Completely Unnecessary

You know who else had a bad week?

Former IL governor and convicted felon George Ryan.

Nothing says, ‘Gee, I’m probably not going to get this sentence commuted after all,” like having the entire country in an uproar over your successor’s all-too-familiar public corruption charges.

I mean, everyone in Illinois was complaining loudly about Durbin asking Bush for the commutation as it was.

My highly unscientific tally of the Tribune’s Letter to the Editor page was about 8 to 1 against - with the rare supporting being like, “Yeah, but remember that death penalty moratorium?”

Yes, that was a good thing to do. But an act of germane public policy (which is, you know, the job of the governor in other states) doesn’t - to me - stand up against ten years of corruption without ever admitting guilt or apologizing to the public.

And… cue public apology:

“I want to make things right in my heart with God, with my family and with those that I have hurt,” said the statement, which was read by former Gov. Jim Thompson at a news conference held at Thompson’s Chicago law offices.

Amazing how total panic over not getting the commutation you thought was in the bag will make a one see the error of his ways.

“I think he is a much-changed man,” Thompson said.

I bet he is, sir.

I bet he is.

Vaguely Related

• Patti Blagojevich Painted as Lady Macbeth
• Will Blagojevich Take Others Down with Him?

I really thought that women politicians had provided the media with enough fodder during the unending election cycle.

But now, with Thanksgiving over, the media have nothing to look forward to until Sarah Palin’s inevitable mangling of the Christmas season.

Luckily, one scrappy woman has stepped in to plug the gap in the news hole - Patti Blagojevich.

Let me state - again - that it appears the Mrs Blagojevich was part of the criminal conspiracy her husband is alleged to have masterminded.

But let’s take a trip through the last 24 hours of Patti in the media, shall we?

The Chicago Sun Times skipped the insinuation and just got straight to the point:

My three dailies  - NYT, Chicago Tribune and The Age - ran various permutations of the same Lady Macbeth story, along with flattering photos:

I like that last one from the Trib especially. It’s a nice companion to the Blago Rats! photo from the Sun Times.

There are, of course, nuggets from all the stories. What I really love is that, aside from the AP story where the author is unclear - women journo’s were assigned the task of gender-ripping Mrs Blagojevich.

The NYT:

In the 76-page federal complaint, Ms. Blagojevich appears to be an influential and demanding partner to her husband’s schemes…
…
And, in a blast of vulgar language, Ms. Blagojevich eggs on her husband when he reportedly threatens to prevent the Tribune Company from selling the Chicago Cubs…
…
The Web site for the governor’s office says that in addition to raising the couple’s two daughters, Ms. Blagojevich occupies herself with typical first lady issues: raising awareness on children’s health, food allergies and literacy, and starting the State Beautification Initiative, which planted native wildflowers along state roads.
…
Ms. Mell’s spokeswoman, Leah Cunningham Pouw, said her own impression of Ms. Blagojevich was that “she is extremely dedicated to her kids,” adding: “I’ve seen her laughing and playing with them. She’s funny; she’s light. When you go in their house, there’s pictures of their drawings posted on the stairwell.”

So, instead of being a typical first lady; she’s a schemer and a corrupter. Does this really come as a surprise? Her husband was supposed to be occupying himself with typical gubernatorial issues: governing and not engaging in corrupt fuckwittery.

That didn’t work out so well, so why are we holding Patti to a different standard? Isn’t it enough that she’s corrupt? Why does she have to be lady-corrupt?

And the only method of defending her alleged co-corruption is, of course, to talk about how good she is with her kids.

Right.

And from The Age (AP):

And in the 78-page criminal complaint against him, his 43-year-old wife emerged as a woman who schemed to cash in on her husband’s job and punish those who got in her way
….
Patti Blagojevich appeared to be a woman who knew her priorities and would not let working at her real estate brokerage firm interfere with raising the couple’s two small daughters.

She apparently was not that kind of woman, though. [The bold and italics are mine - the only way I could convey my reaction to that word, which consisted of nearly spitting up.]

