When I read a Boston Globe columnist tell us Whitey was involved in decades of terror in Boston and also newspapers throughout the world repeating those exact words, I accepted that the a complete evilification of Whitey had been accomplished. I recognized this much earlier with his arrest and the extraordinary coverage by the media of his trial events but the universal media bloating of his actions to terror, especially during these War on Terror days, and their extension in time (decades) and area (Boston) seemed reminiscent of Bush’s “Mission Accomplished.”
We are supposed to accept that as a final verdict in history but as with George 43 perhaps it was a premature boast. When we lift the curtain of hoopla and self-congratulation, we espy the truth: Whitey terrorized a couple of handfuls, usually fellow criminals. Those much worse than him were hardly recognized for their evil ways.
On the relative scale of Boston criminality in the last third of the 20th Century, two persons from Whitey’s group, the group that operated out of Winter Hill in Somerville, who were used by the U.S. Attorney in Boston to testify against Whitey by any objective standard were grossly more evil. Up to the time Whitey met John Martorano he had been involved in 1 murder, Martorano had admitted to being involved in 8. Steven Flemmi, when he met Whitey, had already been involved in 13.
Under out laws you can be involved in a murder in several ways. You can be part of the planning group as an accessory before the murder like leaving a door open so the murderer can accomplish his deed; or part of the group carrying out the murder as driving the getaway car; or even a part of the group that works afterwards as hiding the body. The latter group is not punished in the same manner as the former groups whose members are punished in a similar manner to the person pulling the trigger. Though the punishment is equal for those in the pre-murder stage, the evilness differs since one who leaves the door open may not be capable of putting a .38 caliber pistol up to the head of the sleeping person and blowing her brains out. That takes a particularly malignant type.
John Martorano was uniquely capable of doing that. Whether strangers, co-criminals, legitimate business people, or friends, he fired bullets into their heads. Of his 20 admitted murders, he shot 13 unarmed people in the head from close range of less than 3’ away; Whitey also had that capability and probably shot 4. Steven Flemmi, though capable of doing this, always seems to put the gun in another’s hand to minimize his involvement.
Even so, he did the others one better. He had no problem killing women he had long-term relationship with either as a boyfriend who was being dropped or a step-father who was being embarrassed. That is a particularly macabre trait.
I’m not suggesting that Whitey was not highly evil, for he was, or I should say is. I’m not saying that because others were more evil that somehow mitigates Whitey’s evilness, it doesn’t. I’m asking you to consider why we have been duped into believing Whitey terrorized the City of Boston when no one even hints at that idea in relation to those more evil. And in saying this, I’m not even going into the other group, the Boston Mafia, that likewise had men of Whitey’s stature.
While speaking of the Mafia, I’d note not even in New York City where the Mafia had five families with thousands of members and controlled many legitimate businesses did anyone ever suggest it terrorized the Big Apple.
So what accounts for this fiction that betrayed the people of Boston into elevating Whitey into a status as criminal extraordinaire when he was really nothing more than a mean, vile, bullying type hoodlum who mainly preyed on people involved in criminal activities who came into South Boston, a section of the city with a little more than 5% of the people most of whom were law-abiding citizens.
Another way to look at this is that over fifty and upwards of sixty or seventy gangster-style murders took place in Greater Boston during the early to mid-Eighties. No one suggested Boston was terrorized at that time. By the way, Whitey was involved in none of them though Flemmi and Martorano were.
I ask you to think on that. Why has it been Whitey all the time and little about the evils of the others? How could the people be betrayed into forgetting about all the others while concentrating only on Whitey? What was the purpose of this deliberate betrayal and who was behind it?
I hope to examine this. If the people with an interest in these matters can be betrayed in this manner, it seem an apt study to determine how what Goebbles would describe “the big lie” can overtake a supposed intelligent population, including other media outlets. For if we understand how the propaganda was done and the forces behind it and their motives, perhaps we will be alert to not being duped in the future.
