The Blue Suit’s on the money about the mayor
By JOSH RESNEK
The brilliant French philosopher Voltaire wrote: “In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other.”
The Blue Suit, that is, the mayor’s blue suit who speaks with me about his boss, loves Voltaire. The Blue Suit has told me so.
“Common sense is not so common,” Voltaire wrote, the Blue Suit told me.
“Men use thought only to justify their wrongdoings, and speech only to conceal their thoughts,” is another Voltaire bit of sarcasm and wisdom told to me by the Blue Suit.
“All is for the best, in the best of possible worlds,” Voltaire wrote in his magnum opus, Candide. The Blue Suit liked this one when I read it to him.
“Voltaire is unreal. Do you realize Carlo has no idea who Voltaire was or about Candide. The mayor might say to me, ‘What candy are you talking about?’ because Candide sounds like candy,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“You sound like you’re down. What’s wrong?” I asked the Blue Suit.
“The boss. The mayor. Carlo is down in the dumps about money. I know he is. I can tell how he’s acting that he needs money. He’s grouchy. He’s quiet. He doesn’t want to be disturbed or to do anything but what he wants to do with his life. The social distancing is killing him on the inside,” the Blue Suit said to me. “Believe me when I tell you. His bank account is hurting. It is almost non-existent. Take it from me. I know. I hear him talk about his financial condition all the time. He needs a score real badly,” the Blue Suit said to me.
“I thought the mayor was rich because of his relatives?” I asked.
“No. No,” the Blue Suit replied.
“At least that’s what he tells everyone about how rich his relatives are. He talks like he doesn’t need money or won’t have to work and yet he is always asking for contributions or favors. What are his needs for money? I don’t get it. He makes about $200,000 as the mayor, another $12,500 for a car and he has an expense account and can use his political campaign account,” I added.
The Blue Suit had a hearty laugh.
“His richest relative (not a blood relative) won’t give him a dime. I know this. I’ve heard all the talk in the house from my closet where I am hanging. Not only that, that relative gave him the four donut shops he is going to lose. He already closed down one of them in Revere. The others the mayor has said will probably not be operating in a short time. He said there were no customers. He said that on radio recently,” the Blue Suit informed me.
“Wow,” I said. In fact, I heard him say that on Bloomberg Radio.
“I always figured the mayor was a big rich guy. He certainly lives like a rich guy. He’s got the swagger, I guess, without one important ingredient, the money to match it or to justify it,” I said to the Blue Suit.
“Good observation,” the Blue Suit answered.
“But why won’t the rich relative just hand him a pile of dough?” I asked.
“It’s personal,” said the Blue Suit. “Its personal between him and the relative. The guy has had to bail him out on a number of occasions for complicated difficulties. He’s done it but he doesn’t feel like doing it anymore. That’s all I’m going to say about it,” the Blue Suit cautioned.
“The need for money and how it causes the boss to be, and how it forces him to do things that aren’t exactly proper are made worse by one other thing about him,” he added thoughtfully.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Jealousy is the other thing that eats him from the inside. He wants what others have. You get that? The mayor wants the money from a bank account that isn’t his if it is big enough. He doesn’t care how he gets it as long as the money in the account ends up in his hands. The way he sees it when he is in the company of much wealthier people he wants what they have. He should have more money than they do, is how he thinks about it. He hates them because they have more money and usually, more influence. He wants so much he can’t have that I wonder if there is anything in this world that means more to him than money?” the Blue Suit said, “that is, money he doesn’t have.”
“He spends whatever is given to him and then goes out and spends more,” the Blue Suit added. “You know he doesn’t have any credit cards.”
“He runs the city like he runs his own accounts. He’s trying to pay huge personal mortgages in a changing economic situation. His donut shops are going under. He needs more and more income. I just don’t know how long he can last without
being bailed out, again.”
“If I were him I’d be happy just to be mayor and call it a day,” the Blue Suit said.
“That would be the smart thing to do,” I said. “He’s not smart enough to see exactly where he is right now in his life in order to appreciate it, to make more friends, and to grow. Give him another ten years and he’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks for talking with me,” the Blue Suit said.
“Talk to you soon, buddy. And as I always say, don’t let the mayor wear you out!”