Enterprise Slams The Felon

Today’s Brockton Enterprise slams Tom Finneran in an Op-Ed filled with Bay State-style political cynicism:

Finneran will fade away to a bigger payday

It shouldn’t shock anyone that convicted felon/radio show host Thomas Finneran has started a consulting firm. Once the most powerful man in Massachusetts, the former speaker of the House always thought the rules didn’t apply to him. That’s why he obstructed justice in federal court and thought he could get away with it. Only the ‚Äúlittle people‚Äù have to play by the rules, to paraphrase the late ‚ÄúQueen of Mean‚Äù Leona Helmsley.

But Finneran isn’t likely to win this battle, because he now draws a paycheck in the private sector, not from taxpayers. He has created a conflict by opening a lobbying firm on Beacon Hill at the same time he hosts a radio talk show on \. That is a direct conflict of interest, which Finneran surely knows. Maybe he doesn’t care that WRKO will probably take him off the air if he goes ahead with the lobbying plans; there’s a lot more money to be made as a lobbyist than in radio ‚Äî especially when your show is ranked 15th in its time slot among the most prized demographic, 25-to-54-year-olds.

Finneran isn’t the kind of guy who would take Gen. MacArthur’s advice that old soldiers ‚Äújust fade away.‚Äù To the contrary, Finneran is like most former politicians in Massachusetts ‚Äî he never goes away.

In the piece, the paper errs only once, spot the blunder below:

But WRKO and its executives aren’t stupid. Even if Finneran doesn’t shill directly for the lobbying clients he already has signed up, he already has signed away his credibility ‚Äî or as much credibility as a convicted felon can have.

Wasserman Takes Shot At Felon, Police Group

A big thumbs-up to Globie cartoonist Daniel Wasserman for his slam of both The Felon and the police association that foolishly hired him as a lobbyist.

The caption: “He’s not a perp, he’s our lobbyist!”

Looking For An Exit?

Is Tom Finneran really interested in creating a massive conflict of interest between his on-air work and a new lobbying racket he’s setting up on Beacon Hill?

Based on the piece in today’s Globe, it sure looks that way:

Finneran, who pleaded guilty last year to a federal obstruction- of- justice charge and has been disbarred, said yesterday that he and his former law partner, James E. Byrne, are hanging out a lobbying shingle and that they have signed up the State Police Association of Massachusetts.

Finneran said he is looking for other clients to represent before his former colleagues at the State House. He said he has no plans to leave WRKO-AM, where he has hosted the prime morning-drive time slot from 6 to 10 a.m. since February.

Rick Brown, the newly installed president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, confirmed the union leadership’s decision to hire Finneran. He said his criminal record has not sparked any negative reaction.

“We are not hiring him to be a trooper; we are hiring him to walk the hallways of the State House,” Brown said. “He is still one of the most respected and powerful people on Beacon Hill.”

It was not clear last night how Finneran intends to remain an effective commentator on state politics and policy while also representing clients before state officials. WRKO programmer Jason Wolfe could not be reached.

“I am at a stage in my life where I would like to do a good number of things,” Finneran said. “I don’t want to be narrow in the way I approach life.”

His program, “Finneran’s Forum,” slipped from seventh last summer to eighth this fall in the Arbitron ratings of Boston radio programs during that time slot. It draws an average of 161,000 weekly listeners.

“I have a multiyear contract that runs a few more years,” said Finneran. “They have made a substantial investment in me.”

Only in Massachusetts would a police association hire a convicted felon to lobby on their behalf! How truly comical.

As for Finneran’s career, I don’t believe he’s doing this to create a gigantic conflict of interest. Instead, it’s an escape route, created to make up for the disbarment. With the radio show clearly not working out, he’s been in desperate need of an out.

Note how WRKO management wasn’t available to comment: instead of defending him, they are now silent.

And as corporate owners always include loopholes, radio contracts are rarely worth the paper on which they’re printed. With his legal background, Finneran must realize that.

It’s virtually impossible to to host both a four-hour morning drive radio program and work as a lobbyist, unless The Felon plans on merely showing up each day without doing the slightest bit of prep work.

