GOOD BYE TO 2025 … HAPPY NEW YEAR, all and EVERYONE, FROM THE PLANET & THE SECRET SQUADRON
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, NEW YEAR’S EVE EDITION, 2025) — THE PLANET shall keep this one nice and tidy.
It’s the end of the year in three days, this coming Thursday, and we close out our scribbling until 2026. The next edition of THE PLANET shall be on Monday, Jan. 5 of the new year.
Allow us here at the Fortress and from the Secret Squadron to extend our best to all readers and poster for 2026. May your resolutions last longer than a day. We shall keep the Comment Line open.
Be good. Be careful. Be safe.
————————————————————-
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again” — Gautama Buddha.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
Copyright (c) 2025 By Dan Valenti, PLANET VALENTI and EUROPOLIS MANAGEMENT. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in the comment section or in the text other than those of PLANET VALENTI are not necessarily endorsed by the operators of this website. PLANET VALENTI assumes no responsibility for such views and opinions, and it reserves the right to remove or edit any comment, including but not limited to those that violate the website’s Rules of Conduct and its editorial policies. Those who leave comments own all the responsibilities that are or can be attached to those comments, be they rhetorical, semantic, or legal. Such commentators remain solely responsible for what they post and shall be and remain solely accountable for their words. PLANET VALENTI shall not be held responsible for the consequences that may result from any posted comment or outside opinion or commentary as provided in, but not limited to, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and this website’s terms of service. We serve as a marketplace of ideas, without prejudice and available to all. All users of this site — including readers, commentators, contributors, or anyone else — hereby agree to these conditions by virtue of this notice and their use of/participation in this site. When PLANET VALENTI ends with the words “The Usual Disclaimer,” that phrase shall be understood to refer to the full text of this disclaimer.
Happy New Year 2026 everyone.
The old one comes crashing down, the new one rises to great heights.
I found a post on X this morning that sums up the on-going Somali fraud in MN and a continuation of The Planet’s topic over the weekend of Shirley Edgerton’s racial grifting. And like clockwork, Chat GPT, I mean Vendetta Vale, chimed in and called me a racist because I dared question a black woman’s fraudulent use of MY (OUR) TAX MONEY.
For those that can’t open the link, I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version of it.
*I/we pay taxes
*democRATS create “programs” and place activists in charge of these programs. Think of ROPES or the Berkshire Black Economic Council).
*Money (kickbacks) flow back to democRATS leaders.
*democRATS raise taxes to create “new programs.”
*democRATS call you racist for complaining or questioning these “programs.”
https://outlook.office365.com/mail/inbox/id/AAQkAGE1NjQ5ZjA4LTc4N2ItNGRlYi04Y2M0LTM4ZGNkYTViYTZkNQAQAM18DXFZh6pLrF%2B4vuQXGtQ%3D
Markus, no — you weren’t called racist because you “questioned a program.” You were called racist because of how you framed it, who you targeted, and the lazy shortcut you took to get there. You are such a victim.
Let’s slow this down since bullet points seem to be your comfort zone.
• Paying taxes does not entitle you to invent motives, crimes, or “kickbacks” without evidence.
• Questioning public programs is legitimate. Assigning corruption based on race or identity is not.
• Oversight failures happen under every party, in every state, with every demographic involved. Fraud is not a skin-tone hobby.
• If you have proof of criminal conduct, the proper venue is auditors, inspectors general, or courts — not insinuation masquerading as analysis.
• Calling criticism “racism” isn’t automatic — but neither is declaring fraud because the people involved aren’t white men you recognize.
And let’s clear up one more thing:
Disagreement is not censorship. Pushback is not persecution. Being challenged is not being silenced.
If you want to have an adult conversation about transparency, procurement rules, grant oversight, or accountability mechanisms, I’m happy to do that all day.
If you want to cosplay as a taxpayer detective while recycling talk-radio tropes and acting stunned when people push back — that’s on you, not “democRATS,” not ChatGPT, and not me.
Accountability requires evidence.
Critique requires rigor.
And outrage, without homework, is just noise.
you sound hott are you into guys?
Hey cupcake, why don’t you go back the kwanza post Dan had and reread your reply to me.
In your reply you state, “Markus…not “analysis.” It’s a racial fantasy dressed up as a grievance.”
That’s not labeling me a racist, you kook?
And BTW, I can assure you, I’m a toxic-masculine guy. Myfantasies are about hot women, not racial issues. I leave that to you green-haired, angry, lesbians, to fantasize about. Maybe that’s why you GUYS are so angry.
