ON THE LEFT, STRAINING TO DEFEND MARTHA COAKLEY . . . over the Amirault case? “She’s conceding that the Amirault case was a travesty of justice, and that Coakley was wrong for her extraordinary efforts to keep Gerald Amiralut in prison. But she’s then arguing that Coakley deserves a pass specifically for her actions in the Amirault case, anyway, because all prosecutors do it, and because it’s what Coakley had to do to accumulate political power and move on to higher office. That is one hellaciously disturbing statement of values.”

And a familiar one. You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, revolutionary truth is better than bourgeois truth, yada yada.