Seen on Twitter: You can't spell Blagojevich without J.A.I.L..

Hillarious and useful! I always have trouble misspelling Blago with a "y" instead of a "j." Now, I can remember the Governor is going to J.A.I.L., not Y.A.L.E.

Emil Jones was Obama's political godfather, and Obama is a product, and part of, this chronic and blatantly corrupt system here.

But, just as he has downplayed his other unsavory associations, I am sure Obama will tell us "Who knew? I guess Blago just isn't the man I thought he was."

And many will believe. We have a term for those people: "comatose."

It reminds me of the movie line Whitey Bulger knockoff Jack Nicholson gave: "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me."

Indeed.

I think Dave makes a good point with regard to Illinois politics in general.

I think you can find levels of corruption that are pretty staggering in every corner of the country.

And while we are on the subject, what did become of all those planeloads of cash we flew into Iraq.. how much is unaccounted for.. 10 billion? 15 billion?

I think Dave makes a good point with regard to Illinois politics in general.

Perhaps true. Yet, this doesn't seem overly complimentary of Hillary Clinton who grew up in Chicago, or of The Chosen One, for that matter.

Of course Alan Keyes is qualified,and if you knew anything about that election,

floyd,
that presuppose that we knew each other, which we don't, so you should probably be less bigheaded about it. calling a loss by 43% anything less than ginormous would be sheer ignorance, which i fear in your case it is. btw, which elective offices did your enormously qualified out-of state candidate hold before 2004? his career seems to be dotted with electoral defeat.

Seen on Twitter: You can't spell Blagojevich without J.A.I.L.. Hehe.

My guess is Blagovich probably thought he could get away with it, because everyone else had. Sure a few people have gone down, but they were just the rotten apples you could see-the real rot is throughout the whole system and isn't a problem for just one party, but both. Illinois politics seems to operate on the quid pro quo and corruption. I am not convinced this will go away anytime soon, and the majority of corruption will go unchecked with the occasional head rolling here and there.

And the Big Media establishment just loves him, even if he is a Republican, right?

well, since this investigation will eventually enter the realm of the relationship between Obama and Blagojevich, along with Tony Rezko, a name you also may have heard, I have reason to think that love will find it's limit shortly.

The only untainted Illinois politician who is remotely qualified for the seat is the guy who narrowly lost to Obama in the 2004 race--Alan Keyes.

if by close you mean 43%, then yes it was close - about as close as keyes is qualified.

Who else could possibly be untainted amongst the "name" politicians in Illinois?

The only untainted Illinois politician who is remotely qualified for the seat is the guy who narrowly lost to Obama in the 2004 race--Alan Keyes.

Given the fact that it was Blagojevich's shakedown practices that threw the '04 election to Hussein, it would only be just if Keyes found his rightful place as Senator of Illinois.

Isn't the obvious, if not the only possible choice for Senator Obama's replacement now Patrick Fitzgerald? Who else could possibly be untainted amongst the "name" politicians in Illinois? And the Big Media establishment just loves him, even if he is a Republican, right?

Mr. Marshall just can't keep his own hobby horses out of an otherwise laudable sentiment. Why would any level of scrutiny for this bastard be considered crazy?

Charles, I think you are reading too much into Josh's word choice. If you go to TPM you will find that he currently has the "craziest level of scrutiny" of this whole mess...

Including a defense of Fitzgerald to several readers who thought that this might somehow, some way, be a "Siegelman?" redux.