Illinois Governor Tarnishes Office, Toupée Industry

It would seem that his golden parachute has been alchemically converted back to a hole-ridden lead parachute.

I suspect that his debased language contributed to the debasement of the metal. Alchemy, like politics, can be funny that way.

He should have consulted me first.

E. Spitzer, may we just bow to your expertise on this subject and assume that you are correct?

I want to see if a reverse Fox News shell game happens with their coverage of this story, ie. the Governor’s picture has an “R” beside his name. It won’t happen, but it would be nice, no?

Ooops. My bad: Vallas didn’t narrowly lose to Poshard, he narrowly lost to Blagojevich (at least, according to Wikipedia).

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.

(Note, for the record, that glue-sniffing references make it past the censor!)

I feel better now.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4B87J820081209

I am confused. Why was the role of Rod Blagojevich played by Stephen King?

Boy oh boy! Months and months of face time on the networks - again! Is this a great country (except for Chicago and Scooter Libby), or what?

Gee, I don’t know, Adam. If anyone tarnished the toupee industry, I would have to say it would be former Congressman James Traficant, whose rug was so bizarre, the police couldn’t get all of it into his mug shot.

http://www.nndb.com/people/208/000024136/

…do you smell something?

just waiting until the Obama can’t be President because {x} maroons get ahold of this…..

How ’bout we start, as a group, to deduct $.25 from next year’s NPR Fund Drive pledge for each time we hear the term “Car Czar” on any of their programs. Do you think that might make this boring phrase go away?

Umm, I think that’s his real hair….

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2006/Heads-of-State/

Dave~

I’m in Kane County, so I didn’t get to vote against Todd Stroger. Hopefully one of the side effects of all Blago’s garbage will be that Emil Jones stops trying to (or is unsuccessful at) get his son appointed to fill his state seat.

What are your thoughts on how a senator should be chosen for us now? I’m really not that crazy about a quick special election- I don’t know that a highest-vote-getter-out-of-eight(?) is optimal– esp. if the Dems put up 6 candidates, and the Repubs only two or three.

And on the trivial- do you think his head is fake or real?

I second Auntie’s recommendation of DvE’s analysis. Good background and context for what is going on in Illinois.

So Vinnie, I’m not sure if you hit him too hard, and he’s developed a chronic brain injury, or not hard enough…

Aunt Sam … As I read the 17th Amendment, it seems to say that once there is a vacancy in the Senate (a) the state’s “executive” should issue a “warrant” [fill in bad pun here] for a special election; but (b) the state legislature can pass a law that allows the governor to name a replacement senator until such time as an election can be held. I presume Illinois has, in effect, chosen the latter route (and I further presume that the governor’s pick gets to serve out the term of the senator who vacated that seat); but, in any event, the 17th Amendment doesn’t seem to authorize the state legislature to call for a special election to fill a senate vacancy. So, it’s not clear that there is a mechanism for the Illinois General Assembly, as opposed to the governor, to call for a special election. And Blago, we know, won’t cede that authority to the General Assembly, that’s for darn sure.

Ideally, Blago would just resign and let Pat Quinn (who, as the current Lieutenant Governor, would take over as acting governor) make the pick. Quinn is a Democrat, albeit an unusual Democrat … but if that were to happen, at least no one could challenge the qualifications of whomever Quinn were to pick; whereas if the General Assembly calls for some sort of unauthorized special election, well, general hilarity will no doubt ensue.

I have little doubt it’s real hair, I just want to know if it’s Blago’s hair.

Dang! BHO’s pick for Sec. of Energy is fab. He’s someone with the skills and intelligence to sort out this country’s energy policy and get them on the right road. Let’s hope he isn’t eaten by lobbyists. What a thrill. Wouldn’t it be really cool if we were actually headed in the right direction?

(And by right, I mean correct. That’s a word that I’d like us to take back, too.)

Chris–do you think he’s going for the guy or the poodle?

OK, sports fans, you’re probably asking yourself “What in the world did the Big 3 CEO’s do to occupy their time during their recent cross country road trip to appear before Congress?” Well, I’m so glad you asked.

http://www.236.com/video/2008/big_3_automaker_roadtrip_foota_10547.php

Boys will be boys.

(on delayed reaction)
Yes, Chris, buried somewhere in the 20 pages of Blago coverage in the Chicago Tribune, there was a very…reassuring article about Steven Chu. Perhaps there is hope for our planet yet.

Oh, Pat! C’mon, Get Happy!

*Should be “At The Mudflats, I found this link…”

Yeah, girls, I took the test myself and wound up in my comfort zone, too - just a nudge to the right of P.W. Botha. At least the scientists that put this test together knew what they were doing. Now if these same guys could just shine their brilliance onto the evolution conspiracy….. Now that would be science I could believe in!

