What can we learn from Blagojevich?

"Maybe the biggest lesson I've learned is that I talk too much." Former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich made that observation outside his trial on corruption charges Wednesday, pursed his lips and then left the building.

Indeed. His unexpected silence started other tongues wagging. The theories on what his strategy does, what it means and when it might have been concocted seem endlessly fascinating.

What lessons have we learned from the saga that unfolded since our governor was arrested at home on that dark December morning in 2008?

That even after all this time, Blagojevich and his lawyers still can surprise us with their showmanship. And surprise even the calculating federal prosecutors who have been listening to him for years. Perhaps the defense move to offer no defense and not put Blagojevich on the stand will be a shrewd one. It does certainly seem like prosecutors were salivating at the chance to try to shred the governor in cross examination, perhaps even holding back several tapes and witnesses in anticipation of unloading on him at the end. Did they hold back too much?

Certainly, we learned that our former governor was a spendthrift and clotheshorse. So much so that we are left puzzling over who is paying the bills to keep that household running now.

We learned that the former governor was caught on tape telling all of us Illinoisans to essentially bleep ourselves. And yet, despite that, we learned through this trial that there are many, many residents from the suburbs and beyond who will get up before dawn and take three modes of transportation to get to the federal building to witness the former governor stalking the halls. They will do this even though, as one admitted to columnist Burt Constable, they think he's a "dumbbell." They will do this and fawn over him like he's a rock star. Is there one of these admirers on that jury?

And so, we learn that some of us have not learned yet that we might be wiser to treat all our public servants and politicians like the flawed human beings they and we all are.

If there is an admirer on that jury, if there is one person who has heard Blagojevich profess his innocence in the court of public opinion in the 19 months since his arrest and is convinced he is innocent or that federal prosecutors failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, then will the former governor have started a trend? Might we see a series of reruns of this sort of media circus? We hope not.

Will our shorter-than-expected, long national nightmare end next week or will it be just the start of either a long appeals process or phase two of Blagojevich's incessant bloviating? Did he and his lawyers outfox the feds or will he end up in a Club Fed?

We all will have to wait for word from the jury to learn those answers.