(UPDATE: The stodgy side of Boston wins another round. As of Sunday, when we checked the feed, Twitter appears to have suspended @MayorFlaherty.)
He believes his former running mate Sam Yoon is trapped in a Hyde Park basement. He’s thought about keying the car of a top adviser to Mayor Thomas Menino. And he’s apparently a big fan of “The Hunger Games,” a series of young adult books.
Welcome to the fake Twitter feed of Michael Flaherty, former city councillor at-large and mayoral candidate, and a potential future candidate for public office.
It’s a parody in the vein of @BPGlobalPR, which spoofed the company’s reaction to last year’s oil spill, and @MayorEmanuel, the faux feed of the foul-mouthed mayor-elect of Chicago. (The real Flaherty’s Twitter feed is available at www.twitter.com/mfflaherty.)
The fake feed (www.twitter.com/mayorflaherty) popped over Easter weekend, after the real Flaherty, who is thinking about running to reclaim a City Council At-Large seat, got into a public tiff on Twitter with Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker over whether Flaherty should get into the at-large race this year.
“Sickening that there are still ‘Irish Catholics from legacy families need not apply’ signs all over Boston,” the fake Flaherty said in his second post.
The sharp satire has Boston political insiders buzzing. It’s a refreshing tweak in a city that sometimes still feels like the one that arrested reporter H.L. Mencken 85 years ago. A small town with big egos, unaccustomed to getting pricked as much as their counterparts in New York, Chicago and D.C.
Theories of who is behind the feed abound. Quipped one City Hall insider: “Maybe it’s Chuck Turner writing from jail.”
Here’s a taste of the Twitter feed:
After the Boston Phoenix’s David Bernstein placed Flaherty at No. 8 on a list of top 10 mayoral contenders, @MayorFlaherty told the reporter: “Tonight, when your home erupts in flames, don’t bothering calling the fire department.”
He mused about the whereabouts of former City Councillor At-Large Sam Yoon: “Literally- I don’t know where Sam Yoon is. ‘They’ say he’s in DC. Sam could be locked in the basement of the Hyde Park Pharmacy. For real.”
The rising price of gas: “Since Menino was reelected, gas prices in Boston have skyrocketed. No Councilor has said a word. Are the mayor & Council in bed with Saudis?”
His new platform: “Tired of the rain? Well, that’s what you get for voting for Menino. Rain and no burritos. Mayor Flaherty = sunshine & burritos”
And during the Easter weekend: “LeBron had ‘The Decision.’ Thinking of calling my Easter Sunday announcement The Resurrection. Advisors aren’t sure if stigmata crosses line”
“I’ve received dozens of messages from supporters in every neighborhood and stigmata is out. But [Boston Neighborhood News] will televise The Resurrection live.”