*I also like how you try and deflect from “black on black violence,” by attempting to shame me for not having an “adult conversation.”
Right out of the Pocahontas Warren playbook. Accuse, shame, and then label, to try and deflect away from real problems.
Lieawatha describes Warren far better.
Pocahontas had some redeeming qualities, which Warren is totally bereft of.
Markus, announcing your masculinity every time you feel challenged doesn’t make you strong. It makes you transparently weak.
You keep insisting you’re a “toxic masculine guy” as if that’s some kind of credential. It’s not. It’s an admission. Strong men don’t need to preemptively declare dominance in comment sections. They don’t spiral into slurs the moment someone refuses to indulge their grievances.
What you’re actually doing is confusing volume with authority and aggression with intellect.
Here’s the pattern you keep repeating:
You make a claim without evidence.
You get challenged on substance.
You abandon the claim.
You reach for insults, sexuality, and stereotypes.
That’s not power. That’s panic.
You want to talk about fantasies? The only one on display here is the belief that swagger replaces homework. That calling people names somehow retroactively turns speculation into fact.
Real confidence doesn’t require racial shorthand.
Real arguments don’t collapse into tantrums.
And real accountability doesn’t depend on who you think should be quiet.
If this is what you consider strength, then no one is taking it from you. You’re giving it away, one comment at a time.
You’re not being silenced.
You’re being seen.
And you don’t like what that reflects. FEAR.
Any chance I could get some house dressing and croutons with that word salad? Wow, brevity is not your friend.
Sugar, I can promise you there’s absolutely zero fear in me and my posts on The Planet, or replying back to you. I’ve been on here posting a lot longer than you have. I promise you.
Seeing how you duck and dodge my other “racial” questions, I have a couple more for you.
If the Cultural Competency Coach position is so important to Bitchfield’s public education, why is there nobody currently in the position?
Why no postings for a job opening?
Or more importantly, where can I find ANY information about this position, the educational requirements, the curriculum, and/or salary, of the CCC?
Shirley was in the position for a few years. A paper trail
has to exist.
Go ahead and call me a “racist” and “shuck and jive” around my questions and all you do is just prove my point Chat….I mean VV.
Since we’re suddenly very concerned about taxpayer fraud, let’s apply the same standard evenly.
The Trump family isn’t accused on social media or YouTube. They have been in court.
A New York judge found Donald Trump and his company committed fraud by inflating asset values to banks and insurers to secure favorable loans. That was a court finding, not a rumor.
His adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were named defendants and held liable in that civil fraud case.
The Trump Organization pleaded guilty to criminal tax fraud in New York. Guilty, in court, on the record.
Donald Trump was ordered to pay millions for illegally using charity funds through the Trump Foundation, which was later dissolved under court supervision.
His longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg, went to prison for tax crimes tied directly to Trump’s business practices.
No viral videos.
No racial coding.
No anonymous sources.
Just judges, filings, verdicts, and penalties.
And before anyone shouts about appeals, penalties can change. Findings of fraud do not disappear just because they’re inconvenient.
So if the rule is that anyone touching public money deserves scrutiny, fine. I agree.
But you do not get to demand forensic accounting for immigrants and nonprofits while giving a free pass to a wealthy real estate family that repeatedly misled banks, insurers, and tax authorities.
Accountability does not belong to one party.
Fraud does not belong to one race.
Selective outrage is not fiscal responsibility.
Tell me more about TDS.
Courts consensus is that the damages associated with the allegation was worth $0.00.
Tax fraud in NYS? One word: Medicaid.
Sir Chaz, this is exactly the pattern you keep repeating.
You don’t rebut facts.
You don’t engage findings.
You don’t dispute records, rulings, or pleas.
You downgrade. You minimize. You deflect.
“Damages were zero” does not mean fraud did not occur. Courts don’t invent liability for sport. Findings of fraud are findings of fraud, regardless of how you personally feel about remedies.
“Weisselberg only served five months” is not an argument. It’s trivia. He went to prison because crimes were proven. Sentence length does not magically erase convictions.
Yelling “Medicaid” every time New York tax fraud comes up is not analysis. It’s a slogan. If you have a case, name it. Cite it. Explain it. Otherwise it’s just noise meant to sound informed.
And the TDS routine is the tell. When substance runs out, mockery steps in. You stop engaging the issue and start auditioning for applause.
None of you would last five minutes in a courtroom.
