Ward on Words

Will the sorry saga of the rot in Illinois never end? Impeached former governor Rod Blagojevich apparently has been given a six figure book deal to tell us just how he picked Roland Burris to represent Illinois in the Senate. I'm sure it's a safe bet that there will be poetry alongside of that political analysis - as Rod knows, we need more Kipling quoted in America! According to the Tribune , Blago's babblings will also include a visit to the "dark side of politics." And we all thought that Blago's helmet-head was just a bad hairdo! Apparently it's Darth Vader's mask all askew on top of Blago's big head.

"Scandal Mushrooms" says a headline in today's Chicago Sun-Times . What sounds like a recipe for salmonella-infested fungi is instead the story about how Rod Blagojevich (when still governor) got Roland Burris' son a job prior to the elder Burris' appointment to the senate. (Sounds like Blagojevich served as an excellent employment agency for the Roland Burrises.) Roland Burris II (the senator's "mini-me") was facing foreclosure on his own home last summer when he was appointed ( and I am not making this up ) to a $75,000 job at the Illinois Housing Development Authority. His home was in foreclosure because he apparently owed ( again, I'm not making this up ) more than $30,000 to the IRS. Let's see if we can sum this up neatly... A governor arrested for trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat then appoints a man who has not only raised money to purchase the seat hosted "fundraisers" for Blago, but whose son owes his job to the...