State Rep. fails to save face on Howie Carr Show (BONUS: See Howie's latest on the subject!)

File Photo:  State Representative Demetrius Atsalis parking cars at his Ocean Street lot  

HYANNIS – State Representative Demetrius Atsalis has been in the habit of breaking rules lately, especially when he placed an ill-advised call to Friday’s addition of the Howie Carr Show unsuccessfully attempting to explain away his recent losing confrontation with a juvenile town employee.

Rule 1 of Politics 101: never voluntarily call a popular rush-hour radio talk show when they’re in the middle of poking fun at one of your latest “Do you know who I am” episodes!

Rule number 2: never EVER admit to purposefully displaying one of your State House business cards on your dashboard in lieu of a Town of Barnstable Residential Beach Sticker, especially while two local cops have been dispatched to your location after receiving a call from the parking attendant you allegedly just disobeyed!

Rule number 3: if one of the local 16-year-old beach gate attendants refuses to let you park for free, don’t tell her you’re “Demetrius Atsalis,” then say “Just give me a ticket. They will laugh in your face,” and then continue to park anyways.

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Just after 6pm on Friday, National Radio Hall of Famer and talk show host Howie Carr was enjoying a good chuckle over a recent Barnstable Patriot Article which stated according to Barnstable Police Dispatcher Rachelle Moniz , “The oper(ator's) exact quote to the attendant was ‘Just give me a ticket. They will laugh in your face.’”

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Carr was referring to what was seemingly another “Do you know who I am” moment, where yet another local politician had been caught attempting to throw his weight around, when suddenly, to the delight of talk show personnel and attentive listeners, our local State Representative astonished everyone when he decided to call in and add fuel to his own burning at the stake!

What followed can only be described as “unbelievable.”  So outrageous I’ve had to edit my notes, omitting a good portion of the conversation due to redundancy; redundancy not merely in terms of what was said, but more so in regards to the way Atsalis came across as a careless blatantly arrogant government hack with little regard for the sensibilities of those of us who believe the laws and rules should apply to all citizens – yes, even state representatives.

The short story: On July 12, two Barnstable Police Officers reportedly were dispatched to Veteran’s Beach on Ocean Street after receiving a call from the gate attendant reporting that Atsalis went ahead and parked anyways after refusing to pay.  (According to Atsalis he was responding to some type of marine "emergency" call from a friend…)  A parking ticket was issued.  Big deal…  Who cares?  Hardly a major story, especially not one that would lead to Carr dedicating nearly an hour segment to the topic...   

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But when Carr simply asked Atsalis whether or not he told the gate attendant he was a “State Representative,” and Atsalis said he didn’t, but did admit to dropping his own name, things went from bad to worse for the veteran legislator. 

Not missing a beat, Carr, in so many words, enquired as to whether Atsalis considered dropping the name "Demetrius Atsalis" to be basically the “same thing,” as Atsalis found himself backpedaling, saying that it was unlikely the 16-year-old female town employee was old enough to even know who he was…

… Perhaps that is why Atsalis then carelessly went on to admit on the air that he had left one of his business cards on the dashboard... perhaps because his “do you know who I am” tactic with the gate attendant was getting him nowhere!  Now even more suspicious, both Carr and callers grilled Atsalis on his motives for displaying one of his cards.

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All of Howie Carr’s telephone lines immediately lit up when Atsalis surprisingly agreed to hang on the line and take even more calls!

Rule number 4: when you’re the brunt of a joke and there’s no way out, NEVER “take calls,” especially from the veteran listeners of the Howie Carr Show.

Now I’d like to tell you that good ole Demetrius represented Hyannis and the Cape well by the smooth manner in which he fielded calls from perturbed listeners…  I would love to report that in the eyes of Howie’s New England (and beyond) listening audience that local State Representative Demetrius Atsalis made Cape Codders look like the sagacious salts we all happen to be, but that would be a gross misrepresentation of what actually followed. 

