ANATOMY OF A POLEMICAL BESTING: SWEET PETE V. THE PLANET
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Second of Two Parts
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY AUG. 16, 2016) — As promised, THE PLANET presents verse and chapter of the debate we picked with our Right Honorable Good Friend Sweet Pete White on the nature and meaning of “democracy.” Sweet Pete led with his chin on Facebook, begging to be bested, when he tried to claim that the follies put on by the Berkshire Brigades on behalf of the Democrat bosses not only qualified as a “debate” but actually “proved” that democracy was alive and well. As we demonstrated yesterday, the event served as pre-coronation vestiture for Tricia Farley-Bouvier (house, incumbent) and Adam Hinds (senate).
Here is the actual exchange:
Dan Valenti “democracy” is not alive and well, PETE. Democrat stranglehold in Bay State, and Dem Bosses stranglehold on Berkshire seats, is alive and well. As for “democracy,” he dead.
Pete White What you see as a stranglehold, I see as a like minded majority of those who have used their vote.
Dan Valenti Seriously? the 85-15% imbalance in statehouse politics leads to good government? I thought you Dems didn’t like totalitarian systems? “Like-minded majority.” The phrase is tautological but also can be read with a chilling interpretation.
Pete White Dan, there [are] enough disagreements and variety within the party to prevent any steam rolling.
Dan Valenti It’s a matter of interpretation, of course, but the numerical imbalance that skews the two-party system in the state as a whole and Pittsfield in particular has done We the People no small amount of harm.
Pete White Dan, we vote for the people we believe will get the job done for us. Republicans had a great chance back in I believe ’05 to elect a State Rep and they chose not to support that candidate. I have seen some decent Republicans run, but if the people’s views are not in line, then they won’t get elected.
Dan Valenti PETE Your statement would be true only if local elections garner 50% + 1 of the electorate’s vote. As it is, the apathy that you officials have engendered by your actions and inactions, your deeds and omissions, guarantees that the largest segment of m…See More
Pete White Dan, in theory both are interesting, however in the end they would broth equal having to pay for the same election with similar results to be repeated and refunded. I try to engage and encourage more people to vote. I would like to see instant run off voting and multi day elections along with same day registration.
Giovanni Lynch What about Oregon’s voting system, my cousin lives there and you are automatically enrolled to vote, you need to opt out not in. Then you’re able to just drop your ballot in the mailbox and they have people,at designated spots around bigger cities that will collect your ballot also. This gets people involved preemptively when they get a drivers license or state ID .
Dan Valenti Exactly. That’s the idea. Make it painful if the electorate doesn’t come out in 50+1, but that is easily solved. The “none of the above” option would vastly boost the vote to the required number. Multi-day elections would all-but-guarantee 50+1. So how do you feel about “none of the above?” Would you be willing to back it or no?
Pete White Dan, I would be fine with it as long as it’s non binding. Mainly to avoid paying for two elections.
Dan Valenti OK. Would you back a petition to put “None of the above” on all Pittsfield elections? “None of the above” would be binding. The 50+1, let’s separate that out for this discussion. If you would back such a petition, I would see that it gets proposed to the council.
Pete White Dan, I would not back a petition that makes it so no one wins and we have to pay for the election to be done again.
Dan Valenti PETE, I think you’re misunderstanding the question. Forget the 50+1. Just pretend I didn’t bring it up. My question is: Would you back a petition that would require a “None of the Above” choice for voters, included on the list of candidates? The result…See More
Pete White Dan, would the purpose be to undermine the person elected? I would be open to discussing it.
Dan Valenti Let’s discuss. No, my proposal would not undermine the winner. As it is now, the huge totals of people who don’t vote does exactly that in the manner that it registers (and likely increases) apathy. All the NOTA total would be is serve as clear indicat…See More
Pete White Dan, whether an elected official has a mandate or not, they should be doing what is best for their district. I would need to hear more and get more opinions. I like the concept, but I’m not sure about giving people a reason to not respect an official based on the candidates who run.
