I have an angle on the situation everyone has overlooked, especially considering some who have raised misgivings on this site about how U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has conducted himself in the matter of the Illinois Governor.

As reprehensible as Gov. Rod Blagojevich is widely considered to be -- and I count myself among those who see him that way -- no one, and I mean NO ONE knows whether the prosecution will convince a jury that he committed the crimes of which he stands accused.  The greatest exposure Blago faces is on the conspiracy charge, since conspiring to commit a crime is a separate offense from the crime itself, which does not have to be committed or even attempted for a conspiracy charge to have merit.  Blago's defense counsel probably has a good argument that this is an issue to be handled in ways other than a criminal prosecution, and the Illinois legislature is doing just that through impeachment.  If impeachment fails, the voters in theory get their shot, beginning with the voters of Blago's own party in the primary, but we all know he won't even get that far.  The voters have spoken loud and clear already.  His party knows Blago is utterly unelectable even if (and that's a big "IF") he survives impeachment proceedings and is exonerated of criminality.  What's on tape may be ugly, but whether it's criminal is a wholly different story.  That is a much higher standard than what is needed for an arrest, and I'm not so certain the standard will be reached based on the information available to the public at this time.

So why did Fitz bring the charge when he did?  Why not wait until a conviction was more certain?  Here's why: he saw an opportunity to do something almost unheard of for a prosecutor at any level and that's prevent a crime from taking place, even if no crime can be proven up to the time of the arrest (remember, the standard is "beyond a reasonable doubt").  The worst possible thing Fitzgerald could have done was wait until the crime was completed.  There was absolutely no way to know when Blago would make the appointment to fill Obama's seat, an action that was impossible to void, cancel or roll back.  Even if only made on a promise of payment, the taint would be there.  It's a crime that could not have been undone.  Every vote taken in the U.S. Senate would have been scrutinized for how "Rod's guy" voted.  The effect would have reached beyond the Senate all the way to President Obama's transparency and integrity since the major changes this country needs can only be effectuated by the Executive and the Legislature.

As a public servant, Fitzgerald could not tolerate that outcome.  It would have been infinitely selfish for Fitz to wait until a conviction was more certain to bring the charge and allow a Senate seat to be purchased, which is most certainly what was going to happen.  He saw what was going down, and he stepped in to stop it.  Even if Rod spends absolutely no time incarcerated, even if he beats every single charge of criminality, Rod Blagojevich's political career was over from the moment he was arrested so Fitzgerald's action not only prevented a tainted appointee from joining the Senate, he assured the State of Illinois would end up with a more honest governor.  Though, granted, that bar is set pretty low, first in line is Lieutenant Governor Patrick Quinn who could never have won the governorship outright because he is exactly the kind of crusader that Springfield hates.  He'll hold the seat warm for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose dad, Michael, is Speaker of the State Assembly and a big-time political boss in his own right, but there's never been a whiff of scandal about his daughter, who has succeeded as much on merit as on name.  In fact, her worst act was likely her over-reaching in going to the Illinois Supreme Court to have the Governor declared "incapacitated" by reason of his arrest - a far more disturbing potential extension of the power granted a public attorney than Mr. Fitzgerald's actions in the current case.  Thankfully, the state supremes rejected A.G. ("Aspiring Governor") Madigan's argument, knowing what a dangerous precedent it could be, so even the judiciary performed its role in the system well.

Above all, a prosecutor's job is to do justice.  Fitzgerald preempted a crime and set the Governorship of Illinois on a path to reform with the simple action of a credible arrest.  Whether this action results in a conviction is irrelevant.  Some few civil libertarians who have said "no good can come of this" should take note: the U.S. Senate, the Executive Branch of Illinois government, the people of Illinois, the Democratic Party and even the incoming President, who was able to deal with this honestly and avoid a serious distraction during his time in office, are better off for it.  Those who say the arrest was an over-reaction are themselves over-reacting.  From what I've seen of the public record, there was more than enough to justify the arrest.  Those who see this as a dangerous precedent need to understand this is not the kind of fact pattern that is easily repeated.  Many Senators have moved to the Executive Branch via appointment or election, including three this year alone.  It took a consummate Chicago Machine Democrat with no scruples to turn a Senate appointment into his personal political eBay event, and his arrest should close that store for good, no matter who might try to open another.  Waiting for greater justification before an arrest was made, as, for example, might be needed to secure a conviction, could have mollified the more aggressive civil libertarians in these parts, but that had its own huge downside of allowing the crime that was in the works to reach maturity.  How anyone can defend that possibility, in the face of a U.S. attorney who has more than earned his chops as a trans-partisan corruption buster acting well within the scope of his authority, is a mystery to me.  The Governor of Illinois will have his day in court and not face a corrupt U.S. Department of Justice, and that's as good as it will get for him.  I am, however, offering February 14 as the over-under on a plea bargain.

Regardless of the final outcome, justice was done.  Thank you, Mr. Fitzgerald.