Turner's No Good Choice

Chuck Turner is famous for being mischievous and contrarian. He apparently remains determined to exit Boston politics as memorably and foolishly as possible.

This morning, a Globe piece made it plain at last what Councilor Charles Yancey has been getting at with his legal sword flourishes and shield flashes. Expelled Councilor Turner will get pro bono legal help from the ever despicable Chester Darling.

At the Council meeting that expelled Turner, Yancey repeatedly made childish threats of lawsuits and dire consequences to the whole Council if it dared even take up expulsion. It's hard to tell whether Yancey sees his role as friend of Turner, one of the few fellow Councilors of color, or some sort of crusader. Perhaps all...

Unfortunately, Yancey too has linked his star to this dung wagon. He can't help but carry the dirt and stink.

Let's not go into Darling's dreadful winger career. Suffice it to acknowledge the Globe's reportage that he and Turner have often been on totally opposite sides of political, racial, sexual and other issues.

Of course when Turner is sentenced by a federal judge next month, most of these legal issues will be moot. However, Darling could continue to claim in civil court that Turner was harmed and unfairly treated by being expelled. That reduces Turner to the nuisance suit class — not a good way to exit.

I've been to Council meetings going back to the era of the clown princelings, like Dapper O'Neil, Jim Kelley and Fred Langone. The body has a long history of bozos like those who lived for theater on the fifth floor. While he was not the weekly jerk those guys almost always were, Turner has clearly gone to the Dark Side.

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Tags: massmarrier, Chuck Turner, Massachusetts, Speaker, corruption, penalty, Chester Darling