Dan Valenti You are correct. Mandate or not, elected officials SHOULD be doing what is best for the people, but as you know, I know, and my Aunt Edna’s pet poodle knows, they don’t. This is a statement of fact and not an opinion. The number who do not vote in local elections is the worst disrespect of candidates one can imagine. You say you “like the concept” and “need to hear more.” Other opinions are barely sufficient and certainly not necessary. You’re a smart man, a public official. If you like the concept, back it. If you can present a reasonable objection for not doing it, I would like to hear it. On the other hand, if you’re serious about this, let me know. I will work with you to get it done.
——– 000 ——–
At that point, Pete resigned. THE PLANET will not hold our breath for NOTA, though it would, unilaterally, give the electoral process a tremendous shot of Boost.
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“Don’t give me no hand me down life.” — The Guess Who
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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TFB would not be in office today were it not for Peter White. She won with a 38 percent plurality. 62% of the voters backed someone else. It was White who stuck his nose in at the last minute and sucked enough votes away from Ryan Scago to give her the win. Its a great system. I’m glad the Pete thinks it would be to expensive to elect someone with a majority vote. He’s always trying to save us $.
Really?
If memory serves, Scago came in third, White had around 35%, which was closer than anyone thought he would get at the time.
TFB won in the general against Miller and Mulumphy. If Pam didn’t run, Miller would have been the state rep.
States set different rules for primaries all the time. A requirement to win a general election with a majority could certainly be a law. It is expensive and there are frequent enough run-offs.
In partisan elections the eligible parties should only put forward a single candidate. This system of primaries and caucuses is arcane and wasteful.
As to having some “cast a vote but not choosing a candidate”, that option is already there…. people write in Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus all the time. It only encourages uninformed voters, not what we want at the poll.
Yes, Pete ran to suck votes from Scago. It was this campaign that cost Marchetti the corner office. That election was Marchetti’s to lose, but Ruberto used political capital to get Tricia past the primary – partially with convincing White to run. This left Marchetti and Bianchi to duke it out in a race that ended with a photo finish. Marchetti was so confident that he was going to win he promised appointments to people that worked on his campaign.
Tricia was the best candidate in that election and deserved to win. She’s dedicated and serves the central Berkshires well.
That kind of makes White a tool. And this type of political tool is not in the game to help the people but more to work for the special interests. He is a sell out much like the gang he hangs out with.
To add to your history Shakes; Tyer then runs against Bianchi, a 4 year Mayor with his side kicks Mazzeo & Bowler leading his charge. Bianchi then proceeds to get his ass kicked by over 2,000 votes. She wins every Ward and every Precinct.
I ‘d say thats a mandate !!!!!
Rumor has it Bloombergs is out going door to door with Thersa Bianchi…at lease he will have an excuse why he is beaten so badly.
Incumbents sometimes get lazy in elections. Then they lose. That’s what happened.
None of these elected officials are serving this area well. They do NOTHING to help the average person in this area financially. They pile on tax after tax, but the average person sees no benefit from all this taxation in his or her own life. Our elected officials are beholden to the school employees and that’s it. Every year at budget time they make sure school employees get their big salary increases, but they have done NOTHING for anyone else. Tricia Farley Bouvier has been all about the schools and was a big reason why we are getting a new Taconic and we didn’t get a vote on that issue. For that issue alone, she should not be re-elected.
Since when does the state representative operate the school district? Your conspiracy theories are absurd and petulant. Maybe you should go back to school and take civics. Your argument is as irrelevant as saying that Obama is responsible for the price of gas. If you think school employees are getting “rich” off the tax payers, you are out of touch. THS is falling apart, PHS is too obsolete to maintain, and Pittsfield cannot afford two high schools.
Absurd and petulant. What, you looking in the mirror again Shakes? Avj. teachers compensation in the Pitts: $80,000 a year (from state dept of ed website). THS falling apart only because city stopped repairs 10 years ago to create self-fulfilling prophecy, the kind you just fell for. What a suckah they played you for! As for PHS you know nothing about construction, which is my business. No building too obsolete. Next time at leat try having a few facts on your side.
If the cost of retrofitting a building exceeds the cost of replacing it over time, then the building is obsolete.
