Roland Burris hosted a brief press conference today at Midway. Josh Marshall seems to think it was bad; I thought he handled himself reasonably well given the pro forma questions he received. I don't think I agree that he's "a solution to the problem of the people of Illinois" (approx. 6:15 in) but points for inadvertent honesty.

I'm of two minds about the Senate's idea to refuse to seat Roland Burris, perhaps going as far as using guards to keep him from the Senate chamber.

On one hand, Blagojevich is the governor. Since the legislature did nothing, neither impeachment or rushing through legislation for a special election, to prevent Blago from making the appointment, it's still his job and his right. And given that the subtext of the criminal complaint is that he's crazier than a shithouse rat, he can't be fairly expected to stop doing it. Generally speaking, I'm priggish about laws and rules and consider them higher than politicians, and think that sometimes you just have to suck it up and follow them even when it's not convenient or even immediately a good idea.

On the other hand, this is a free country, and it's designed to allow people to do stuff which may or may not be constitutional, because that's how we actually determine what's legal and what's not. That's what happened with Lisa Madigan's attempt to remove Blago's powers, which she was criticized for--she tried, the court told her to shove off, and the world went on.

Right now it's just not clear whether the Senate can block Burris, and one way of clarifying that is to go ahead and do it and let the courts figure it out. Obviously this isn't a failsafe manuever, as we learned in 2000 with Bush v. Gore, which the Supreme Court decided was "limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities." Or, as The Poorman Institute calls it, "the legal principle of tap tap ne backsies infinitum."

Still, that's how the system is supposed to work, at least, and creating bonkers case law is part of the majesty of America. Pass the popcorn.

Update: Of course, there's also the general question of whether bringing a constitutional challenge to a court you don't like will create precedent you don't want, but that's a strategic issue well above my pay grade.

Update II: Nate Silver has a good roundup and discussion of the issue.

Not to second-guess my colleagues, but I would have entitled this article about For the Love of Rod (a 2005 album about the governor by David Lineal of local psych-rockers Bird Names) "Air on a G-Rod."

[It has been a long day--I am still at the office--the third straight very long day in a very long week, and I have nothing left to power this blog except self-amusement and my ongoing interest in 21st century political folk art.]

Hey, it's him!

"Not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing... will fight this every step of the way." Wants to address this in court, etc.

Kipling!

"Kind of lonely right now." But he has the truth on his side.

Blago's lawyer Sam Adam, Jr.: We want a witness list, the tapes, etc. One agenda: health care! Sick children!

If the people of Illinois are suffering, he'll step aside. I dunno if we're "suffering," per se, but we don't think you're a good governor, criminal complaint or no.

Chill about the Senate seat--let the gov breathe. Let him get back to what he does best, which is governing. BUT HE'S NOT GOOD AT THAT.

"Point out one single action to me... maybe there was talk." That is going to be sticky.

Sheldon Sorosky: People hated Truman, too.

Sorosky isn't especially good at answering questions. Clearly knows Adam wants to jump in at every moment.

Adam: The quotes in the complaint are out of context. HE'S NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE FOR FIGHTING FOR SICK CHILDREN. Back away from that meme, trust me.

And we're done!

ABC7 reports:

"ABC7 has learned that since late last summer, the congressman has worked with federal prosecutors, informing on an alleged Blagojevich administration scheme two and half years earlier.... The topic was a proposed third airport at Peotone, Jackson's pet project which needed more state money. Rezko allegedly demanded that the governor be given control of the airport's board. Jackson refused and state support for the project stopped."

In other news, emptywheel speculates on the Rahm-Blago connection.

Governor Rod Blagojevich, solely responsible for Illinois' latest starring role in the national media, today signed into law an increase in the state subsidy for movie and television production, including commercials. The Illinois film "tax credit" is growing by 50 percent, jumping from 20 percent to 30 percent for local expenditures on goods and services, including wages. And there will be an additional 15 percent credit on wages paid employees who live in areas of "high poverty or high unemployment."

