Early March saw Deval Patrick upsetting veterans when he removed the Department of Veterans Services from his Cabinet. Now, over a month later, Patrick issues an executive order to create a 35 member advisory council on veteran services.

The council, with up to 35 members, is expected to review and assess state and federal laws and programs relating to veterans and report back to the Patrick Administration.

It will also report on current services to veterans in the Bay State, including health care, education and housing.

Is this an attempt to heal the wounds created by nixing the veterans' affairs adviser from the cabinet, or is it just a way to add up to 35 new hacks to the payroll under the guise of caring for veterans?

The State House, that is. His governorship has been closely resembling the candidacy of former Attorney General Tom Reilly, and now Governor Deval Patrick has a new chief of staff has he begins to move out of the so-called "honeymoon period" and on passed his first 100 days.

Governor Deval Patrick has tapped his top campaign adviser, Doug Rubin, to replace Joan Wallace-Benjamin as his chief of staff, a move aimed at ramping up his senior staff with politically and media savvy aides, senior administration sources said yesterday.

Patrick is shuffling his staff as he tries to recover from a tumultuous first 100 days in office, during which he made a number of missteps that have weakened his political position on Beacon Hill and damaged public confidence in his ability to handle the job.

Rubin's appointment as chief of staff, which takes effect Tuesday, will give Patrick what many of his critics and supporters say has been lacking in the governor's office in the critical first months in office: a strong hand to guide him through the political minefields on Beacon Hill and to shape the administration's media operations.

Rubin will serve in the top post at least through the budget season, which generally ends in July, and perhaps into the fall. His tenure will depend on how much he is needed and how quickly he can get Patrick's inner circle working effectively, an administration source said.

Ramping up his senior staff with politically and media savvy aides... Yeah, that's a good idea, those are your two weakest areas. Deval Patrick Watch notes a recent phone call made to Deval Patrick, and no, not another shady Ameriquest phone call.

Everyone is trying to jump on the anti-Imus bandwagon... They waited for Obama's response, and got it.

Now we have the response from the nation's only black governor Deval Patrick.

Gov. Deval Patrick launched into an angry condemnation of radio host Don Imus yesterday, jumping into a growing national controversy by denouncing the "careless insults" Imus and others use to belittle minorities to entertain listeners.

"I'm sick of this," Patrick told the Herald. "I'm sick of the careless insults that get hurled around. I'm sick of the lack of respect. And why? Because you can't make a point about a basketball team without talking about them that way?"

"It has nothing to do with being (politically correct)," Patrick said. "It has to do with respect and saying, 'We don't accept that kind of thing.' "

Patrick said he will continue to use his office to denounce intolerance, but he said positive change will only come when all political leaders do so, not just those who are black.

"The real message will come . . . when it's not just black folks saying Imus should be reprimanded," Patrick said. "It will come when everyone else says, 'Wait a second, that's not who we are and that's not what we do.' "

Well, Mr. Governor, will you ever be reprimanded for your crime fighting suggestion to tell kids of inner-city Boston to "pull your pants up"? Had a white governor had made that suggestion, could you imagine the outrage? Better yet, had a white Republican governor had said that, could you imagine the outrage?

How come Deval Patrick can use a stereotype against inner-city youth without being called on it?

Never mind, I already know.

More over at Deval Patrick Watch.

More than five years have passed since 9/11, but Americans are still on edge. Witness the fearful reaction in Boston on Wednesday to what turned out to be a guerilla advertising campaign for a cartoon program.

Since 9/11, Boston has had several moments when safety has been a major issue. In 2004, security was tightened when the city hosted the Democratic National Convention. Last year, one woman was killed when a section of a Big Dig tunnel collapsed; this tragedy was an issue during the race for governor last fall. And now we have a botched advertising campaign.

I guess the Bush Administration deserves credit that these days, the biggest public disruption we face comes from Turner Broadcasting, not al-Qaida.

Here's an illustrated look at a service I went to at a Boston temple honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. last Friday. Deval Patrick, the second elected African-American governor in US history, gave the address.