THS is falling apart because it NEVER received proper maintenance and honestly I don’t think it’s falling apart because it could have been repaired. Will the new school receive maintenance or will it too need to be replaced due to lack of care?
Shakes seems to have reduced her self to boot licker status
Back to name calling?
And to repair Taconic and retro fit the building is more of a burden to local taxpayers than the new THS. You can moan and complain, and maybe the SBNC did a piss poor job of explaining to you the necessity of this project, but it must happen sooner than later.
Also while the average Pittsfield teacher may make more than my full time public service position makes, I budget and work a second job to have the money to do what I want. You all need a good ration of home economics.
Not name calling just being realistically descriptive
Still waiting to hear from either local politicians or school committee people (still vacationing no doubt on the vineyard) about what is going on with the contaminants at the Taconic site. The children will be heading back to school in a few short weeks, did the test results come back on the identification of the materials found buried in the ground?
It would be so shocking if there was any kind of follow-up on this serious issue. We know from Dan’s previous blog that workers at the site were told to not talk to anyone especially Dan’s people or they would be fired from their jobs. What are they hiding?
Really?
Didn’t the Super tell the School Buildings Commission that is was construction debris? I thought the iberkshires article said no contaminants.
Dan’s sources say otherwise. I doubt they will readdress the issue based on Dan’s sources. They expect us to accept what they say. Even if they come out and say just construction debris for a second time, are you going to believe them?
Unless you go to the site and inspect yourself, you will always believe its PCB’s until Dan, and Dan alone tells you otherwise. Am I correct?
So if it is just “construction debris” why all the secrecy? Why such an effort to keep curious people as far away as possible?
Why are workers told to keep their mouths shut?
Really?
I don’t think there is any secrecy, but I don’t know one way or the other for sure. I base my statement on the iberkshires article and the Eagle story. There have been no other updates to the School Buildings Need Commission that I’m aware.
Does anyone have proof that the workers were told to keep their mouths shut? I have a feeling this is just unfounded rumor.
Is there an effort to keep people away? I’m not aware of such an effort.
REALLY
You can know, for sure, the one way the SBNC itself admitted in a one line they tried to slip in without notice in the Hill 78 of documents released on this project. There are PCBs there. There’s construction debris there (which can be as toxic as any industrial poisons). GE old timers talk of trucking barrels of unknown material out there for burying. As for workers keeping their mouths shut, see my response to GENE.
HEH HEH
The “secrecy” strongly indicates, if not proves, that there’s something dreadfully amiss at that site that The Suits don’t want you to know.
DV has several times cited the bonding documents themselves as listing the presence of PCBs in the soil. That wasn’t conjecture but data from the documents.
This tells me that they know there’s at least PCBs there. SBNC confirmed construction debris. DVs article from his sources indicates there’s other toxic material there.
I wonder if this was part of the reason the best member of the panel, Ozias Vincelette, resigned from the SBNC. Something’s not right with this entire build out.
GENE
You are correct. The admission of PCBs can be found in the bonding documents. Strange silence out at the site these days. This would tell me the stories about threats if anyone speaks have substance. I am letting things cool a bit, but The Secret Squadron will be going back in; they won’t even know it!
REALLY
My sources say otherwise, correct, but the SBNC itself has admitted to PCBs in the soil. That is a fact. The stuff is there.
Melissa Mazzeo was called out by a fellow progressive for daring to shop at Target. There is an article in iberkshires about Walmart and in the comment section a fellow progressive was calling Mazzeo a hypocrite for shopping at Target instead of giving her business to locally owned stores. We all know how progressives hate the big box stores. Anyone who shops anywhere but locally owned shops is a traitor to the “cause”.
We should all shop at the wonderful department stores located on North Street.
Melissa Mazzeo drives to the council meeting in a $80,000 Mercedes, walks into City Hall with a $30,000 ring on her finger, and sits there with her $10,000 boob job and has the nerve to tell people Walmart jobs are no good.
God you must really hate women and people that work hard for success. Sad and pitiful.
