As a resident of Boston for twenty-eight years, I’ve had Stephen Lynch as my representative in Congress for ten. During that time:

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-On May 22, 1991, as the superior officer at a purported crime scene in Wareham, Sgt. Perry was present when Officer Scott Flanagan indecently strip searched and assaulted a 14-year-old girl

-At said time and place, Sgt. Perry was in a position to both see Flanagan's conduct and to hear the girl's loud protestations.

Lynch plays his cards close to the vest in what seems like a defensive style of politics. It certainly is not leadership-driven.

Take his process on the health care bill debate last summer. From March through August we heard Rep.Lynch say he didn't know how he'd vote on the bill. At the same time, he did not take a leadership role in shaping it. In August at Curry, Rep. Lynch held a town hall meeting and said he had read the bill but still didn't know how he was going to vote. Once again, his constituents could not get a bead on where he stood.

Perhaps even more stunningly at that town hall meeting, Rep. Lynch was given the chance to answer a question about death panels (after all he had read the bill) and refudiate (sic) ;-) the meme that right wing Republican liars and Fox News had made popular. Lynch equivocated! He would not take a stand!