"Take the Money and Go to Fox Woods"

That's what the bribers told Wilkerson as she took the money and smiled, per WBZ live at 6:04pm.

Apparently, Ryan's Take has gone full circle. The months before the summer were directed toward defeating casinos - while in the summer, posting focused on defeating Wilkerson. Perhaps, all this time, the problems were one in the same?

Casinos are nefarious. I'd hate to think that gambling has been one of the primary causes of Wilkerson's continual and constant money problems - the bribes only being the worst - but such bizarre and shocking behavior is often indicative of gambling problems. Really, at this point, would anyone be surprised?

Such a tragic story, such a waste of talent... it could almost be a modern Shakespearean play.

Update: I've read most of the official, 32-page report. (pdf)

The WBZ report was indeed correct. In section 28, lines 16-19, the person who was cooperating with the FBI told her to "take the thousand dollars and do something good... Knock yourself out... You earned it." She then went on to say she was going to Fox Woods for the weekend.

From reading the report, she didn't just accept a bribery and use her influence to get a liquor license that would cost $250-300k on the open market. She held up legislation on Beacon Hill that would have saved $500,000 for the city of Boston in these tough fiscal times - and she held up legislation for pay raises to the people on the board that approved Boston liquor licenses until they approved the full license. When the license was approved, they got their raise through the Senate just days later.

Mike complained about how Dianne never got anything significant passed on her own and, when it came to 'bringing home the bacon,' usually just got small earmarks attached to the budget. She essentially was great at joining in the chorus, not so much in actually leading. Well, it turns out Mike was wrong: it's very clear that she was as skilled as anyone on Beacon Hill, at least in playing hardball for causes that mattered to her. But those causes were greatly dependent on how many hundreds they gave her to stuff in her bra.

It's disgusting that she so easily betrayed the trust of all the hundreds of people who volunteered for her campaign or donated money - and the tens of thousands who have voted for her in the past. Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino, MassEquality and dozens of other politicians and organizations were all made to look the fool because of Wilkerson's corruption. Shame on her.