State House scandal: Ghost writing

Loosely Speaking by Nancy Gaines

Last tango As Boston public-relations maestros George Regan and Tom O'Neill get set to duke it out in court because O'Neill says Regan improperly went after a big Providence account they both wanted -- with Regan allegedly telling the client that star O'Neill staffer Geri Denterlein would defect to the Regan camp -- Regan has bought a 2700-square-foot office condo in Providence. "Obviously, we're moving there for one reason," said Regan. "It's a growth area." Must be. O'Neill has an office there too.

As the scandals surrounding the tenure of former state treasurer Joe Malone explode, it's a safe bet one legislator is chuckling. State senator Henri Rauschenbach of Cape Cod was tried and acquitted in 1995 on conflict-of-interest charges raised by Malone in 1993. At the time, Rauschenbach (a Republican who was once close to Malone) accused Malone's office of "criminal violations" connected with state pension-fund investments. Indeed, a little-noticed state Inspector General's report substantiated those violations and called for limits on the treasurer's power. Malone claimed the report was rooted in a political conspiracy directed by then-Senate president William Bulger. Rauschenbach claimed Malone was "walking in Bob Crane's footsteps," referring to the previous treasurer, whose administration was notorious for its cronyism. Nobody else much cared.

With 'friends' like these . . . Poor Linda Tripp. Here you have "an honest American citizen who saw her duty to the truth and fulfilled" it. What does she get? "Television entertainers and political commentators who cruelly choose to ridicule" her. Why, she's "living in fear." Feeling "like David up against Goliath." And so on and so forth for 12 baby-blue pages in a pitch for money that's making the rounds. Maybe Paula Jones can help.

Truth hurts

To hear him tell it, it took John Kerry two and a half years to figure out he only had 10 months left to run for president. And that, with a near-billionaire wife, he didn't have enough money to do it. Evidently, "because I thought I'd lose" never entered his mind.

Cop got gypped

The head of the New Jersey State Police was fired because, as Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory pointed out Tuesday, he uttered the simple truth that certain minority groups are more likely to be involved in certain crimes -- Latinos with cocaine, bikers with meth, and Jamaicans with heroin, for example. "We have become a society so obsessed with racial and political correctness that we can't even have an honest, statistically based discussion," wrote McGrory. On the same day, a Massachusetts thief argued in court -- successfully -- that his "cultural background" was part of his problem. He's a Gypsy.

Maybe she hopped in place for an hour or two

Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift "rises at 5:30 a.m., listens for the telltale whimper from the crib, scoops up the baby, settles her in the front-pack, hops on her exercise bike, pedals away while watching a little of the Today show. . . . " At least, so said Globe writer Bella English in a recent breathless profile of Swift.

The only problem is, the Today show doesn't start until 7 a.m.