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Globe metro columnists have played sports columnists for years, so turnabout is fair play

Bob Ryan explains why Whitey has more personal honor than Billy.

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I don't see his byline anywhere on that page. I see Gary Dzen's byline. Maybe he's a guest on Ryan's blog?

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That "And Another Thing ..." page is (according to the right side of the page) "Opinions, observations and anecdotes from Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan."

I don't think that's Gary Dzen's byline. I think when it says "posted by Gary Dzen" it actually means he posted Ryan's blurb.

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I saw that part too, it's kind of unclear who wrote it but maybe you're right. The comments on the Globe's page are all directed at Ryan.

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Adam it looks like this was written by Gary Dzen but posted on Bob Ryan's blog.

Regardless though, it's an absurd article and while I don't know enough about either brother to really comment, I'm going to have to say that I disagree with his argument.

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It's written by Bob. He e-mails in his blog entries and producer like Gary post them for the website.

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Ok, good to know - thanks.

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Both brothers are crooks. One is serial killer while the other is getting $300K annually on a tax funded pension.

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"Both brothers are crooks."

And yet one is "hiding" in plain sight in Boston since he retired. I don't think the FBI agrees with you. What crime did he commit?

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Hopefully they will find Billy's info on the cell phones that the FBI took pff of whitey. That will show he has had contact with the serial killer/pedofile brother of his.

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Good God. At best, this deserves the Hyberbole of the Year Award. Given we're talking about a professional murderer, I don't think we can be so generous as to allow an 'at best' assumption. Whitey Bulger has honor? Can I get a little Barnicle?

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Gee, yeah, he's not saying a word about "Jimmy" is he? I wonder why?

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But . . . there are no such thing as "professional" murderers. Just murderers. Killing people isn't an art or craft like in stupid assassin glorifying movies or video games. Any soulless dimwit can kill someone and a team of soulless dimwits can kill anyone.

Assassins are not hip anti heroes with codes of honor. They are among the lowest of villains- no matter their attire or title or pretense of motive- and so is anyone who employs them.

And as for honor? Yeah- There is none among thieves and negative amounts among assassins.

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Any dimwit who kills someone without getting paid is an amateur. Whitey got paid to kill people. He was a professional. It's just the definition of the words.

He was also good at what he did. He didn't get caught killing people. He even had the Feds paying him for information on his enemies while he continued to get paid for killing other of his enemies. He isn't just some soulless dimwit. I have no idea if Whitey saw it as an "art or craft" or just "business", but he is definitely a professional murderer. There may not be "honor" but there's definitely respect amongst criminals otherwise they'd never be able to organize.

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Right?

Oh. Nevermind.

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...that they're both bad. But how, when comparing the two, can you say that Billy is worse? Makes no sense.

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I see the argument being one that is philosophical. If the ex-Senator actually practiced a "lifelong public indifference toward his evil brother's life of crime" then the non-criminal brother is choosing to imply that his criminal brother has impunity where crime is concerned.

I read another article that suggests that Billy Bulger shows honor via his loyalty to his brother. The idea is that Billy had to be publicly indifferent; otherwise he would show betrayal toward his brother.

What should a person do if their brother or other close relative is as close to evil as anyone can be? Does a close family connection absolve a person from moral responsibility to help arrest the criminal brother (especially when the crimes are murder)? Or is there a morality that requires a family member to turn a blind eye to their family member's evil acts?

But this also presumes that Billy Bulger knew nothing of his brother's whereabouts for the past 16 years. While it is hard to believe that a famous and prominent person such as William Bulger would be utterly ignorant of his brother's life for the past 16 years he is still innocent until proven guilty.

However, by the time that the tornado that is Whitey Bulger has finally and fully dissipated I am sure that a lot of people will be convicted at least in the court of public opinion if not in a court of law.

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