Staggering Hypocrisy in his Choice of Words

By Scott Baum
May 25th, 2010

Yesterday Governor Deval Patrick described reflexive Republican opposition to President Obama’s policy agenda as “almost at the level of sedition”.

The Boston Globe article  that recounts Patrick’s comments also denotes Meriam Webster’s definition of sedition as “in citement of resistance to, or insurrection against, lawful authority”.

Opposition to the President’s policies based soley on party affiliation is not sedition. It is partisanship, which is defined as “an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives”.

Governor Patrick, if you would like to discuss contemporary instances of sedition in Washington, I would point you to the FCC’s stated plan to ignore a recent appelate court decision regarding regulation of the Internet.

If you are looking for some sedition in our own state, look no further than your own administration’s impending move against the MCAS, which will no doubt be made despite a 1993 law establishing this important part of our state’s approach to public education.

While I am troubled by the extremely partisan tone of today’s political discourse, I am angered and truly dismayed when important and far reaching policy changes are enacted by individuals or agencies acting with ambivalence toward the rule of the law.