Blagojevich Has A Point

There are many things that you can call Rod Blagojevich without much argument.

An egomaniac.

A narcissist....etc.

But one thing you cannot call him is a convicted criminal.

I caught myself watching his latest news conference on Jan. 23 with my head cocked to the side like a dog that doesn't understand what his master is saying but is clearly fascinated.

A man with plenty of bizarre metaphors at the tip of his tongue, his speech was loaded with lots of loopy references to cowboys, ranchers and Pearl Harbor. But there was one underlying theme that I can't and won't disagree with. He is entitled to his day in court. Without a whole lot of evidence surrounding his allegations being released to the public, the media has once again served as judge, jury and executioner. Even if the federal prosecutors released everything they have against him he is entitled to a fair hearing in the eyes of jury.

I, like many, feel that our Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights took a serious hit during the previous administration. But for all the huffing and puffing in outrage alot of us did during the Bush years regarding the damage to our civil rights as a result of everything from wipe-tapping to The Patriot Act shouldn't we be celebrating and clinging to such things as "innocent until proven guilty"? Unfortunately, with the help of the media, most are guilty until proven innocent. Whether it's a celebrity, a politician or a common citizen we seem to be willing to mentally convict everybody that gets arrested, charged and has a reporter show up at their house long before they have a chance to portray their case in front of a panel of their peers in a courtroom. You need only look at the case of Richard Jewell to see how damaging this philosophy can be. Here was a man whose life was essentially ruined as a result of being accused of setting off the bomb at the 1996 Olympics. He was eventually compensated for this false portrayal of a crime he didn't commit, but the damage had already been done.

I cringe every time I see an arrest photo splashed across the television. A face, a name and a list of charges burned into our subconscious. When this happens I'll be the first to admit that it's hard not to say, "Hmm, guilty." Yet, at that moment in time they are still an innocent citizen. I truly hope that one day we can pull away from this form of news reporting. The media throws around the word "alleged" like it's an annoying legal disclaimer rather than a fact.

A man or woman is not guilty until a jury foreperson stands in a courtroom in front of a judge and declares it so. Ofcourse, there are way too many times that this also happens in error but that's for another day.

Rod Blagojevich is an odd character.

The messenger has a strange and often distasteful way of defending himself.

But the message is a valid one.