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Connecticut Attorney General and US Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal is urging the United States Supreme Court to allow states to protect the privacy of mourners at military funerals. And by doing so, he is defending a state law he supported in 2007 that makes it illegal to disrupt a military (or any other type of) funeral.

Blumenthal has joined several attorneys general from around the country in an amicus brief supporting a Maryland man who sued members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas after they protested at the funeral of the man’s son who was killed in Iraq back in 2006.

Blumenthal, by getting involved in the legal action, is also trying to protect the Connecticut law passed in 2007. In December, 2006, about eight members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church traveled all the way to East Lyme to protest the funeral of Army Capt. Jason R. Hamill. Hamill was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Departing from their “God Hates F–s” homemade signs they often used, some members of the church held signs that read, “Thank God for IEDS [improvised explosive devices],” “America is Doomed,” and “God is America’s Terror,” according to newspaper reports at the time. The church claims that the deaths of soldiers are punishments from God for the country’s tolerance of gay men and lesbians.

In response to the 2006 Hammill protest, the 2007 state legislature passed and Gov. Rell signed into law, a measure that among other things, effectively banned protests 60 minutes before and 60 minutes after a funeral, burial or memorial service. A violation of the law is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $2,000 or both.

In testimony to a legislative committee on the 2007 Connecticut funeral privacy bill, Blumenthal said, “Our veterans serve and sacrifice—risk and lose their lives—to protect our vital freedoms and national interests. The funeral of a veteran is a significant and solemn event and the family and friends of that veteran are entitled to a peaceful ceremony unmarred by people who seek to make political statements…This measure is made necessary by an extremely small minority who lack common decency, decorum and respect. A funeral is no place or time for their protests. Especially when one of our veterans is laid to rest, a funeral should be sacrosanct.

“While the First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech, our Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that government may place reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on such speech…For example, a local or state agency can require parade organizers obtain a permit but cannot unreasonably deny such permit. I will vigorously defend this law if approved by the General Assembly.” It was approved by the General Assembly and Blumenthal is defending it now by signing on to the brief in the Maryland case.

The issue takes on a particular importance this Memorial Day because of the current political atmosphere. Blumenthal’s embellishments of his military record—detailed in the New York Times and for which he has since apologized—have drawn national attention and added fuel to the fire that is the race for the US Senate. His likely opponent in the general election in November is former pro wrestling mogul Republican Linda McMahon. Able to afford the best hatchet men money can buy, it was the McMahon campaign that provided some of the “opposition research” to the Times for its article.

The fate of the Maryland case is not clear. The father of the soldier who paid the ultimate price asserted that the Kansas church violated his privacy rights by protesting policies that were certainly not initiated by his son. The father was awarded $10 million in 2007. That award was reduced to $5 million. The case then went to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down the judgment and ruled for the church, saying members have a First Amendment right to exercise free speech.

Blumenthal, as he has done throughout his career, is standing up for those who served their country and the families of these brave men and women who we remember today.

Now that the state political nominating conventions are over, the next big event for several statewide offices is the August primary. Between now and then there will be plenty of polls giving us a snapshot in time of the most-watched races, particularly the races for governor and for US Senate.

Thursday morning, Quinnipiac University released a poll on those two races and one showed Democrat Richard Blumenthal shrugging off the controversy caused by his exaggeration of his military record and maintaining a healthy lead over Republican Linda McMahon, 56 to 31 percent. In March, Blumenthal was up 61 to 28 percent.

The reaction to the poll by the McMahon campaign as well as by popular WTIC-AM radio talk show host Jim Vicevich is troubling. It seems that observers either love or hate polls depending on whether the numbers come out the way they want.

McMahon Communications Director Ed Patru called the Q-Poll numbers “curious, perhaps odd” and that sometimes polls are just wrong and the Q-Poll is an example.

WTIC’s Vicevich spent a good portion of at least the beginning of his show slamming the poll and heaping praise on a Rasmussen poll that shows the race closer. In the comments of Patru and Vicevich, neither thought it necessary to cite a particular problem with the Q-Poll; not the sample size or the phrasing of the questions (which The Shad had well before 7 a.m.) or any other problem. They simply dismissed the poll because they didn’t like the numbers. Vicevich called it “worthless” but again, could offer no proof of any irregularity with it except to compare to another poll.

You can bet your last fund-raising dollar that if the poll showed McMahon ahead or tied with Blumenthal, both Patru and Vicevich would have been singing the praises of Quinnipiac.

For the record, the Quinnipiac website says, “For more than two decades, journalists, public officials and researchers have depended on the Quinnipiac University Poll as a major source for timely, objective and accurate information about what people are thinking…In the 20 years since the poll began, it has grown to be one of the most respected and reliable public opinion surveys in the country. Poll results are quoted regularly by The Associated Press and on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox, and in major newspapers.”