Ever wondered what attending an inaugural ball would be like? Here's an illustrated look at my night at the Boston shindig for new Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick!

Now, something must be going on when Ted Kennedy said he wouldn't necesary support another presidential bid of John Kerry's, but Deval Patrick will.

Sen. Barack Obama visited Massachusetts three times last year to campaign for Deval Patrick. The husband of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, appointed Patrick to the top Justice Department civil rights post during the 1990s.

But the state's new governor says he would have to support Sen. John Kerry over Obama or Mrs. Clinton should the Massachusetts Democrat make a second run for the presidency.

"They are very, very strong people," Patrick said of his three fellow Democrats during an appearance aired Sunday on WHDH-TV's "Urban Update." "I will tell you that if my home senator runs, I've got to be with him. I love the other candidates, but we will see. I don't know that he has made a decision yet."

Now, considering how few people are publicy supporting Kerry for president in 2008 at this point, one has to wonder why Deval has come out with this preemptive endorsement. Especially after he distanced himself from Kerry after he insulted U.S. troops in Iraq while on the campaign trail last year.

So, why is Deval Patrick embracing John Kerry now, especially since Kerry's chances of winning his party's nomination in 2008 are virtually nonexistant.

I would theorize that John Kerry was the first (and so far only) potential Democratic presidential candidate to promise Deval Patrick that he would nominate him for Attorney General if he got elected.

Kerry, knowing about Deval Patrick's grassroots-oriented campaign, could have easily convinced him that he is still a contender for the nomination by telling him about the extraordinary email list he amassed his 2004 campaign and convinced him that he could build up support with similar grassroots campaign employed by the Patrick campaign. Of course, Deval's endorsement also breathes a bit of life into John Kerry's potential candidacy... probably not enough to resuscitate him as a viable candidate for the nomination, but, from John Kerry's point of view, having Obama Lite campaigning for him next year is very appealing.

Would John Kerry make such an offer? Of course he would. Kerry unsuccessfully tried to entice John McCain to be his running mate in 2004. Kerry certainly isn't above quid pro quos... Neither is Deval Patrick.

Sure, Deval Patrick has said he would serve his full term, but like any politician, he's certainly wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be "guaranteed" a nomination to be U.S. Attorney General upon Kerry being elected, as remote as those chances may seem at this point.

Last Thursday I stood with thousands of others in front of the Massachusetts State House, watching Deval Patrick get sworn in as the Bay State's first African-American governor. Since Reconstruction, there has been only one other African-American governor in our nation's history: L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who attended the inauguration.

The folks I talked to -- including a guy who said he was a high-school classmate of Patrick's -- had some good things to say about our new governor. I also heard criticism of Patrick's predecessor, Mitt Romney, who decided not to show up. Four other past governors did make it, including 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.

After the ceremony, people had a chance to enter the State House, sample pastries made at Massachusetts high schools, and chat with the governor and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray. When one man told Patrick he voted for him at the Democratic state convention, the new governor said, "That's how we got here."

This enthusiasm may not translate into political clout. Two days before the inauguration, the state legislature advanced an anti-gay marriage amendment at a constitutional convention. "Patrick appeared on Beacon Hill before the convention, meeting with legislative leaders and holding a news conference to urge legislators to use 'whatever means appropriate' to kill the measure," the Boston Globe reported.

Early in October of 2006, I wrote an article stating that Deval Patrick would win. As most readers knew, this would end sixteen years of control by the Republican Party of the Governor's position. In that story, I gave the reason for that unbelievable holding period by a political party that is barely alive in Massachusetts. I stated that "Since 1996, Thomas Finneran, as Speaker of the House, quickly realized that he held all the power of Governor but not the title. This power could only be diminished by a Democratic Governor." Finneran was a political genius.

Today, the Boston Globe quoted the Democratic Senate President Robert Travaglini as saying that "I have senators across the state who share my vision and my approach and if forced to choose, I'm comfortable with whom they'll choose." Today, Deval and Bob were friendly in front of the press. However, the battle has just begun.

The Democrats have controlled Massachusetts for the last sixteen years. They let Republicans be Governor. Now we will see just how tough Deval Patrick is. The battle has just begun.

