PAX Centurion - May / June 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • May/June 2013 • Page 17 “Me thinks ye doth protest too loudly???” By James Carnell, Pax Editor Globe article: “Police promotions delayed” O n May 28 th , 2013, there appeared in the Boston Globe an article by Maria Cramer entitled “Delay stalls Boston Police Promotions”. The article was ostensibly about the fact that a lawsuit filed by MAMLEO regarding alleged discrimination in the civil service promotional exam had not yet been decided by Federal Judge George O’Toole, and therefore promotional opportunities in the BPD – and elsewhere – had been delayed due to judicial bureaucracy. But reading between the lines and identifying the players involved in the alleged impartial Globe article is helpful in identifying what is really going on here…. “Me thinks ye doth protest too loudly” is a famous line from a Shakespeare play which, in today’s parlance, more or less means: “You who most loudly complains is probably most responsible for the problem you pretend to be highly upset about.” There is great wisdom in that saying. “ The pending lawsuit continues to cause uncertainty as to the process the city can and should follow in the selection of candidates” [said] Laurence J. Donoghue, an attorney for the city. For those wait- ing for promotional opportunities from the last exam, or desiring to take a future one, that is absolutely true. Our namby-pamby, wishy-washy, pandering, hand-wringing city administration is terrified of simply following the existing law and promoting candidates according to the mark they received on the promotional exam. A few disgruntled activ- ists who always adopt the mantle of “victim-nation” and who appar- ently didn’t score high enough to qualify for promotion are holding up promotions for the vast majority. But it is they who are quoted in the article complaining about stalled promotions. According to the article: “Civil service exams are given to most public sector employees who want a job or promotion. Police chiefs and commissioners are required to promote the top scorers, a system that was meant to eliminate favoritism.” Yes, that’s right, Boston Globe; you finally got something factu- ally correct without the requisite left-wing political slant. Civil service was designed to eliminate political favoritism and cronyism. A written exam does not know the race, gender, political or sexual preference of the person taking the test. But because some people did not do as well as other people on the test results, they search around for nefarious, dastardly reasons as to “why” they did not do as well as others. Could it be… a “conspiracy”? Did somebody “fix” the results? Could it be “rac- ism”? Let’s throw something against the wall and see what sticks… Personally, I passed the promotional test for Sergeant, but did not do that well. That was my fault: I did not study; I went in cold, and perhaps that was because of my own reluctance to actually be promoted, know- ing where the department would ultimately assign me considering my years of union activity. (I was told that Great Brewster Island in the outer Harbor was in need of a lone sergeant if I had passed with a high- enough mark, and the department was willing to provide a rowboat- during stormy weather only – for me to get there. During good weather, I’d have to walk…) But the bottom line is this: that was MY fault – nobody else’s. Of course, some windbag named Professor Mark Brodin, Boston Col- lege Law School and former staff attorney for the Lawyers committee for Civil Rights in Boston ( Consider the source!!!) was quoted in the article saying that “…it has everything to do with educational oppor- tunities…” OK, let’s see here... James J. Chittick Elementary School, William Barton Rogers Junior High, then a few years at Catholic Me- morial High School (and I still don’t know where my mother scraped together the $700.00 tuition from in 1975!) and then Northeastern University, whose student loans I paid off for more than 10 years. I did not get to attendWellesley, or Brookline or Weston schools or any other privileged suburban high school or college because I wasn’t eligible for special admission or free tuition.Yeah, Professor Brodin, I guess I just didn’t realize how wealthy and “privileged” I was growing up in Mattapan in the 60’s and 70’s. (Boston College law School, your alma- mater didn’t come knocking either with those “educational opportuni- ties”, Professor Brodin. I guess we didn’t donate enough to the church to make the right phone calls, huh?….) Of course, what the activist-loudmouths really want is a subjec- tive “examination” where verbal interviews take precedence over the written exam. That way, the department can decide “true leadership potential”. (Translation: how much have you donated to the right politi- cian and how well do you suck-up to the BPD administration?) Commissioner Davis said he has committed “$2.2 million to replace the [current civil service] testing system that would include interviews and “other components” to judge leadership potential”. Don’t you just love that? “Interviews” and “ other components ”…How stupid does he think we are?We’re into our fourth year without a contract or raise, but Davis has an extra $2.2 million sitting around to mollify, pander and kowtow to a few loudmouths who blame everyone and everything else for their own personal failures. “Me thinks ye doth protest too loudly…” 100 Everendon Road Canton, MA 781-828-4444 www.BrookmeadowGolf.com $5.00 OFF for ALL EMS and BPD Monday thru Friday Expires December 2013