You Dirty Rat

James Cagney's character never sat 'you dirty rat' in BLONDE CRAZY. The actual words were "Mmm, that dirty, double-crossin' rat." Close enough for me, for I was raised to regard any fink as a rat by the Bowery Boys and gangster movies. Everyone hated a snitch, but that never stopped the class squealer from telling the nuns who was bad in their absence. We despised rats, but everyone Judases out for the right price. These past weeks infamous South Boston gangster Whitey Bulger has been on trial for nineteen murders and a major thrust of his defense has been denying the accusation of being an informant, despite a detailed testimony of an FBI agent recounting his snitching out various gangsters for murder, while killing his opponents without any interference or investigations by the Law. He was their Man and the partnership was a good for both sides until it wasn't good, then Whitey was given a phone to change his name. Aliases were second nature to Bulger and he disappeared from Boston until now. In Massachusetts there is no death penalty, but he murdered Deborah Hussey and she was family. He deserves to burn. The dirty rat.