Though I do start to understand how hard it is to capture the full background in crisis reporting. Check out this random nugget of reporting from the AP (printed in The Age):

[Dick Mell] was a powerful Chicago alderman who held a fundraiser in the late 1980s. Hoping to drum up business for his practice, Rod Blagojevich - then a young lawyer - attended and met Patti Mell. The two married in 1990.

What? Dick Mell is still a powerful Chicago alderman. I saw him crapping on and on at the Council meeting just last week. I guess that’s the three sentence history of the situation, but it makes about zero sense.

Anyway, by the time all this is said and done it will be all Patti’s fault. And it will be revealed that she killed some lady’s cats.

Cuz that’s how bitches do.

Vaguely Related

• Patti Blagojevich Painted as Lady Macbeth
• Quentin Bryce: Gender-Tagging the New Governor-General

All right, Chicago Tribune. I was going to write about your Patti Blagojevich/Lady Macbeth article anyway, but her appearance on your homepage has hurried it up a few hours.

Look, I know that people are suddenly visiting chicagotribune.com, so you want to keep those pageviews up. But don’t let the twin shocks of bankruptcy and unexpected relevance go to your head.

Because this is inappropriate:

Lady Macbeth, as you will no doubt recall from Mr Johnson’s English Lit class, is the devil woman who convinces her husband to murder the king, paving the way for his own ascension.

Lady Macbeth doesn’t merely profit from her husband’s rise, she actively corrupts him.

Which is not to say that Patti Blagojevich’s hands are clean. It appears that she was in on the criminal conspiracy, and charges should follow if they are merited. I don’t believe she should get a free ride because her husband is (likely) going to jail and they’ve got kids. Do the crime, do the time.

However! Let’s take a quick look at how we’re covering Mrs Blago’s not-even-alleged-at-this-point crimes.

An unflattering portrait depicting Illinois First Lady Patricia Blagojevich as a modern-day Lady Macbeth who plotted against her husband’s perceived enemies and backed his corrupt schemes emerged in court documents connected to the governor’s arrest Tuesday.

It appears that Patti’s ‘crimes’ so far consist of conduct unbecoming a lady. The Tribune article describes her ‘alleged ambitions and brashness‘ and the ‘obscenity-filled tirade‘ she ‘unleashed’ in support of firing Tribune employees.

That ‘obscenity-filled tirade’ consists of saying ‘fuck’ twice and ’shit’ once. Perhaps not language fit for high society, but certainly language I use in my home when I assume the feds aren’t listening. (And, from the transcript, language that appears par for the course in the Blagojevich household.)

But what really stirs my cauldron is the negative depictions of Patti herself.

For Rod, ambition has not been described as the problem, but rather as a motivator for the corruption he (allegedly) perpetrated. For Patti, the mere act of having ambition is modified with ‘alleged’ - as though that were her crime.

And, of course, we have the word ‘brash’, which has been used time and time again to describe the grating brassiness of women who step out of line.

Should the good governor’s wife should have knitted merrily whilst her husband cooked up the schemes?

From a legal standpoint, it appears so! But for the daughter of Chicago political boss, Dick Mell, not [bleeping] likely.

If she deserves it - and it looks as though she does - let’s try Patti Blagojevich in the courts. But let’s not use insulting literary metaphors to punish a woman for her unladylike ambition and language choice.

[Ed. note- I took the wrong spelling of Patricia Blagojevich's nickname. I've fixed it, and regret the (all-too-common) errors in my spelling.]

Vaguely Related

• Patti Blagojevich In the News (or: Kill the Witch!)
• George Ryan’s Post-Blagojevich Hail Mary

Below are my favorite moments from the criminal complaint against Blagojevich. Quotes are actual dialogue caught on the wiretap.

Each paragraph is from a different parts of the complaint, though they are in order - just saving on ellipses:

Fundraiser A also advised ROD BLAGOJEVICH that he will be meeting Lobbyist 2 to meet with an individual at Weiss Memorial Hospital. ROD BLAGOJEVICH states: “Yeah, now be real careful there. I mean, the FBI went to see [Lobbyist 2]. You understand?”

Whoops! Also the feds are listening to your phones.