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Not one to be left out of the limelight for very long, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman weighed in on the race to become his colleague in the US Senate. Lieberman said Thursday he’s open to supporting Republican Linda McMahon over Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

“I said I’m open,” Lieberman told POLITICO. “Is it theoretically possible? Yes. I probably know Blumenthal better, but I know Linda McMahon — she was on the state board of higher education, and I met with her a couple of times in that capacity. This is the great privilege that voters of Connecticut gave me in 2006 as an independent. Wait and see.”

Asked whether he is concerned about backlash from the Democratic Party should he back McMahon, Lieberman said: “I’m just saying I’m not eliminating it as a possibility,” adding that he was undecided on which party’s candidate to support in the Connecticut governor’s race as well.

Lieberman seems to take a strange pleasure in sticking it to the Connecticut Democratic establishment. Of course, he lost the 2006 primary to then anti-Iraq war candidate Ned Lamont before handily defeating Lamont in the general election. The voters’ decision didn’t sit well with the party.

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The “falling on the swords” has begun in the UConn basketball program. The university has scheduled a news conference for later this morning to give an “update” on the NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations. Already, two members of the hoops program have resigned according to Hartford Courant. The paper cites sources that say assistant coach Patrick Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald are out in light of allegations against the program and the NCAA review.

One would hope that UConn already knows that head coach Jim Calhoun will not be implicated in any wrong doing or officials would have held off signing the coach to a massive new contract that will pay him millions. If it turns out that the investigation touches Calhoun in any way, school officials will have a lot of explaining to do for inking the coach to the new deal which puts him among the highest paid coaches in the country despite failing to make the NCAA tournament last year.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal leads former wrestling executive Linda McMahon 56 – 31 percent in the U.S. Senate race and tops the Republican candidate by large margins on every character measure, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a 61 – 28 percent Blumenthal lead over McMahon in a March 17 survey by the independent Q-poll.

“It looks like Connecticut voters forgive Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, or feel that there is nothing to forgive in the Vietnam service flap. While he has taken a hit with voters, his poll numbers were so high to begin with that he still maintains a commanding lead over Linda McMahon,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD. “What is surprising is that McMahon gets no bounce from her Republican convention victory. Her negatives went up 13 points from 26 percent unfavorable to 39 percent unfavorable. The more voters get to know McMahon the less they like her.”

Former ambassador Tom Foley leads the Republican primary for governor with 37 percent, followed by Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele with 11 percent and businessman Oz Griebel with 5 percent. But 42 percent of Republicans are undecided and the percentage of voters who don’t know enough about the candidates to form an opinion ranges from 58 percent to 88 percent.

In the Democratic primary for governor, former Senate candidate Ned Lamont leads former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy 41 – 24 percent, with 30 percent undecided. Lamont gets a 46 – 12 percent favorability among Democrats, with 39 percent who haven’t heard enough to form an opinion. For Malloy, 65 percent haven’t heard enough.
“In the governor’s race, Ned Lamont leads Dan Malloy because of his advantage in money and name recognition that he built during his 2006 Senate run,” Schwartz said. “Foley dominates the largely unknown Mike Fedele and Oz Griebel.”

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Rob Simmons is not a fan of Linda McMahon. That’s putting it mildly. The former congressman who dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination for US Senate this week told the National Review Online that McMahon can’t win and he’ll find an excuse not to campaign for her if he is asked to.

When asked if he thinks his former rival for the Republican nomination for US Senate can beat Democrat Richard Blumenthal, Simmons said, “No, I don’t think so at all.” And if he is asked to help her out? He says he will say, “I’m preoccupied.” Simmons also told NRO that the simple reason he dropped out of the race is “money.” The Shad is of the opinion that Simmons believes McMahon might implode before the August primary, hence his leaving his name on the ballot while effectively ending his campaign.

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The soap opera that has become the battle between Middletown’s Mayor Sebastian Giuliano and the town’s school board is a colossal waste of time and tax dollars while being a source of embarrassment for the town. Giuliano should stop trying to run the town like his own personal fiefdom and work with the school board to make sure the taxpayers’ money is being spent in the most cost-effective way.

The worst thing either side could do was to bring the matter to court. As soon as that happens, everything is expensive and the taxpayers are on the hook for the bill. Giuliano should have backed off when the judge (once it was brought to court) sided with the schools Superintendent Michael Frechette, rejecting a lawsuit brought by the mayor asking the judge to bar Frechette from destroying documents. A simple pledge by Frechette that such action would not happen was enough for the judge.

Also finally gone is the around-the-clock police presence at the district’s central office. The police investigation about the possible destroying of documents or other actions is over and no one was charged.

