Gag (out of) order

KEVIN CULLEN
Gag (out of) order

By Kevin Cullen, Globe Columnist  |  March 19, 2009

There are some things in this life I assumed I’d never do.

Walk on the moon.

Dunk a basketball.

Kiss Kate Winslet.

Stick up for Chuck Turner.

But having read the decision by US Magistrate Timothy Hillman ordering
City Councilor Turner to do something he has never been very good at -
i.e., keep his trap shut - it is impossible not to feel sympathy for
Comrade Chuck and a little thing called the First Amendment.

Hillman’s ruling is very lawyerly. He cites all the relevant case law
and makes a strong argument that Turner’s disclosure of any
information prosecutors turn over to lawyers defending him against
corruption charges would make a mockery of the process.

The government already did that. Hillman’s order would make more sense
had he issued it before the feds released the video showing FBI
cooperating witness Ron Wilburn slipping Turner what Vinnie Piro once
described as a little walking around money.

Anybody who hasn’t seen that video, or read or heard talk about it, is
either dead, deaf, or blind, and in any case is so insulated from
everyday life as to preclude them from being qualified to sit in
judgment of a parking violation, much less a man’s liberty.

After the release and the media’s unquestioning dissemination of the
incriminating video, to suggest that Turner’s talking about the case
will somehow prevent him from getting a fair trial is a non sequitur.

Let’s be honest here. Chuck Turner has already been tried in the court
of public opinion, and it’s probably safe to say that, his family and
friends aside, this public court has found him guilty, based solely on
the image of him taking a wad of cash. Turner can hold a myriad of
press conferences on City Hall Plaza and point to evidence that
undermines the government’s case all he wants. Most people will
remember only the video.

So, even as Wilburn says he has misgivings about entrapping Turner,
the feds have already accomplished their goal of embarrassing, if not
ruining, Turner.

Whatever you think of Turner, the two things he has in common with
disgraced former senator Dianne Wilkerson, other than being
photographed taking cash from Wilburn, is that he’s black and
represents the most marginalized people in the city. And if you don’t
think that is relevant, I’ll have what you’re having. People who know
Turner don’t believe for a minute he’s corrupt in the old-fashioned
sense of influence peddling or taking money to fund a high life. He
doesn’t have much influence. And he doesn’t live high. Even some of
Wilkerson’s friends admit she’s been ethically challenged for years.

Turner’s problem, God love him, is that he thinks it’s 1973 and you
can still blame The Man for everything. At least he sticks up for poor
people.

It’s truly a marvelous public service that our government has
performed, wiring up an agent provocateur and dispatching him to slip
chump change into the hands of some minor politicians who just happen
to represent the poorest people in the city. Meanwhile, the most
powerful pols in town continue to practice legalized theft, grabbing
our money with both hands, handing out jobs to relatives and cronies,
padding their payrolls, boosting their salaries and pensions while
ours get slashed.

There’s no law against the way politics is practiced at City Hall and
the State House. Steal legally and you can steal at will.

Welcome to Massachusetts, a one-party state, where the pols are the
only ones having a party. We’re just paying for it.

As for the embattled city councilor, if it comes down to choosing
between him and a government that wants to limit free speech when it
suits its purposes, I’m down with Comrade Chuck.

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/19/gag_out_of_order/