A "sunset provision," requiring annual renewal by the legislature has been dropped, making the subsidy permanent unless action is taken to cancel it.

A statement released by the governor's office claims the film industry "made more than 26,500 hires in Illinois" in 2007, but doesn't say anything about the duration of those gigs. (How long does it take to shoot a commercial?) Film industry folk and their friends who've contributed to Blago's campaigns include Blair Hull, whose former wife, Brenda Sexton, landed a stint as head of the Illinois Film Office.

Ben Joravsky has written on an earlier version of the film tax credit, and here's the official info.

Ever since the country’s founding, prosecutors, defense lawyers and juries have been trying to define the difference between criminality and political deal-making. They have never established a clear-cut line between the offensive and the illegal, and the hours of wiretapped conversations involving Mr. Blagojevich, filled with crass, profane talk about benefiting from the Senate vacancy, may fall into a legal gray area.

Though it's worth keeping in mind that the criminal complaint is far from any final case that will be presented. In related news, Tony Rezko is negotiating to cooperate in the case.

Update: Former Blago fundraiser and adviser Chris Kelly pleads guilty.

Sun-Times says Madigan is kicking off kicking him out. I suspect the Madigan family holiday party will be a happy one this year.

Also: Blago doesn't have a pompadour like some rockabilly star. UR DOIN IT WRONG.*

* Not that a pompadour would be any less amusing, but less sui generis than whatever you call GRod's hair. Pompabangs? Gel-met head?

"[Likely Blago lawyer Ed] Genson has defended media mogul Conrad Black and R&B singer R. Kelly."

Update: Steve Rhodes (Beachwood Reporter) profiled Genson for Chicago Magazine in March 2005:

"Edward Marvin Genson is one of the best criminal defense lawyers-if not the best-in the city. More than that, though, Genson has become one of those oversize figures whose work represents a larger proposition: His cases tell the story of a certain slice of Chicago culture in the past three decades."

* Blagojevich to America: THIS IS NOT A TOUPEE. America to Blagojevich: PERHAPS YOU ARE CRAZIER THAN WE THOUGHT.

* He's not going anywhere, but he might let us choose Obama's replacement (and pay for it). The weather has responded appropriately.

* SNL's take is okay, but the burns about his hair are pretty good ("you have a proceeding hairline").

* Scare quotes of the day.

* A good reminder of Patti Blagojevich's role in the long-term saga.

Update: The first two paragraphs of the NYT's piece yesterday are priceless. I loved this part: "cursing and erupting in fury for failings as mundane as neglecting to have at hand at all times his preferred black Paul Mitchell hairbrush. He calls the brush 'the football,' an allusion to the 'nuclear football,' or the bomb codes never to be out of reach of a president."

He must be devastated, then, by the fact that his hair is a national joke.

Also:

"eloquently recite historical anecdotes from the lives of the leaders he says he most admires — Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Robert F. Kennedy, Alexander Hamilton, Ronald Reagan."

I guess he saves Patton for sports reporters.

Rich Miller:

State essentially paralyzed

Did Zell “get the message” from the advisor, as Harris says he was told he did, and, if so, what did he do about it?

The Columbia Journalism Review has questions for TribCo.

AG Lisa Madigan is getting blowback on the restraining order.

Rich Miller: "My own opinion is that Speaker Madigan probably wants to let his daughter take the lead."

Digby: "We don't ask courts to 'remove' people from office because they refuse to resign. We just don't. We impeach them under a proper legal process. I can't stand this rush to change the rules whenever people don't do what they're 'supposed' to do.

Archpundit: "In this case, we have evidence of a Governor selling off state resources/benefits. The degree of deliberation is a function of the will of the Chamber. The only reason it would take six weeks is because Speaker Madigan made it take six weeks."

Seems to me this is why Madigan was so insistent today that the temporary restraining order was a backup plan. The Trib has the filings.

