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Tom Finneran

By adamg - 11/8/10 - 1:45 pm

The Herald reports that Finneran and his toady Grover Dill are not leaving WRKO - they just felt like having some fun and making people think that for a couple of days.

By adamg - 1/11/10 - 10:42 am

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that former house Speaker Thomas Finneran be disbarred, saying lying under oath was a serious enough offense to keep him away from the bar.

Finneran had argued his offense was not really all that bad because he didn't commit it as part of his law practice. The court disagreed:

By adamg - 1/19/09 - 5:37 pm

His hopes for a presidential pardon down the drain, Tom Finneran is now telling the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers he deserves his law license back because he's suffered quite enough shame, thank you very much. The state Office of Bar Counsel wants him disbarred for good for lying about his role in state redistricting after the 2000 census. The Supreme Judicial Court will have the final say.

By adamg - 1/9/09 - 8:06 am

Leans out the window of his limo as the White House motorcade comes to a stop and asks:

Pardon me?

And cut!

The Outraged Liberal ponders the irony of the tough-on-crime ex-speakah angling for a pardon:

... I applaud Mitt Romney for his decision not to sign the letter as much as I question Dukakis for his decision to do so.

Finneran is guilty of something far worse than a white collar crime. He sat before a federal jury and lied about how he used his influence and authority in conducting the public's business.

What message would we be sending by letting him say "I'm sorry" and go back to practicing law and collecting his pension as if nothing had happened? ...

By adamg - 10/30/08 - 3:31 pm

Turns out Dianne Wilkerson has at least one fan in the media: WRKO talk show host Tom Finneran, who, of course, had his own courtroom issues, if not to the extent of facing 40 years in jail.

By adamg - 10/22/08 - 4:26 pm

Bruce Mohl at CW Unbound reports on hearing by a Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers panel that concluded Finneran had "mitigating circumstances" for lying about his role in legislative redistricting back in his Speakah days, notably intense pain from a hip problem and being distracted by his wife's knee surgery. Also, he's accepted responsibility for his misstatements, the panel said.

Finneran's legal fate is ultimately in the hands of the Supreme Judicial Court.

By adamg - 1/29/08 - 10:43 am

Speaker-turned-blabmeister apparently out to prove this is a post-ethical world we're living in.

By adamg - 12/18/07 - 10:31 am

Just so you don't go around thinking it's just the Globe that proclaims "trends" based on the statements of one or two people (cheesemakers, anyone?), John Gonzalez notes that today the Herald has apparently redefined the term "experts" to mean "one former flack turned BU professor" in a short story about whether Mitt Romney and Tom Finneran prove it's OK for men to bawl in public (although the story, does mention a study in the very last sentence). Gonzalez adds:

By adamg - 9/13/07 - 10:36 am

Otherwise, how else would we know about him saying if he'd been Britney Spears's manager in Las Vegas, he would have slapped her in the face?

... Diva? You know what she'd be if I was there waiting for 4 1/2 hours? She'd be a diva with a black eye. I'd give her a dope slap. ...

By adamg - 6/12/07 - 8:48 am

Sure, Buddy Cianci wound up back in Providence, but wouldn't he make just the greatest on-air partner for Tom Finneran on WRKO? Jeff Keating says it'd be a win-win:

... By all accounts, Buddy is a real personality, he’s got tons of radio experience, and WRKO is clearly looking for someone to partner Tom up with. Heck, they're both convicted felons! Sounds like a perfect marriage to me.

By adamg - 5/22/07 - 8:44 am

The Globe quotes Dan Kennedy as saying that, unlike race-baiter Bernard McGuirk, Tom Finneran has "some class and dignity." Carpundit retorts his definition of class does not include somebody who is an unrepentant, convicted felon.

By adamg - 5/18/07 - 2:27 pm

Nothing like jokes about blacks to liven up the deadening Tom Finneran show.

But Elias seems just a little skeptical:

... McGuirk is an brutal little thug with what my mother would call "a cheap mouth" and a grating New York accent. For that reason alone I don't think he will last long if WRKO hires him. ...

By adamg - 3/7/07 - 1:07 pm

The Herald's Laurel Sweet will get Tom Finneran to insult today's insult-o-matic column by Howie Carr, thus letting her extend the Herald's Finneran/Carr streak to four days with a story that consists of one paragraph of new material and twelve paragraphs of background (or maybe two paragraphs of new material if she gets Carr to make a crack about Ron Borges over this boston.com poll).

By adamg - 3/5/07 - 9:53 am

John Daley takes note of today's most important, 72-point front-page story in the Herald, that Tom Finneran has upset Howie Carr with a cheap joke:

... Howie Carr is such a nice guy. He always takes the high road in his columns, never resorting to tough guy, cheap shot, desperate attempt at humor, attacks on his subjects. Now radio competitor Tom Finneran is making derisive jokes about poor Howard. I'm sure this is very upsetting to the man. ...

By adamg - 1/7/07 - 6:06 pm

Hub Politics marvels that WRKO allegedly canned John DePetro for calling Grace Ross "a fat lesbian," yet thinks its OK to give new felon Tom Finneran a radio show (hmm, anybody of the Rhode Island variety remember which station Buddy Cianci got a show on after his first conviction?).

By adamg - 1/5/07 - 11:06 am

Dan Kennedy notices some subtle differences in the way the Globe and Herald cover the question of whether Tom Finneran will get to stay as head of the Mass. Biotechnology Council (one guess which paper led with the word "Disgraced").

Meanwhile, visitors to Channel 5's Web site are left wondering how and when Patrick turned into a bald white guy and how they missed the inaugural celebration on the ice at the Garden:

Huh?
By adamg - 1/5/07 - 8:59 am

Even after he pleads guilty to obstruction of justice and loses his law license, Tom Finneran could keep his job as head of the Mass. Biotechnology Council. The Outraged Liberal is not surprised - in exchange for a plea, Mistah Speakah gets to keep a $400,000-a-year job:

By adamg - 1/4/07 - 9:17 am

Finneran to plead guilty to obstruction in exchange for parole instead of jail; also, perjury charges in that redistricting case to be dropped.

Seth Gitell recalls whacking Finneran plenty as a Phoenix writer, but adds:

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