Governor Coakley, 'nuff said. And when are these nitwits going to learn not to send e-mails about this stuff? For cripes sake, they handed Marsha a loaded gun pointed at their own heads (Note to BDC censors: that would be a figurative gun.). Stupid is as stupid does.

Cahill was a plant by the Democrats to take votes from Charlie Baker so Deval can get re-elected. Just another corrupt politician. Hope he convicted and go to jail but I doubt that very much.

Brian- This column is a walk-off homer.

Your last four paragraphs...a surprise ending!

Just because the end result was a pathetic loss doesn't mean it wasn't wrong. Yes, it feels a bit like piling on, and kicking a man when he is down. But would we feel the same way had he won? Given the casual way our politicians treat OUR money, as with the Probation Dept., there needs to be a zero tolerance policy regarding misuse of money. Public trust in government demands no less. And holding the perpetrators personally responsible can act as a deterrent. But then again, DiCarlo and Mackenzie and the Ward Commission were 30-plus years ago and politicians never learned from that one either. A reminder kick in the pants of a perp walk to jail doesn't hurt as far as bolstering one's moral compass as far as actions are concerned.

This AG is a consumer protection advocate not a prosecutor. She has been embarrassed by the Feds every year. The Feds brought Diane W, Chuck T, Tom F, Charlie F and Sal D to justice. That's a state senator, a city counselor and 3 Speakers of the House for those keeping score at home. Very impressive. Martha Coakley goes after businesses in this state fines them or regulates them in the name of justice. I can not recall the last time she prosecuted a sitting public official. Now she is going after this Tim rather than the other Tim. (She has texts from Cahill's people however she cannot get the Lt. Gov. to produce his cell phone records) She is going after this Tim rather than the Sec of State who produces the same adds when his reelection rolls around. Not a peep from Bill Galvin for 3 years then months before the election I see him in a mail box touting his accomplishments. Bill who have you been texting lately?

Great column! I still don't get why she won't go after Murray. That would be a home-run for her in 2014.

I don't know. Tim Cahill did something illegal with public funds, and our AG is prosecuting it, as it is her job to do. In fact, as her job is an elected public office, and we have every reason to believe she will run for it again, documenting that she is doing her job well doesn't bother me. Just because it didn't work doesn't mean he should get a walk - we would prosecute a failed bank robbery. And just because he is pitiful doesn't mean he should be left alone - we prosecute plenty of people who had less of a chance at a good life than him.

Martha Coakley is a two-bit prosecutor... period. She should have stayed a prosecutor in Middlesex, where she worked alongside Gerry Leone and got herself a few good wins. But she had - as belied by McGrory - an ego that wanted to propel her to the big time, where she could play prosecutor befoe this or that U.S. Senatorial committee and, thus, the nation. Her arrogance got the voters to put her in her senatorial place, but unfortunately the Bay State Demomob sent her back to the AG's office. Now she is playing with a new, untested law passed by the latest Demohacks lined up at the state trough, and signed by a Demo-minihack named Deval, who refused to answer questions about whether he thinks this alleged ethics law is valid. Imagine, the bozo signed a piece of legislation into alw and months later refuses to discuss it. Coakley's stupidity in bringing this case against Cahill is so apparent that even ex-state Sen. Warren Tolman, usually a strong Democratic partisan, indicated his doubts about its validity during a recent appearance on WGBH's "Greater Boston" show.

Since when is it wrong for the attorney general to prosecute a crime? Yes, she stopped the ads at the time...but if the cops caught a bank robber walking out of the bank with $1.5 million, they wouldn't just take the bag of money and let the guy go. They'd prosecute him for bank robbery. Tim Cahill's campaign used $1.5 million of state money to produce ads specifically designed for no other purpose than to boost his failing campaign. That's illegal. It's amusing to watch reporters and columnists like Mr. McGrory and Joe Battenfeld try to excuse away Cahill's actions. Would they be so forgiving had he changed the "D" after his name to an "R"? Or if he were a long-time Republican pol? I don't think so. Just like this columnist does, others in the media are trying to equate politicians benefiting from the publicity that naturally comes with doing their job to what Tim Cahill did. The two aren't even close. Yes, Martha Coakley got some publicity for doing her job. That's not illegal. If, however, someone could find an email from Martha's campaign manager stating "You need to prosecute Tim Cahill in order to get some good PR for your reelection campaign," that would be illegal -- just as it was illegal for Cahill's campaign advisors to order the state lottery to blow 80% of its ad budget for the whole year in one month on ads specifically designed to boost Cahill's campaign. The emails are the smoking gun: You have a top campaign strategist writing to the campaign manager, "Get the lottery immediately cutting a spot and get it up..." Since when do political campaign managers give orders on how state agencies spend taxpayer money? Answer: they don't, because that's illegal. And all the media reporters who think Timmy's a nice guy and didn't really do anything wrong need to wake up and smell the coffee instead of bashing Martha Coakley for actually prosecuting one of these self-serving pols for a change.