So saith Lisa Madigan: "Such a motion is untested in the state's history." Presser at 11:15.

Update: Live stream (might only work on Windows Media Player, YMMV).

Update II: Ok, WMP isn't working but VLC player is, because VLC is the best. Seriously, you should use VLC.

Update III: Not a lot of arguments from Madigan, but the most compelling basis for keeping Blago from doing his business seems to be on the basis of his alleged unwillingness to disperse funds to state agencies and/or recipients of state funds without pay-for-play.

Update IV: The allegations that Blago tried to shake down Children's Memorial Hospital being the primary one.

Update V: AG: The term disability, legally, is very broad. Read the briefings.

Update VI: According to Madigan, the rules they're working under have been used in redistricting cases? Something to look into. Sorry if I'm just taking notes here.

Update VII: Live stream broke. Catching up. 21st century FAIL. Broadcast analog TV FTW.

Update IIX: Abner Mikva: Impeachment or resignation would trump the state SC.

Update IX: AG: We're seeking temporary removal from the SC, anything else up to the legislature and/or Blago. Probably ok for Blago to keep getting paid, though.

Update X: AG: Legislature going to try to change the law on Monday to have special election for Obama's seat. [IIRC polls support this.]

Update XI: TRO specifically meant to keep him from finance authority, toll authority, Senate seat appt. Not a physical restraining order per se.

Update XII: Rule 382 used in redistricting cases, 1970 constitution (got me), not previously in this circumstance.

Update XIII: AG: Pat Quinn should take over. I think the legislature should move forward w/ impeachment proceedings.

Update XIV: DON'T ASK ABOUT DAD. She won't answer. And we're done.

Rule 382: Capitol Fax has a roundup. Here's Rule 382. Empoyed in Cole-Randazzo v. Ryan, 2001.

But no matter how heinous the conduct of Blagojevich and Harris, none of it amounts to a federal crime without the use of interstate commerce—the mail or telephone lines—to further the scheme.

Maureen Martin of the Heartland Institute weighs in.

Reading the criminal complaint, one thing that jumped out at me was the Gov.'s alleged concerns about his financial stability and security. Well, $500K in unpaid legal bills would make a man ill at ease.

MEMEORANDUM

Dear Staff,

Were you planning on writing about how the city of the year is experiencing a blissful renaissance? Now that the governor's allegedly corrupt and possibly insane, that's all off now.

Repeat: Chicago has changed and it is now a soul-chilling hellscape. We will be replacing Trend Story B with Trend Story A in your content management system and adding Trend Meta-Story C, about how Trend Story A Should Have Been Trend Story B. Bob Greene can help you if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Editor

(*thx bda)

Michael Miner sat down with Rachel Maddow to talk about the Tribune Company and about whether Rod Blagojevich is crazy.

Never mind, won't embed. Try here.

(Dear Air America: If you're out there, let's have Chuck D with Ben Joravsky for the hat trick. Joravsky's latest post about how Blago got too far above his fixer, Dick Mell, is a must-read.)

"Who did in who?  That remains a really good question."

Greg Hinz speculates--and asks if there was any indirect communication between Blago and the Obama team.

Most all the EBay Blag schwag is what you'd expect, but I do so like this button. And it's still cheap!

Elsewhere in Blagojevich irony, the meaning of the "Blago" root.

No Chicagoan can be truly surprised by Blago's pay-to-play approach to politics. You think he's the first to try that around here? But the drama of the complaint is undeniable. The New Yorker's Ben Greenman captures its whimsical side with "Fragments of Blagojevich! The Musical" and for Salon, Choire Sicha sets it to Mamet in Glengarry Rod Blagojevich.

Over here at the Reader we feel a bit like Greenman's FBI guys in the van.

Oh my God
Oh my God
Thank you, Lord
Thank you, Rod
Most of all, I give thanks
To our wonderful host Bill
In the past I doubted you
But now I never will

It's been a long time since we had this much fun.

(BlagLOLvich idea from The Private Intellectual)

*Cf.