The sad truth is that Atsalis made himself and all his constituents look like a bunch of dopes.

Banana heads!  Morons!  Hicks!  Country bumpkins!  Herring chokers!  Sand spit dwellers!  Tourist trappers!  Are these nicknames we want? 

Well, if politicians of our current Representative’s ilk are allowed to indiscreetly broadcast their careless nonsense over the airwaves… well, I guess it’s true what they say, we all ‘get the government we deserve.’  Maybe I should pipe down and just accept our present lack of leadership.  After all, I'm geographically associated with the aforementioned fools that have consistently voted Atsalis into office.  Many of whom are seemingly intelligent and well intentioned folk... seemingly... 'nuff said, better to say no more... wouldn't want to pull an "Atsalis."

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There’s a lesson for everyone here, local politicians should especially take notice: LEARN WHEN TO SHUT UP!  PLEASE!

Most callers couldn’t believe the “arrogance” and inability to see that the way he had recently conducted himself was clearly wrong and unethical.  In response, Atsalis only added fuel to the fire by becoming confrontational and abrasive to everyone and anyone who disagreed with him.

Atsalis even went so far as to chastise Carr for mispronouncing his last name by interrupting the host with his little ‘get it right’ speech… Atsalis was furious, and can you blame him?  He had effectively painted himself into a corner, and things could only get worse.  It must have been extremely frustrating for our privileged leader.

Perhaps the most humorous point in the entire discourse was when “Officer Mark,” a cop and frequent caller, asked Atsalis whether he saw himself as a one-man Marine Emergency Response Unit… one we all didn’t know about?

According to Atsalis, the initial cause of the whole ordeal was when he decided to respond to an “emergency” call from a friend with undisclosed boat troubles from his Ocean Street job parking cars, and that the notion of contacting one of our many professionally trained marine first responders was an option which somehow did not presented itself at the time. 

That’s our State Rep., a one-man rescue squad.

(Atsalis denied Carr's tongue in cheek accusation that the real "marine emergency" was that they had just run out of beer.)

Next time Demetrius, do yourself and the rest of us all a favor and dial 911… and remember, business cards are no longer acceptable alternatives to beach stickers in the Town of Barnstable. 

The fact that most of us get up in the morning, look in the mirror and only aspire to be one of the Commonwealth’s beautiful “chosen few” is certainly one of my own current personal realities, and I dare say a similar reality for most people reading this! 

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I have to admit I was a bit frustrated when I heard Atsalis make matters even worse this past Friday.

But was I perturbed with the fact someone broke the law, received a ticket, and may or may not have paid it?  No.

Did it rub me the wrong way that someone had a bad day and may have made some really stupid comments at one of the local beach gates?  No, that’s not it either.

Does it bother me when our elected officials, citizens like the rest of us, receive or expect to receive special treatment?  Not really, that sort of malarkey has been happening since the beginning of time.

No, I’ll tell you what really bothered me… It bothered me when our “State Representative” foolishly thought he could dial a talk radio program and talk his way out of being seen a certain way.  Instead he made a slip-up by admitting to displaying his card on the dash after unsuccessfully trying to drop his own name, and then began to argue his point with the listeners and host as if what he did was perfectly alright, possibly even warranted! 

What made State Representative Demetrius Atsalis sound so completely and utterly ridiculous this past Friday was the fact that he came across like he believed his own rhetoric, compounded further when he argued and expected "us" to believe the same. 

At a time when our city, and even our nation, is crying out for responsible leadership, do we really need these shenanigans? 

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Like Howie Carr said, "These people aren’t reps, they’re recidivists."

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Click here to see more of what Howie had to say about Friday’s State Rep. Hack-A-Thon

(You can catch the Howie Carr Show live locally on 95.1 FM at 3pm, or visit HowieCarr.com for live streaming)

Politicians are forewarned - this has been a public service announcement of Hyannis News.