Judges don’t care about nicknames.
Juries don’t care about vibes.
And “everyone knows” gets laughed out of the room.
What survives in court is evidence, consistency, and discipline. Not minimization. Not posturing. Not internet bravado.
Courtrooms reward clarity.
They punish bluster.
Which is why so many of you are loud here — and nowhere else.
No point pursuing a ‘fraud’ where no one is defrauded. Unless there are professional or ideological motivations.
Your arguments are weak and verbose. You argue by assertion which is unacceptable in academia or anywhere else.
Let’s look:
““Damages were zero” does not mean fraud did not occur. Courts don’t invent liability for sport. Findings of fraud are findings of fraud, regardless of how you personally feel about remedies.”
““Weisselberg only served five months” is not an argument. It’s trivia. He went to prison because crimes were proven. Sentence length does not magically erase convictions.”
Wrong – you said he was jailed for charges related to tax fraud. You want me to believe he was charged with a terrible crime and suffered grievous consequences. That claim is misleading. He was charged and sentenced for perjury, not tax related behavior. You now repeat the illogic with “He went to prison because crimes were proven.” Only – not for the crime you allege. You continue to assert an unsupported point.
In the Trump case, it was agreed by appeals that there was no material fraud. All parties agreed on the facts and disclosures and there was no adversity. That appeals determination gives a reasonable suspicion that there was sport. Therefore, your assertion wants an argument.
“Yelling “Medicaid” every time New York tax fraud comes up is not analysis. It’s a slogan. If you have a case, name it. Cite it. Explain it. Otherwise it’s just noise meant to sound informed.”
The CMS abuse is a good example of a fraud worthy of the DA. The point is relevant. The DA must pursue that case with the vigor she chased DJT her entire term only to land a conviction worth $0. The consequence of CMS fraud is depletion of public funds, unnecessary procedures inflicted on victims, and the financial ruin of medical practices.
The Medicare/Medicaid fraud in NYS is enormous and highly destructive to the public good. It is also well reported so I do not need to give you a court case and what you would call ‘trivia.’ Note – you couch your assertions in suggestive phrases which appeal to the derogatory.
“And the TDS routine is the tell. When substance runs out, mockery steps in. You stop engaging the issue and start auditioning for applause.”
That is another ‘full stop’ moment for you. You say ‘full stop’ and steamroll on. In this case, you said, “tell me more about TDS” and I obliged. Don’t get pissed, it was your serve.
“None of you would last five minutes in a courtroom.”
Most court cases are resolved in about 5 minutes in far fewer words than you have shown the ability to use in a single post. I wouldn’t be hiring you – that’s the evidence that I don’t have confidence in your abilities.
But as for surviving, I freely can now say that you did not survive even 5 minutes when you served under the last DA. That job was a professional blunder, and I wish you well in recovering. Let’s leave the insults to better people.
Sir Chaz, have you unmasked ChatG…I mean Vendetta Vale, as our former disgraced city clownsler, Helen “Handgun” Moon?
For those who are unaware of Handgun’s antics, during the George Floyd riots, Handgun wanted to get in on the racial grift. She typed a social media post about getting arrested at gun point and tossed in a Boston city jail for driving while Asian.
I know, as you laugh at that last part.
The funnier part of the story, Handgun Moon is such a moron she didn’t realized every arrest has an incident number assigned to it.
When she was asked for the incident number or any information on this “arrest,” so it could be verified, (stop if you’ve heard this before) Helen went right to the “race card” and called people “racist” for daring to question a POC.
Again, Handgun was not intelligent enough to realize she was in the wrong category of POC.
Asians got lumped in with YT’s, didn’t they Handgun?
No. Someone else.
Doesn’t matter who she is: but casting insults breeds contempt.
I agree 100%
Also, “Yelling medicaid every time NY tax fraud comes up is not analysis”
__________
I should have restricted my response to that sentence. The longer one is like a smorgasbord – fattening and indulgent.
Your first fallacy happens with ‘Yelling’. There literally is no yelling – just a cool point. You use that word to imply rage and hysteria where there’s none.
Thus, you then state:
“‘…every time [NY tax fraud comes up]”
You imply repetition and harping. I mentioned it only once. Again, you use insulting words to imply that I am distracted. My example does not lose salience despite your attempt to disqualify it as harping. Systemic CMS fraud in NYS is DA material and provides context here. When a DA neglects one case in favor of a lesser one, people have reason to object. Is the DA engaging in sport perhaps?