During the call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife can be heard in the background telling ROD BLAGOJEVICH to tell Deputy Governor A “to hold up that fucking Cubs shit. . . fuck them.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH asked Deputy Governor A what he thinks of his wife’s idea. Deputy Governor A stated that there is a part of what ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s wife said that he “agree[s] with.” Deputy Governor A told ROD BLAGOJEVICH that Tribune Owner will say that he does not have anything to do with the editorials, “but I would tell him, look, if you want to get your Cubs thing done get rid of this Tribune.”

ROD BLAGOJEVICH told HARRIS to tell Tribune Financial Advisor that “everything is lined up, but before we go to the next level we need to have a discussion about what you guys are going to do about that newspaper.” HARRIS stated that he “won’t be so direct.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH told HARRIS “yeah, you know what you got to say.”

Looks like John P. McCormick, the Chicago Tribune’s Deputy Editorial Page Editor is the editor he really wanted fired.

In that conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and Sports Consultant discussed the importance of getting the IFA transaction [ed. - the Wrigley deal for Zell] approved at the IFA’s December 2008 or January 2009 meeting, because ROD BLAGOJEVICH was contemplating leaving office in early January 2009 and ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s IFA appointees would still be in place to approve the IFA deal.

Hmm, perhaps to become a Senator? Or HHS Secretary?

ROD BLAGOJEVICH later stated, “I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself.” Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that the Senate seat “is a fucking valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.”

On November 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Deputy Governor A. This was the same day as the United States Presidential election. With respect to the Senate seat, Deputy Governor A suggested putting together a list of things that ROD BLAGOJEVICH would accept in exchange for the Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH responded that the list “can’t be in writing.”

Go ahead and talk about it on the phone though - there’s a good idea.

Among the potential positions discussed were Secretary of Health and Human Services and various ambassadorships. Deputy Governor A noted that the cabinet position of Secretary of the Energy is “the one that makes the most money.”

I don’t know who he/she is, but I love Dep Governor A.

In regards to the Senate seat, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there.”

ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he is “struggling” financially and does “not want to be Governor for the next two years.”

Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that if he appoints Senate Candidate 4 to the Senate seat and, thereafter, it appears that ROD BLAGOJEVICH might get impeached, he could “count on [Senate Candidate 4], if things got hot, to give [the Senate seat] up and let me parachute over there.” HARRIS said, “you can count on [Senate Candidate 4] to do that.” Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the Senate seat but “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them.”

ROD BLAGOJEVICH told Fundraiser A that “you gotta be careful how you express that and assume everybody’s listening, the whole world is listening. You hear me?”

In reality, only many divisions of federal law enforcement were listening.

Also on December 5, 2008, after publication of the Tribune article described above, ROD BLAGOJEVICH and three others discussed whether to move money out of the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund to avoid having the money frozen and also considered the possibility of prepaying the money to ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s criminal defense attorney with an understanding that the attorney would donate the money back at a
later time if it was not needed.

In retrospect, that would have been a good idea.

In addition, in the course of the conversations over the last month, ROD BLAGOJEVICH has spent significant time weighing the option of appointing himself to the open Senate seat, and has expressed a variety of reasons for doing so, including frustration at being “stuck” as governor, a belief that he will be able to obtain greater resources if he is indicted as a sitting Senator as opposed to a sitting governor, and a desire to remake his image in consideration of a possible run for President in 2016, avoid impeachment by the Illinois legislature, make corporate contacts that would be of value to him after leaving public office, facilitate his wife’s employment as a lobbyist, and assist in generating speaking fees should he decide to leave public office.

Oh megalomania, whose downfall can’t you cause?

Vaguely Related

• Will Blagojevich Take Others Down with Him?
• Patti Blagojevich Painted as Lady Macbeth

11:58: The take away lesson, I think, is that the governor should have set some time aside to watch The Wire. Because everyone knows you don’t talk about your criminal conspiracy on the phone. Or in the car.

11:55: So that’s over. The upshot is that the feds investigated Blago for years. In the last month or so they got wiretaps, and it’s the taps and bugs that did Blago in.

11:54: OMG reporters. Can you stop asking hypothetical questions that his office can’t possibly answer? This last one was like, “Can anyone taking the senate seat not have a cloud of taint over them?” Because obviously Fitzgerald’s opinion on that is relevant.

11:51: This is Andy Shaw’s one billionth question. Let the other kids have a go, Andy.

