The problem of Massholes

I live in Massachusetts. I am a native of this Commonwealth. Yes, I said commonwealth. Massachusetts, along with Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, are technically not states; they call themselves commonwealths. What, you may ask, is a commonwealth? Merriam-Webster defines it as: “a nation, state, or other political unit: as a : one founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good b : one in which supreme authority is vested in the people”. I find this quite fascinating, because in no other state do the people actually have less control of the goings on around them. Here are some examples.

In Quincy, Mass., a 79-year-old man drives his car into a loaded school bus and drives away without stopping. The driver of the bus reports the incident and provides the Quincy police with a license plate number. Upon finding the culprit, and seeing the damage on his vehicle, do you think he was arrested for hit-and-run? No. Did he receive a citation for leaving the scene of an accident? No. Because of his advanced age and his claim, he did not know he hit the bus, was the RMV notified he was a hazard, which would result in a suspension of his license? No. So why a hazard to society would be allowed to literally get away with a dangerous crime without so much as a traffic ticket confounds me. Maybe it is because he is related to members of the Quincy police department , and, by the way, used to be the mayor of Quincy. Did I tell you this old-timer is still working? Yes he is; as the Clerk Magistrate in Quincy Court. Is that enforcing the laws for the common good? I think not.

In Gloucester, Mass., an 18-year-old goes before the judge for the second time on the same charge; DUI. If you do not know already, the legal drinking age in our commonwealth is 21. The first time around, the court suspended his license. Apparently, though, that did not prevent him from getting behind the wheel while drunk and driving on a suspended license. Therefore, when he went to court to face charges, the 18-year-old pleaded guilty to OUI (2nd offense), Driving with suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident. Looks like this person will do a little jail time, right? At the very least, spend some time in an orange vest picking up trash on the roadside. Nope. The judge gives him a $350 fine and sends him out to wreak more havoc on Massachusetts roads.

Do you want to hear about the 39-year-old Rockport man charged with driving an unregistered car with a suspended license; for the ninth time? If you think that seems like too many offenses, you have not seen anything yet. His RMV driving record is twelve pages long. A guilty finding would have suspended his license automatically for four years. Again, a dim-witted judge let him off with a continuance without finding; as long as he does not do anything wrong for six months the charge will be dismissed. Are you kidding me?

One would think our legislators would enact some type of measure to protect the citizens of the commonwealth from these moving road hazards. That should happen. That could happen. The next item on the list is a State Senator who admitted to a hit-and-run accident on Monday. He claimed he panicked because of his driving record. Of course the only reason he claimed anything at all was because he hit the other vehicle so hard, it left an imprint of his license plate on the other vehicle. A look at his driving record shows two DUI convictions, and a third where he received a gubernatorial pardon. The accident occurred as he was driving home from watching a N.E. Patriots game. Do you think he was aware of how much trouble he would have been in had he stayed at the scene of the accident, where one occupant in the other car was injured? Do you think he knew the penalty for hit-and-run was less than the penalty for a third DUI? I think that his job as an attorney probably made him aware of those facts.


Massachusetts has some of the highest insurance rates in the country. Now we see why. The roads are full of Massholes. Does the Commonwealth of Massachusetts really represent government for the greater good? I don’t think so.