Remember how we said yesterday that House speaker Sal DiMasi's free ride might be ending? Well, it came to a screeching halt, just as he was named the 2nd most powerful person in Boston. The Herald came out with a summary of potentially shady dealings in which those with ties to DiMasi benefitted.

No politician has clean hands, but it's interesting that Governor Deval Patrick faced relentless scrutiny for relatively silly stuff like Drapegate while the State House may have partied on. Whether or not the alleged shadiness is true, the Globe was on these possible shenanigans a while back, particularly one about a computer company, Cognos, receiving a fat contract (later canceled) after donating to a fundraiser for police officers killed in the line of duty. That's a good cause, so why couldn't everything have been in the open? There's more where that came from. Back in March, Bostonist's Jerry Sloan wrote, "But this new wrinkle to the Cognos ordeal could be troublesome for the Speaker if there is any question about the legitimacy of the charity or DiMasi's role in securing the donations."

Indeed. Everything seems to be snowballing--and quickly. Casey Ross reports, "One Beacon Hill lobbyist and longtime DiMasi supporter expressed shock at how quickly House members have turned on the speaker." That lobbyist needs to catch up on some Shakespeare to grasp the narrative.

We'd love to be a fly on the wall in the governor's office right about now. Is he wondering what would have happened to his casino proposal had local papers started reporting on this mess earlier?

All charges of toying with ethics alleged.