MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2001 — When an autocrat in a democratic system loses his aura, the end comes very quickly. It’s way too soon to tell whether that’s what happened to Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran over the weekend. But if Finneran loses his Speakership, we’ll be able to point to Saturday, December 15, as the day it started to unravel.

The event wasn’t much: a front-page story in the Boston Globe by State House bureau chief Frank Phillips and staffer Rick Klein reporting that an insurrection might be in the works. There weren’t all that many names. Representative Dan Bosley (D-North Adams), a member of Finneran’s leadership team, was the most surprising, although it wasn’t clear whether he was ready to lead a revolt or was simply passing along the news that the rank-and-file members are getting pissed off.

As to who would take part in such an insurrection — well, figure on such outspoken critics as Jim Marzilli (D-Arlington), Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington), Doug Petersen (D-Marblehead), and Chris Hodgkins (D-Lee). Anyone else? Maybe, maybe not. Finneran himself believes he has no more than 10 to 20 Democratic opponents, according to a report in today’s Globe by Ralph Ranalli. Mr. Speaker may be right.

But there’s no question that Finneran’s behavior has been outrageous enough to earn him considerable enmity. He has consistently and arrogantly thwarted the will of the voters by refusing to fund the Clean Elections law, passed by a two-to-one margin in 1998. Earlier this year he attempted to redistrict Congressman Marty Meehan into oblivion — an action that came not long after Meehan had criticized Finneran and other legislative leaders for their crusade against Clean Elections.

Most recently — and, apparently, the precipitating cause of the current unrest — was Finneran’s outrageous handling of the state budget, which was five months overdue, hammered out in secret, and then rammed through the legislature before members even had a chance to read it. Governor Jane Swift and Senate president Tom Birmingham have since tried to undo some of the damage — such as restoring at least a portion of the funds to cover a legal settlement that mandates a boost in spending for the mentally retarded (see " This Just In, " , News and Features, November 10, 2000). But, overall, the budget represents a victory for Finneran and a defeat for the public.

Legislative insurrections are an iffy thing. A previous autocratic Speaker, Tommy McGee, was overthrown in the mid 1980s by George Keverian, who spent a year building a broad coalition dedicated to openness and rules reform. But a mid-’90s revolt against then-Senate president Bill Bulger fizzled. The difference may have come down to personality as much as anything. McGee had a reputation for being hot-tempered and abusive. Bulger, for all his critics, was solicitous of his members as long as they didn’t rip him in public.

Finneran’s a lot smarter and cagier than McGee, but his style thus far has been more abusive than solicitous.

Say that again?

New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis showed why his retirement was long overdue in an exit interview in the Sunday paper.

Asked what " big conclusion " he had drawn from his 50 years as a working journalist, Lewis responded that one was " that certainty is the enemy of decency and humanity in people who are sure they are right, like Osama bin Laden and John Ashcroft. "

Thus does Lewis find moral equivalence between the evil mastermind of the September 11 attacks and the well-meaning right-wing stumblebum who is our attorney general.

No doubt, if you look into either of Lewis’s ears you can see clear across the room.