The Egg On Malloy's Face

Chris Mathews, the host of Hardball known as the guy with the tingly leg, interviewed Governor Dannel Malloy, and Mr. Malloy managed to unload a quiver of zingers at benighted Republicans who were dawdling over gun legislation.

The Hartford Courant’s Dan Haar summarized the zinger fest in his column:

“On the NRA and other gun control opponents appealing directly to Republicans with their strategy: ‘These are real profiles in courage, aren’t they?’

“On Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, having it out with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., over a weapons ban on Thursday: ‘They have no shame…It plays well for his constituency and I think he might even believe some of this.’

“On a Washington Post/ABC News poll that shows only a bare majority of 57 percent of Americans favoring an assault weapons ban: ‘There’s a lot of people in Texas, I guess.””

It was all in good fun, and Mr. Mathews reported no unusual tingles coursing up and down his leg.

Days later, Jon Lender of the Courant uncovered a newsworthy story: “Eight days before Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to kill 26 children and women on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, state officials offered the manufacturer of the gun a development deal to move its corporate headquarters to Connecticut.

“On Dec. 6, a top state economic development official sent the Freedom Group an offer for a $1 million loan at the low annual interest rate of 2 percent for 10 years — plus other incentives for the company to move its headquarters, with 25 top executives, from Madison, N.C., to Stamford.”

Unfortunately, the information provided in Mr. Lender’s story was not available to Mr. Mathews when he interviewed Mr. Malloy on “Hardball,” otherwise Mr. Mathews certainly would have asked the governor at least one hardball question: Why did Mr. Malloy offer the AR15 gun maker a deal to move its corporate headquarters to Connecticut days before he dramatically leapfrogged over three separate investigations to announce breathlessly that he would favor a bill banning the sale in Connecticut of the AR-15?

Maybe next time Mr. Malloy appears on Hardball Mr. Mathews will pop the question. He might also ask Mr. Malloy whether he thinks that Harry Reid, the powerful leader in the U.S. Senate who killed the assault weapons ban “has no shame.”

Donna

I am writing this for members of my family, and for others who may be interested. My twin sister Donna died a few hours ago of stage three lung cancer. The end came quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. She was preceded in death by Lisa Pesci, my brother’s daughter, a woman of great courage who died still full of years, and my sister’s husband Craig Tobey Senior, who left her at a young age with a great gift: her accomplished son, Craig Tobey Jr. My sister was a woman of great strength, persistence and humor. To the end, she loved life and those who loved her. Her son Craig, a mere sapling when his father died, has grown up strong and straight. There is no crookedness in him. Thanks to Donna’s persistence and his own native talents, he graduated from Yale, taught school in Japan, there married Miyuki, a blessing from God. They moved to California – when that state, I may add, was yet full of opportunity – and both began to carve a living for them...

The Blumenthal Burisma Connection

Steve Hilton , a Fox News commentator who over the weekend had connected some Burisma corruption dots, had this to say about Connecticut U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal’s association with the tangled knot of corruption in Ukraine: “We cross-referenced the Senate co-sponsors of Ed Markey's Ukraine gas bill with the list of Democrats whom Burisma lobbyist, David Leiter, routinely gave money to and found another one -- one of the most sanctimonious of them all, actually -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal."

Lamont Surprised at Suit Brought Against PURA

Marissa P. Gillett, the state's chief utility regulator, watches Gov. Ned Lamont field questions about a new approach to regulation in April 2023. Credit: MARK PAZNIOKAS / CTMIRROR.ORG Concerning a suit brought by Eversource and Avangrid, Connecticut’s energy delivery agents, against Connecticut’s Public Utility Regulatory Agency (PURA), Governor Ned Lamont surprised most of the state’s political watchers by affecting surprise. “Look,” Lamont told a Hartford Courant reporter shortly after the suit was filed, “I think it is incredibly unhelpful,” Lamont said. “Everyone is getting mad at the umpires. Eversource is not getting everything they want and they are bringing suit. It was a surprise to me. Nobody notified me. I think we have to do a better job of working together.” Lamont’s claim is far less plausible than the legal claim made by Eversource and Avangrid. The contretemps between Connecticut’s energy distributors and Marissa Gillett , Gov. Ned Lamont’s ...

Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

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