Wave Maker

...So Governor Patrick says, explaining that a review of the policy of requiring paid police details at every road project from P'town to Pittsfield is "not at the top of his list."

In fact, his remark is most certainly not "perfectly candid."

If he were "perfectly candid," he would have said, "this law provides for the payment of tens of millions of dollars to one of the most powerful public employee unions in the state -- do I look stupid??"

Or, he could have said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the moral courage or intellectual honesty to argue that this policy is a complete rip-off of the taxpayers, so we'll just have to keep things as they are."

In his response to a reporter's inquiry, Patrick betrayed a notable lack of knowledge:

He said the cost of the details is more of a concern for private construction businesses, who must pay the officers a higher wage than civilian flaggers earn.

A Patrick spokesman said later that the governor was speaking mostly about local police details, which have less of an impact on state coffers than the State Police details.

Correction: the Governor was speaking with limited knowledge of the problem (it IS a problem).

Here is all one needs to understand about this boondoggle:

"Massachusetts is the only state that requires police officers on nearly all road work sites."

So when the head of the state's biggest public employee union blusters, "unions across the state will do whatever it takes to make our workforce more productive," and the detail policy "exists to ensure the safety of workers on dangerous job sites," you just have to ask him why "Massachusetts is the only state that requires police officers on nearly all road work sites."

And when the head of the state police union blusters "I know how construction people feel. They would much rather have a state trooper or local police officer standing at their detail with cruisers and lights and first-responder capabilities and radios," you have to ask him why "Massachusetts is the only state that requires police officers on nearly all road work sites."

And when you ask Patrick why "Massachusetts is the only state that requires police officers on nearly all road work sites," he can be perfectly candid and quote the Boston Globe:

Patrick was swept into office with strong support from unions, including the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.

In closing, though, I want to implore my many loyal readers to do a little something. When you are driivng around and you see a road construction project, observe the police officer(s). I think you are going to discover that the majority of them are not paying terribly close attention to what they're doing. In many cases, this will be because they are talking on their cell phones.

So if you happen to see a police officer on a road detail that is talking on his cell phone, slow down as you pass by, roll down your window and shout, "GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE!!!!"