11:51: Blago talked about how appointing himself Senator would help him if he was indicted.

11:50: They’re searching the Friends of Blagojevich office.

11:49: Blago was looking for a job with Change to Win (SEIU).

11:47: Journalists are bound and determined to get Obama’s name into this. (That being said, please to god don’t let there be any connections between Rahm’s office and this nonsense.)

11:45: Right now, only conspiracy is charged. Though it appears that Fitz thinks more charges will be forthcoming as they track out what actual behaviors, bills, etc. resulted from the conspiracy.

11:39: Uh ho, looks like the governor’s wife was around and offered opinions on the Tribune thing, too.

11:38: And we’re back to asking what Fitzy thinks the legislature should do. SHUT UP ANDY SHAW.

11:37: Before the taps were placed, the Tribune got wind of it. The feds asked the Tribune not to run the story, and the Tribune agreed (the story ran last Friday instead).

11:35: The feds turned up at 6am to avoid the media and waking the kids.

11:34: One journo asks if Fitz has any advice for anyone who might take the senate seat. Fitzy clearly wants to say something (some sparkle in his eyes), but refrains…

11:33: Fitz makes the distinction between political horsetrading (legal) and trading for personal enrichment (illegal!)

11:32: Okay, the journos don’t have any real questions. The last lady basically asked if we could change the law about the governor appointing the senator.

11:31: What does this say about Durbin and Ryan? God, journalists - ask questions he might have a prayer of answering.

11:30: And now we’re discussing whether or not the Tribune might have considered firing editors. Fitz is great. He doesn’t have a speculative bone in his body.

11:28: Reporters asking silly questions like if Fitz thinks Blago should resign.

11:27: Fitz didn’t want to wait to make the charges ‘tidy’ because he hoped to stop worse things from happening in the interim.

11:22: They have Blago on tape offering to sell the senate seat ‘like a sports agent’.

11:21: Grant: “If [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s certainly one hell of a competitor.”

11:19: Turing over to Rob Grant, the FBI Special Agent in charge of the investigation. Another ”new low for Illinois’ comment.

11:18: How did Blago not realize that he shouldn’t be talking about this stuff on the phone? He even apparently said it at one point, and then kept doing stuff on the phone… wtf?

11:17: ‘At the end of the day, the conduct we have before us is appalling.’

11:16: God, they have this bastard cold. Just the quotes that Fitz is reading out are enough to convict.

11:15: The governor appears to swear a LOT.

11:14: ‘The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.’

11:13: You know, we joke about Illinois corruption a lot - but this is actually really upsetting. Though the sadness is somewhat tempered by Fitzy’s deadpan delivery of the ‘bleeps’.

11:11: Feds tapped Blago’s phone, and caught him inquiring to see if he could get funding for Children’s Memorial Hospital back after money didn’t come in for him.

11:10: ‘”If they don’t perform, bleep em.” And bleep was not the word he used.’

11:09: The law was changing in 2009 to limit campaign contributions. Despite the obvious investigation, they ramped up the shakedowns.

11:08: “Governor Blagojevich has taken us to a very new low… a criminal corruption crime spree”

11:08: Fitzy!

11:07: Andy Shaw described the language in the complaint as ’salty’…

11:07: Chuck and Andy wrestle for the mic.

11:05: And the internal politics of what happens if Quinn becomes governor. Whether or not Madigan would move to impeach Blago, since Quinn getting a rush on 2010 would hurt Madigan’s daughter’s changes to be governor.

11:03: God, they appear to have him on tape saying, “I want to make money,” re: the Senate seat.

11:01: What I didn’t mention in the last post is that Blago also apparently tried to get the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune fired.

10:59: Feds didn’t go through a grand jury because Blago is alleged to have been trying to sell the Senate seat quite quickly - they believed it was imminent and had to move quickly.

10:58: Andy Shaw just managed to shove his face in the camera in front of Chuck Goudie.

Vaguely Related

• Will Blagojevich Take Others Down with Him?
• Patti Blagojevich Painted as Lady Macbeth

It’s a rainy day here in the Windy City, but perhaps rainier than most for Governor (and so-to-be-felon) Rod Blagojevich.