“Is not analysis”
Another insult and unclear. Why would my example of CMS fraud be defined to ‘analysis’? It was not a presented as analysis, but it is a strong example of the DA not focusing on many years long fraud that impacts every New Yorker. So, you try to bury that point with an insult.
I note with some interest that Weiselberg went to prison for 5 months, not a huge term, not for tax fraud but for lying under oath during the witch hunts. It’s not a great example.
“Tell me more about TDS”
The ICD-10 CM Maintenance and Coordination Committee is currently reviewing TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). It is expected to join the F Group as a progressive mental disorder. It is caused by consumption of foreign objects.
Essentially, TDS is a substance abuse disorder.
Interesting ICD-10 theory. By that logic, your comments read like a mashup of F99, F22, and F29 — not a diagnosis, just the vibe.
It’s satire, not theory.
Gov Tampon Timmy Walz has a State job, in taxpayer oversight waiting for You.
Can you handle Minneapolis winters and wear hijab?
Trump rapes females.
Is that you Meathead, talking from the beyond the grave? TDS is some strong shit.
“TDS is some strong shit”. Did you create a sign at WhitCo using that?
The school committee molests collies
Only the Male puppies.
TSC lures the puppies in by wearing a pork chop necklace.
You rape loose dogs
Someone did mention that many here need a good fornication.
That is generally a mood enhancer w/ its of endorphins, for sure.
You make every Bitchfield Pubic Scohol skoler prowd with that statement TSC!
2026 and 3 more years of President Trump sounds DAMN good to me TSC, you?
The 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics will continue their “War against the underclass” residents in 2026 with their ongoing punitive proposal(s) to penalize poor people for being in need of housing, money, and government assistance.
https://www.wamc.org/news/2025-12-29/looking-back-at-2025-the-tortured-saga-of-pittsfields-proposed-camping-ban
The solution(s) is simple: Put a roof over people’s heads. Stop the endless community conflicts with the controversial proposals that are always voted down.
Pittsfield is facing severe financial constraints from significant cuts in state administered, federal aid funds. The 2-Pete’s should direct the city’s limited resources to important matters instead of “throwing the city into chaos”, which is a past statement from Mayor Peter Marchetti.
Why does the city talk about negotiations with THE PITTSFIELD SUNS? Who are they and who are the real owners? If it is The Goldklang Group why don’t they use that name? Is there a reason they are deliberately not being open about this? And are they chipping in on the 40 million dollar ballpark or are Pittsfield taxpayers footing the whole bill for a private organization?
Can we have some more open information please Peter White or Earl Persip? If you know more please share with your constituency. And if you don’t know perhaps you might look into it. Thank you.
Highlight: “the 40 million dollar ballpark.” (The Wahconah Park boondoggle).
Highlight: “are Pittsfield taxpayers footing the whole bill for a private organization?”
(Jon Melle’s) Tagline: “The 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics pounds people’s purses”!
Speaking of pounding your pud clipping off the bottoms of your pants pockets helped you win 2-Mass state championships in pocket pool in 1992 and 93. Did your cousin Mayor Pete take your championship trophies out of the PHS trophy case?
Do I get a lucrative PHS NDA, too?
I am a skilled Master Debater.
Maybe my relative Peter would issue a city proclamation in my honor.
Nuciforo could name one of his relaxation marijuana products after me.
Please don’t wrap it with a Voltron headgear piece. I like the feeling of fresh air.
One thing and one thing only for sure,your taxes and water rates and everything else is going up.
Tax payers in the very large cities get sucked into paying for super expensive sports stadiums for billionaire sports team owners but wondering if it is becoming common for small cities with extremely leveraged budgets and a senior citizen heavy population to also be corralled into it.
Cities have faced the financial burden of funding large sports stadiums, often through public funding. Here are some notable examples:
Kansas City, Missouri: Voters rejected a sales tax increase to fund a new downtown stadium for the MLB’s Royals in April 2024.
Las Vegas, Nevada: Public funding for a new ballpark for the Oakland A’s was approved in June 2023, with the stadium expected to be completed in 2028.
Washington, D.C.: The Commanders football team received $1.15 billion in taxpayer funds to move its stadium from Maryland to D.C.
These examples highlight the ongoing debate and challenges surrounding the funding of sports stadiums, with many cities facing the decision to either fund these projects themselves or rely on private financing with public strings attached.
Sports stadiums and taxpayer financing: A primer and research roundup
Dan, Happy New Year to you and yours, and thanks for the sounding board.
