By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2012) — There’s an old saying in politics that we just made up: “As Guam goes, so goes the nation.”

This bodes well for Mitt Romney, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He won an overwhelming victory in Guam. He also took the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands.

Da islanders, man, dem like Mr. Mitt. He hot.

Before you laugh, the three wins in recent GOP primaries added 23 delegates to his growing count. Yes, he wins the postage stamp states, but Romney has also scored in the majors with wins in Ohio, Florida, and Michigan. Mitt’s on a slow, methodical roll that has an inexorable, inevitable feel to it.

True, Rick Santorum scored the biggest prize last week by pasting Romney in Kansas and taking its 33 delegates, but Mitt’s little wins garnered 39 delegates over the weekend. The national press tried to make something out of Santorum’s Kansas victory, but bottom line is: He lost ground over the weekend. When all the counting was done, Romney, with Guam etc., won 39 delegates to Santorum’s 33. This is happening again and again, at a time when the campaign has reached a point where the Rickster needs to do more than tread water.

National Media: A Vested Interest in Santorum at This Point

The national media, particularly in this age of twitter, cable, and the relentless 27/7 news cycle, desperately has it in their self-interest to create of presidential politics a horse race. Right now, they need to make it seem like Santorum is holding his own when he’s not. The blatant need of the national press stems from rating. Their numbers draw or deflect advertisers, depending, which explains why too many outlets write for their commercial masters and not for We The People.

We see this phenomenon played out locally daily, of course, with the Boring Broadsheet, except that they will stay away from hot stories and cover non-stories because of the shrinking number of advertisers. The BB has made the editorially inexplicable news judgment to placate a handful of influential advertisers by running white bread, cotton candy, and linseed oil stories.

One thing you don’t have to worry about on THE PLANET is the undue influence of any outside force on our deliberations. We talk to a lot of people, listen to everybody, and seek as much information as we can get in covering the issues of the day, but when it comes time to take our stance, we take it. You may love us or not, but you have to admit that what you see is what you get. Our byline at the top attests to that fact. We don’t run anonymous editorials or un-bylined news articles, as the BB regularly does.

In Delegates, Romney had Doubled Santorum

Romney’s got both the math and the momentum. It takes 1,144 delegates to secure the GOP nod. As of today, the delegate count reads this way:

ROMNEY — 454

SANTORUM — 217

GINGRICH — 107

PAUL — 47

HUNTSMAN — 2

Romney more than doubles Santorum, which is why you can take all the national hype about Kansas and use it as a flame starter in the fireplace tonight. Most of the remaining states yet to vote award delegates proportionately to the vote totals, which means that Santorum is unlikely to score an dramatic electoral knockout punch.

Coming up today, Alabama and Mississippi have the primary vote. Romney likely won’t win either, but he doesn’t need to. Those states apportion delegates, meaning that Romney will not be shut out of the 90 delegates there. Add to that the other “small” primaries today — Hawaii and American Samoa. Romney has those in his back pocket and most of their 29 delegates.

ABC News calls it winning ugly. THE PLANET calls it plain, old winning.

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BB’s Hatchet Job on Nuciforo Not Rare, Not Well Done

Wow, has Andy Nuciforo ever got the GOB and the Boring Broadsheet quivering. THE PLANET doesn’t know all of the ins and outs as to why, although we have out thoughts on this.

Of BB scribe Ned Oliver‘s double-barrelled hatchet job in the Boring Broadsheet about Democratic congressional candidate Andy Nuciforo, there’s little to be said. Nuff Ced Ned’s piece, no doubt written on Orders from Above and as a result lacking in its ability to convince and communicate, pretends to be a profile of the candidate with an assessment of his underdog status to incumbent congressman Richie Neal. The piece, however, does a poor job of acting, unless there is an Oscar for bad acting. … and bad writing.

Of course, smear campaigns don’t care about winning Pulitzers. The assumption is that enough people will read enough of the stories to create a subliminal message that Nuciforo is, as Jonathan Melle has infamously called Andy for years, Luciforo. Oliver’s one-sided hack job advertised to the world, once and for all, that the once proud Berkshire Eagle has descended into irrelevancy due to unprofessional conduct and dereliction of duty. We sympathize with our good friend and colleague Nuff Ced Ned. He’s got to write that kind of crap because the Bosses have ordered his bosses to do so. His best defense is the one Borman, Goering, Col. Klink, and the others used at Nuremberg: “I was only following orders.”

Oliver’s Piece a Journalistic ‘Still Birth’

As we say, we will leave the post mortum of this journalistic still birth to the coroners of public opinion, but we will present a taste of the new and embarrassing lows Pittsfield’s only daily newspaper has sunk. Take the headline … please. We read: “Nuciforo Says Spending Above Board.”

We read that Nuciforo is “no stranger to corporate money,” as if he’s the first person ever to run for Congress who has realized that it takes a scandalous amount of money, bucks that Neal no doubt has been securing during his long, tired tenure.

Oliver  accuses Nuciforo of “hypocrisy.” Keep in mind that the BB ran Oliver’s pieces screaming on page one as a news story. There’s no “commentary” label on them and no other indication that the rag is doing anything but preaching. Notice at the top of this post: Our tag line reads: “PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary.” Of course, that’s an unfair comparison. THE PLANET cares about its readers. We’ll leave it at that.

THE PLANET has endorsed Nuciforo for Congress, and the BB’s shameful Sunday only reinforces out view that he is the right choice in the upcoming Democratic primary.