But I think the “narrow” comment is his way of telegraphing an early end to his miserable radio program.

UPDATE: Dan Kennedy has a dead-on post about the ethical considerations behind this dubious move. Kennedy believes Finneran has “jumped the shark”.

UPDATE: there are major rumblings locally that Finneran will depart WRKO before 12 February, his first anniversary with the station.

Together We Can Suck-Up To Obama And Deval All At Once

Got a kick out of hearing the Finne-felon marvel over the large number of whites who’ve voted for Obama in both Iowa and New Hampshire (most of them in the areas that border kooky Vermont, interestingly enough).

Apparently, The Felon’s loyalty to Deval means at least occasional sucking up to Obama is a must.

Deval and Obama are no dummies: both know how to capitalize on White Liberal Guilt Syndrome. But supporting someone merely because of their skin color is no better than opposing them on the same grounds. Racism is racism.

Herald: The Felon Delays His Fate

I’m surprised the Herald was so low-key about this story:

Finneran postpones pension hearing…again

Former House Speaker Thomas Finneran has once again postponed a hearing on his effort to win back his state pension, citing a recent cancer surgery as his reason for putting off the Jan. 24 showdown with the state’s retirement board, a board spokeswoman said.

However, Finneran, who had the surgery several days ago, was well enough to return to the WRKO airwaves today and even said on-air that he attended a wedding New Year’s Eve.

Finneran’s $31,269 pension was suspended after his obstruction of justice conviction last year. The state retirement board must hold a hearing on whether it should be permanently stripped. Finneran has postponed the hearing several times, perhaps to delay yet another day of reckoning following his felony obstruction conviction.

Finneran became emotional during a hearing Dec. 17 before the board of bar overseers, which is weighing whether the former speaker should lose his law license or face a lesser punishment as a result of his conviction.

Finneran’s Follies

Watching Finneran essentially on trial, the one he avoided the first time around, is frankly painful. He’s a desperate man trying to avoid losing his license to practice law by saying anything and everything. His approach is undignified.

It’s no surprise to see that he has apologists, including some who are part of our state’s inept Republican Party. He’s obviously not afraid to admit he needs to keep his license, a message to all that the talk radio thing didn’t quite work out as planned. I’m starting to wonder if he will be returning next year after all.

Here’s something I don’t believe for a minute:

Yesterday, Finneran testified before a Board of Bar Overseers panel that some of his actions during the legal controversy were committed at the direction of his House attorney and that he was consumed by budget battles, not redistricting, at the time he was questioned under oath about the redistricting plan.

“We had much more severe issues to deal with,” he said of the first year of the Romney administration, when the state budget was $3 billion short. “It was in the rearview mirror.”

Whether in Massachusetts or anywhere else, legislators are always more concerned with district boundaries than just about anything else. When lines move, careers are made or destroyed. It’s about life and death in politics.

Finneran knew damn well what he was doing at the time. Any assertion to the contrary only compounds the lie that got him convicted of perjury in the first place. That provides all the more reason to strip him of his license.

Image: Boston Herald

No Comparison

Is it really fair to compare Mitt Romney with corruptocrat Tom Finneran? The only connection to date: both cried in public. From Jessica Heslam in the Herald:

Tom Finneran’s public blubbering and Mitt Romney’s teary national TV appearance may seem pathetic to some, but experts say it’s acceptable nowadays for men to cry.

Ex-House-Speaker-turned-talk-radio-host Finneran sobbed yesterday as he begged a state board not to strip him of his license to practice law. It was a similar scene nearly a year ago when he cried as he copped a guilty plea to obstruction of justice.

During Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, Romney got misty-eyed when he recalled how he “pulled over and literally wept” in 1978 upon learning that his Mormon church would finally accept blacks. Romney also teared up yesterday when he recalled seeing a dead GI returning home from Iraq in a casket and imagining it was one of his sons.

Tobe Berkovitz, interim dean of Boston University’s College of Communication, said it’s acceptable for men to shed tears these days, “but you have to be judicious both where, how and why you cry.”