Any predictions for 26?
TELL
Thanks for the good wishes. Predictions? It will be revealed that the earth is flat and local government will be honest and transparent.
My prediction for 26 is spend, spend, spend….big Slush Funds, and business as usual.
That’s not a prediction. It’s already happened. Just wait for the city departments budget requests.
Wishing all a Healthy and Prosperous Happy New Year. Planet thank you for the time and effort you put into your site that allows us to speak up on the issues far and near that we have no other outlet to do so.
OPIE
Thanks for your readership and your active participation. Yes, it’s true. As humble as our readership is (even though it includes all the policymakers!), we see THE PLANET as a public service given the lack of open forums for public comment.
Dan, I would like to wish you and the rest of The Planet a happy and prosperous New Year’s.
As other have said, I appreciate you having The Planet and allowing our voices to be heard. The GOBSIG’s might not respond, but you know their reading what’s written.
2026!!
The fact that the 2-Pete’s (Lumpy & Voltron), as well as Earl (the Dumpster), and so on, in provincial Pittsfield politics refuses to speak with blogger Dan Valenti should be his Badge of Honor.
What would they say to him anyway?
Sarcasm:
We will spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on the Wahconah Park boondoggle, the Wastewater Plant project(s), while we excessively increase local taxes and fees for our Slush Funds that benefits the well-connected millionaires who back us political insiders in Pittsfield politics.
Peter Marchetti could tell him about Victoria May’s federal lawsuit that names the him, the now sitting Mayor, from his time as her bank manager years ago.
Pete White could tell him how he wanted to be the Town Manager in Adams, but they knew better than to hire a political hack to run their municipality.
Earl Persip could tell him how he recently drastically changed his opinions about the city’s Level 5 (failed), Group 11 (underclass) public schools after he was the top voted for elected official in Pittsfield politics in 2025. That would be a whole lot of votes for him if he runs for Mayor in 2027.
Kufflinks could tell him that his books are never cooked, and that if he wins Powerball, Mega Millions, and other big gambling jackpots, that he will pay off Pittsfield’s close to $1 billion in municipal debts plus unfunded liabilities, but if his fortunes stay small in the public sector, then he hopes that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the like, will all pay off Pittsfield’s excessive amount of red ink.
Jon Melle could tell him that I had better odds – terrible, downright horrible odds – of winning the state lottery jackpot many years ago than finding a job in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where North Street’s downtown is called Social Services Alley with its around 15 empty storefronts.
But I like to write about and post my nightmares about me once being in Pittsfield’s large underclass population, persecuted by millionaire Nuciforo and his devilish network from Pittsfield to Boston, and reading about the likes of Shoe-gum Sara, Jimmy “Rolodex”, Tricia Country Buffet, PAC Man Richie Neal, and so on, from my home in Southern New Hampshire, which borders Merrimack, NH, where the Trump administration may unfortunately put an ICE immigrants holding facility there, which would be the only one in all of New England.
Happy New Year 2026 to all.
“The Minnesota fraud scandal is the inevitable result of the Obama doctrine: Import a dependent class, dismantle the safeguards against corruption under the banner of equity, and brand anyone who notices as a bigot.” – Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obamas-trojan-horse-how-refugee-machine-engineered-billion-dollar-looting-us-treasury
The Somali-Minnesota Grand Larceny is the direct result of the hypocritical “ethics” of the DEI movement.
“When you make the government grow bigger – the people get poorer” Councilor Chris Connell
Corrupt politicians provide the haven for fraud and incompetence.
And when it does people should leave.
January 01, 2026
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
I agree with old-wealth, millionaire Sherwood’s political letter that affordable housing in Pittsfield (Mass.) is praise-worthy.
While he is a wealthy, Ivy League educated former Massachusetts State Representative who is a Big Wheel in the Democratic Party, Sherwood Guernsey II is an advocate for the common people in distressed small cities such as Pittsfield where he practiced his law career.
But then there is the “Sin of Omission” at play here with the 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics. In 2025, they proposed and supported controversial, cruel, punitive, structurally racist, anti-underclass proposals against panhandlers and the homeless. The 2-Pete’s encampment ban proposal will be publicly debated again at the end of next month.
Pittsfield is engaging in an insidious “War against the underclass” residents who are most in need of government assistance, charity, compassion, and socioeconomic justice. It should have been denounced in 2025, but instead, it lives on in 2026.
