by Dan Haley
3/3/2012

No, Patrick wasn't talking about his Governorship, although with all of the time and energy he spends these days on raising his national profile and stumping for President Obama, one could be forgiven the assumption that he was.

In this latest appearance of the character I like to think of as "Petulant Patrick," the Governor is referring to questions about the intertwined car crash / Chelsea Housing scandals that just won't die, both starring his faithful Lieutenant Governor.

"I'm done" seems to be the Governor's new talking point on the issue. He spat it out today in response to questions during his semi-weekly WTKK radio appearance ("I’m done. We’re moving on...") and in response to repeated queries by the Globe and Herald about his Administration's refusal to take the simple step of asking Verizon for an itemized record of the LG's cell phone calls ("We’ve gone beyond what is required of the law, and I’m done"). The line certainly has the virtue of simplicity.

My four year old uses the same line at the dinner table, in much the same tone. "Finish your vegetables, honey." "I'm done." Most times it doesn't work for her.
 

He's done.

Think about the Governor's position here, as he described it today:
 

“I’ve spent a lot of time on this with the lieutenant governor and I’ve asked lots and lots of questions, and he has answered them openly and totally and I’m convinced of them,” Patrick said this morning after his monthly appearance on WTKK-FM. “And, by the way, I think asking him to prove a negative is wildly unfair and unreasonable.”

So even though Murray's public explanations have been wildly inconsistent, leading in each iteration to additional questions, Murray has answered Governor Patrick's questions "openly and totally," and the public and the press should just shut up and take his word for it. He's done. Move on.

It's an interesting notion of public accountability, and one with which I doubt our newspapers of record are going to be satisfied.