Ward on Words

With Rod Blagojevich, former governor of Illinois, tied up in his trial for corruption, there remains a spot open on the NBC reality TV show "I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here." And according to the Chicago Tribune , Rod's wife, Potty-Mouth Patty, is the celebrity NBC wants to fill the spot. So let's take a look at Patty's celebrity status for a minute.... *She's famous for being married to the crook who tried to sell an US senate seat to the highest bidder. *She's famous for her extensive vocabulary in swear words, caught on tape and released to the world via the federal investigation into her husband's corruption. *She's a tiny bit famous for being the daughter of a Chicago alderman, with all the baggage that comes with such a title. You know what? I am sick of these types of celebrities. Sign her up and ship her out! Let her have her fun clawing her way back to Illinois as part of this TV show....

I launch my computer this morning to learn that NBC, which used to make the nation laugh a lot on Thursday nights, has asked Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced governor facing federal corruption charges, to appear on a reality TV show. It is a program in which "celebrities" are taken to Costa Rica, where they must endure "fun and comedic challenges designed to test their survival skills." Oh NBC. Really? I suppose at first glance, it seems like NBC's golden opportunity - the chance to bring a Kipling-quoting shyster to a jungle to see him spar for survival with other entertainment types. (And with Blagojevich coming to the jungle from the swamps of Illinois politics, he's got to be the odds-on favorite of the bookies.) But if you think about it, he's a man asking a judge to postpone his trial so he can get paid to frolic in the jungle. Blagojevich is not a celebrity. He's a crook. He's a man who was forced to resign his post after ...