That was a warm and balmy November night in Grant Park -- which in itself should have told you something: the shirtsleeves-in-November feeling had a when-pigs-fly quality to it -- but this week there is sleet and wind and snow, a Chicago December week fit for neither man nor beast, which is to say: the usual, the expected. And in the federal courthouse just a few blocks from the Grant Park scene of civic pride and celebration, the weather had changed in more than the meteorological sense.

If you haven't guessed (not that hard... it's really, uniquely purple) what sort-of-disgraced former Chicago columnist wrote that, click through (h/t Liz).

Mr. Blagojevich had grown increasingly isolated in recent years, particularly from his own state’s Legislature and even from his father-in-law, Dick Mell, a powerful longtime Chicago alderman who showed him the political ropes as a younger man.

The governor was rarely seen around his offices in Chicago and Springfield, preferring instead to spend time at home on the North Side.

“I believe he became a prisoner of his own home,” Mr. Jacobs said.

There's also the fact that he was stunningly unpopular and virtually powerless outside of his inherent powers as governor, but I think that might be a chicken-or-the-egg question.

Fox News Chicago is reporting that Senate Candidate No. 5 is Jesse Jackson, Jr., which lines up with TPM's guess and that of our own Mick Dumke. Here's why candidate 5's identity is a big deal. Update: ABC News is reporting the same thing (via), and he responded with something of a non-denial. 

Then again, FNC said Rahm leaked the Senate pay-for-play request, which he denies, so YMMV. Here's JJJr's statement.

I guess it's a little raw, but I don't know, don't lots of coworkers talk that way to each other?

On the other hand, the Tribune's Daywatch delivered a nice roundup of late night talk show Blago jokes this morning. Thanks, Charlie.

MSNBC's courtroom sketch is sort of winningly emotive.

"An appointment, however, is not an election, which means the only vehicle open to the Senate is challenging the appointee's qualifications, and the Powell v McCormack precedent stipulates that such a review would be limited to his age, residency or citizenship. What the Senate would have to do instead is actually expel the member they just admitted to the chamber, which requires a 2/3 majority and would be much stickier in terms of precedent -- the Senate has not expelled a member since the Civil War."

FiveThirtyEight examines one of the hypothetical scenarios for turning down a Blagojevich Senate appointment.

Today Mick Dumke discussed the Blagojevich complaint on Air America (approx. 15 min).

Was waiting to hear what the Combine-watcher would say:

"Blagojevich's buddies—the ones he still has left—surely aren't amused. They must be wondering how long it will take for Blagojevich to crack under the federal weight and start singing about all his friends."

Anything's possible, I guess, but I don't know who the Gov would sing about. Criminal investigations tend to move up the food chain, and a sitting governor is pretty high at the top. I suspect Blagojevich would have to give up a lot of names--wait, back up... would have to have a lot of names to give up--to make it worth his while.

* Chicagoland hears that Michael Sneed is the columnist who allegedly took Blago's faux leaks.

[...]

Oh, hell, Gawker has a post about it. I have no idea, actually.

Senate prez-in-waiting John Cullerton: let's change the law and have a special election.

AG Lisa Madigan: Please just go away.

Plus: How to impeach a governor.

Can't find a direct link yet, but apparently Fox News Chicago is reporting that Rahm Emanuel tipped off the feds on the Senate seat pay-for-play.

Update: Here we go (via)

Or so you'd think, right? Actually this AP photo that appears with the AP report on Yahoo News today is from 2007.

Progress Illinois is doing a nice job following the plans to appoint Obama's successor--Durbin's suggested a special election, but no one knows if it's legal. Better than still-governor Blago making the appointment, but keep in mind we re-elected the dude just two years ago. 

Can we get Wisconsin to pick our new Senator? They seem less corrupt and insane up there.

TPM:

"A number of you have written to ask: What happens to Obama's Senate seat now? Does Governor Blagojevich still have the authority to appoint Obama's successor to the open seat, now that he's been accused of, er, conspiring to sell that same seat?

