Will Dianne Wilkerson squeal like a piggie?

Senator Dianne Wilkerson seemed to think last week that her Senate colleagues would go easy on her. And she had reason. All her past indiscretions had been overlooked, and the collegial body that meets in a powder-blue room with cushy chairs has never tried to oust one of its own before a conviction for a crime.

"I trust that you will act consistent with prior practice," Wilkerson wrote in a letter to the Senate president.

You can imagine the corruption fueling this kind of confidence. However, when their subpoenas arrived, the extortion no longer seemed a fruitful exercise.

Members of the House and Senate - and the Massachusetts public - have already been subjected to a stream of news about the alleged ethical failings of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and his close friends. As the taint of corruption settled deeply over the State House last week and subpoenas from the US attorney's office were delivered to top-ranking state officials by the hour, Wilkerson's Senate colleagues quickly moved to purge her.

Whilst Menino, Therese Murray, Maureen Feeney are wrapped up in the scandal, DiMasi's perks are under scrutiny in another courtroom.

As one grand jury prepares for testimony in US District Court, DiMasi is under siege, with several ongoing investigations, including a state grand jury probe into more than $2 million in payments paid by a state computer software contractor to three of his close associates. One of the speaker's associates who received payments, his personal accountant, Richard Vitale, gave DiMasi a highly unusual third mortgage on his North End condominium.

They sure are creative.

Majority leader John Rogers arranged a job for a consultant who then made mortgage payments on the Rogers' Cape Cod home.

And how about this:


Robert P. Spellane, a Worcester Democrat and vice chairman of the committee that regulates banks, has been forced to explain how he was able to forgo a year's worth of payments on a $340,000 loan from a local bank with an executive who supports him politically.

Foreclosure, schmoreclosure.

The Democrats sure know how to get around Federal laws.

I forgot about this one:

Senator J. James Marzilli's bizarre arrest on charges that the Arlington Democrat sexually harassed and accosted four women in downtown Lowell has only heightened the image that Beacon Hill is sliding out of control.

Didn't the judge, in spite of all the women filing a complaint, let him go? Someone ought to check out his underpants for cash and find out who is paying his mortgage.