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WHY SHOULD TAXPAYERS HAVE TO SHELL FOR DEMOLITION OF GROSSMAN’S EYESORE?

Tonight, the city council has another light agenda. A flea could put tonight’s agenda on its back and rip off 50 push ups, easy.

Click here to check out the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.

You’ll notice item 2. Mayor Dan Bianchi will be requesting the city council for $238,636.21 from free cash (right, as if it’s “free”) to pay for the demolition of the old Grossman’s at 1277 East Street.

THE PLANET has a simple question: Why are Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski paying this ridiculous amount to tear down the building owned privately by a capitalist?

When you ask that question of city officials, you get a litany of excuses why they can’t get the building’s owner to pay for the razing, to which we reply: “bull spit.” We have a simple way to get the money: Put the owner of the property in the Iron Maiden, close the door slowly, and don’t stop until he agrees to foot the bill.

It’s Ridiculous to Ask Taxpayers to Fund the Demolition of a Privately Owned Building

We will not accept that taxpayers must pay for this action. We simply do not accept it.

If the owner of the property has even one nickel to his name, the city must take it. In fact, it must seize the first $238,636.21 of this creep’s net worth. Now we’re sure that our Right Honorable Good Friends, including the mayor, will get into a long speech about why this can’t be done, but we don’t accept that without first hearing a detailed explanation of how hard the city tried to get after the deadbeat owner. How hard hard it tried to get this deadbeat to pay up?

The efforts had better be exhausting, including throwing the clown in the Iron Maiden. If not, THE PLANET recommends that our Right Honorable Good Friends on the council throw this back to the mayor, advising him to get the angry villagers with torches after the owner.

Another Round of Character Checks, J-Lo and Dancing Barry?

Notice also the series of appointments in items 4 through 9. We wonder if the resumes of the individuals have been fully vetted to check for that elusive thing called, “character.” Perhaps our Rt. Hon. Good Friends Jonathan Lothrop and Barry Clairmont can clarify, since they apparently have the ability to look into people’s souls and determine then fit or not. It was J-Lo and Dancing Barry, you’ll recall, who coughed at appointed EMT Jeff Ferrin to the Ambulance Review Board.

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A NIGHT WITH MEREDITH … or … BYP SLATES ‘NETWORKING SOCIAL’ THURSDAY AT LIQUOR STORE 

Speaking of Berkshire Young Professionals, which we weren’t, you don’t want to miss their next Networking Social, slated for Kelly’s Package Store, this Thursday, March 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. The store is located at 635 Main St., Dalton.

THE PLANET has never been to Kelly’s Package Store, but we’re sure it’s a fine place that sells good hooch. We wish tKelly’s  nothing but success. You sense a “however” coming, don’t you?

However.

It’s a package store, a.k.a., a liquor store. We find the irony almost too much, since it was Chamber head Mike Supranowicz who issued the order to the BYP cubbies (the Beepers) that no one could be photographed holding a drink at one of these “socials.” Iron Mike’s order came in response to the little episode that Beeper officer Meredith Nilan got herself into on the evening of Dec. 8, after one such “social” at a restaurant in Great Barrington. Miss Meredith got her hair mussed a little bit that night and tried to hide it.

Naughty, naughty, naughty.

Anyways, fair warning all your  Beepers who clammed up, again on orders from above, about anything you maybe have seen, witnessed, overheard, or observed at the “social” on Dec. 8 (where, we were told, a lot of glasses were drained and elbows bent) — THE PLANET will be attending. We may attend incognito or wearing our Sunday best. We shall be there, though, so everyone, please, be on your best behavior.

Feel Free to Say Hello to THE PLANET

Feel free to talk to us, say hello, and make small talk. Do not, under any circumstances, say anything — ANYTHING — about what you may have seen on the night of Dec. 8. It could cost your your professional life.

You’ve been warned by Iron Mike. You’ve been told if you speak to THE PLANET, “certain people” will see you never have a career in Berkshire County. About 64 Beepers were at Allium’s restaurant on Dec. 8 for the “social,” and no one saw nuttin’. Amazing.

To make the point clear about not saying anything, you remember what Iron Mike did to his underling, Chamber PR head Ashley Sulock, when she began to speak to us. He threw her under the bus. Don’t believe us? Ask those in the know about what happened following our conversation.

What Supranowicz did to Sulock was reprehensible. He ordered her off the phone and horned in on our conversation with her. He basically said in his actions that he had no faith in her, that he did not trust her, and that he had to follow orders from above (what, you don’t think someone like Iron Mike is capable of an independent action, do you?).

Ashley Sulock is a capable your professional. We have talked to some of here friends and colleagues. They won’t publicly come out in here defense, but they all attest to her character, her integrity, her ability, and her good intentions. We have crossed paths with Ashley a bit through our appearances on “Good Morning, Pittsfield,” especially when she was guest hosting when John Krol was in campaign mode.

We were every bit impressed with Ms. Sulock, from a personal and a professional standpoint. It’s a shame she has such a disloyal boss.

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MORE YARD WORK, PERCHANCE, AWAITS ON THIS EARLY SPRING, AND — WITH NO ANXIOUS CARES — THIS LIGHT-HEARTED SQUIRE CAUSES SLEEP TO FLEE FROM PEOPLE’S EYES AND PEACE OVERTAKE THEIR BREASTS.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.