Thanks for asking Aunt Sam! Actually I was more of a Shirley Jones fan, so the fighting was very Oedipal.
The grandbaby is fat and happy! He’s adorable and there’s nothing better than making a baby laugh!

I’ve been thinking that maybe the Governor should make a concerted effort to drop his favorite word, “F*ck”, from his vocabulary, since his next roommates are going to be very suggestible and prone to violently lashing out. After all, that’s why they’re in prison. And they’re horny, too. Did I mention that?

Fie upon such ungodly words! Sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth. Thou shalt save it for someone you love.

Hardly an ear worm, more the perfect coda to the Bush era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE3kKUEY5WU&feature=related

Hi All,

This is off topic but should be of interest to long time followers of this blog. We here in Washington are having our annual kerfuffle over the display of holiday stuff in the state capitol. There is the tree, of course, but a private citizen paid to put a nativity scene on the third floor. This opened the door for others put up decorations of their own which this year will include a menorah and a Kwannza display. Also new this year is a sign from an athiest group that got national attention and has really let loose the floodgates. Now there are applications for a Fesitvus pole, a tribute to the birth of (wait for it) the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and a church in Kansas that wants to display a sign stating that believing in Santa Claus will earn you a one way ticket to a very hot climate. Among other ironies, the protests against the athiest sign included a speach from Rev. Kenneth Hutcherson who is well known for his very vocal protests of any and all attempts to treat gays and lesbians as human beings including at Microsoft and a local high school. In his speach the good Reverend stated “But just because you must represent everyone in the state doesn’t mean that you put up with intolerance from the people you represent.” Gee Rev, ya think we might be a bit more tolerant of Christians if the Christians were less intolerant?

Happy winter celebration of your choice to one and all.

Cheers,
Jay

…and speech.

Oh, born on this day,
Ever marked with confetti,
With angel hair wings,
And guts of Spaghetti.

We celebrate you–
Your paper plate head
And your legs and your arms
Of toasted garlic bread

Fly free great beast
To gather us each, and everyone, all
For this season’s feast
In the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s hall.

Fascinating, Just Jay - personally, I believe that’s the correct approach. Since the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion while prohibiting the state from supporting (establishing) any one religion, let all religions put up their symbols! Including the atheists. I hadn’t thought of the FSM, but - them too!

But where are the Washington Wiccans?? Have you no pagans up there? In California we’d have both of them putting up displays.

Sadly, I think the Festivus proponents have a weak case, given that it is the brainchild of TV sitcom writers. On the other hand, what could be more American than a religious celebration derived from a television program?

For my part, I’d love to see Festivus recognized as a legitimate holiday. Especially that part about the airing of grievances.

It’s not the toxins, David, it´s the cute fuzzy wuzzy aminals!

This is what happens when you let your child grow up watching too much Sesame Street and Muppets. I can athropomorphize anything.

Yo Doc, “ant’ropomorefizing” is a big woid. So don’t go beatin’ ya self up ’bout dat, okay? An’ Happy Holidaze ta all my pals in Brooklyn - Luigi, Zute, T’ree fingahs Pietro, an’ Fast Rico - ya bums are da best.

Here’s some fun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/13/late-night-jokes-of-the-w_n_1 50719.html

I had to look three times to realize you’d left out the n, Dale. But the research is in: small wild game is the healthiest source of fuzzy wuzzy aminal protein. True, I could never shoot Big Bird, and in truth I reached the point that I couldn’t tolerate the sound of my shotgun shattering the silence of a still winter morning (I used to hunt deer). The .22 was ok (squirrel in the hands of a good cook is excellent eating). And both quail and dove are excellent, and threatened only by developers, pesticides, and people’s cats.

I can wring a chicken’s neck (done correctly, it is the quickest, most humane way to kill a chicken), but I never liked it. Still, I eat chicken, so it doesn’t make much sense to be unwilling to kill one. But if they live in my yard, or next door, they are safe from me. Can’t look them in the eye every day and then behead them.

Not sure about the most humane way to kill a turkey. You ain’t picking one of them up and wringing its neck. And I am a staunch proponent of humane treatment of livestock, including farm children (that comes from something I once read about oats being an excellent food for livestock, including young farm boys).

My brother is a modified vegan (that means he ran into problems with B-12 deficiency, but wants only small amounts of locally grown organic meat, and even then has no taste for it, just less of a taste for B-12 deficiency).

I still want Lake Michigan scavenger fish to have the opportunity to feast on the abominable governorman - but only through an act of God, not the hand of a person.

The Blago Tapes remind me of that scene in “The Wire” where Bunk and McNulty solve a shooting by only saying variations on the word “f*ck”. Adam, you ought to write a sketch for Real Time where Blago and his chief of staff conduct every bit of state business the way Bunk and McNulty did in that scene, and then he goes home to his wife and they carry on the same way.