Once a hack, always a hack.

Former Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert (D) has been named Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. In other words, Lambert will be the chief legislative lobbyist for the business community on education matters.

Let's be clear: business leaders have great reason to be concerned about an education system hell-bent on indoctrination rather than education, and a workforce more interested in smoking pot than earning a living. So why wouldn't they want to hire a professional hack with all of the right connections to fight for their agenda?

Well heck, Ed Lambert is about as connected as they get.

Lambert began his public career with a stint on the Fall River School Committee. He loved education so much that he quickly became a rising star in the Massachusetts House, where he played a major role in the education reform movement of 1993 which gave us MCAS and our current Chapter 70 funding formula. Lambert then served as Mayor of Fall River from 1996-2007, where he learned that a chow mein sandwich and a song at the senior center is all you need to win an election.

After plunging Fall River deep into debt, Lambert bailed just before the "great recession" took hold. His golden parachute landed him safely at UMass Dartmouth, where they created the position of executive director of the Urban Initiative at UMass Dartmouth just for him. It was the first of two golden parachute drops at UMass for Lambert, who later served as the vice chancellor for government relations and public affairs at the UMass Boston.

You may remember Lambert's short stint as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, during which a Haitian woman's dead body was allowed to remain at the bottom of a municipal swimming pool in Fall River for days undetected by lifeguards or swimmers.

Between his tenure as mayor, his time as a state rep., the executive director at DCR and two hitches at UMass, can you imagine how much this guy is going to haul in in taxpayer-funded pensions? Holy crap!

Ed Lambert, always quick with a smile and a song. Well connected. Always at the top of the list when that cushy state job opens up. Just the right guy to grease up the good ol' boys on Beacon Hill.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. 

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