The incoming Democratic leaders of Massachusetts, Governor-elect Deval Patrick and Lt. Gov.-elect Tim Murray, have incorporated a series of community meetings into their transition.

On the way to work today, I dropped in on one of the final meetings. The subject: local government. The location: Boston's historic Faneuil Hall.

By my estimate, about 50 to 60 people showed up. Among those who spoke were Murray and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. (Patrick was apparently not present.) Audience members were invited to come up to a microphone and share their opinions.

Of the community meeting process, Murray said, "There have literally been thousands of people who have come out to participate."

Patrick ran on a grass-roots theme, and it seems like he's using more of this strategy to appeal to the public. He's following in the footsteps of other Democrats. Hillary Clinton used a "listening tour" to jump-start her first Senate campaign, while Al Gore assembled a group of citizens to help him prepare for debating Dubya in 2000.

Of the many slogans and gimmicks we heard from the Governor-elect Deval Patrick over the course of his campaign was that he was going bring transparency back to Beacon Hill.

Transparency. A funny word.

Is transparency trying to purport the campaign co-chair as a random supporter in an online testimonial?

Is transparency meeting with legislative leaders behind closed doors...twice?

Is transparency forgetting to tell the voters about the true extent of his relationship with a convicted rapist, including a $5,000 donation for a DNA test?

Is transparency making his transition team sign confidentiality agreements in an attempt to prevent leaks?

Dozens of volunteers named to transition "working groups" by Governor-elect Deval Patrick were required to sign unusual confidentiality agreements intended to prevent them from leaking sensitive information to the press and the public.

Patrick's aides said yesterday that the confidentiality agreements were designed to protect the privacy of job applicants who are seeking work in the incoming administration. But the language of the agreement is sweeping, and several members of the working groups said they believed the agreement also covered their deliberations on policies ranging from crime to the state budget.

In an administration that has pledged transparency and openness, several working group members said in interviews yesterday that they were confused by the agreement, though most said they signed it nonetheless.

You thought you were getting "no ordinary leader," well, think again. You got another run-of-the-mill politician, who tells you what you want to hear during the campaign to get elected, and then turns his back on everything when in office. And you believed him.

This "confidentiality" agreement states the following:

I understand that, as a volunteer for the Patrick/Murray Transition Committee, I may learn of information relating to the campaign and that any such information is to be treated as sensitive and confidential. I hereby agree to maintain the confidentiality of any information that I may learn as a result of my work as a volunteer for the Patrick/Murray Transition Committee and not to disclose any such information to anyone outside of the Patrick/Murray Transition Committee.

So much for "transparency." You just got hoodwinked.

I asked it once, I'll ask it again, how can 1,230,065 people be so dumb?

Deval Patrick's newly appointed secretary of administration and finance was involved in a "highly questionable banking deal at Massport," the Boston Herald reports.

Leslie Kirwan, tapped by Patrick as secretary of administration and finance, was Massport's CFO when a lucrative banking services contract was funneled to Wachovia Bank in 2004 through a "fatally flawed" bidding process, according to a report by state Inspector General Greg Sullivan.

"This (process) created a clear conflict of interest and an appearance of bias," the report stated, referring to Massport's decision to hire Wachovia's consulting arm to administer a procurement that "not surprisingly, led to the choice of Wachovia Bank."

The report concluded that, while the banking contract was superior to Massport's previous arrangement, the authority did not conduct an open process. In response, the authority pledged to re-bid the contract in 2007.

Kirwan, who was interviewed during the inspector general's probe, could not be reached for comment on the report yesterday, but a Patrick aide said she was not intimately involved in the hiring of Wachovia, a move that was approved by the authority's board of directors.

Last week, the Boston Globe reported that the law firm of Greenberg Traurig will be hosting a reception for Deval Patrick's new chief of staff, Joan Wallace Benjamin. Greenberg Traurig is no stranger to politics, the Globe notes, and even has lobbyists in Washington, most notably, Jack Abramoff (but you had to dig real deep into the story to find that out). This wouldn't be something to raise a stink about, but you know that had the tables been turned and a Republican appointed chief of staff had a reception held in his or her honor by a the firm connected to Jack Abramoff, it would be front page news.