Sherwood’s statement that the moral compass is intact locally is a farce if I ever witnessed one whereby the state and local political clowns are always spending tens of millions of additional taxpayer dollars in Pittsfield politics for their Slush Funds that benefit millionaires who are similar to the author’s class and status.
Sherwood went onto write that the federal government has lost its way, which is true given the Swamp’s deep cuts in funding for Medicaid, healthcare insurance subsidies, SNAP, public education, and homelessness.
Instead of all of the above social and political problems, the answer is clear. Please put a roof over people’s heads.
The “Big 3” lifelines for the middle-class are: Healthcare, Housing, and Public Education. If politicians fail to deliver, then we should vote them out of elected office.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
Letter: “Praise for Pittsfield’s affordable housing push”
The Berkshire Eagle, December 31, 2025
To the editor: I am proud of the city of Pittsfield for its clear commitment to improve affordable housing opportunities in the city.
With The First housing resource center, along with other affordable housing projects, the city shows the kind of leadership necessary to solve real problems for real people. (“Pittsfield welcomes 37 new studio apartments and a housing resource center,” Eagle, Dec. 15.) Safe, clean, affordable housing is the basis for all else in life.
Kudos go to all of our elected leaders in Pittsfield; our legislators; the state agencies; and to Hearthway, its president, Eileen Peltier, and her staff. It surely takes a team to bring about such success.
The moral compass is intact locally, even if the federal government has lost its way.
Sherwood Guernsey, Williamstown
The writer is a former state legislator.
As you have. Smart move.
January 01, 2026
Rinaldo’s letter compares a man, who along with his wife, was allegedly murdered by his drug-addicted, psychotic adult son to the passing of the “Divide and Conquer” Cultural Conflict radio icon Rush Limbaugh, who was a big moral hypocrite given all of the scandals in his personal life of politics, power, and wealth.
I, myself, am no longer able to send my political emails to Rinaldo because I have criticized his political writings and activism. And for good reasons. He associated himself with hate groups, has stood for anti-women, pro-men causes and forums, and seems to defend Donald Trump’s far right MAGA politics, while one-sidely blaming Democrats for the diminishing working-class economic- and middle-class family structures over the past over 50 years in the U.S.A.
I believe that short of extremists such as Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, we should not be always fighting Cultural Conflicts in Politics. I wonder if Rinaldo is an extremist, but I do know that his letters are about right-wing cultural conflicts that serve to divide us for the elites to conquer us common people in big government and big business.
To illustrate, I read a news headline today that Massachusetts is banking on a new $30 state lottery ticket to boost its diminishing lottery sales. I wondered if most people understand that it is really a scheme for the state to expand regressive taxation, which greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley will use it to obtain additional lucrative state tax breaks for Boston area big businesses.
I believe that we should be focused on calling out the financial, corporate and ruling elites’ political games, all of the greedy lobbyists in Boston who make up to 7-figures earnings per year, and all of the money in the system that never seems to make it down to the common people that the government is supposed to be representing instead of exploiting.
Just as Rinaldo stated that it is his opinion that President Donald Trump should have opted for silence, I believe the same thing when it comes to Rinaldo.
Jon Melle
Letter: “Speaking ill of the dead: Where ethics, Limbaugh, Reiner and Trump collide”
The Berkshire Eagle, December 31, 2025
To the editor: There is a saying that when people die, we write the bad things about them in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase them away, but we engrave the good things in stone to last forever.
We instruct to not speak ill of the dead. But these are no axiomatic truths: they have exceptions. Most people believe it is OK to speak ill of the dead if they are evil. Once we agree that saying “don’t speak ill of the dead” has logical or moral exceptions, the interesting ethics inquiry is where that line is.
Enter the paradox of Rob Reiner. After Rush Limbaugh’s death in February 2021, Rob Reiner did not offer condolences. Instead, he posted comments on social media criticizing Limbaugh’s legacy, calling him a “liar” and a “purveyor of disinformation.” Reiner was particularly cruel. After Limbaugh announced his advanced lung cancer diagnosis in 2020 and later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Reiner had publicly stated, “Only one thing to say about Rush Limbaugh getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom at The State of the Union: I loathe this [expletive deleted] man.”
Which brings me to the Truth Social post of President Trump regarding Reiner: Is it wrong to speak ill of the dead when the deceased themselves spoke ill of the dead? I believe it usually is, the theory being that two wrongs don’t make a right — but this too is not a universal rule. In fact, technically, I am breaking the rule in this very letter out of necessity.
