MONEY CAN’T BUY ME LOVE
Somebody should tell Springfield’s Mayor Domenic Sarno the meaning of that old 1964 song, attributed to the Beatles’ Paul McCartney, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” Sarno has been passing money around like a drunken sailor on shore leave at the local bar. Of course, the difference is that the sailor is having fun tossing around his own money and expecting nothing in return except for a bit of instant pleasure with no expectation of long-term gain. The money Sarno is passing around is the people’s money and people know that he is using their own money as a method of political control and most resent it. Sarno thinks the money will buy him votes. My bet is that he is mistaken.

THEY ARE LAWLESS AND COMPLICIT!
Mayoral candidate and City Councilor Justin Hurst was certainly right in calling out Police Chief Cheryl Clapprood for violating the city’s residency ordinance by living outside of Springfield. And he discovered the deception by analyzing Mayor Domenic Sarno’s campaign fundraising records in which he received a $250 donation from Clapprood in a check with her Wilbraham address written on it. The mayor, who rants and raves about crime committed by others, is complicit with his own, personally selected, top law enforcement officer in regularly breaking the law. What a terrible example.

MONEY WON’T BE THE DECIDING FACTOR
Character, not money, will be the decisive factor in Springfield’s mayoral race. It would be naïve to think that money is not necessary but money will not decide the outcome.

IT’S MORE THAN OUTRAGEOUS
The video showed the White cop in Grand Rapids, Michigan straddling his Black victim, who was face down in the seat of his car beneath him, and shooting him in the back of the head after a struggle over the cop’s taser. The Black victim died and the White cop was fired and charged with second-degree murder. A judge in Michigan refused a defense motion to dismiss the charges against the White cop whose attorney argued he shot the unarmed Black man, who was prostrated in his front car seat in the back of the head, in self-defense.

IT’S MORE THAN OUTRAGEOUS
“Steel yourself first, but try to watch a video of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, being punched and kicked to death by (5 Black) Memphis police officers. See how vicious the blows are, delivered with grown men’s weight behind them. Be shocked at the way some officers hold Nichols upright or pin him to the ground so that others can take their turn, pummeling him with fists and boots and batons. Note the utter lack of concern from those hard men in blue, sworn public servants, as it takes 22 minutes for an ambulance to arrive…Now, try hard to imagine the same thing happening to a young unarmed white man, pulled over in a traffic stop for “reckless driving” in his own neighborhood. I cannot.” (Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post as reprinted in The Republican, January 31, 2023)

ITS MORE THAN OUTRAGEOUS
“Too many officers of all races and ethnicities, imbued with a culture of us vs. them, do not see a Black man who has a broken taillight or makes an illegal U-turn as a citizen who made a mistake. They see him as a threat to police dominance and control – and therefore as someone who must be subdued, humiliated, cowed, put in his place.” (Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post as reprinted in The Republican, January 31, 2023)

WE DON’T BELIEVE THAT FOR A MINUTE
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts claimed that “he and his colleagues voluntarily comply with the same standards that govern other judges, including recusal from cases in which they or close family members might have a financial interest.” We just don’t believe you John Roberts.

WE JUST DON’T BELIEVE YOU FOR A MINUTE
“Roberts and other justices have said in the past that they cannot be bound by all of the rules that apply to lower court judges because of the unique role the Constitution assigns the Supreme Court as the ultimate decision-maker in the nation’s judiciary.” We just don’t believe you John Roberts.

ON SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE KEVIN MCCARTHY
“If you cede the power of the job to get the job, the job has no point. The job itself is diminished.” (Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal, January 7-8 2003)

SPORTS BETTING
The expansion of legal sports betting is a train wreck waiting to happen.

“CALIFORNIA’S MARIJUANA PARADISE LOST”
The above headline in the Wall Street Journal (February 8, 2023) was followed by an article introduced as follows: “Marijuana advocates told us that legalizing the drug would curb the black market. We’re still waiting. The opposite has happened in California, where a glut of illegal weed is undercutting legal purveyors. Now progressives are proposing an interstate compact to export their pot and rescue the industry.” What else did we expect to happen when legalization strategies enriched the already rich and excluded the poor who filled our jails for selling cheap pot.
“At the same time,” the article continues, “California has struggled to enforce its pot laws. One reason is that the 2016 ballot measure reduced penalties for most pot offenses because of their alleged disparate impact on minorities. Illegal pot plantations have mushroomed.” So, what did they expect!

ON RETIREMENT OF THE GOAT: A REMINDER TO MY SON
“To perform at the highest levels takes a single-minded focus. It often means spending long hours training, away from your family. It robs you of time with your kids that you’ll never get back….When we make such sacrifices for our jobs, perversely it can also lead us to become even more committed to them….When someone is as talented as…(Tom) Brady, using that talent to the utmost can almost seem like an obligation. But to expect that of anyone, even of ourselves, if we’re lucky enough to be even modestly talented, is to essentially be hijacked by our own talent. The talent is in the driver’s seat and we’re just coming along for the ride.” (Bloomberg opinion writer Sarah Green Carmichael reprinted in The Springfield Republican, February 3, 2023)

THE NFL IS HEADING FOR COACHING TROUBLE
First Black folks were not allowed to play in the NFL at all. Then they were allowed to carry the heavy load but were considered too unintelligent to be quarterbacks. With the quarterback myth finally disproven manyfold, now Black folks are struggling for equity as NFL coaches in a league that is predominantly Black. The NFL better get it right before Black audiences start to rebel.

BISHOP TALBERT SWAN I PASSED
Bishop Talbert Swan I passed recently. He will be remembered as much as he will be missed. He was a quiet giant for many decades in the leadership of the Springfield Black community and in the City of Springfield as a whole. He was a soft-spoken mentor for most of us hot-headed youngsters back in the day and, most of all, he was the stalwart leader of one of Black Springfield’s most prominent families.

“RAM” PASSED
John William Thomas, aka “Ram,” passed recently. I have great memories of him from decades back when I first entered politics fresh out of college and ran for mayor of Springfield in 1969. Ram had been a friend of our family for some time and when he heard I was involved in politics, he made it a point to commit to help. And he did. At every event we held for years, Ram played a part. I hadn’t seen him for years when I recently encountered a man in the Boston Road Stop and Shop. He looked familiar and I could tell by the look of recognition on his face that I looked familiar to him. But before either of us could put two and two together and speak, he was out of the store while I was still checking out. I walked out of the store as he was entering his car still puzzled. As he pulled out, I glanced at his rear license plate that had the three letters RAM. I will forever regret missing the opportunity to reunite with a good friend and a very good man. May Ram rest in peace. ■