"We checked in with the Illinois Attorney General's office for an answer. And guess what -- they don't have one yet!"

I dunno, but the Blagojevich-gets-arrested contingency plan seems like a necessity, like carrying gloves during the winter.

The Private Intellectual:

"When people out of state ask me why everybody hates Blagojevich so much, my stock response is that he's part Huey Long, part Dan Quayle, though I've come to wonder if that's too generous."

Chicagoland correspondent KC:

"If I'm reading the Sun-Times article right, then:

"Blago contemplated appointing himself to the Senate seat because he'd get better lawyers to defend himself for trying to sell the Senate seat that no one wanted to buy, which is why Blago contemplated appointing himself to the Senate seat.

"It's beyond circular logic, it's like a palindrome spelled with acts of corruption instead of letters."

Why not both? A Talking Points Memo reader explains:

"People in Chicago have repeatedly said that he's like George W. Bush but not as bright."

Fianceè: "I think the parole board should appoint the next governor."

Me: "Someone who's been inside?"

Fianceè: "Someone who doesn't want to go back."

Obviously there's lots to say about the frog-marching of Gov. Blag--in short, if this is all true he is comically, sociopathically corrupt, to pay-for-play what Imelda Marcos was to shoes--but the very tail end of the Sun-Times roundup was extra doubly intriguing:

Harris told Blagojevich that according to Tribune Financial Advisor, there would be “certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts coming and, reading between the lines, he’s going after that section.”

G-Rod on the Tribune:

“This is not Sam Zell’s fault. Sam Zell bought this company when it was in financial difficulty and I think he’s trying to reorganize and make it a concern that actually makes money and is a profitable business. And so this evidently this is part of his effort to do that,” the Democratic governor said.

Ok, now I'm sold on the idea that Zell is the problem.

"I love the people of Illinois more today than I did before," Blagojevich said. "And if it's a case of unrequited love at this point, I'll just have to work extra hard to get them to love me again."

And he wore his lover-man turtleneck! Adorable.

Update: No, I can't resist. It's my favorite soul song.

On the heels of the Trib's Blagojevich poll, Ray Long and Jeff Coen report in the Tribune:

"with every subpoena in the three-year probe, investigators are stepping deeper into the governor's inner circle and tightening their focus on a cadre of influential fundraisers who supported Blagojevich from his first term."

Rick Pearson writes:

"In the lowest ratings ever recorded for an elected politician in nearly three decades of Tribune polls, a new survey found few approving of the job Blagojevich is doing as governor and even fewer who want him re-elected."

The numbers are lower than I would have guessed, in fact, really astoundingly low. Worse than GWB, and in Blagojevich's defense he's not knee-deep in a lengthy, expensive war of attrition that he can't win. Besides the one with Madigan, at least. OK, he's not knee-deep in two.

Here's what I don't get: Blagojevich is reviled. Daley wins with 71% of the vote (here's an analysis of the '07 results, in PDF format). Does fecklessness really make that much of a difference? I suppose so. Probably also worth factoring in that Daley is sort of roguishly endearing, whereas Blagojevich seems like someone who, if you are a woman, would ask you what your sign is. It's either the hair or something he can't help.

But Mr. Daley and the alderfolk look like a combination of Milton Friedman and Warren Buffett, compared with the fiscal circus in Springfield.

Greg Hinz, perhaps the city's most underrated columnist, gives a thumbnail hierarchy of local and state financial incompetence--and Todd Stroger comes off looking good by comparison. In other financial-disaster news, TribCo posted a $4.5 billion 2Q loss.

Longtime Reader contributor Kari Lydersen co-wrote an outstanding piece for the Washington Post about how hard it is for the wrongfully convicted to be fully exonerated, throughout the country and particularly in Illinois (emphasis mine):

In Illinois, to regain a certifiably clean record and collect compensation -- a lump payment of $60,150 for five years or less in prison, or $120,300 for six to 14 years -- an exonerated inmate must obtain a "pardon based on innocence" from the governor. A 15-member state review board interviews the petitioners and makes a recommendation, but the governor is not obligated to make a decision.

