Don't scapegoat Blago - give him or his wife a job

President-elect Barack Obama and his legal eagles tried to throw a damp blanket over the smouldering Blago-fire with their sloppy, ill judged, flimsy, scarcely credible "internal investigation".

Well Blago doesn't like the scapegoating. He has (as expected, being on the verge of joblessness, potlessness and losing political clout of any sort) come out fighting . Ed Genson , his streets smart lawyer has written to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, suggesting that The Illinois House panel considering impeachment charges against his client Gov. Rod Blagojevich, issue subpoenas to more than a dozen potential witnesses, including incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Of course if they did, Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who has previously expressed concern about the impeachment panel interfering with his ongoing criminal probe, could potentially block such a move.

"The Scapegoat" by William Holman Hunt. 1854 Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight - an allegorical portrait illustrating the ancient Hebrew custom of symbolically loading the sins of the tribe on to a helpless goat and then leaving it to expire in the wilderness.See it in the Exhibition "Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelite Vision" until Sunday 11 January 2009, Manchester Art Gallery. FREE