I'm glad to hear that Massachusetts Congressman William Keating (D) is "extremely disappointed" that defense contractor Lockheed Martin is shuttering its Marion operation. I am disappointed too. So why did it take Keating a week to respond to the news?

Keating has represented the 9th District since the Democrats gerrymandered Barney Frank out of here and into retirement. He appears to have learned of the closing from the news media. That's a particularly frightening thought since Keating serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Shouldn't he have had a clue that something was coming? And why is it happening?

Senior Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We've had nothing from her yet on the Lockheed Martin announcement. In fact, as WBSM was reporting the news, Warren and Junior Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey were busy trying to sell their wealth tax proposal to the press.

With members of our congressional delegation serving on the Armed Services Committees in both the House and Senate, Lockheed Martin should be thriving. But our delegation doesn't like military contractors. Warren referred to Lockheed Martin as corrupt during a recent campaign.

Lockheed Martin is leaving Massachusetts with 400 high-paying jobs with benefits in part because of the hostile delegation we have here. There are no other companies in Southeastern Massachusetts that can provide those dislocated workers with what they have at Lockheed Martin.

As usual, Warren and Markey have been AWOL. Keating has at the least been negligent. And where is Republican Governor Charlie Baker on all of this? We don't know if he has even heard or cares about the closing.

Massachusetts, we deserve much better than this collection of hacks. When are you ever going to stop supporting these people?

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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