And we haven't even delved into the whole notion that all these connections to lobbyists and backing out of lobbyist sponsored breakfast forums are destroying Patrick's alleged "outsider" image.

As a candidate, you could somewhat excuse Deval Patrick for his deliberate ambiguity over what his plans were. When polls suggested voters sided with Kerry Healey on many issues, the last thing he needed to do was make it easier for her to demonstrate how out of the mainstream his positions were.

Well we're still seeing governor-elect Patrick delivering the same campaign-style vagueness. It seems like whenever he's confronted about a particular issue, he never has a definitive answer... He always has to think "more about it," "look into it," or "do more homework."

Take down the tolls? Deval hasn't seen enough of the homework.

Casinos and gambling in Massachusetts? Deval has more homework to do.

Troopers arresting illegals? He needs to investigate.

Of course any new governor will spend some time learning on the job, but these were all issues that came up during the campaign, and Deval should be willing and able to tell us what his intentions are. After running for governor for over a year, one would think Deval had already done his homework and been able to make some decisions or atleast give a definitive answer about what he wants/plans to do.

It was bad enough during the campaign... Now that he's governor-elect, a little transparency and openness would be nice.

Is this what we have to look forward to over the next four years? How long will Deval Patrick be ducking questions and avoiding issues by saying that he has to do his "homework" first? Will he ever get his "homework" done after four years, or are we going to find out his dog ate it?

In the final months of the Romney administration, one wonders how the Governor can run a country when he is having a hard time running the state of Massachusetts. Just before the election, the Romney team was trying to figure out who hired Bechtel to investigate Bechtel. That was kind of embarrassing but the way Kerry Healy was going, it really didn't make that much of a difference.

Then Romney cut the budget and removed a significant amount of money from the program that cares for the homeless. By mistake, the Governor sliced $400,000 from this budget. When it became public, he apologized and put it back into the budget.

Now we find out that Romney decreased the budget for the State Mental Health hospitals. On Tuesday, November 21, the stateannounced wouldstop taking in new patients. On Wednesday, the decision was temporarily reversed. The hospitals currently care for more than 800 patients. Thanksgiving is kind of a bad time for being so callous. However, Romney's aide, Eric Fehrnstrom pointed out that it was only a 1.1% cut and any good administrator should be able to handle this. He failed to point out that many state agency budgets had been cut to the bone in previous years. Good thing for Massachusetts that we have somebody like Eric taking care of the extravagant spending in the state.

Just as you think it doesn't get better, Romney appointed Eric Fehrnstrom to the Brookline Housing Authority, a move that will allow Fehrnstrom to qualify for a state pension when he reaches retirement age. Eric, the guy trying to save the state money at the expense of the homeless and those suffering mental problems, makes $160,000 per year. He will not qualify for a pension because he is two years shore of time on the job. By appointing Eric to a $5,000 per year job, he gets the two years added to his tenure and qualifies for a pension based on his $160,000 salary. This afternoon, the Governor said he was unaware that this appointment would result in a pension for his pal. UPDATE: Fehrnstrom quits Brookline Housing position.

The other day we asked on Hub Politics what will happen to convicted rapist Ben LaGuer now that Deval Patrick has been elected governor.

Well, Deval Patrick's recent naming of Joan Wallace-Benjamin to be his chief of staff has the convicted rapist even closer to freedom.

Joan Wallace-Benjamin, you see, is a supporter of Ben LaGuer, and is listed on the testimonials page at BenLaGuer.com.

"He is a talented writer, an intelligent advocate, and a man whose experience and life lessons make him a valuable member of the community," Dr. Joan Wallace-Benjamin, President, Urban League.

Being chief of staff is perhaps the most important job in the administration. She will be Patrick's closest aide and confidante, and she'll play a big role in all aspects of Deval Patrick's governorship.

What will she advise him to do if--or shall I say when--he is asked to commute Ben LaGuer's sentence? I can make a pretty good guess.