I kinda dig the $10,000 purchase
Who gives a flying flick what stores Maz likes? She makes meatballs for a living.
Really?
And drives a Benz. She is a spoiled brat.
I drive a Benz. Granted not an E Class, but a solid safe vehicle nonetheless.
You’ve been dropping all kinds of clues now I’m pretty sure who you are
Schooling Pete White in a debate is as impressive as beating Pete Marchetti in the 100 yard dash.
ANON
Inspired by your remark, I hereby challenge Mr. Marchetti to a 100-yeard dash. PETE M, are you up for it?
Let’s find a mutual time and place and it’s a race
“PETER”
Would do, if only your were actually PETER.
You have been caught.
It’s the real deal. You just sent me an email. Happy to be on the show as well
You’re on, PM!
FOLKS: Details to come.
Pick a day when they have two life flight helicopters available
Dan Valenti is making arguments he cannot lose.
“The Sun will rise in the east tomorrow.”
“Water is wet”
“Everyone likes sex.”
Isn’t it obvious that politics is corrupt and the process is just for show!
That includes Hillary Clinton’s rigged nomination.
That includes Pittsfield politics being a China-like one political party system with puppet political hacks!
Hillary for Prison 2016!
I do not believe it is fair to say “Hillary for Prison” because she has not been subject to due process of law! Everyone is entitled to a fair trial by jury before they are put behind bars. It is fair to say Hillary is both unethical and untrustworthy in politics. She should not have accepted the nomination because it was rigged by the DNC! BUT, everyone is flawed, including YOU! No one is perfect! Except Dan Valenti, of course.
I also believe that Donald Trump should release his tax returns!
JON
Due process for a serial liar?
Mad trapper, couldn’t agree more!
JON
It only seems like I always engage in arguments I cannot lose. Such is the fate of someone who knows how to win these things.
While we are on the subject of FAR left winged politics
Has everyone/anyone noticed the Berkshire Bird/Boring Broadsheet/Left Winged Parrot, has moved FARTHER LEFT under the new owners? I did not think that could be possible but it is a reality. I mean Mao Stalin Pol Pot would heap their praises
You are correct in your assessments of The “New” Boring Broadsheet. Under the new management, it has gotten worse. The ‘N’BB makes a great case study on the demise of daily newspaper journalism.
Fred Nutberg at your service
Yeah,they are Mad, but can you really believe Trump is all there? Clinton by default.
I’d vote for Satan before H-Beast. Did third party last few elections but will hold my nose and go with Trump to keep that witch out.
If the beast wins better be ready for SHTF and end of America
I’ve done the Third Party vote for years now. This time around it will be for Trump.
Pat progressive means what to you.
Progressively destroy the Constitution
Pete is as flexible as Gumby…
Yes, Gumby and Pokey caught in a cross wind
Which way would you like me to vote today sir?
genuflect and a bow to the special interests
Seems in Massachusetts it’s a distinct advantage to be a Democrat.
nyone catch the Banter on an open mike on the scanner, unbelievable.
What happend?
Now I know why the frantic calls to shut down the open mike.
Trump is losing 44 million to 33 million…its over Dan…..Trumps wall is around his taxes.He thought he could be in the show….ended up playing a couple games at single A ball got up 3 times and took 9 straight strikes…..hes been told he can stay in uniform the rest of the season.
This guy made fun of how Mitt ran his campaign.
Hilary for prison, Trump for President, and let’s give Tricia a pink slip! And I’m not talking underwear.
I hear she wears boxers
Just say it,Presdent Clinton….thanks Don Trump.
Clinton Cartel, and Hillary will be the most corrupt vile President of all time. Feel bad for the interns, if the liar gets in.
Tricia Farley Bouvier 1,430 – 37.8 %
Peter White 1,234 -32.6%
Ryan Scago 1,082 – 28.6%
all others 39 – 1%
total votes cast 3,785
I think the Planet gathered a few write in votes in that election
2011 State Representative Special General Election
3rd Berkshire District
T. Farley-Bouvier 1,940
M. Miller 1,748
P. Malumphy 1,325
M. Jester 899
TOTALS VOTES CAST 5,922