We'll Get Blago's Royalties, Too

It's better than a soap opera.  Even reality TV pales in comparison.

The Illinois state legislature impeached Blago and condemned him to a life without aides to carry his hairbrush (aka "The Football") for the rest of his days.  But before two months could pass, publisher Phoenix Books rose Blago from the ashes with a six-figure book deal, delivering the benjamins he so craved.  Blago had lost — but oh, how he had won.

Now, clearly, the good congressmen and women of Illinois refuse to go down without a fight. They're pushing a bill through the state legislature to deprive him of future royalties:

The bill would require “any elected official who is convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving a violation of his or her official oath of office to forfeit any monetary rights derived from any media depiction or detailing of the crime for which the person was convicted as a term of their sentence. The forfeiture lasts during the term of the sentence and any period of probation, parole or supervised release.”

Lest we feel bad for Blago, unusual allies in the form of First Amendment rights groups have risen up against the Blago Can't Win bill because of its inherent free-speech violations.  

While of course I'm pro-Free Speech, I kind of wish the zealous First-Amendmenteers could sit this one out and let the Illinois state legislature settle this for once and for all.  After all, the bill's language does confine itself to "elected officials who have violated his or her official oath of office."  They might as well have said "elected officials with bad hairdos and the initials RB who have solicited bribes from everyone in the state."

Will Blago and the First-Amendmenteers succeed in defending Free Speech, and his hard-earned money, or will the Illinois state legislature ride off into the distance with Blago's royalties clinking in their saddlebags?  

Tune in next time, I know I will.