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Like his belovedbaseball
team, the one that plays at
Fenway Park, this does not
appear to be Seth Moult-
on’s year.
His presidential cam-
paign has struggled to gain
traction, and wise guys
have been saying that he
never had a chanceanyway, so why run?
Hmm. The ambition thing.
You can blame him, if you’d like, saying
he was too cute by half in pursuing his
Quixotic campaign,or, even better, too am-
bitious, which I find amusing. I have never
met a politician who wasn’t ambitious and
wouldbedeeplysuspiciousofonewho
isn’t. I’ve never understood why so many
people consider ambition a pejorative, in
Moulton’s or any other politician’s case.
Ambition is good, especially in politics.
Many mediatypes never warmed to
Moulton, seeing him as peripatetic in his
ambition.
If you say a female politician is too ambi-
tious, you’re sexist. If you say it abouta guy
like Moulton, you’re woke.
Go figure.
Some people will never forgive Moulton
for trying to take out Nancy Pelosi. Didn’t
bother me. She presided over a moribund
party that suffered historic losses. And
while some described Moulton’s putsch as
sexist, and, even moreridiculously, ageist,
Pelosi has hardlybeenan enthusiastic sup-
porter of women in party leadership.
Moulton went after the top three leaders of
the Democratic party, and by my count two
of them were men.
Call me naive,but I thought the story of
why somepoliticians changed theirminds
and their votes, leaving Moulton holding
the bag, was moreinteresting than remon-
strating about Moulton’s chutzpah. They
give out Profiles in Courage awards to those
who defy theirparty, but, oh, well.
Give Pelosi somecredit. She stepped up,
becoming a worthy adversary of the crazy
guy in the White House. Maybe Moulton
deserves somecredit for that. And, to all
the progressives already typing angry mis-
sives, please note that Moulton has been
calling for Trump’s impeachment while
Pelosi, so far, has demurred.
So, who’s the real progressive?
Politics is all about timing, and this isn’t
Seth Moulton’s time.Beinga Marine officer
who led men in combat used to mean
something, but it means less now in a
country where many regard our military as
they do the guys who cut their grass: hired
help. The men in Moulton’s platoons—
while Moulton served with many female
Marines, therewereno womenin the pla-
toons he commanded — werediverse in
color, religion, sexuality, and origin.
Seems to me that somebody who could
lead a diverse group of people in something
as highlystressful and chaotic as war would
be eminently qualified to lead a diverse na-
tion that has never in modern timesbeen
as divided and chaotic as now.
Moulton did his country someservice in
Iraq, and he’s donesomeservice in his cam-
paign. He tried to reduce the stigmasur-
rounding mental illness by acknowledging
he had sufferedfrom post-traumatic stress,
the first presidential candidate to acknowl-
edge such a vulnerability.
He talked about reshaping foreign poli-
cy, not so that it would return to pre-Trump
so-called normalcy, but to go beyond the
confines of the neo-con orthodoxy that got
us into warsthat he — not the chicken
hawks in Congress who wouldn’t dreamof
sendingtheir own kids — fought.
He talked not only aboutrethinking
NATO, whichas constituted is a Cold War
relic, but creating a Pacific version of
NATO, to provide a checkon an increasing-
ly, dare I say, ambitious China.
I would pay big money to watch Moult-
on, a decorated combat veteran, debate
Trump,who scammed his way out of the
service, on how to support our military and
our veterans. No one in the Democratic
field, not even Navy veteran Pete Buttigieg,
who like Moulton is a Harvard guy and a
good guy, could eviscerate Trump like
Moulton.
But, again, it isn’t his year.
Some year, it might be.
But then,in saying that, maybe I’m be-
ing too ambitious.

KevinCullen is a Globecolumnist.Hecan
be reachedat [email protected].

For Moulton,

bad timing

KevinCullen

Business

PAGESB5-
For breakingnews, goto
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business

ByShelley Murphy

and Travis Andersen

GLOBESTAFF

PROVIDENCE— Nathan Car-

manand his motherweretrolling

for fish about 100 miles offshorein

September 2016whenhis boat’s en-

gine made a strange noise, Carman

testifiedin federal court Thursday.

He lifted a hatch, saw water filling

the boat just belowdeck, and asked

his motherto reel in their lines

whilehe grabbed safety gear.

Carmansaidhe managed to

make it safely to a life raft, which

had automaticallydeployed,with a

bag of dry clothes and enough food

for weeks. But he never saw his

mother, Linda, who is presumed

dead.

“I did not hear her scream,” said

Carman, 25, taking the stand on the

sixth day of a civil trial over his

$85,000 insurance claim for the loss

of his boat, the 31-foot Chicken Pox.

“I don’t think there wouldhave

been time to compose a sentence.”

The deck “started to feel spongy,”

Carmantestified,andthen“the

boat just dropped out,” leaving him

alone in the water. He said his

mother never said a wordas the ves-

sel sankand he didn’t see her disap-

pear into the sea.

“Was yourmother even on

board?”asked David Farrell, a law-

yer who represents the insurers and

challenged Carman’s account.

“I’ve toldyou yes she was on

board and I asked her to reel in the

lines, which she did,” he replied.

