And I'm Hopeful That Someone In Boston Government Will Grow A Set

"Totally and permanently disabled Boston Firefighter Albert Arroyo, at a bodybuilding competition earlier this year.

So, what would happen to you if you defrauded your boss out of your salary by faking an injury, skipping work and collecting your paycheck? You'd get fired, right?

OK, so what would happen if you also took some of this scam money tax free--a violation of state and federal tax law? You might need a lawyer, I assume.

Now, what if you do all this-- including getting yourself caught by posting video of your "totally and permanently disabled" self travelling and appearing in body building competitions--as a taxpayer-employed firefighter?

Your boss will politely ask you to come back to work.

[Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick] Fraser declined to say what disciplinary action he plans to take if Arroyo does not show up for work Monday. Under current guidelines, if he does not come to work for 14 days, the department can begin termination proceedings on the basis he has abandoned his post.

Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said yesterday that he hopes that does not happen. "We're hopeful that he will show up for work," he said.

Hopeful? HOPEFUL? If he weren't a union-protected hack in one of the most corrupt unions in Boston, he'd be hoping his cellmate didn't think he's "got a purty mouth." I would be fired. You would be fired. But because this loser works for us, the taxpayers--he CAN'T be fired. Amazing.

Meanwhile, his doctor--who has helped put 25 other "injured" firefighters on the fast track to free money for life--says it's not his fault if his diagnosis was wrong.

[Arroyo] paid 13 visits to Dr. John F. Mahoney, including five examinations in the 13 months before Mahoney concluded in April that Arroyo was "totally and permanently" disabled from a back injury.

Although Mahoney said Arroyo doffed his shirt during appointments, the neurologist at Caritas Carney Hospital insisted he never noticed Arroyo's near Hulk-like physique - until he saw Arroyo's photo in the Globe a week ago.

"If someone is doing bodybuilding and doesn't tell me, how the hell would I know?"

Remind me not to let this doctor do my next exam for testicular cancer. In fact, based on how he's treating the taxpayers, he should probably shift his practice to proctology.