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By JACK COLWELL
SOUTH BEND - News media vultures, negative as always, pick on Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, criticizing his entrepreneurial spirit in his quest for a profit and ignoring all the positive aspects of his efforts to select a new U.S. 
senator through competitive bidding.
Just consider all those people, many very prominent, who now owe so much to Blago. Here is a list of some who should be grateful:
1. David Letterman.
2. Jay Leno.
3. Jon Stewart.
4. Stephen Colbert.
Pretty obvious that all four, fearing the loss of a funny president, were in danger of presenting only dull routines on mistake-free doings and lofty comments of the president-elect until Illinois’ governor offered ample material for hilarious ridicule.
5. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She no longer is on anybody’s list of silliest governor. Hot Rod Blagojevich has zoomed to No. 1 ranking without even claiming to see Russia from any part of his state - except maybe from Peoria.
6. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. It’s clear that federal prosecutors regard selling a U.S. Senate seat as of more concern than selling the rights to operate the Toll Road. So maybe folks along the Toll Road will just shut up about higher rates and poorer service.
President Elect Obama with Govs. Blagojevich and Daniels in Philadelphia.
7. President Bush. Although Bush may be at a record low in presidential approval ratings, his dismal showing of just over 20 percent looks good in comparison with 8 percent approval for Blagojevich in a new Illinois opinion poll.
8. Chicago Tribune editorial writers. While newspapers everywhere lay off journalists, the Tribune editorial writers have been provided with greater job security by the revelation that Blagojevich wanted them fired in a deal to provide state funding for Tribune-owned Wrigley Field.
9. Sam Zell. The financial wizard who took over Tribune Co. may not be able to withdraw the recent Tribune filing for bankruptcy protection, but sales of extra issues with the sensational news of Blagogate should help a little.
10. Editorial writers everywhere. They never dreamed that politicians place such value on what they write.
11. President-elect Barack Obama. In recordings obtained by the feds, Blagojevich is heard lamenting that Obama wasn’t offering a Cabinet appointment, an ambassadorship, some high-paying private position or anything else other than worthless appreciation for selection of an Obama choice for the Senate. Said the governor of the president-elect: “(Expletive) him. For nothing? (Expletive) him.”
12. Sen. Evan Bayh. The federal investigation reveals that Blagojevich was thinking of appointing himself to the Senate in order to establish credentials for a presidential campaign in 2016. That now seems rather unlikely, thus clearing the way for Bayh to make one more presidential bid.
13. Jesse Jackson Jr. Thanks to the Blago bugs, Jackson finally is getting more national publicity than his famous father.
14. Chicago White Sox. Even though most of the attention of the governor was on getting something in return for helping to fix up or sell Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, it’s apparent that Patricia Blagojevich, the Illinois first lady, is a fan of the Sox rather than the Cubs. On one call she is heard saying: “(Expletive) Cubs (expletive) . . . (Expletive) them.”
15. U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. The guy who’s going after Blago adds to his reputation of seeking to put away Illinois politicians from either party who violate the public trust and even getting conviction of the vice president’s Scooter.
16. Abraham Lincoln. Although Illinois is known as “the land of Lincoln,” there had been no known Lincoln activity for some time. Fitzgerald said, however, that Blagojevich’s conduct “would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”
17. Makers of coonskin caps. Since Blagojevich’s hairdo looks kind of like he’s wearing a coonskin cap, all the national TV coverage of his entrepreneurial efforts could spur the biggest sales of coonskins since the popularity of the Davey Crockett TV series in the 1950s.
18. Illinois residents. Blagojevich’s own words about his pay-to-play deals make certain that the slob soon will be in a place other than the governor’s office.
Colwell has covered Indiana politics over five decades for the South Bend Tribune.
Tags: Jack Colwell, Mitch Daniels, Rod Blagojevich
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This entry was written by and posted on December 16, 2008 at 10:56 am and filed under HPI Weekly. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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