Romney's bogus numbers. Excellent analysis by the Globe's Scot Lehigh on what was wrong with Governor Mitt Romney's inaugural address. By disingenuously characterizing the state's fiscal crisis as the result of overspending, rather than of $4 billion a year in tax cuts by his three Republican predecessors, Romney raised unrealistic expectations on how to get out of the mess, Lehigh observes, writing that "if you focus on false causes, you create false hopes for false solutions."

By contrast, the Herald's Tom Keane and the Globe's Brian McGrory focus on Romney's tone rather than the substance, and thus wind up giving him far higher marks than he deserves. (Actually, McGrory gave Romney higher marks than, say, Pericles or Cincinnatus would deserve.) Their hope isn't entirely misplaced: Romney has made some good Cabinet appointments, and he seems as though he might actually be serious about peeling back a few layers of patronage.

But his lack of honesty about the budget is going to bite him in the hindquarters.