I think this text from my mother sums it up best:

Feds nabbed Blago this am. News conference at 11.

Among the pay-to-play allegations is that Blago may have also offered up a union-preferred candidate for Obama’s Senate seat in exchange for a (cheerfully unelected) spot in the Obama administration.

Oh Blago, is there nothing from which you won’t try to personally profit? How about lemonade stands in the Manor? Getting your kickback, Governor?

And this comes just a week after our last remaining Senator, Dick Durbin, asked President Bush for clemency on behalf of George Ryan, our previous (and officially felonious) governor.

Apparently being old gets you out of prison, even after ten years of widespread corruption and a complete lack of remorse for said activities. I’m sure all the old people in prison on lame drug charges, etc. will be very pleased.

Oh, you mean it only counts if you’re politically connected? Bummer.

Anyway, now no one knows what to do about Obama Senate seat because Blago still gets to appoint unless he resigns (ha!). Whether any of the people currently in the running want to be associated with this hot mess remains to be seen. Trying to run for reelection in two years with your name firmly attached to Blago? Might as well run for governor.

In schendenfreude news, the governor’s birthday is tomorrow.

In kind of tacky news, his kids were probably home when he was arrested. I agree that he might have hit the road if he knew the feds were coming, but wait til the kids go to school, Fitzy.

Update: We made the BBC’s News Hour! The presenter’s pronunciation of Blagojevich was amusing.

Update II: Fitzgerald’s press release is pretty damning. And the criminal complaint is up as well. [h/t Chicago Tribune]

Update III: In the press conference, Grant makes it clear that they went to the house early to avoid the media and waking the kids up.

Vaguely Related

• George Ryan’s Post-Blagojevich Hail Mary
• Will Blagojevich Take Others Down with Him?

God knows why my blogging has fallen off as of late. I suppose it’s because I have nothing I need to actively avoid; everything I don’t want to do these days is merely a question of benign neglect.

Anyway, silly things have been happening.

Tribune declared bankruptcy. It might have helped not to to take the company private and to, you know, put out a product that doesn’t blow chunks (and here I’m talking about the flagship, Chicago Tribune).

Speaking of things that make people sick, Burger King is running a pretty deplorable ad campaign. Entitled ‘Whopper Virgins’, the campaign has rounded up people from north of Chiang Mai, Thailand to taste test Whoppers versus Big Macs.

Personally, I think it’s the music that does it for me. The simple exoticism of it all is what makes it the most offensive. “Let’s give the barbarians Western things and see what they do with them!”

Less offensive if they were American Whopper virgins? I suppose, but the whole thing is just a bad idea (not to mention that the idea of finding an American who has missed out on this culinary treasure seems unlikely).

The MN recount has ended, though there is still the issue of the contested ballots and the possible addition of a number of the initially rejected ballots. The search for 133 ballots from U of M’s Dinkytown has apparently been abandoned, which is a bad thing for Franken. Franken’s people have him ahead, but we’ll see.

But maybe it’s not such a good thing if Franken wins. Nate Silver has some ideas about a Senate 58 versus 59 that I think are pretty compelling.

And, yeah, everyone’s all like, ‘That’s about enough Robert Mugabe!” But… we won’t do anything about it until far, far too late.

So let’s hope that Cubs sale goes well. So far, it’s a blast…

Vaguely Related

• Zimbabwe: Mugabe Retaliates in Plain Sight
• Zimbabwe: Mugabe in Plain Sight II

Oh, I have to run to class, but I can’t leave without giving out a shout out to Senator/Convicted Felon Ted Stevens (R-AK).

Nice work, Senator! There are eight days until the election - and now looks like MarkBegich will be cruising to the Senate.

Vaguely Related

• Ted Stevens’ Trial - Already Amazing
• Today’s Palin Fail, the Wellstone Bailout and Stevens Detritus

Troopergate investigation finds ‘duh‘:

Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, an investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded. The inquiry found, however, that she was within her right to dismiss her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who was the trooper’s boss.

Meanwhile, more and more stories are coming in about the whipping up going on at McCain/Palin events - some of it bordering on race-baiting. In one particularly disturbing incident:

Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric’s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.” At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

Megan at Jezebel has a good rundown (with link list at the bottom), so I won’t list them all here.