Jerome, My humble, objective opinion is that the best book to read (available for $3.99 on Amazon as an e-book) is “Character Assassins: Carr, Dershowitz, Mudd: Who’ll Live in Infamy?” by William M. Connolly, J.D., M.P.H., (Xlibris 2012.) The only error in the book is that I had Flemmi testifying at Connolly’s first trial in 2002. Flemmi did not agree to testify against Connolly until sometime thereafter. Kevin Weeks’ testimony was the source of my information about Connolly’s interactions with the jailed Flemmi between 1995 and 2000. I’ll correct that error if a real publisher picks up my books. Hope springs eternal. 2.Another of my eight books “The Fix: the Corruption of Massachusetts Courts and Agencies” also addresses these matters in Appendix V: “Why President Bush should pardon John Connolly.” So, if you want to know the truth, read ’em and weep! 3. Want to know about free speech and censorship? Read Walkowski and Connolly’s “From Trial Court to the United States Supreme Court: Anatomy of a Free Speech Case.” (Branden 1995) 4. Most writers labor in obscurity: I’ve descended below obscurity to complete anonymity. I’m happy there. I’m happy here. I’m reminded of the words of Mary Ann Evans (George Elliot) at the end of “Middlemarch”: she wrote that much of the progress in this world is attributable to those persons whose names appear on “unvisited graves.” My name is not on Grant’s Tomb. Anyhow, life is good. The free-wheeling exchange of ideas is good. This blog is good.
Matt,
I read some earlier posts about Nee controlling Southie with LoGrasso and Mirasola. What about George Hogan?
dht:
Good question. I really don’t have the answer to that one. Here’s a site that discusses Hogan: http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=638089
My gut tells me Nee is out of the business and I know nothing of LoGrasso
This whole story is so out of kilter with the city.
In my young adult life I lived on Huntington Ave near Symphony, the back side of Beacon Hill, on a street in what was left of the West End, and the North End.
This coincides with the time of the supposed reign of terror.
I cannot explain how absurd this all seems.
Before and during the whole mafia take down, I read the papers regularly while eating breakfast in a little place on Salem Street in the North End. I was a part of that neighborhood as an outsider could be. I worked, cooked, bought things at the little hardware store, knew many people to say hi to as I walked all over. I lived near one of the places wiretapped and said hi to the guys who stood outside. The future Mr. Firefly and I went to the Garden, Fenway, the waterfront and more. Bova’s was open late. There was always a place for cappuccino.
The word terror might have been used in conjunction with how the Celtics treated the Lakers.
Firefly:
I was chasing after Whitey’s gang at the times he was supposed to be terrorizing us and had no idea I was supposed to be in terror.
Makes me laugh each time I read it.
I ask myself, am I romanticizing those times?
Was I in denial about the dangers around me?
Sure, to some extent.
But here’s the difference with the Boston Strangler.
My mother was supposed to be going to a church meeting
in the evening. The walk was to take a right, up a block, you’re there.
Whatever had happened in the news, we were so upset, we begged her not to go.
We thought for sure the Boston Strangler was going to get her.
We were all crying!
She went and we all lived through the experience:)
Firefly:
You make good points. I have never heard of anyone going out on an errand and people worry that she may not return because Whitey was lurking somewhere in the dark. I guess that would be a test of whether people were terrorized.
Matt et al.,
Who are these people that continue to tell us what we experienced?
We were there.
We lived in different parts of town, many of us living full lives, dare I say happy, non-terrorized lives in our quirky part of the universe.
Was there crime?
Yes.
Was there a mafia?
Yes.
And there was a bustling city.
It blows my mind to see Boston portrayed as treeless streets of triple deckers. Yes, I know they are part of the fabric of our city, but what is with this bleak outlook of a godforsaken place?
My life was colorful and full of challenges: educational, musical, sports-filled challenges.
The neighborhood of my youth was filled with children, games in yards and the street.
Girls Latin School, Codman Square, bus passes, the Arborway, squealing trains, Jordan Marsh, Filene’s, Christmas shopping and decorated windows.
We rode bikes, roller skated, walked up town.
