Blago's Kingdom For A Lawyer

During the course of any event as momentous as the impeachment and let's-toss-him-over-the-side heave-ho of Rod Blagojevich, you are bound to hear things never before uttered.

So when Blago's legal team bolted for freedom on Friday, they managed to deposit a unique closing argument.

In a statement to the Trib, attorney Sam Adam and his son, Samuel E. Adam, (Is this like a George Foreman law firm where everybody is named Samuel Adam?) said they couldn't in good conscience represent the governor in a Senate trial "without any due process of law, fundamental fairness or the most basic right to confront one's accusers."

I hope they got paid before leaving.

The concept that a lawyer can't defend a client because the offense has all the ammo would have made Clarence Darrow's defense in the Scopes Monkey case a non-event. Isn't defending a client against almost insurmountable odds a basic tenet of our system? Guess not.

Or maybe this is a tacit admission that even Darrow couldn't spring Blago from this lockbox.

But the Firm De Adams produced an even better line in its exit-stage-left announcement:

"We cannot and will not degrade our client, ourselves, our oaths and our profession, as well as the office of the governor, by participating in a Potemkin-like lynching proceeding, thus making it appear that the governor is represented by competent counsel when in fact he is not."

Ooh, Doggies. You boys have said one mouthful. Did lawyers just announce in advance of an impeachment trial that they were Incompetent? Now I've heard it all

Noted mouthpiece Ed Genson is bugging out with the Adams boys, too, but plans to stick around for the governor's criminal trial.

By then, though, Blagojevich will likely no longer be governor, left at the altar of the state senate trial pleading "My kingdom for a horse . . . and a lawyer."