"The governor is not acting on them," said Karen Daniel, senior staff lawyer with the Center on Wrongful Convictions, which is pressing Blagojevich to decide on Pollock's case and others. "In most of these cases, it's really not a hard decision. Sometimes there's still some controversy left after the conviction is thrown out, but in most of these cases there is no disagreement."

Tabitha Pollock was sent to prison after her boyfriend killed her daughter while Pollock was sleeping. She got a first-degree murder conviction because "prosecutors believed she should have known of the danger." She spent six years in prison before the state supreme court threw out the conviction, and she's spent the five years since "free," but technically still a felon, which means she can't be a teacher. For that, you need a pardon from the governor. Who is, of course, Rod Blagojevich. Eric Zorn explains how that works.

P.S. According to her Web site, Lydersen is working on a book about Pilsen, which is pretty exciting. 

Due to persistent underfunding from Springfield, our state's 60 public colleges and universities have now deferred approximately $3 billion in maintenance costs.

Eric Zorn advises Blagojevich to stop putting off needed higher ed capital investments while throwing money at high-profile targets like a Cole Hall tear-down, to which I'd add the Loop Lab School. 

Rod Blagojevich, media theorist, on the unimportance of Tony Rezko: 

"There is a bigger issue, and it could suggest maybe why those newspapers are gettin' skinnier and skinnier. Because these guys like to write about stuff that don’t really matter to people...."

He's not the guy I'd usually take advice from about the will of the people, but maybe he's got a point. 

Ill. Gov. Angers Lawmakers So Many Ways

(AP, via) 

Rod Blagojevich, in a moment of lucid honesty:

"I hear you, but it's not so bad," Blagojevich told one senior who persistently asked about why the poor are not getting free rides. "Just hold your nose and take a bus for free."

He's like an antimatter politician from a parallel universe, becoming less popular by being too honest about giving people stuff they didn't ask for.*

The Trib's David Mendell further summarizes: "Blagojevich said he would like to offer reduced or free rides to the poor, but figuring out who qualifies for such a break would be bureaucratically complicated."

Awesome. If Gov. Blagojevich is going to dig in his heels on everything despite being unpopular, homebound, politically clumsy, and under scrutiny by the feds, the one thing we can hopefully look forward to is exactly this kind of sustained, berserk honesty. I say we ask for a monorail!

*construction borrowed from the estimable P.J. O'Rourke

On Monday, the governor encouraged lawmakers to end the months-long stalemate by sending him legislation that he could "improve."

Well played. What did "improve" turn out to mean in this context? I apologize in advance for the lengthy excerpt of the governor's press release, but it's really a masterpiece of audacity. Emphases mine.

I’ve said clearly and frequently that I don’t think raising the sales tax is the right way to help the CTA and other transit agencies.  People already pay too much in taxes; I believe they should pay less, not more.  Even though the increase in the bill passed by lawmakers is small, people will still feel an impact.  Despite my public support for an alternative bill that would address the CTA’s long-term needs without increasing taxes, lawmakers did not send me that bill.  In the spirit of compromise, and with a keen awareness of what is at stake for millions of transit riders if a long-term funding solution is not in place by January 20, I will act on the bill passed by the General Assembly as soon as it reaches my desk with one important improvement,” said Governor Blagojevich. “I’m particularly concerned about seniors who live on fixed incomes and who don’t have the ability to absorb a higher sales tax without making cuts in other areas.  That’s why I will rewrite the bill to allow all senior citizens in Illinois to take public transportation for free.

In other words, "I don't want to create an undue burden on taxpayers, but in the spirit of compromise I will make it more expensive." Even as someone who can probably fairly be accused of being a big-government liberal do-gooder, I have to admit I find this pretty jaw-dropping.

