In response to questions about the size of his bodyguard unit and the conduct of some of its members, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is ordering a review that could reduce the size of the Executive Protection Unit.

The review will also focus on ways of “improving the unit’s professionalism and training from outside experts and strengthening the unit’s code of conduct,” according to a statement Tuesday from Blagojevich’s office.

“One of the goals is to see if we can reduce the size, both when it is used here and when it is used for out-of-state travel,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff.

“See if we can reduce the size”? How difficult could that be? He takes a dozen guards to Boston and ten to California and they can’t figure out how to bring fewer on the next trip?

A recent item from the Washington Post:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, wife Maria Shriver and “a gaggle of Kennedys” were spotted strolling the streets of Georgetown yesterday afternoon. “Every single person they walked by seemed to notice them,” one caller said.

Funny, but there was no mention in that article about 12 police officers blocking traffic and setting up an impenetrable perimeter around the most famous governor and political family in the nation.

If Governor Blagojevich has received real threats to his person that require extra guards, then his staff should say so - or at least tell reporters off the record so we can move on to something else. If not, then he ought to just stop acting so self-important.