Tears Are Not Enough

Continuing his pathetic Sympathy For The Felon Tour, Tom Finneran made a stop before the Board of Bar Overseers (an ominous-sounding group if there ever was one), tearfully pleading for mercy before seemingly unmoved board members.

Because Beacon Hill corruptocrats almost never face punishment for their actions, it’s fascinating to watch Finne-felon melt down in full view of all. Just imagine if we could nail a few hundred more of them!

So far, the Globies have not found room to cover this story.

From the Herald’s Laurel J Sweet:

The tribunal’s hearing, expected to conclude today, is playing like the sort of trial Finneran – now a morning-drive talk-show host for WRKO AM (680) – avoided by pleading guilty in January to obstruction of justice.

The board must decide whether to punish or outright disbar the Boston College Law School graduate, whose license to practice law is currently suspended.

If Nancy Kaufman, first assistant bar counsel, has her way, the door will hit Finneran on his way out.

Pooh-poohing Finneran’s position that his behavior was an aberration of an otherwise upstanding citizen – one who embraced and fought for the advancement of minorities – Kaufman told the board that when it came to the redistricting plan and trying to save his political skin, Finneran “was consistently dishonest.”

Portraying himself as “completely indifferent to skin color,” Finneran said he was “furious” anyone would suggest he tried to “bleach” his constituency to stay in office.

Finneran said that although he was privy to advance “aspects” of the 2001 redistricting plan, he didn’t consider it an actual plan because it was constantly changing.

That prompted board chairman J. Charles Mokriski to quip, “That’s like, ‘It all depends on what your definition of the word ‘is’ is,’ ” in a nod to former President Bill Clinton’s infamous testimony in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

With The Felon’s talk radio career scaling new heights, why is he so worried about losing his license, anyway? Is he in need of a fallback position?

In fact, his tearful antics may actually represent an admission that things aren’t going so well over at WRKO. With Todd Fill-inburg now in place to prop him up, Tommy Tune Out could be looking to set up shop in a town near you.

Image: Boston Herald

This Changes Nothing

Obviously, nobody wants Tom Finneran, or anyone else to die of cancer, save perhaps the murderous dictators of Zimbabwe, North Korea and a few other global tyrants.

Finneran’s a solid couple of steps below those thugs, but no angel, either. A cancer diagnosis will generate sympathy, but it doesn’t change who he is and what he has done.

In fact, if Finneran does have a moral conscience, which I doubt, this might be a good time to reflect on the damage he has done to struggling families and others in Massachusetts, through higher taxes and out-of-control spending. His legacy will be one of corruption, arrogance, abuse of power and tiny radio ratings.

This diagnosis doesn’t change the fact that Finneran subverted the will of the voters when he quashed a state income tax reduction they approved.

Nor does it undo his racist redistricting scheme, one which led to his felony conviction on subsequent perjury charges, or a lifetime of placing his cronies ahead of Bay State citizens at nearly every opportunity.

Tom Finneran is facing cancer and has our support in that fight, but it does not make him a saint.

Finneran Gets Cancer Diagnosis

From his page:

A few weeks ago I was diagnosed as having prostate cancer. Given my age (57) and my father’s medical history, the diagnosis did not come as a complete surprise. And given my age, my health, and the early diagnosis, the prospects for a robust return to full activity are excellent.

I have supreme confidence in my doctors ( Dr. Frank McGovern and Dr. Larry Ronan) and the outstanding team of health care professionals at Mass. General Hospital. I will undergo prostate removal surgery at MGH on Friday December 21st and I fully expect to celebrate Christmas at home with my family.

I will resume the broadcast of my WRKO morning show on January 2nd, with complete on-site coverage of the Iowa caucuses on both January 2nd and 3rd.

The cancer itself has been detected and “caught” at the earliest possible stage, thus giving the doctors the ideal circumstance for a superlative result.

If there are lessons to be drawn from this situation, they would include the prudence and advisability of an annual physical exam, a general awareness of one’s family health history, and an appreciation for the miracles of modern diagnostics and medicine.