.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report
Your tirade is based on a valid point, I'll grant you that. Apparently members of Romney's security detail have been watching too many cop flicks and he needs to rein them in.
That doesn't make your post less of a hot-aired rant.
Your color commentary magnifies another NYT negative Romney piece 100-fold. You more than do the Times a favor. As you implied, you can guffaw at the gaffes of a candidate you obviously don't favor all you want. The irony occurs when you pull out this pious sarcasm about the reactions you cause with your rhetoric.
You stir the pot, you are going to get a reaction. Obvioiusly you don't like the reaction any more than they like your stirring.
Tit for tat.
I haven't had a hit of rombot hate in a few weeks and I'm jonesin'
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
Anti-LDS.
Anti-family.
Anti-fiscal responsibility.
Anti-government required health care.
Anti-only one marriage.
Anti-great hair.
Anti-ability to form opinions at a moments notice.
Anti- a bunch of other stuff I'll think of later and write an addendum.
So there!
You can bookmark this comment just in case you get to feeling left out. :>D
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
If you're a guy, you need to rethink that one.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
About the very last thing I "fear" is homosexuality. I have a respectful fear of Moe the harpoon-man. Also Mrs908. And, of course, Franz Prince of Dogness.
Other than than, I live a pretty "phobia phree" life.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.`
Although "hate" is such an abrasive term. Obviously I fell short in trying to emulate the smoothness of the Grand Mitt Poobah. I'll have to have a programmer from HQ come down and check my circuitry . . .
this one is more like being bashed by a feather.
Mitt needs to clean up his campaign's act. He can't afford accusations of questionable legality. No campaign could.
Caveat-sometimes I get carried away with generalizations, so the preceding sentence may not apply to the imperial enterprise of Hillary Clinton, daughter of Isis, jewel of the Nile and rising Fertility Goddess, and of Upper and Lower Egypt, and of the USA, and of the Globe-In-General, Absolute Queen.
but some of this is pretty simple stuff if you think for even a minute...
Driving on back roads, a car is obviously following you, perhaps you give it the opportunity to pass and it doesn't...
Is it against the law to lie to the guy and say you ran his plate? Tell him to get lost? Find out he's a reporter and go oh gee that's embarrassing, but while we stand here and talk the rest of the cars drive off, too bad, no harm no foul.
As for the car with the lights, again easy, I see security guys with vehicles like this all the time, same goes for volunteer firemen, different counties have regulations for the mounting of the lights and their display but unless he was ticketed for violating a law relating to his possession of those items this all means nothing.
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
is it against the law to stop the guy on a public highway and ask him jack? What do you do if he rightfully tells you to commit an anatomically difficult act?
As to the lights, read the story. The man was arrested and fined for possessing the lights and the fake police ID.
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
to be honest, but only because I saw something potentially life threatening about their vehicle, it's amazing how people can not notice things like nearly flat tires or the fact that a tow chain has been dragging for a few hundred miles, luggage falling off, but I guess that's not quite the same thing...
OK but to the fact's
The car stuff as it turns out is from 2004 and...
Garrity shelled out "several hundred dollars" in fines for the lights, which he had installed for a previous security job and for which he held an expired federal permit, said Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman.
The correct response to your question concerning the "anatomically difficult act" is to smile and say have a nice day!
I don't see that he was arrested or that he had an "id", but then I'm not giving the BH a dime, got a link I don't have to pay for? Oh and some of the rest of that is from 05, the wrist communication stuff, he was the guv, big sigh...
Let's pick on Hillary...
Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin
... at a very, very, very, low level.
And even I have to admit that this stinks to high heaven.
Consort with the peeps, Mitt. We don't bite... hard.
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So libs, how's that Congressional Resolution to end The War™ coming along?
The fact that it's Romney makes it even worse in my mind. C'mon, Mitt: get rid of your Keystone Kop and start acting like a person that I can really support, before it's too late.
First Corzine cruising around with a State Trooper driving at 90+ MPH on the GSP with no seatbelt on, now Romney's guy.