In a short letter, I cannot at length quote President Trump’s Truth Social post about Reiner. The YouTube video “Trump’s Meanest Social Media Post” by “Don’t Walk, Run! Productions” shows Trump’s post, while also showing a powerful montage of Rob Reiner’s numerous rantings.
Still, it is my opinion that the president should have opted for silence.
Rinaldo Del Gallo III, Pittsfield
I did not understand his point. We should praise the dead, denigrate the living? The dead don’t care and matter less than the living.
How about being fair and decent and not engaging assassination porn.
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. ” Act III – Julius Caesar – Shakespeare
Dan can you see if you can get a transcript of the “negotiations” between Marchetti and “The Pittsfield Suns”, and make it available to your readers? What are they negotiating? You have a rotating bunch of college kids playing a couple dozen baseball games in any given year and for that they need a $40 million dollar stadium which the already overburdened taxpayers are going to have to pay for or lose their homes? Does this make any sense? Are the rotating college kids going to be paid like big league ball players?
See if you can get the lawyers names for the “Pittsfield Suns” negotiating team and every little thing they are demanding from the Pittsfield taxpayers. Ideally these negotiations would be televised on Bill Sturgeons new TV show and ironed out for the actual people who will be paying for it. Is Marchetti so owned that he is not allowed to publicly comment on this? Are the taxpayers in Pittsfield entitled to ANY actual information regarding who is actually involved and how much the cost has already ballooned to since the price of lumber, steel, aluminum and almost everything else has skyrocketed? Is this Marchettis ballroom equivalent?
Who is the go-to person in Pittsfield who can answer these questions if there is such a person?
January 03, 2026
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
I am sure that many of the readers here understand that the 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics is run by political CLOWNS who always spend tens of millions of additional tax dollars per fiscal year more than peer cities such as Westfield, while municipal services in Pittsfield continually diminish and Pittsfield’s public schools are always rated Level 5 (failed) because the aforementioned excessive city spending allows the state and local elected officials – CLOWNS – to amass their SLUSH FUNDS that they use to spend on the special interests – mainly millionaires who back Pittsfield’s political CLOWNS in a one political (Democratic) Party state (Massachusetts) that only benefits the elites, political insiders, and the wealthy.
Mayor Peter Marchetti is nothing more than a political CLOWN. He has NOT changed one thing for the better in Pittsfield. His punitive proposals against the small city’s excessively large underclass population is an insidious structural conflict and never-ending controversy that should have been denounced in 2025, but still lives on in 2026. The Wahconah Park boondoggle will cost tens of millions of dollars that will add to the bloated balance sheets at City Hall. The Wastewater project(s) will cost tens of millions of dollars, too.
Pittsfield’s residential taxpayers are predominately older people who own homes, and pay city taxes and fees on a fixed income. Pittsfield’s commercial tax rate is among the highest in Massachusetts. Any rational elected official would be aware and sensitive to these facts, but the 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics is run by political CLOWNS so the CIRCUS show will continue on into the new year.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
“Ballroom equivalent?” That would mean that Marchetti got private donations to pay for it.
Probably more like Obama’s basketball court, in the wing of the White House, paid for by taxpayers.
S-R-US
I agree that the Suns, a short-season collection of college ballplayers, is a poor occupant for an “investment” like this. An MLB-affiliated pro team? Now that’s a different story. The secrecy of the agreement’s details are typical of this Administration.
MLB minor league system requires a lot of amenities in its Ballparks. It would cost over 100 million dollars to meet them all. A example is Tri-City Valley Cats, newish modern park, not up to their standards. Now they have a non-affiliated team. Pittsfield should not build anything on the Wahconah site, it is a swamp.
JOE
I agree. The MBL requirements are way beyond what Pittsfield can do.
Since Mayor Lumpy won’t share any information pertaining to the negotiations he has been having with the Suns, wonder if he could at least explain the hold up on the promised ice rink on Wahconah Street? Surrounding towns have had their rinks open for weeks, saw many enjoying them last week, during school vacation. I drive by the Pittsfield location daily, a few times I have seen two or three City workers just standing or sitting staring at the ground. What’s the problem? Do they have to hire an engineering firm to draft a building plan? Do they need a consultant to learn how to spread water? Is there any oversight of this so-called project? Why does the Administration, especially the Public Works department never finish a project? Of course there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at the rink with the two Pete’s, the picture will include tulips and daffodils growing in the background. Look at the mess at Pontoosuc Lake, forgot to create a place for folks to fish. Only in the City of Palookaville would this happen. What are you doing Mayor Lumpy, but don’t forget to give yourself another raise this year.
