Rep. Tierney (D-MA) "knew everything" of family's illegal off shore betting site

[Former Moderate]

On the eve of his having to self-report to federal prison for the next three years, the brother-in-law of U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Salem) lashed out at the congressman, calling him a “liar” who threw “my sister under the bus for his career.”

...

“Tierney is the biggest liar in the world,” Eremian said. “He knew everything that was going on in my family for years. He sat with bookies at Fenway Park.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061142102&srvc=rss

Tierney is facing a pretty tough challenge from former State Sen. Tisei (R). This news certainly doesn't make his road any easier.

[krazen1211]

Of course for Mr. Tisei, if he wins, Massachusetts Democrats are inclined to use gerrymandering to remove him from that seat.

[Former Moderate]

Of course for Mr. Tisei, if he wins, Massachusetts Democrats are inclined to use gerrymandering to remove him from that seat.

For 2022.

[So the Heroes Fall]

I've seen polls that show as many as 80% of the population think online gambling should be legal. No one's going to care.

[Kevin]

I've seen polls that show as many as 80% of the population think online gambling should be legal. No one's going to care.

There is a much bigger issue of ethics here also.

Besides from what I garner Tierney sounds like true scum even for a politican.

[So the Heroes Fall]

The site in question was no different from InTrade. Would some politician being found to have family members who invested in InTrade even be a joke "scandal"?

This is like saying I should get upset or vote against some local lawmaker if they were found to be a marijuana dealer.

[asexual trans victimologist]

Tierney is generally an awful person to the extent and Tisei is inoffensive for a Republican to the extent that if I lived in the Essex County area I'd actually be inclined to vote for Tisei in this race, unless the projections for House seats were extremely, extremely close, in which case I'd abstain.

[Former Moderate]

The site in question was no different from InTrade. Would some politician being found to have family members who invested in InTrade even be a joke "scandal"?

This is like saying I should get upset or vote against some local lawmaker if they were found to be a marijuana dealer.

Of course you, BRTD, will never get it. But voters generally do not like when the persons who make the laws choose to violate them for their own personal financial gain.

Really, though, that's not even the part that makes Tierney look the worst. The part that makes him look terrible is when he threw his whole family under the bus. Perhaps, to use your own analogy, you would rather vote against some local, marijuana-dealing lawmaker who let his wife go to jail for drug trafficking because he claimed having absolutely no knowledge of any of her drug deals.

The idea that Tierney knew nothing about the money his wife made off the gambling operation is ridiculous. No one believes it. Tierney is a bad person, and his district is not Democratic enough for him to get away with it anymore.

[Senator Kalwejt]

The site in question was no different from InTrade. Would some politician being found to have family members who invested in InTrade even be a joke "scandal"?

This is like saying I should get upset or vote against some local lawmaker if they were found to be a marijuana dealer.

Of course you, BRTD, will never get it. But voters generally do not like when the persons who make the laws choose to violate them for their own personal financial gain.

Really, though, that's not even the part that makes Tierney look the worst. The part that makes him look terrible is when he threw his whole family under the bus. Perhaps, to use your own analogy, you would rather vote against some local, marijuana-dealing lawmaker who let his wife go to jail for drug trafficking because he claimed having absolutely no knowledge of any of her drug deals.

The idea that Tierney knew nothing about the money his wife made off the gambling operation is ridiculous. No one believes it. Tierney is a bad person, and his district is not Democratic enough for him to get away with it anymore.

Why are you wasting your keyboard trying to reason with BRTD, which is almost as useful, as trying to reason with a concrete wall?

[Former Moderate]

The site in question was no different from InTrade. Would some politician being found to have family members who invested in InTrade even be a joke "scandal"?

This is like saying I should get upset or vote against some local lawmaker if they were found to be a marijuana dealer.

Of course you, BRTD, will never get it. But voters generally do not like when the persons who make the laws choose to violate them for their own personal financial gain.

Really, though, that's not even the part that makes Tierney look the worst. The part that makes him look terrible is when he threw his whole family under the bus. Perhaps, to use your own analogy, you would rather vote against some local, marijuana-dealing lawmaker who let his wife go to jail for drug trafficking because he claimed having absolutely no knowledge of any of her drug deals.

The idea that Tierney knew nothing about the money his wife made off the gambling operation is ridiculous. No one believes it. Tierney is a bad person, and his district is not Democratic enough for him to get away with it anymore.

Why are you wasting your keyboard trying to reason with BRTD, which is almost as useful, as trying to reason with a concrete wall?

As I often do, I was talking over BRTD, not necessarily to him.

[Mr.Phips]

All Tierney needs to do to win in this D+7 district is to repeatedly say that Tisei would be a loyal foot soldier for the far right leadership(Cantor and Boehner) that is currently in charge of Congress.  Tisei will lose for the same reason that Torkildson lost in 1996 and 1998. 

This isnt like 1992 when voters here could vote out an incumbent like Mavroules(who was actually indicted three weeks before the election) knowing that it wouldnt give more power to the far right Republican leadership.

[krazen1211]

Another brother is calling Tierney a liar.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/29/second-john-tierney-brother-law-says-congressman-knew-gambling-tierney-calls-charge-bizarre/qH0HvJlHUgvugRBcPgMszK/story.html


It's getting good. It is a good thing for Tisei that Scott Brown will win this district in a landslide and Governor Romney can easily crack 45% here.

