By DAN VALENTI 

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JAN. 26, 2012) — There is much happening and things are a-poppin’ on THE PLANET this morning. As our good friend David Kolman used to say, we are busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. We shall post and then part, trying to get in as much as we can before duty calls in another state.

CAn we get this plug out of the way up top. Here’s the link to the TV-radio show we did yesterday with our Right Honorable Good Friend, John Krol, host of Good Morning, Pittsfield:

Yesterday’s Good M. Pittsfield with Dan Valenti and Congressman Richard Neal is now online…

http://pittsfieldtv.dyndns.org:81/16552-1GoodMorningPittsfield.wmv

http://pittsfieldtv.dyndns.org:81/16552-1GoodMorningPittsfield.wmv

pittsfieldtv.dyndns.org

State Reps Owe It to Constituents to Share Views of Case

At 10:14 a.m. this morning, THE PLANET sent the following e-mail to all the members of the Berkshire County representative to the General Court. This mean Gail Cariddi, Paul Mark, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, and Smitty Pignatelli in the House, plus Ben Downing in the Senate:

MY RIGHT HONORABLE GOOD FRIENDS
No doubt, you are familiar with and have been following developments in the Meredith Nilan-Peter Moore hit-and-run case. I will not insult your astuteness by summarizing the case. Rather, let me get right to the point:

There are serious allegations of malfeasance and manipulation in the case being raised by the general public as well as this address via THE PLANET (www.planetvalenti.com) based on the evidence that has been released or that we have uncovered. The facts of the case as reported on THE PLANET have gone undisputed. We have immediately corrected the record in one case, where a subject shared additional information. 

Concerned citizens in this community have, in my view, just concerns that a grave injustice has occurred. In light of all this, I submit several simple questions. These will help your constituents understand you better (always a good thing) on a flash issue that affects the entire Berkshires. This case goes to the heart of the public’s perception that there are two sets of rules — the very thing President Obama talked about in his State of the Union address. There are one set of rules for the privileged, the connected, and those with friends in the right places. They receive a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. For everyone else, the commoners, there’s justice. 

My questions:

(1) Do you agree with the finding of a Westfield first assistant clerk magistrate that there was insufficient evidence to allow a criminal complaint lodged by (and appealed by) the Pittsfield Police Department to proceed? That is, do you have 100% confidence that the decision was impartial, with Lady Justice’s blindfold squarely in place, and with NO OUTSIDE INFLUENCE OR PRESSURE to reach an “insufficient evidence to proceed” verdict?

(2) If you do not agree, can you tell us why, and what you intend to do about it?

(3) Will you initiate a petition for an independent state authority to be brought in and examine all facets of this case? If not, will you support such a petition that one or more of your constituents might file, and fight hard in your respective chambers to see the petition enacted?

(4) Do you personally know Clifford Nilan? If so, what is your opinion of him as a public servant?

There may be more questions to follow, but for now, let these suffice. My deadline is by 11 a.m. tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 12, 2012).

I have been covering politics for a long time in my professional career as a reporter, columnist, author, speaker, and broadcaster. I cannot recall a case that has sparked such an uproar, and such a unanimous consent among the general public of a local community, that “We wuz robbed.”

People have that feeling, deep down inside, from the core of their being, that there’s been a fix in the works since the night of the incident.

An innocent pedestrian gets mowed [down] by a speeding car that has swerved, jump lanes, and slammed into him. His head goes clean through the front windshield, close to the driver. The man is left with injuries that will likely lead to a permanently impaired quality of life. The driver escapes without even a traffic ticket. The driver’s is the daughter of a powerful political figure in the close-knit power base of Berkshire County and Pittsfield. Something’s not right. 

Will you, on behalf of all that you hold dear about due process and the American way that you swore to uphold, support an investigation to determine if all has been “on the level” in this case? That’s all people are asking. This is not about a “witch hunt.” This is not about “vengeance.” This is about Lady Justice. 

We are, after all is said and done, a nation, a state, a county, a city of laws.

Are we not?

Sincerely,
DAN VALENTI

Ample precedent for this Request

Our request of the state reps has many precedents. Just today, we found one. In case you missed it, there’s one involving the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. The greenway’s executive director made “a brazen attempt” to dodge a Boston Herald inquiry about the “non-profit’s” finances.

We the Taxpayers fund half the $4.7 million annual budget of the Greenway, from the state transportation department. Executive Director Nancy Brennan earns up to $225,000 a year and employs 40 people. Can you say, Hackerama?

