After all, it isn't like his name is Tom DeLay or anything like that. He is just one more corrupt cog in the on-going series of criminal activities by Democratic pols.

Former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance walked into a spartan community center Wednesday night a felon who admitted diverting public money to his law firm, family and church.

But the more than 100 people who greeted him there saw him as nothing less than a civil rights hero who has been unjustly sentenced to four years in federal prison.

The event was a fund-raiser to help Ballance pay his legal bills. The former congressman said he had paid all fines and restitution with his own money. A rally held two weeks ago in Murfreesboro drew about 300 people.

The sponsors of Wednesday's tribute called it a "People's Freedom Rally," and it took on the feel of a church service with gospel songs and Bible quotations such as, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Could you imagine the outrage if such a rally/fundraiser were held on behalf of Tom DeLay BEFORE his conviction, much less after it?

Oh, and what was ithe crime of which he was found guilty? Stealing from a charity to enrich himself and his family.

Ballance, 63, is scheduled to begin his sentence Friday at a federal prison in Butner for steering roughly $100,000 in public money from an anti-drug program he founded to his law firm, church and relatives.

The money was among $2.3 million Ballance had directed to the John A. Hyman Memorial Youth Foundation from 1994 to 2003 while he served as a state lawmaker. But the nonprofit foundation failed to file federal tax returns and the required state financial reports. When that became public nearly three years ago, it triggered a state audit that turned up more than $325,000 in questionable spending.

On Nov. 9, 2004, Ballance pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy related to funneling $15,500 to his law firm, $20,000 to his son, Garey Ballance, to buy a Lincoln Navigator, and $5,000 to his daughter for computer services that she did not perform.

Garey Ballance, a state District Court judge, admitted evading taxes on the $20,000, and he received nine months in prison. He also is to report to Butner; the conviction cost him his judicial post.

But we shouldn't be surprised that Ballance would participate in such a fundraiser. After all, he has this to say about his upcoming sentencing.

"I've not done anything that deserves four years in prison," Ballance said.

If that is the case, then why did you plead guilty? Why didn't you stand up and argue that your actions were justified and trust a jury of your peers to bring back a not guilty verdict?