Dressedin a gray suit, white

shirt, and blue stripedtie, Carman

answered questions calmly during

five hourson the stand but looked

visiblyuncomfortable as Farrell

pressedhim abouthis mother’s fi-

CARMAN,PageB

Carman testifies his boat sank suddenly

Says he didn’thear

his mother scream

ByLaurenFox

GLOBECORRESPONDENT

P

ast the cafes and pastry shops, and a

two-minute walk from Paul Revere’s

statue, there’s a brick alley just off

Hanover Street. Most visitors follow

the Freedom Trail toward the Old

North Church, but somefind their way here, to

a self-made tourist attraction called All Saints

Way.

“My nameis Peter,” Peter Baldassari told

the wide-eyed tourists who stoppedto peer in-

to the narrowalley. “That’s my shrine.”

He ushered themoff Battery Street and into

the cool of the shadedalley,where framed pic-

tures and collages of Catholic saints cover the

walls. Saint Joan, Saint Gabriel, Saint Patrick,

Saint Jeanne — hundreds in all, a vast collec-

tion faithfully assembled over nearly 30 years.

“There are moresaints therethan in para-

dise,” joked the Rev. Antonio Nardoianni of St.

Leonard’s Church, where Baldassari ushers at

Saturday evening Masses. Nardoianni, 70,

called Baldassari an “encyclopedia” of saints.

Baldassari, 75, knows whereevery saintis

in the alley, because he put themthere.

“This is Saint Therese, the Little Flower,” he

said, pointing to her collage. “You know who

gave her the nameLittle Flower? Herself. She

told God, ‘I’m your little flower.’ ”

Without pause, he’s on to the next.

“That’s Padre Pio. He says, ‘Pray, hope, and

don’t worry,’ ” Baldassari explained. “Some of

the people in this neighborhood don’t pray,

they don’t hope, they just worry. WhenI tell

people that they laugh.”

All Saints Way, a name Baldassari coined, is

a bit off the beaten path, but still draws visitors

from around the world. Google Maps labels it a

tourist attraction, as does Lonely Planet and

RoadsideAmerica, and Baldassari says it’s list-

ed in someforeign travel guides. He has met

people from Iran, Iraq, Germany, Russia, and

Poland, just to name a few. All Saints Way

draws a lot of Frenchtourists, although some-

timesthey get on Baldassari’s nerves. Some

can’t even name a single French saint, he said.

“There’s so many!” he exclaimedwith exas-

peration.

Baldassari has gathered most of the collec-

SAINTS, PageB

PHOTOSBY JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF

PeterBaldassaristoodin AllSaintsWay, hisshrineto Catholicsaintsin a North Endalleyway. Hestartedworkingonit 28yearsago.

Saints are up his alley

A North End man created and tends a shrine tucked away in the neighborhood

Statuesof Catholicsaintssitatopthe

entranceto AllSaintsWay, analleyway.

ByBryanMarquard

GLOBESTAFF

On a February day in 1985,

Judge DarrellL. Outlaw picked up

an unloaded pistol that was evi-

dence in a crime and — dangling it

from his fingers as far away as his

arm could reach— he lamented

the state of affairs in the commu-

nity, as he presidedover a robbery

case in Dorchester District Court.

“I sit heredailyand see these

guns and they must be eradicated

from the community,” he said.

Judge Outlaw, who had lived in

Quincy and was 95 whenhe died

Aug. 15, didn’t shy frommaking

bold statementsor taking serious

steps while serving on the bench.

Five yearsafter he publicly de-

criedthe abundanceof firearms,

he published an opinionpiecein

the Globecallingfor the State Po-

lice to augmentthe Boston Police

presencein Dorchester and Rox-

bury.

“The Boston Police Depart-

ment has done an admirable job

OUTLAW,PageB

ByEdward Fitzpatrick

GLOBE STAFF

PROVIDENCE— After livingin

Providence for a decade, Nicholas

Mohamedlanded a job as global ac-

countingdirector at Converse in

Boston. But thenhe faced a ques-

tion familiar to many RhodeIsland-

ers who commutenorth: How do I

get to work?

Driving was “outof the ques-

tion,” he said. “It could be two hours

each way.”

Likewise, Massachusetts Bay

Transportation Authority commut-

er trains just weren’t fast enough.

“My wifeand I bothwork,” Mo-

hamedsaid.“We dropoff and pick

up the kids.”

And Amtrak’s high-speedAcela

train?“Not frequent enough,” he

said.

So in 2016,the Mohamedfamily

moved to Belmont, Mass.

“We would have been content to

stay in Rhode Islandif we could

have madethe trains work,” Mo-

hamed said.

Now, Rhode Island and Massa-

chusetts officials are looking at ways

to make the trains work better and

faster — includingproposalsto re-

place the MBTA’s old diesel trains

with morereliable electric trains on

tracks that alreadyhave the advan-

tage of being electrified.

While questionsof cost and po-

litical will remain, transportation

experts say the needfor morerapid

regional transit is obvious on both

sides of the border.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie

Baker’s administration just declared

TRAINS,PageB

Boston, Providence look

for a quicker rail link

DARRELL L. OUTLAW1923-

A fervent voice formaking

streets of Bostonless violent

GEORGERIZER/GLOBE STAFF/19 92

District court JudgeOutlaw.