[Former Moderate]

All Tierney needs to do to win in this D+7 district is to repeatedly say that Tisei would be a loyal foot soldier for the far right leadership(Cantor and Boehner) that is currently in charge of Congress.  Tisei will lose for the same reason that Torkildson lost in 1996 and 1998. 

This isnt like 1992 when voters here could vote out an incumbent like Mavroules(who was actually indicted three weeks before the election) knowing that it wouldnt give more power to the far right Republican leadership.

The problem with your scenario is that Tisei is not an undefined quantity in this district. He's represented over a quarter of it for years in the state legislature, where he most certainly did not act as a loyal foot soldier of the GOP. He's an openly gay, pro-choice, liberal Republican. It's not a believable charge, and Tierney is not a believable enough to make that charge stick.

[Senator X]

Another brother is calling Tierney a liar.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/29/second-john-tierney-brother-law-says-congressman-knew-gambling-tierney-calls-charge-bizarre/qH0HvJlHUgvugRBcPgMszK/story.html


It's getting good. It is a good thing for Tisei that Scott Brown will win this district in a landslide and Governor Romney can easily crack 45% here.

If you think Romney will get 45% here, or in any Massachusetts congressional district, you are insane.

[Mr.Phips]

All Tierney needs to do to win in this D+7 district is to repeatedly say that Tisei would be a loyal foot soldier for the far right leadership(Cantor and Boehner) that is currently in charge of Congress.  Tisei will lose for the same reason that Torkildson lost in 1996 and 1998.  

This isnt like 1992 when voters here could vote out an incumbent like Mavroules(who was actually indicted three weeks before the election) knowing that it wouldnt give more power to the far right Republican leadership.

The problem with your scenario is that Tisei is not an undefined quantity in this district. He's represented over a quarter of it for years in the state legislature, where he most certainly did not act as a loyal foot soldier of the GOP. He's an openly gay, pro-choice, liberal Republican. It's not a believable charge, and Tierney is not a believable enough to make that charge stick.

As soon as he gets to Congress, Boehner and Cantor will have him doing whatever they want.   Also, the GOP leadership in Massachussetts had absolutely zero power with about 25% of the seats.  

Bobby Bright was a known quantity in his Alabama district and was the hugely popular and conservative  mayor of a city that made about about a fifth of the distirct.  In 2008, his flawed opponent attacked him as a rubber stamp for Pelosi and came within a 1000 votes of beating him because of it.  In an even slightly less toxic Republican environment, Bright would have lost.   

If Tisei is an actual "liberal Republican", he would support the healthcare bill and letting the Bush tax cuts expire.  Instead, hes talking about repealing healthcare. 

[bgwah]

Is it too late to get a new candidate? lol

[Holmes]

Oh great, the prospect of a gay Republican in Congress is simply thrilling.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

I wouldn't mind a moderate Republican holding this seat for two years in order to receive a real progressive replacement for Tierney.

[Invisible Obama]

As soon as he gets to Congress, Boehner and Cantor will have him doing whatever they want.   Also, the GOP leadership in Massachussetts had absolutely zero power with about 25% of the seats.  

Bobby Bright was a known quantity in his Alabama district and was the hugely popular and conservative  mayor of a city that made about about a fifth of the distirct.  In 2008, his flawed opponent attacked him as a rubber stamp for Pelosi and came within a 1000 votes of beating him because of it.  In an even slightly less toxic Republican environment, Bright would have lost.  

If Tisei is an actual "liberal Republican", he would support the healthcare bill and letting the Bush tax cuts expire.  Instead, hes talking about repealing healthcare.  

Partisanship can make the difference, if the DCCC opts to drop a few bucks in with ads showing Boehner and Cantor, it will resonate. D+7 is a bridge too far in what will be a polarized election at the top of the ticket.

[Mr.Phips]

Another brother is calling Tierney a liar.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/29/second-john-tierney-brother-law-says-congressman-knew-gambling-tierney-calls-charge-bizarre/qH0HvJlHUgvugRBcPgMszK/story.html


It's getting good. It is a good thing for Tisei that Scott Brown will win this district in a landslide and Governor Romney can easily crack 45% here.

If you think Romney will get 45% here, or in any Massachusetts congressional district, you are insane.

I could actually see it happening in the old MA-10, but not in any other district here. 

[Former Moderate]

Is it too late to get a new candidate? lol

Yes, actually. Deadline passed fairly recently, IIRC.

[Sibboleth]

This looks bad.

[Gravis Marketing]

I wouldn't mind a moderate Republican holding this seat for two years in order to receive a real progressive replacement for Tierney.

Yup. We're not going to win back Congress in 2012 so having Tisei there will be kind of neat and eventually he'll lose.

[BigSkyBob]

Another brother is calling Tierney a liar.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/29/second-john-tierney-brother-law-says-congressman-knew-gambling-tierney-calls-charge-bizarre/qH0HvJlHUgvugRBcPgMszK/story.html


It's getting good. It is a good thing for Tisei that Scott Brown will win this district in a landslide and Governor Romney can easily crack 45% here.

If you think Romney will get 45% here, or in any Massachusetts congressional district, you are insane.

Does the distinction between being "optimistic" and being "insane" elude you?

[krazen1211]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/07/10/marblehead-native-seth-moulton-former-marine-says-considering-run-against-rep-john-tierney/mgXA2EIcuNpnlBNUpCGhXI/story.html

Marblehead native Seth Moulton, a former Marine, says he is considering a run against Rep. John Tierney