Cooler heads have prevailed to a certain extent now that the two sides have pledged to try to settle things out of court—a move that should have happened first. Still unresolved according to the Hartford Courant are requests from the school board:
•That Giuliano not fire the employees he claims the school board hired illegally.

•That Giuliano stop trying to replace Frechette’s name, on school employee paychecks, with that of the city finance director and treasurer. Giuliano issued the order after concluding that the school board has hired people illegally.

•That Giuliano stop prohibiting school workers from talking with the school district’s attorney, Christine Chinni.

From the outside (and The Shad does not live in Middletown), the whole mess makes the town look silly; a sitcom-like story with Giuliano being the main, ridiculous character. The town and its people are much better than this and deserve better from their elected officials.

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State Senator Ed Meyer (D-Guilford) wants Dr. David Carter gone. Carter is the head of the Connecticut State University System and ignited controversy when he dismissed Central Connecticut State University President Cheryl Norton. He apparently did so without the knowledge of the CCSU board of trustees, except the chairman.

After a long and sometimes contentious informational hearing at the legislative office building in Hartford, Sen. Meyer called for replacing Carter because he created “a really bad atmosphere” and that the state university system needs new leadership. More to come on this issue for sure.

Governor Jodi Rell did her best to leave her mark as she enters her final months as the state’s chief executive by wielding a veto pen that struck a comprehensive electric rate reform bill as well as a bill that would have helped small business. Proponents of these bills, as expected, cried foul.

The bill was designed to achieve a 15 % drop in electricity rates, set goals for expanding solar powers, reorganize the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and impose new regulations on retailers.

“The legislation, as well-intentioned as it is, would likely result in higher utility bills for consumers and, at time when taxpayers simply cannot afford bigger government, creates another state bureaucracy,” Rell said in a press release.

The goal of reducing electricity rates by 15 % is an “unproven” claim, Rell said. “The bill does not specify how the reduction is to be achieved or which component of the rates will be reduced.” But critics point out that Rell often supports targeted and “unproven” savings such as the floated idea of selling Bradley Airport.

Rell apparently also objected to what she saw as a lack of input by the parties concerned—including the Republicans. This is the same governor who did a budget deal with legislative majority Democrats without the participation of Republicans.

Not surprisingly, the two Democrats running for governor criticized the governor’s veto.

Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, the party’s endorsed candidate for governor, told the New Haven Register Rell’s veto was “a mistake, plain and simple…The rates paid by Connecticut industries are nearly double the national average,” he said.

Ned Lamont, gearing up for a primary against Malloy, said the bill is not just about electric rates. “This was more than an energy bill, it was a jobs bill…The Governor’s decision to veto it was shortsighted, and it comes shortly after her gimmick-laden budget raided the Connecticut energy conservation fund. In less than a month, our Governor has twice thwarted Connecticut’s ability to compete in the fast-growing green energy economy.” As mentioned above, Gov. Rell struck the budget deal with majority Democrats in the legislature.

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Earlier, Rell vetoed a bill designed to help 46,000 small businesses in the state by eliminating the business entity tax. The bill, spearheaded impressively by Senate President Don Williams, would have suspended the tax for two years for businesses with at least one employee and a net income of less than $50,000. “Small businesses account for the vast majority of new jobs in Connecticut and this initiative would have offered help where it is needed most,” Williams said.

The break for small business would have been paid for with a tax on the ridiculous bonuses received by executives of corporations receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP money, from the government. “Our plan to compensate for the tax cut by implementing a temporary surcharge on large Wall Street bank bonuses was fair and legally sound. Unfortunately, Republicans have been determined to protect these Wall Street bonuses — their legal argument is simply a smoke screen,” Williams said.

The governor said the bill would have created an instant budget deficit she could not go along with. She also questioned the legality of taxing one particular group of people. Is this fiscal responsibility or once again protecting the wealthy?

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Coming off a very impressive weekend as CT-N’s elections coordinator running the fine cable coverage of the two conventions, well-known TV and radio personality Diane Smith has won yet another Emmy. “Living Modern in Connecticut” has been honored with a Boston/New England Emmy award in the category of Historical/Cultural Program.

In the half-hour documentary, host and producer Diane Smith tells the story of notable buildings, erected in the middle of the Twentieth Century. They range from the Glass House in New Canaan, to the Phoenix Companies’ “boat building” in Hartford, to a hockey rink shaped like a whale in New Haven, and a “floating tower” on Long Wharf.

Smith, a past Emmy Award winner and a Hanging Shad favorite, has been on the air in Connecticut since 1982. For ten years, she produced and hosted “Positively Connecticut” on CPTV as well as the “Pos Conn” segment on CPTV’s “All Things Connecticut” magazine series. Her fifth book Seasons of Connecticut will be published in June.