This idea that we as a city were terrorized by Whitey Bulger is baloney.
We were afraid of the Boston Strangler. We definitely were. He was evil. I would look at pictures in the paper of another victim and be scared. But there was no fear of Whitey.
He never came up.
I lived in another part of town. He was not an issue.
Keep it up Matt. You r performing a great service
Ernie:
Thanks. I just read about the licensing of the 100 new marijuana dispensaries in the state. It would be nice for someone like yourself to follow up on that story. With 35 licenses available there will be a lot of money floating around. The state really blew this one; it should have taken on the job itself rather than what it is doing – why not take all the profit and keep total control rather than having this system which will truly be something to watch.
Matt- This is the prohibition war of my time.. Us kids call it the Green Rush. I am speaking about Medical Marijuana strictly…It could save my city and the South Coast of Mass. The money is prolific that is being streamed to get a dispensary license, Huge amounts just to apply. Your ex-boss is no dummy. He has it right on the money, and does not have REEFER MADNESS syndrome.
Doubting:
I’m at a loss to see how the medical marijuana business can save your city. I have not been following the issue although I did see the headline in the Boston Herald about Bill Delahunt applying for 3 licenses. I’m not sure how I feel about that but recognize as a private citizen he has that right as any other private citizen does.
As for making marijuana more available to everyone, the prescription will be as easy to get as a Starbucks coffee especially if doctors are setting up their own shops we’ll soon have what used to happen in Florida with Oxycontin where anyone who wants it will be able to get it. I’m unfamiliar with it affects not having used it but as a prosecutor we treated it as something benign but did try to go after the bigger dealers.
Matt- I was thinking along the lines of taxes and jobs. Oxycontin is an opiate that improves the quality of life for people with Aids ,Cancer,MS,. Then people started to manipulate the time seal and lick off the time seal and grind it to powder to shoot, snort ,smoke. They have made decent strides in creating pills that cannot be manipulated…But too much damage has already occurred. At it’s peak brand name Oxycontin was 1 dollar a milligram and going as high as 80MG. When they cannot get the pills any longer, they get so sick that they use heroin to kill the dragon, that is withdrawal. That’s when the pharmacy robberies started becoming an epidemic. Do you agree marijuana should not be a schedule II drug.
Doubting:
That’s a good question. When I prosecuted as I mentioned we treated marijuana quite differently than other drugs. I see there is a case that was argued in the appeals court over the issue of marijuana being schedule 1 or 2; I’ll read that decision and give you an answer since it should incorporate the latest findings in the area.
Matt- Marijuana is available to everyone though, if they chose a doctor for it or not, Just imported from the West Coast or B.C.
Doubting:
I know of its widespread availability and anyone who want a prescription will be able to get it. It will become more available to adults and the kids who already have access to it will still have the same access.
“For if we understand how the propaganda was done and the forces behind it and their motives, perhaps we will be alert to not being duped in the future.”
Matt, thank you for making an effort to explore the above quoted phenomenon. Take it from a person who has been POOFED by the most powerful elites in the US political system, in an concerted effort to hide their own illegal or unethical acts, your task will not be an easy one. Especially, since many of those powerful interests own or have influence over the parts of mass media where the average citizen gets his/her news parsed.
And, speaking of hiding bodies…Although the alleged files in NH have been closed on the homicide investigation into the suspicious death of my mother Agnes S. Allan, after the State’s Chief Medical Examiner placed a false autopsy report in the official file; the facts show that she was never autopsied, but instead disappeared while in the jurisdiction of the State’s then chief investigator Kelly Ayotte.
Jean:
I think a close look at this one phenomenon might give us a broader look at the forces who teach the people what to think and the sinister connection between them. During the trial I was somewhat taken back when Agent Morris testified that he was in contact with Gerry O’Neill of the Globe who got upset at him for closing out the probe into 75 State Street based on the FBI finding there was nothing there. Morris was the Globe’s source for much of its story on Whitey and he testified he considered O’Neill a friend. Imagine O’Neill using his friendship to push an FBI agent into wrongfully going after an innocent person.