McCain and Palin have not discouraged this behavior from their supporters. Instead Obama’s campaign got the blame today:

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers adds in another statement: “Barack Obama’s attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain. It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.”

I’m not even sure that ‘irresponsible’ can describe this behavior (and the dog-whistle response). John McCain used to be better than this. He’s the head of his party and an authority figure; failure to denounce it is tantamount to endorsement.

If someone gets hurt - and I’m thinking most the media people at these events - it will be on McCain’s shoulders.

Vaguely Related

• Navigating the Sarah Palin Daughter Pregnancy Scandal
• Legitimate Concern on Palin

[Editor's Note: Have tried to remove jinx factor...]

It’s a question that - I swear to god - didn’t occur to me until today.

With the race seemingly tightening up, it might be time to have a look.

In Illinois, the governor replaces the sitting Senator until the next Congressional election. This means that Rod Blagojevich (D) will fill Obama’s seat and that person will be up for re-election in 2010.

For those of you not from Illinois - here’s the political lay of the land:

Blagojevich essentially comes from the Chicago Machine, but has a weird relationship to it. He’s the son-in-law of Chicago boss Dick Mell, who put him in the governor’s office. Blago and Mell, however, more or less openly dislike each other.

Blagojevich’s other main problem is Illinois House Speaker and IL Democratic Party Leader Mike Madigan, who pretty much hates his guts. Madigan has done everything in his power to thwart Blagojevich over the last few years. Madigan’s daughter, Lisa Madigan, is the Attorney General and a likely candidate for governor in 2010.

Not that Blago has helped himself much. He’s almost certainly had some quite dirty dealings, and it most likely ‘Public Official A’ in Peter Fitzgerald’s most recent excursion into Illinois corruption. Between this and the Congressional gridlock he’s helped to create, Illinois voters are extremely pissed off.

Sure they returned him to office in 2006, but his opponent Judy Baar Topinka inspired a lot of nose-holding for downstate Republicans as well. The Green Party candidate got over 10% in that election, which is pretty unheard of for a third-party candidate in a gubernatorial election.

All caught up?

With this much hatred to spare, Blagojevich is likely to make a strategic appointment. He’s got enemies pretty much everywhere, but a couple of names stand out for consideration.

Lisa Madigan - she’s the Attorney General and well-liked. She’s likely to challenge him in 2010, so putting her in the Senate might keep her out the way. She’d have to choose between renewing her Senate seat or going for Blagojevich’s.

Any of the Chicago US House delegation - He’d get to make nice with the Machine, and appointing an African-American, like Davis, Rush or Jackson Jr., would give him support from the South Side in 2010.

Dan Hynes - Illinois Comptroller. Another likely candidate in 2010 - though one with less chance of beating Blagojevich in a primary. Would make Machine people happy though, and maybe get them off Blagojevich’s back.

Jim Oberweis - because it’s the only way Jim Oberweis is every going to get elected anything. Seriously, how freaking amazing would that be? I mean, aside from the reality of it.

Alan Keyes - is he still carpetbagging with us? He was Obama’s opponent in 2004, and… nah, can’t even write the end of that sentence seriously.

The Daily Herald also suggests Alexi Giannoulias, the State Treasurer, who Obama likes a lot. Bill Daley, the brother of Mayor Richard M. Daley. That seems over the top - I think people would be pretty up in arms about a Daley getting to the Senate without dead people voting for it or anything.

The DH also points out that Blagojevich could appoint himself and basically get the hell out of Illinois. The governor gig isn’t going so well, to be sure, but he’d be up again in 2010. I think once people picked their jaws up off the floor, they’d vote him straight out. Plus, the Democrats don’t need one of their senators dealing with corruption charges, which will almost certainly feature in Blago’s near future.

I’m not counting my chickens just yet, but it’s interesting to think about. And I know nothing about Arizona internal politics, so… yeah, who knows what happens if McCain wins?

God, you just know Jim Oberweis has thought about calling up Blago and offering his service.

Vaguely Related

• Will Blagojevich Take Others Down with Him?
• Patti Blagojevich Painted as Lady Macbeth