One thing: if we're going to hit Romney over this one, I'd like to know a little more about the security details of the other candidates.
My guess is that they're pretty similar, or at least have been up until this point.
He would be wise to leave his boy scouts home when he comes here. You pull a gun on somebody on a back road in Arizona, you're likely to leave this state in a long narrow box.
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
My biggest disappointment from Mitt Romney so far was that he didn't show up in the Spin Room at St. Anselm to answer questions personally. Now I admit, Senator Jim Talent isn't exactly a nobody or a stuffed shirt, so it wasn't as bad as some of the other candidates, who sent professional consultants and spinmeisters that nobody has ever heard of and will disappear back into the woodwork of their campaign organizations.
But Brownback was there, and he was willing to spend more than an hour answering questions patiently and expertly. In my judgement Romney doesn't have enough cushion to keep dissing the proles throughout the rest of this campaign.
Wake up, guys. Steve Smith, are you listening? Earth to Steve Smith, calling Steve Smith: One of the best things your guy does, arguably better than anyone else in this field thusfar, is SPEAK IN PUBLIC. Get him in front of the people with the microphones, and that means even us poor bloggers, pronto.
You're blowing it, guys. Stop now.
Ok, I'm sure this story was a bunch of other places....but it says something when Keith Olbermann happily runs stories that are posted on RedState. Let's try to build up our guys, not trash them, k? That goes for all our candidates too and elected officials (ok, ok, McCain and Lindsay Graham are fair game).
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
Theres no going back. Before the elections over you'll be picking Redstater's teeth out of all the candidates. You can see the bites they have taken out of the weak ones like Ron Paul and McCain already.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
I've been saying for quite some time that we're going after our own more than the Kos kids are, and, if we see Hillary Clinton become President in a year and a half, this attitude will have a large reason to do with it. The circular firing squad is just getting sick at this point, and all it's doing is making sure that the only one who walks out of it does so mortally wounded.
I don't particularly care for Romney, but, for the sake of comparison, he seems to have the least number of people defending him here... heck, say much of anything bad about McCain or Rudy, and people are going to zero in on your every word, by and large, whereas Mitt seems to be completely "fair game" here (to those who actually know the basis for my quote marks, feel free to flame me in response). Even still, I think that Mitt's a better candidate than any Democrat (and, for that matter, a few people in the GOP field at the moment), and think people's priorities here are completely out of whack. If we're going to bury a candidate, how about somebody who doesn't have an R after their name? When a Republican goes down in disgrace, and people from both here and at Kos start cheering, something seems not right.
My perspective on the whole situation is a whole lot different than some here... I know a lot of people here want "their guy" to be the nominee, and consider everybody else to be unacceptable. The way I look at it, as a self-admitted classical liberal, I know "my guy" will never be elected... he'll probably never show up on any ballot, just due to how the system works. All I can hope for is that the person who gets elected isn't completely anathema to my views, which, about 80% of the time... is the case. Look at what is being said on the far left (those who have taken the mantle of "liberal" from those who actually consider freedom to be a Good Thing), and tell me how any of you would be willing to trust even the most "moderate" of them with the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Think about that, let that digest in your heads for a bit, and then we can work towards trying to discuss what we want out of our candidates, and what they are doing or not doing about it. In our current situation, friendly fire should be highly frowned upon.
"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent, law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose." - James Earl Jones
Romney's not our guy yet. And he'd better not be allowed to become our guy without that fine toothed comb running through that superfically perfect hair of his.
Run like Reagan!
First off I am a strong Newt Gingrich, Fred Thompson kind of supporter, so not a Romney cheerleader.
I also reside in the that most pathetic state in the country, the peoples republic of MA.
"They were a laughingstock in Massachusetts."
This is mASS were talking about, with Governor 'Coup' Deval Patrick and other loony left, it is IMPOSSIBLE for ANY of Romney's staff to wear the laughingstock title.
Again, move along.............this is a NON story.
emanating from his campaign.