We might start by asking when the over-reliance on experts began. Then again, it might be easier to consider WHY it began. Consider these factors

***Fear of accepting personal responsibility

***Lack of originality and imagination (perhaps the product of a stifling educational system)

***Not wanting to personally appear "judgmental"

***Perceived over-complexity of life in general

One guru who cashed in on this trend is Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and namesake of a merchandising empire. What better idea could there be than for Covey to merge with competitor Franklin Quest?

After all, combining the management consultancy and time management purveyors was a win-win deal with natural synergies, to coin some old phrases. Covey claimed that the inherent organizational expertise would create a model merger.

But guess what? Instead of a mega success story, we have a foundering corporation that could serve as a business school case study of a merger gone awry.

While many competitors in the $14 billion training industry experience rapid expansion, Franklin Covey's revenue growth has slowed, costs increased and earnings fallen. Same-store sales at the 122-unit Franklin Covey retail chain have flattened, and catalog sales are below company expectations.

This situation has not exactly been missed by cynics and skeptics, who have long scoffed at the advice of most New Age corporate-change zealots.

"It's proof that the great business gurus know how to run everyone's business but their own," says author John Butman, who created fictional management expert Stephen Michael Peter Thomas and Thomas' The Book That's Sweeping America! or Why I Love Business!, a parody on management consulting.

The whole thing is so ironic," says Salomon Smith Barney's Brandt Sakakeeny, the lone analyst closely monitoring Franklin Covey. "They make money advising companies how to run. I think companies who hire them would be shocked at what's happened to them. It's funny, in a sad way."

Demonstrating a Teflon coat that would make even Bill Clinton envious, Covey pocketed $2.4 million from speaking engagements during fiscal 1998 alone. At $75,000 per appearance, his fee has tripled since 1993. His books, including First Things First, are staples of many CEO offices. And more than 750,000 people participate in his seminars each year.

Meanwhile, Franklin Covey promises that it is cleaning up its act. We'll see.

A recent Wall Street Journal story entitled "Guru Manager Finds Managing Tough" describes the difficulties encountered by Wyncom, Inc., the company that books speaking engagements for gurus Tom Peters and our friend, Stephen Covey. Wyncom also arranges large seminars such as "Worldwide Lessons in Leadership."

As with Franklin Covey, the bloom is definitely off the rose for this enterprise, once ranked by Inc. magazine as No. 42 on its list of the 500 fastest-growing companies.

One might conclude that a stream of hubris runs through both of these stories.

Well, moving on to the "flacks" portion of this essay, we consider the case of esteemed Yale Law School professor and Clinton apologist Bruce Ackerman. Ackerman was all set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee that the Congress that impeaches must be the one that convicts. That is, the Senate would supposedly not be able to hold an impeachment trial unless the House in the new Congress re-impeaches the president.

There's just one problem with Ackerman's assertion. It's completely false. He was spared the embarrassment of having to admit this publicly, since the Congressional Research Service complied their findings just before he was to testify.

As it turns out, the very first judge ever impeached in America, John Pickering, was impeached by the House of one Congress and tried in the Senate of the next Congress. This happened at least two more times, with the cases of Harold Louderback and, only 10 years ago, Alcee Hastings.

In addition, Jefferson's Manual, a congressional rule book, states: "Continuance. An impeachment is not discontinued by the dissolution of Parliament, but may be resumed by the new Parliament."

You'd think that Ackerman would have at least looked it up. But, I guess that when you are both a guru and a flack, your mere assertion is the gospel truth!

One more little impeachment story.

Regular readers of this column know that a few years after the Civil War, the US Supreme Court held that there was nothing in the Constitution that prohibited the South from seceding. One More Look At The Civil War

This ruling came too late for US District Judge West Hughes Humphreys (appointed in 1853 for three districts in Tennessee), who was impeached for supporting the secession of the Southern states. In 1862, he accepted appointment as District Judge of Tennessee under the Confederate States of America. For this, he was impeached, and was found guilty on June 26.

Humphreys was the ONLY U.S. government official to be impeached for supporting secession.

He should have hired an expert, a guru, and a flack.