Ah, what could have been.

Had Bill Haas somehow succeeded in thwarting the Highway 40 shutdown, his place in the pantheon of beloved St. Louisans would have fallen somewhere between Eero Saarinen and Stan Musial.

That the case was argued in front of Rush Limbaugh’s uncle might have been good for some bonus street cred among fellow Democrats.

Instead, Haas’ populist pitch managed only to provide a fleeting hope to commuters dreading next week’s traffic crunch.

Though Haas may get high marks for effort - he spent the holiday weekend composing a 28-page motion - Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh found the former School Board member’s case fatally flawed.

Technically, Haas named the wrong defendant - the state Department of Transportation instead of the Highways and Transportation Commission.

“On this point alone, the court could dismiss this cause,” Limbaugh wrote in a footnote.

Though Limbaugh’s ruling is packed with opaque case law - my sympathies to the law clerk who, on top of the usual dicta, had to research the history of the Highway 40 reconstruction project - the case was thrown out on two key points:

1. Haas failed to offer any alternative solution to fixing the aging highway.
2. Haas did not show personal harm beyond “airing general grievances shared by a large contingency of affected commuters.”

Even so, the case might help Haas’ political aspirations - now focused on Todd Akin’s Congressional seat.

Haas can rightly claim that he fought the highway shutdown - red meat for West County voters, who would be less familiar with Haas’ serial attempts at public office. (Mayor, alderman and circuit attorney, to name a few.)

Limbaugh’s ruling does not touch on Haas’ political fortunes, but it does wax optimistically about the region’s response to the highway shutdown.

His honor opined:

The Court fervently believes that the citizens of Missouri, especially the St. Louis metro area commuters directly affected by the I-64 Project, will meet the challenges presented by such a highway construction project of this magnitude with the usual stoic resolve that Missourians are known to possess. Whatever difficulties these closures may bring, the St. Louis community will face and overcome with patience and fortitude.

In other news:

• Curious what tests Rudy Giuliani got at Barnes-Jewish Hospital?
• Gov. Matt Blunt names new directors  of the revenue and labor departments.
• Bookmark it: St. Louis fares well on another city rankings list.
• Claire McCaskill is still unhappy about Mizzou not playing in the Orange Bowl.