Mitigate This

I know that, to some, it seems like I pick an awful lot on Adam Bond and the other Middleboro Board of Selectmen.

It’s just that they give me so much material.

Back in the day, folks made liberal use of the expression “going off half-cocked” to describe a person who’s actions preceded their better judgment. Or any judgment. And if someone was in fact, “going off half-cocked”, they were dangerous. They did foolish things.

And so “going off half-cocked” pretty much perfectly describes how I perceived the Board of Selectmen and their flock of feathered followers over the summer.

Land was sold, lawyers and UMass Dartmouth professors were marched out, dissension was squelched, opponents threatened and never, ever was there any thoughtful public discussion about the appropriateness or the regional impacts of a mega resort casino.

Except to say that “mitigation” money would solve everything.

It was one big three-month-long Kool-Aid soaked orgy of promises, threats and potential mitigation.

After the Town Meeting, as the dust settled, I figured they'd settle with it. The hangover would fade, and they’d come to their senses.

But no. They’re still going off half-cocked.

In a recent letter to the Boston Globe, Middleboro selectman Adam Bond, double-dog dared Massachusetts Legislators to pinky swear that they’d take all the money they’d collect from a Middleboro casino and return it back to the town and it’s surrounding communities.

See what I mean about going off-half cocked?

First of all, the only reason Deval Patrick wants to carve up our state like a trio of virgin sacrifices is so he can pay for his campaign promises off the backs of the people living in the bull’s-eye.

So it’s a little late for call-outs, don’t you think?

And if a casino, or several, are ever built, do you really believe the State will serve us up a big juicy slice of mitigation pie?

"Mitigation" is a magic word which implies much while offering nothing. It's a word spelled with promises and erased with pet projects. It's the scraps that the kitten gets after the fat cat gets done eating.

Legislators vote themselves pay raises while servicemen and women in combat zones go without effective body amour.

And what portion of the sky-high cigarette tax goes to help wean the nicotine addicted? Well… let’s see… when’s the last time you saw a state-funded anti-smoking commercial?

Believe me, if any casino ‘mitigation’ money ever actually trickles it’s way down to my town, they’d just use it to buy fur-lined sinks for the high school - and I’d still have a traffic jam in front of my house.

And the fact remains, you can’t mitigate every wound with a wad of greenbacks.

I mean, you can fill an empty well with thousand dollar bills, but you can’t bring the water back once it’s gone.

And if Adam hadn’t gone off half-cocked this summer, he’d have known that.