The House of leisure

SO FOCUSED on diversion and indulgence was the conference of aristocratic ambassadors who gathered in Vienna to reorder Europe after the Napoleonic Wars that one wit assessed its leisurely pace with this quip: ''The Congress does not walk, it dances."

What might a contemporary wag say of House Speaker Sal DiMasi?

The speaker doesn't legislate, he recreates. He doesn't guide, he golfs. He doesn't lead, he luxuriates. He doesn't -- well, you get the idea.

I never quite understood the high hopes that greeted DiMasi when he became speaker last September, but this much is indubitably true: So far, he hasn't lived up to them.

For months, the question on Beacon Hill was, what will Sal do? But that has long since given way to a different query: When will Sal do something?

Why has DiMasi's House had the very soul of molasses? Early on, the word was that furious Finneranians toppled from leadership posts refused to go gently into smaller offices.

Next, that the Legislature's new committee structure had created jurisdictional confusion.

Then, that DiMasi's leadership team needed time to learn their roles, the power of independent initiative having been all but extinguished during the iron reign of Thomas Finneran.

But as winter surrendered to spring, spring warmed to summer, and summer turned to fall, it has become increasingly apparent that DiMasi himself doesn't feel much urgency to do anything.

What are the speaker's priorities? Well, travel would certainly rank as one.

The Legislature always treats itself to a leisurely summer, but this speaker has set a new standard.

In mid-August, DiMasi took a trip to Israel. Then, just after Labor Day, when most people were refocusing on work, he departed for a golf vacation in Ireland, a birthday gift from his wife.

His excellent Emerald Isle adventure over, DiMasi decided that duty called him to Las Vegas to attend the National Speakers Conference -- and spend a few extra days. As far as lodging went, that trip was partly a gift from the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, the conference host.

It should go without saying that serious conferences are not held in a city that has made its creed ''What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Nor should the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, which is primarily financed by corporate dollars, be mistaken for a good-government group. Yes, yes, I know, the funds that paid for several nights in a luxury hotel for DiMasi and his wife came from a separate, noncorporate account, a chalice so pure it apparently nullifies the wash of special interest money that floats the organization.

Spare me. Conceptually, the foundation is perhaps best seen as an outfit that offers thinly veiled conference vacations for legislators -- at locales where lobbyists swarm like black flies in May.

Another top priority of the speaker's would be golf. And it was certainly heartening to read in Tuesday's Globe that since becoming speaker, DiMasi has dramatically lowered his handicap with regular workday practice.

Now, one might inquire why someone would strive to become speaker and then, having secured the job, not seem particularly interested in doing anything. But actually, DiMasi isn't acting any differently than he ever has. It's just that people are now paying attention to him.

Certainly it's not hard to see how an effective legislative leader acts. Look at the Senate, where President Robert Travaglini has put together a first-rate staff and found a way to empower other senators even as he's moved ahead on a thoughtful agenda.

Witness the stem-cell research law or the emergency contraception legislation. Or the healthcare package the Senate leadership has proposed. When it hasn't followed the Senate's lead, the House has generally hung back and done little.

The frustration at the languid pace the Speaker has set is palpable on Beacon Hill. ''People feel that he is disengaged, uninterested, that he is not a leader," says one Democratic member. ''I don't think he realized how much work it was to be speaker."

Now, with less than a month and a half left in the formal legislative year, DiMasi will finally address healthcare coverage in a late-morning speech to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. All eyes will be upon him on today, and, indeed, for the rest of the year.

If he's to redeem the hopes that greeted his speakership, DiMasi needs to improve his game markedly. And no, Mr. Speaker, I don't mean your golf game.

Scot Lehigh's e-mail address is lehigh@globe.com.