By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

This just in: The City of Pittsfield has scheduled a tax classification hearing for 7 p.m. Thursday in city council chambers. Hang on to your wallets: Homeowners, the mayor wants to hike your taxes to $18.06/thousand. Business owners, you get it twice as bad. The mayor wants to soak you $36.62/thousand. More later this week.

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, NOV. 17, 2014) — Today we present screen grabs from the PCTV broadcast of Wednesday’s city council meeting. They show the orchestrated parade of  the mayor’s “supporters,” captured in their big moment.

It’s clear that the disinformation session has backfired. It’s one thing for the city to make available an open mic session to ordinary citizens to encourage debate and attention to issues. It’s another for the mayor’s wife to hijack the open mic to activate a propaganda machine. Certainly, Lady McBianchi‘s March of the Big Wooden Soldiers has been the talk of the town. It’s net effect has been to drive a failing administration to new, historic lows and further scuff its tarnished reputation.

Lights, Action, Camera!

Things have gotten so bad for the Bianchi Administration that is has stooped to staging events at public meetings, echoing the mobilization of State events in North Korea. Like the dictatorial rulers of the rouge nation, the Bianchi Administration is attempting to alter the perception of reality through two classic means, long favored by despots, oppressors, autocrats, absolute rulers, and Fearless Leaders:

(1) Stage manage public events

(2) Suppress the free flow of information

Fortunately at council meetings, the PCTV cameras function in a C-SPAN manner — turn on then forget about it. Unlike politicians, cameras do not lie. THE PLANET‘s trusted Secret Squadron has ferreted out the proof of the staged nature of Wednesday’s phony parade to the open mic.

Here is the most telling screen grab:

In this picture, we see the mayor’s wife at lower left. This action occurs before the start of the meeting and just after Lady McBianchi has made the rounds to organize the stooges who will praise their Beloved Leader. The camera catches Theresa hurrying to the back of the room before the meeting starts, so she won’t be seen during the meeting itself.  She’s scurrying so fast to get off camera that she’s actually blurred. Her mad dash occurs during the moment of silent prayer (note councilors’ bowed heads).

The Camera Shoots: Lady McBianchi, caught red-handed.

Then we get to the parade itself.

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First up, Kathy Degnan. Degnan supposedly serves at city solicitor. Her job is to advocate on behalf of We The People. Of course, you know and THE PLANET knows that Degnan serves not We The People but His Royal Highness The Mayor. Embarrassing.

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[MURPHY, McCARTHY PHOTOS UNAVAILABLE]

Next came Dan Bianchi’s neighbor, Dave Murphy followed by Mike McCarthy. You might not know this, but when Bianchi ran for mayor in 2009, he hand-picked Murphy to be his successor in Ward 6. Unfortunately for the mayor John Krol moved into Ward 6 the year before. Krol won easily. Murphy, our Z-Agent’s report, “continues to be a Bianchi loyalist through and though.” In the cue comes McCarthy. From our Z Agent: “”How sad. The man who would have been a judge, now sinking to this.”

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COUNCIL KROL gets “the stink eyes” glare.

COUNCILOR LOTHROP gets “the stink eyes” glare.

THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE gets “the stink eyes” glare. Smith is looking at Eagle scribe Jim Therrien.

That’s followed by the utterly s-c-a-r-y Phyllis Smith. She browbeat and nagged councilors and the press, embellishing the badgering with glares and a wrinkling puss straight out of Count Floyd‘s Monster Horror Chiller Theater. 

From our Z Agent: “If there is a facial equivalent to the Bianchi finger wag, it’s the Phyllis Smith cartoon character-esque ‘meanie glare.’ Nothing says, ‘Be nice to Danny or else’ better than the ‘if looks could decapitate’ stink eyes of Phyllis Smith.”

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“How DARE you question anything I do?”

Return of The Finger Wag.

After Stink Eyes, there were a couple other non-entities followed on script by the closing act, The Empty Suit himself. TES lectured, bluffed, bossed, and bullied. And he Finger Wagged, in a “How dare you question anything I do?” manner.

Look at these two photos. Ask yourself: Is this truly the man you want as your mayor? He is barely in control.

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The embarrassing spectacle at the council meeting was clearly meant to intimidate Krol, Lothrop, the absent Barry Clairmont, any other councilors, and private citizens guilty of “thoughtcrime.” In trying to bully councilors, the Happy First Couple are bullying you out there, Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, the ordinary citizens.

How much longer will the council sit back and take it? Same question holds true for citizens.

Here’s our answer: “We have not yet begun to fight.” — John Paul Jones (not the bass player for Led Zeppelin)

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“Who rose like shadows between man and God / Til that eclipse, still hanging over heaven, / Was worshipped by the world o’er which they strode?” — Percy Bysshe Shelley, from “The Triumph of Life,” (1822).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.