Thanks, M&B. Palookaville. That was the term the late, great Peter Arlos used for what today is known as Bitchfield. The city itself was and could be again a wondrous place. It’s rotten politics that make it what it is. Good point about skating. The way Lumpy and his cohorts run things, they’ll be there spraying water at Wahconah Park the day before Memorial Day, to get the rink ready for The Season. Of course, they’ll be puzzled when the water doesn’t freeze.
So that’s where I got the word, lol, I grew up in the same neighborhood as Pete, spent many days at his house playing cards with his kids. Weren’t those the good ole days!!!
They sure were. I used to visit Pete once a week at his office in the basement at the courthouse. Our chats were the best!
“DON’T MASS UP New Hampshire.”
NH passes Sanctuary City ban.
“Today, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 62 to ban sanctuary cities and support cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.” -TGP
January 03, 2026
NH Republican Kelly Ayotte’s 2024 campaign tagline was called “A Cringe Campaign” that targeted Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey to associate her with the Democratic Party candidate for New Hampshire Governor Joyce Craig.
Kelly Ayotte outspent Joyce Craig by a 9-to-1 ratio in 2024 for her to buy the Governor’s Office. She is backed by millionaires and big corporations. She reversed her 2016 position on Donald Trump 8 years later to endorse Trump for U.S. President in 2024.
In summary, Kelly Ayotte ran a CRINGE campaign, endorsed Trump in 2024 after she previously denounced his CRINGE comments 8 years prior, and spends BIG money to win elected office.
Lastly, let us NOT forget, please, that then U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte was the only U.S. Senator in the entire Northeastern region of the U.S.A. to vote against gun control reform legislation after the late-2012 mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. To this day in early-2026 – over 13 years later – the U.S. Congress has NOT passed gun control reform legislation thanks to the likes of Kelly Ayotte.
JON MELLE
JM, explain to me like I’m a 5th grader what your idea of “gun control” is.
Not a democRAT or propaganda MSM talking point, but your opinion of what “gun control,” is.
My next question would be when you ban “assault weapons,” who do you enforce this ban on first.
Law abiding citizens?
Or gang members, criminals, and drug dealers? This will make you enforce this law in the inner cities. You know, where a majority of POC live.
You made valid points. But something has to be done to STOP mass shootings of children at schools. Nothing has been done. Why?
Mental institutions – mandatory for those too dangerous to own firearms and walk freely amongst us. And too dangerous to walk free probably shouldn’t.
That’s gun control 101.
By the way – congratulations to you for your wise choice to opt to NH. A conservative state and voted to abolish auto inspections because they are burdensome to average drivers and do not protect the roads and drivers.
Melle, infringing on lawful Americans 2nd amendment rights, is was you Leftists call “gun control”.
Your honey, D- Healey, has squandered 1 Billion dollars importing and financing CRIMINAL ALIENS.
Subsequently mASSachsetts citizens in need, have had their benefits slashed.
January 04, 2026
I only see Governor Maura Healey as a professional. I support Gun Control Reform legislation (unlike Kelly Ayotte). I disagree that the Healey administration favored illegal immigrants in Massachusetts. I disagree that Citizens and Veterans had their benefits slashed (that is what is happening right now in early-2026 at the federal level with Medicaid, SNAP, public education, homelessness, and so on).
Maura Healey is NOT my honey (I have never met her personally, but I watch her on my TV and listen to her on my radio almost everyday). I like to let the sitting Governor of Massachusetts know that she has my full support in politics, as well as when I concur with her policies, and I write my dissenting views to her to let her know why I disagree with her decisions.
Jonathan A. Melle
Then you should resettle in the Commonwealth and pay tribute to her.
Get ready for Monday, January 05th, 2026, at 10:00 am,,,,
https://www.iberkshires.com/story/81268/Pittsfield-Inauguration-Includes-State-of-the-City-Address.html
What will Mayor Peter Marchetti say in his annual speech about the State of the City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts?
Will Pete White be re-elected as the President of the City Council with Earl Persip as his second in command of the 11 person board who will vote for more record-setting municipal spending plans?
Will the mostly new School Committee change anything for the better in the city’s Level 5 (failed), Group 11 (underclass) public schools?
Blogger Dan Valenti was told by the 2-Pete’s and Earl Persip that they refuse to speak with him about Pittsfield politics. But what will they say to the people of Pittsfield?