The Illinois House of Representatives have begun the process of "drawing up rules" for the hearing to be held to determine whether or not the recommendation be made by the House that Governor Rod Blagojevich be impeached. The rules being drafted are designed to bridge the outgoing and incoming state legislatures--an almost certain opportunity for a legal appeal by the Governor of whatever decision might be made against him, in my opinion.

Of course, several of the legislators have been quoted saying that there shouldn't be a rush to judgement, that all the proper care and deliberation should be brought to the process. I suppose under our rule of law, that's the proper approach. Heck, when it takes years in most states to bring the most egregious murderer to trial, why rush to can a scumbag politician? Besides--and forgive my obvious cynicism--Illinois legislators are only paid for the days they are required to be in session. The longer they can drag this thing out, the more they make.

In the meantime, the Governor has retained maybe the best known defense attorney in the Chicago area. He's alrewady been quoted by ABC News saying, ""The case that I've seen so far is significantly exaggerated, it's just not, it's not what people think it is."

Yep, we've seen it before. The more time and distance the perp can put between himself and the crime, the better his chance to beat the rap. That's particularly true if the perp is a politician and can crank up the spin machine that he can so easily engage a willing media to broadcast his story.

Here's my prediction: Come the first of the year, the media will have moved on to the next hard news subjects. It's really cold in January hanging around on Chicago streets waiting to be baited by the Governor with a smile and a self-serving comment. But on January 4, the 111th Congress will be sworn in Washington--with Illinois being short one Senator. My prediction is that Illinois' punk Governor will call a press conference and gravely observe that the state would be underrepresented in Congress if he didn't appoint a replacement. And then he'll go ahead and make the appointment that everyone hopes could be avoided. It woudn't surprise me one bit if he actually appointed himself!

Appointing himself would solve a lot of problems. No more need for impeachment proceedings in Springfield--the Governor would have moved his play-for-pay game on to Washington, where the real money from K Street is anyway. Even if he weren't re-elected in 2010, can you imagine how much he could make from the special interests in two years? Do you think there's a chance the Senate would refuse to seat a new member under this kind of a cloud? Of course not, he wouldn't have been convicted of anything yet. Heck, they wouldn't even throw Ted Stevens of Alaska out after he was convicted of a felony! Besides, the Senate is not going to permit a big state like Illinois be under-represented--particularly when he'd be a much-needed Democratic vote.

Of course, there's that criminal complaint filed by the federal prosecutor in Chicago. But if everything goes according to Hoyle, incoming president Obama will fire him, although I don't think there's much of a chance that he won't immediately be re-appointed.

But I don't believe that even an egregious action like the Governor appointing himself to the Senate will cause the prosecutor to rush the preparation of his case for indictment. There'd be too much risk of not having everything properly nailed down before going to the Grand Jury and seeking an indictment. Remember the case of William Jefferson from Louisiana? He got caught with the cash in his freezer and even though the voters threw him out, the federal prosecutor still hasn't come up with enough additional evidence to indict.

Remember that old rule--which I'm absolutely certain that the Governor's new lawyer is telling him--time is your friend. The longer this thing can be dragged out, the better the chance that the public and the media will lose interest and forget the whole thing. And just think, you could be a sitting U.S. Senator when they do! And if the federal prosecutor ever gets around to indictment you've got me, the best defesne attorney money can buy. I can drag this thing out even longer.

Are we really sure that this was the system the framers had in mind when they drafted the Constitution?

If you want to read a really interesting article on the Governor's attorney, read "The Devil's Advocate" published by Chicago magazine a couple of years ago. It's a long, but really amazing read. Here's the link http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Ma...vils-Advocate/

Depends on who wrote the Illinois Constitution. Were the ancestors of the current bunch around back then?

As disgusting as it may be, I'm predicting that the punk Illinois Governor will beat the rap(s) being leveled against him. Not only that, but Illinois taxpayers are going to pay his lawyer to get him off.

What it boils down to is this...

• Being recorded talking to your chief-of-staff and others about selling Obama's Senate seat or demanding contributions in exchange for stuff like the payment of Medicaid funds to a children's hospital isn't against the law. Finding evidence that such payments have been made or more detailed and specific plans to exchange money for favors is necessary to demonstrate tnat the law has been broken. Why hasn't the federal prosecutor gone to the grand jury to sek and indictment yet? Maybe because he hasn't found such evidence--not a good sign for those who want Blagojevich out.

• Blago's sharp lawyer is using the Illinois Constitution to pay his legal bills. He's already filed a request with the Illinois Attorney General citing a small part of the Constitution that says that not only is the Attorney General charged with the responsibility of being the "people's lawyer", but also to serve as the lawyer for state officials. In that the Attorney General has unsuccessfully filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court to find the Governor unfit for service, that has been cited as proof that the AG has conflicted herself and justifies the State paying for independent legal representation. Of course, he has nominated himself as the lawyer requested by the Governor.

• The Federal prosecutor is not happy that the Illinois House is beginning impeachment hearings and preparing lists of people to subpoena. That's all he needs--a bunch of part-time members of the Illinois House questioning people under oath and mucking up the collection of evidence being done by the U.S. Attorney's office. with their skill and professional investigators. The Governor's defense attorney is first attempting to get the impeachment proceedings cancelled because of no probable cause. But if he fails with that attempt, he'd just as soon go forward quickly, with the hope he can screw up the U.S. Attorney's case.

• The media and the public, with their collective short attention span, are losing interest in this story. The Governor, his lawyer and all his representatives are now saying that he's done nothing wrong. His lawyer told the Chicago Tribune, "There's nothing illegal about a couple of guys jabbering on the telephone." The punk Governor says he can't wait to tell his side of the story.

This punk is going to be this rap, mark my words. He won't get re-elected in 2010, but he could be running Illinois for another couple of years.

Yep, our democracy and rule of law seems to be working just fine. Disgustingly fine.