[Guest post by Brian Nemtusak]

Gallows humor I suppose, but I'm tickled by the PSAs playing on CTA buses as financial apocalypse looms once again.

"Due to insufficient state funding," begins the even-toned, only faintly robotic voice that replaced live-if-garbled pronouncements years ago, "the CTA will be forced to cut service and raise fares on ..."

And then there's a little pause, the audio equivalent of a change in typeface, hovering a little too high over the targeted blank--and then it continues:

"... January 20."

I applaud management's introduction of form-letter efficiency to its disembodied-conductor model, especially given the relentless updating its millenarian motivational techniques require. If only this kind of economy were in evidence anywhere else. But while there's no denying the hardwired impossibility of CTA's ongoing budgetary "shortfall," bunched buses, corresponding service gaps, and inexplicable prioritizing still reign on the street even as the edge of the cliff rushes up, reaffirming that the institutionalized dysfunction is at least as cultural as it is material.

Take the route I used to rely on when I worked in house for the big backwards R, the Outer Drive express (147). This accordionated double-bus dinosaur runs very early to very late every day, and even at 10 PM pushes standing-room only occupancy. It's gotta be a class-A cash cow, but there it is, slated for cancellation alongside arguable-if-unfortunate cases like the underused-by-design Damen and Addison routes. Sure, sure, it's likely one of those included precisely to give the doomsday threat teeth, but even as customer relations it backfires. "Right," sighs the weary public-transit slave, "you're gonna hold my breath till you turn blue. Knock yourself out." And really: if you're going to be deadly sober and wildly alarmist at the same time, there are so many superior targets. Why not threaten to halve the number of half-empty 151s? Judging empirically, just that'd free up about half the fleet. Or to shut down the Red and Blue lines entirely--they don't really work anyway! Hmmmmm ... maybe a "design your own doomsday" competition is in order.

Meanwhile in Springfield, something or other is perhaps, as Samuel Beckett might croak, "taking its course." On Tuesday's Chicago Tonight, reps. Julie Hamos (the mass transit committee chair) and Ricky Hendon outlined (and faintly endorsed) the two "financially irresponsible" (in Hendon's words) but better-than-nothing bills gestating on the table, neither of which addresses the capital-funding crisis facing the CTA's disintegrating infrastructure, one of which simply rips a 500-million-dollar hole in the state budget. How part-of-the-problem Governor Rod will adapt his insistence on linkage to a larger capital-spending bill to whichever crosses his desk remains shrouded in mist--but somewhere amid his equivocation some flexibility on a tax increase seems finally to have emerged.

I can't really get too excited about the Tribune's honorable but futile gesture towards removing Blago from his sinecure, mostly because it seems like his incompetence is par for the course in Illinois politics. Kevin Robinson at Chicagoist thinks the takeaway lesson is that "the voters don't really control the political process in this state," which raises compelling questions about how a governor not heretofore known for his leadership abilities won a second term (in a craps game? did he get the Golden Ticket?). Hell, during the previous election he was running ads that were the political equivalent of "I know I haven't been good to you, baby, but I promise I'll change." We got the guy we voted for.

No, Illinois voters have plenty of control. They may not have many options, thanks to the total implosion of the state Republican party, which bottomed out with the Alan Keyes Adventure, and the continuing strength of the city's Democratic machine, but I'm hard-pressed to think who else to blame for Blagojevich and Todd Stroger, both of whom were victorious over not-crazy, tolerably moderate Republican opponents.

As someone who still believes in the redemptive power of journalism, I actually think the Sun-Times's effort to become a progressive voice is a good first step. Having two Republican papers in a Democratic-machine city, while impressively contrarian, has left Illinois Dems with no powerful internal critique. And they've gotten very, very lazy. Unless the netroots can gain a strong local foothold, which is a slow and complicated process, converting one of the state's two most powerful papers into a Democratic voice that's not part of the Democratic machine might [crosses fingers] be a turning point.