New Leaders Emerge as a Result of Article 8

       New leaders are emerging as a result of the Article 8 Alliance as they go head-to-head against the establishment, which is terrified of Pinch Sulzberger and his enormous inherited wealth (and power) at the New York Times/Boston Globe complex, centered in New York City.

       These new leaders have made enormous headway in their effort to Remove Judge Marshall and her three cohorts from the bench, which will allow new judges (plus the three dissenters) to reverse Marshall’s decision and end this travesty forever.

       Their job is difficult because Sulzberger will not allow the Globe to even acknowledge their existence, much less print anything about them that is balanced. Nevertheless, their impact is enormous.

       For example, Speaker Finneran resigned a few months ago after Article 8 began to tell the truth about him and reveal his true nature, which is to work as a highly-paid lobbyist for those who wish to create fetuses only to destroy them for stem cell research, hardly the job for someone who has always professed great admiration for the Catholic dominated pro-life movement in the state. And yet the establishment is afraid to tell the truth and continues to support Finneran.         

The New Leaders Include Brian Camenker and Jim Lafferty

       Although the new citizen leaders are too countless to mention, Brian Camenker and Jim Lafferty must be highlighted. When I talked with Camenker at the beginning of the year, he was terribly discouraged because he knew that the Amendment fiasco that Dobson had forced upon us was a total disaster. Yet he didn’t  know what to do and I didn’t know what to suggest. When I opined that perhaps he should go along with them for now (after all, he is just recovering from personal bankruptcy as a result of his efforts) and see what develops.

       Camenker’s answer was what I had been looking for from someone. “No, that wouldn’t be right. I can’t do that.”

       Brian is a Jewish believer, an Orthodox Jew who is not perfect anymore than the rest of us, but one who attempts to be honest and forthright. It was only days later that he discovered that John Adams had included in the Constitution he wrote for us in 1780, a simple process by which a majority of the legislature can summarily (instantly) remove any judge or judges they believe to be oppressive.

       None of the establishment would have come to the shabby offices of Camenker in downtown Waltham at his first meeting a few weeks later. It drew about 30 excited people, who saw a way out of the dilemma that all conservatives were facing in the state as the rich and the powerful continued to cow tow to other rich and powerful figures (who “belong”) while playing the deadly game of charades that totally dominates most of Washington.

       I attended that meeting but only as an observing newspaperman. I made it clear to Brian that I had neither the time nor the money to help with the effort although I was an enthusiastic supporter.

Jim Lafferty

       Jim Lafferty is a highly intelligent, political consultant from Washington who worked for Tom Delay, the House Majority Leader, before he moved out on his own, working for Mass. Citizens for marriage in 2002 and again in 2003. He is a Catholic who is married to the fiery Andrea Lafferty, a Protestant evangelical who strikes fear in the hearts of all liberals in Washington as the daughter of Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition.

     A big man at 6’4”, Lafferty is an experienced operative who is accustomed to facing down liberal bullies whether they be union thugs across the country or Senate President Tom Birmingham in 2002.

       As a seasoned veteran in the political wars, Jim has been especially valuable as a friend to Camenker this election cycle, helping him with the many pitfalls that have been thrown against him. Jim has the experience to look past the immediate problems that  engulf Brian and his wife and two children as they struggle to take the moral and honest path.

       As a result, those two professionals focused on the positive as they made sure that the seven incumbent legislators who were targeted by the Human Rights Campaign with more than $500,000 in emergency donations to Massachusetts groups were spectacularly unsuccessful. As a result, all of these incumbents did not ignore the issue, but explained it all carefully. They all won handily except for Vinnie Ciampa who hesitated to do so and lost by a whisker to a homosexual in the primary. However, he rebounded with a sticker campaign but may have failed again because he was still hesitant. The votes are still being counted and we will know whether he won or lost in about a week.