Way to Go, Boston Globe

We note that the head of the Massachusetts Probation Department has been suspended due to a report Sunday by the Boston Globe Spotlight Team about patronage, waste and corruption in his department.

Bear in mind, this corruption in the Massachusetts Department of Probation has been going  on right under the noses of all the judges in the state. No department in the state works more closely with the judiciary.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

The Globe has been rooting out waste and corruption in Massachusetts as long as I can remember. One of their reporters once asked a state representative about jobs at state parks and historic sites going to the children and friends of state officials, and, not having been briefed, he answered, “It’s always been done that way.”

I recall all the no-show jobs they’ve exposed through diligent surveillance, and the lavish expense accounts, and the abuse of state-owned vehicles.

But at last the Globe is on its last legs, like all the great newspapers. I’m surprised they could pony up for an expensive investigation like this one. It does them credit that they made this allocation of resources in what may well be their last weeks of life.

I do hope it’s not so, but it well could be. Newspapers are folding all over the place, and very few have the resources to fund spotlight teams.

Does this mean a clear field for corrupt state officials? You betcha!

I’m thinking that when these great papers do go down, as seems inevitable, some of us old guys and gals from the era of newspapers should set up some kind of pro bono strike force to root out corruption in the worst states, counties, and municipalities.

Let’s face it, there’s never going to be a shortage of material.

The public wouldn’t pay for it, of course. Their job is to be saps. But we could do it just for sport. Just to keep these bastards on their toes. Interested? Email me.