A politician misusing their office for further political gain? I'm shocked! This is a slippery slope. The Governor, and the Attorney General herself can certainly be found misusing resources to highlight their political ambitions. Will they be prosecuted? Tim Cahill might have been wrong. He used the current system and bent it to his will. The system is the problem, but let's not change the system because then the Governor, Attorney General, and many other Pols in this sorry political state will have to change how they do business. Good piece McGrory.

Martha Coakley had to have photographs taken because that's how our political system works. She has no choice. All who would serve as attorney general, or in any elected office, need to document their accomplishments because the general public either has a biased and selective political memory, subject to influential distortion and lies by politicians, or no long-term memory at all. Politicians do not live normal lives. Most decent people are modest about themselves and are humble about their accomplishments (except for the nouveau riche who need to impress everyone 24-7). Politicians cannot afford to live this way. Martha Coakley ran for senator and tried to appear normal, like most of us, and she lost the race to a candidate who now cleverly uses and exploits his bleak childhood experiences (and recently used his sister) to attract votes from a sympathetic public.

Mr. McGrory do you remember the catchphrases that characterized former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's administration? It was his "broken window" theory of government. The "broken window" theory held that an unfixed broken window in a building gives a city block the appearance of decay and disrepair, and thus encourages the congregation of lawless individuals, who see the physical deterioration as a sign that their shady activities will go unnoticed. Most politicians see themselves above the law, no different than many criminals, it is only a matter if and when they get caught. Well, Tim Cahill got caught, and it is Martha Coakley's job to protect the Massachusetts citizens from corruption, small criminal acts, large criminal acts - and the state's politicians. Further more, Martha Coakley has every right to inform the media about her actions, because Martha Coakley is earning her salary. The irony is that Tim Cahill was spending our tax payer money on himself with the intent to climb the political ladder. Selfish, foolish man.

Of all the problems in Mass. government, Coakly picked one that, at best, is a marginal issue. I can't predict the outcome of Cahill's trial but, if he is found to be guilty, that won't be a significant deterrent for the rest of the Beacon Hill insiders. It is unacceptable that prosecutions of Mass. politicians are mostly done by the US Attorney, not Martha Coakly. Demasi, and his predecessors have all be caught by the Feds and that gives us the impression that Coakly, being a Beacon Hill Democrat, is unwilling to go after the really bad actors. It's no wonder she lost the election for US Senate. There aren't any reasons to vote for her.

MUCH better article than lehigh's-much better

It doesn't feel right? We live in the most corrupt state in the country and its Treasurer decides to use taxpayer money to run commercials for himself? Are things really that bad here that we should turn a blind eye to a rogue politician? Wow!

So when Martha mounts a high profile prosecution of a low level offense...such as this one...is SHE in turn misusing her office for political gain?

Brilliantly said. Exactly what I've been thinking all week.

Firegerry wonders... "I still don't get why she won't go after Murray." Don't be silly. That would mean taking on the power structure of her own party. Poor dummy Cahill has nobody watching HIS back.

You can tell, Brian McGrory has lived too long in Massachusetts. When you see egregious acts of self-promotion, nepotism and cronyism every day, something as 'slight' as a state treasurer raiding the Commonwealth's piggy bank to fund his oxygen and intelligence-deprived political campaign doesn't appear too criminal by comparison. McGrory should have blown the whistle on this narcissistic fraud of a public servant when Cahill first forced his high level executives to sign non-disclosure agreements, so that malfeasance like raiding the lottery ad budget would never come to light. Or when it became obvious that Cahill was selecting lottery vendors because of their campaign donations instead of their qualifications. If we don't start to put these bad actors in jail, we'll never clean up the swamp that is Massachusetts' political scene. Good thing Cahill's wife and daughter have jobs in the Probation department to keep the wolf at bay!

What's wrong with "sandwich shop owners"?