Victim's son: "He's a scumbag"
Alleged thug's brother swarmed by reporters. Photo by Ryan Boyle. More photos.
Tommy Donahue, whose father Michael was one of the 19 people Whitey Bulger is charged with murdering, talked to reporters after the court appearance yesterday:
Don't be fooled by this old man. ... He's a scumbag ... I hope he gets the chair.
Read the 1995 indictment against Bulger and his cronies for racketeering (1.6M PDF file). Somebody let Maria Stephanos at Channel 25 know; she tweets this morning:
I consumed a steady diet of Whitey all week and I'm still not full. What's wrong with me! #newsjunkie
Globe: Back in the town he terrorized. Herald: Whitey Bulger’s lawyer tab is in Billy’s court.
FBI can't imagine why people are so quick to believe it didn't want to catch Bulger. Marky Mark thinks there's another movie in the Bulger story.
Peter Gelzinis writes the guy's still a murdering thug. Howie Carr doesn't want to pay for Bulger's lawyer. Joe Fitzgerald sternly warns black youth: Whitey's no role model.
Kevin Cullen says guy's no Alzheimer's patient. James Carroll considers the last act in an Irish tragedy. Adrian Walker says nothing new.
More coverage: WBUR. Channel 4. Channel 5. Channel 7. Channel 25.
Photo copyright Ryan Boyle. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr. More photos.
Comments
Why does Uhub refer to black
Why does Uhub refer to black gang members as "gangbangers" but white ones as gangsters or thugs, more reverential terms used in gangster movies that glorify white gangbangers like the mafia? Im not surprised that the Herald would take the Whitey story and use it to tell their readers that blacks are the only criminals (Joe Fitzgerald), or at least the only gangsters. But why does Uhub play into this?
Really, "thug" is more dignified than "gangbanger" now?
In any case, I don't tend to use gangbanger as much as I used to.
Thugs on Universal Hub; you'll note I use the term for both blacks and whites.
It might be overly semantic,
It might be overly semantic, but I feel like gangbanger has violent, connotations of 'others', whereas thug is a more general lawbreaker. I've just never heard the Herald or Uhub, which are the only places outside of fox news Ive heard the term gangbanger, use gangbanger for a white criminal, just minorities. The whole Whitey thing is this idea here that white gangsters (or white terrorists like the IRA) are somehow different and not as bad as black/latino ones.
This is true. Look at the
This is true. Look at the difference in treatment when some academic or public figure expresses sympathy for a group like Fatah but no one bats an eye at the support which someone like NY Rep Peter King gave to the IRA. Somehow when terrorist scumbags are white Christians we tend to treat it as more acceptable than if they're non-white and/or non-Christian. I also agree that there does seem to be a difference in terminology between "thug" or "gangster" and "gangbanger" and that while none are complimentary, the latter is generally used in a racialized way which implies that black or Hispanic criminality is somehow different, and quite possibly worse than white criminality.
can I just say that I'm
can I just say that I'm whitey'd out?
Yes its important this guy was found, but sheesh not much is new since he was arrested. But does the news need to spend the entire newscast on Whitey? talk about glorifying someone. I mean I am SURE there were other newsworthy items that went on in Metro Boston, yet this old story seems to take the cake daily. Is this what we have to look forward in months to come?
I really will have to stop watching local news if this non stop coverage continues. If this is any indication of how the the trial will be, I will be forced to stop watching and just keep up with it via the internet because its just overdone.
Local News seems to overdue coverage on any significant event, even when someone dies (i.e. Ted Kennedy). Its like they are saying "yup he's dead. In 5 minutes he'll still be dead" Sheesh.
I agree about overkill
Overkill in general on the local news is beyond belief. No sooner does local news finally finish with the massive Bruins overkill (face it, it was simply too much), they lurch right into the Bulger overkill. This is an ongoing problem. Recall they even had wall to wall coverage of the death of the philanthropic but relatively unnewsworthy Eunice Kennedy Shriver, complete funeral and all. Despite the fact that Bulger was on the FBI Most Wanted list, he was not a particularly well known national figure. I had friends from New York and Maine contact me in the past few days, asking who he is.
It is humorous to watch local newscasters struggle to keep going when there is nothing new to say. I even heard WCVB's Pam Cross, in vigil outside the Moakley Courthouse, refer to Bulger as being from "the city of South Boston".
Ch. 4 reporter said Billy Bulger should have had a car waiting
Much like Obama without the teleprompter, the local TV news reporters didn't exactly cover themselves in glory with the live coverage outside the Moakley courthouse. I hardly ever watch ch.4 but found it almost tolerable (at first) Friday with geriatric Jack Williams and Lisa Hughes absent, at least in the segment I watched. A female reporter from 4 went "live" joining the pack mobbing Billy Bulger as he attempted to walk to his car after the proceedings. She uttered something like, "He probably wishes he had a car closer to the front door of the courthouse to avoid the media scrum." She's a part of the mob, yet is making suggestions on how she (and the mob) could have been thwarted in their pursuit. Also, after Billy Bulger said that he would have no immediate comment but might release a statement later, he was described as "a man who speaks fluent Latin, now lost for words." Lost for words or just not interested in talking to you? Pathetic.
I think that photo of Bulger and the cop grinning says it all
It's not every day that you see the brother of a mass murderer get a huge grin and a hearty handshake from a commander in a police unit.
Jeeze Brett you might be on to something!
Why are those two not locked up?
Whitey, meh. But it would
Whitey, meh.
But it would make my day to see the Corrupt Midget get rung up for aiding and abetting, obstructing justice, anything in regards to his brother.
The cop is guilty of nothing more than good old-time Masshole-style patronage.