The Brennan stonewalled, confirmed when the Herald inadvertently had fall into its lap an e-mail Brennan meant to sent to her PR consultant, the state jumped in. Here’s the lead of today’s story by Erin Smith, Richard Weir, Dave Wedge, and Matt Stout:

Alarmed by the Rose Kennedy Greenway’s brazen attempt to dodge a Herald inquiry about its finances, top state officials are demanding that the embattled chief of the taxpayer-funded nonprofit open the books and hand over details of the conservancy’s hefty salaries, bonuses, expenses and contracts.

State reps have jumped in, demanding accountability from the “non-profit.” That’s what THE PLANET on behalf of We The People is asking for in the Nilan-Moore case. The state must step in to conduct a thorough investigation of what appears to be a Fix. Our state reps must go to bat the justice.

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As you see, the deadline for my Right honorable Good Friends to get back to us is 11 a.m. tomorrow. That is enough time for the members to formulate a thoughtful response and yet soon enough to make our posting tomorrow (although cyberspace, not having a print run [since nothing gets “printed] doesn’t have “deadlines” … One of the things we love about blogging is that it is always NOW). We shall, of course, be posting all of the responses received by that time at that time. We shall duly share the reps’ responses. We shall also say that silence  will speak VOLUMES.

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VALIANT CITIZENS ANSWER THE CALL FOR INFORMATION

Based on our investigations and what others in the community have shared, THE PLANET has once certain conclusion: There’s a whole lot more to the Nilan-Moore case than has come out.

People who might be in a position to supply facts and truth have been unusually silent and edgy. There’s a lot yet to be uncovered — so the evidence released or obtained thus far, as well as the behavior of potential sources as well as the that of the Boring Broadsheet, convinces us. There are people who have information: BYPs who were at the Dec. 8 party at Allium’s, those in the Pittsfield court house, people who live on Winesap, McIntosh, and East streets, in the neighborhood of Peter Moore and Meredith Nilan, and the like.

A couple days ago, we published this appeal:

THE PLANET sends out a blanket appeal to anyone who can provide information on Meredith Nilan’s behavior on the day or night of the accident or anytime thereafter. They can e-mail information in complete confidence to danvalenti@verizon.net. Please leave an operable return address for us. Thanks.

We have had a couple of responses, highly informative ones at that. We shall hold on to them for a tad longer, as we triangulate what we have received with other snippets of information. WE reiterate our call. We The People no know they have a place that listens to them, that wants to hear THE TRUTH, and that shall not shy away from THE TRUTH.

The old days are gone. In years prior, the GOB would rest easy. They had the local daily newspapers in their pocket, and they know that none of the other mainstream media would peep. There’s a new way of playing the game now, one that’s being pioneered in journalism by websites such as this.

You have a landing zone for what you know, people. You have a window into the TRUTH. You have THE PLANET.

TEll us what you know. The information, we think, will be revealing.

Stay tuned.

MEANWHILE, NOT A WORD OF THIS  CASE ON THE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PAGE OF THE BORING BROADSHEET. ISN’T THAT MIRACULOUS?

NOT A SINGLE, SOLITARY LETTER HAS BEEN SENT IN TO THE BB. EITHER THAT, OR THEY HAVE RECEIVED LOTS OF LETTERS BUT HAVE BEEN TOLD NOT TO PUBLISH THEM.

ALSO NOT MUCH IF ANY FOLLOW-UP COVERAGE. COINCIDENCE?

And they wonder why their subscriptions are plummeting and why people just don’t care about that rag any longer. Sad, to witness the death throes of a once mighty example of journalism known as the Berkshire Eagle. As a passionate believe in the role of a free press in a just society, we do not take any pleasure in this situation. In the end, the press is people. People — reporters, editors, publishers, photographers — must make moral decisions. Will they be bought out? Will they sell out? Will they, out of fear, be silence? People will choose for themselves. As for this journalist, we always have, we are now, and we always will do it OUR WAY, and make moral choices that will allow us to look in the mirror each night and see, reflected back through the eyes, peace of mind, heart, soul, and conscience.

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AT THIS POINT THE PLANET MUST MOVE ON … PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK BECAUSE, EVEN AS WE WRITE, THERE ARE DEVELOPMENTS TO SHARE. THERE ARE ALSO LOTS OF PHONE CALLS AND CONTACTS FOR WHICH WE ARE STILL WAITING … THUS …

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.