Mike Quigley gets sworn in this evening as the newest representative from Illinois’ 5th district, a seat originally held by Stephen Douglas. More recently the 5th has been served by Rahm Emmanuel and Rod Blagojevich, so let’s hope that Mike doesn’t follow in the footsteps of his  predecessors, as much as we love our knife wielding politicos in this state. We wish him all the best. And hoping that Rahm doesn’t send him a dead fish as a congratulation gift. Though a knife sharpener might do just fine as a welcome gift to the Capitol.

Don't worry, folks. His trial will be better than any reality show. (Photo courtesy of the Tribune)

So poor Rod Blagojevich won’t be going to Costa Rica to film a reality television show. Today a judge turned down his request to leave the country so he could take part in the NBC show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” Actually the loss is all ours. I was really looking forward to seeing Rod’s jungle adventures. Rod will, however, be missing out $123,000 salary that comes with the gig (should he make it to the end, which the ruthless bastard surely would, natch), money he now desperately needs to fund his lawyer bills. I hear from a friend that Playboy might have an opening at their Lab Rat feature, where a journalist subjects himself to humiliating and degrading treatment like waterboarding  for our amusement. That might be a good fit for Rod. Heck, I’d tune in each week to see him get tasered, tortured and maybe even tousled.

This week, Rod Blagojevich announced that he wants to star on the NBC reality series “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” The show pits has-been celebs against each other in the jungles of Costa Rica. We cannot tell you how freakin’ excited we are to see Rod on the show. Before he can participate he needs to get a judge’s approval because of that whole indictment thing. But we’re already imaging what wonderful, awful things to the megalomaniacal former gov gets up to in the Costa Rican jungle. So excited, in fact, that we drew a cartoon. Enjoy!

Hey folks, you may have noticed that things have been quiet around here the last week. Our server has been hit or miss for the last ten days. We’ll be posting again this week as we look for a new hosting service.

NBC has footage of Blago at Disney World on the day he’s convicted. A reporter tries to get in his face, but he’s not  in a talkative mood for once. Patti, on the other hand, is is ready to get involved in some fisticuffs.

*shakes heads*

This freak show just keeps getting weirder.

I just finished reading the Blagojevich indictment and I’m a little surprised at how little new information there is. As far as I can tell, it’s mostly stuff we already know from the Rezko trial and from December’s criminal complaint.Why, exactly, did it take U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald four months to get an indictment?

I am, however, surprised at how big the indictment is, taking in not just Blago, but his brother, John Harris, Chris Kelly, Lon Monk and Bill Cellini. I don’t envy the government lawyers who have to go up against that cast of characters.

Rumor is that the Blagojevich indictment is supposed to come down today. There won’t be a press conference, but we’ll have full details as soon as we get the document.

The indictment comes the day the International Olympic begins their inspection of Chicago, surely an embarrassment for Mayor Daley. Nothing’s going the mayor’s way today.  Looks like Patrick Fitzgerald is not a fan of Chicago’s Olympic bid.

Blago for his part is no where near Chicago. In fact, he’s vacationing at Disney World. Because apparently, the stress of his impending trial has made him regress to a childhood state. I mean, seriously, what kind of grown man vacations at Disney World??

He railed against his critics. He hammered his talking points. He touted his record. He even quoted the Bible.

It was enough to make you think he was running for re-election.

Rod Blagojevich’s radio hosting debut was entertaining, I’ll give him that. He was loud and obnoxious, exactly what you expect from a morning show host. And he was somehow able to get the small handful of people who still support him to call in and praise him in a shameless move that would make Kim Jong Il or Hugo Chavez proud.

But for me, the best part of the show came about 15 minutes in, when Ann Compton  delivered a report from the White House.

“Must be nice to be in the White House. How are things over there?”

I’d like to think there was a certain aching tone in his voice, a tone betraying a realization that this grandest of personal ambitions is now forever out of reach.

But truthfully, I don’t think that realization has sunk in yet. He was too busy being the center of attention once again. He reveled in it all, even the criticism and the mocking.

And that is what makes him so fascinating. Rod Blagojevich isn’t like a real person. He’s this odd literary character, an anti-hero who embodies the tragic ambitions of  Jay Gatsby, the self-delusions of Norma Desmond, and the pugilistic insecurity of Robert Cohn.

I hate to admit, but I almost hope he does get a permanent gig on the radio. I  love watching this story play out –  getting ever closer to what I’m sure will be a tragic, self-destructive end.

The most perplexing thing about the Blagojevich affair is that the governor never stopped, despite the fact that it was clear to everyone that he was going down. Let’s recap.

First, the feds started looking into illegal hiring done by the governor’s office. But the governor kept hiring people in allegedly illegal ways.

His friend and one of his top fundraisers, Tony Rezko, was indicted. But this did not deter our intrepid former-governor.

And then Ali Ata testified during the Rezko trial  that Blago traded a high-paying job for two $25,000 campaign donations. But that didn’t stop the gov.

Tony Rezko’s conviction drew only a 55- second response from the governor, but he did not slow for a second his mad dash of corruption.

When the Tribune reported that the gov was being taped by authorities, he continued to get caught on wire taps discussing his shenanigans.

But with  an impeachment and removal from office we thought we were finally rid of Rod Blagojevich, the scourge who has plagued us for so long.

Well, folks, he’s back. Rod Blagojevich has a new job. Tomorrow he’ll be filling in for Don Wade & Roma Morning Show on WLS while they are on vacation. That’s right. Blago is a radio talk show host.

Is there nothing that can put this man down. I think not. So it is only logical for me to conclude that ROD BLAGOJEVICH IS AN UNDEAD ZOMBIE.

Oh! Crazy people! Running for public office! That’s one of our favorite things in the world.

Rosanna Pulido is the Republican running up against Mike Quigley in the Illinois 5th district special election. She is also a total freakin’ lunatic.

She’s been outed as a frequent commenter on the Free Republic message board and her comments are now being tracked by a blog. Operating under the handle “chicagolady,” Pulido left dozens of screeds and racist remarks, which was enough to land her the backing of some white supremacists, who have called her a voice of reason. She says she was joking, but the only person laughing is Mike Quigley, who just went from a shoo-in to an absolute sure thing.

Here are a few samples postings from Pulido:

On immigration:

“The TRUTH is, Obama will legalize 12-20 million ILLEGAL ALIENS, and THUS SELL THE BLACKS, His own Race BACK into slavery!” [sic]

On Muslims kneeling in prayer:

“It reminds me of my dog, smelling buts.” [sic]

On gun control:

Like I tell any Liberal, “You can have my gun….. bullets first! [sic]

On Mexicans:

According to the African Americans in L.A. The Mexicans are the NEW KU KLUX KLAN with the TAN!! Sounds right to me!! [sic]

And let’s not forget, she’s a devout Christian who once worked as a missionary. So she must have a pretty nuanced understanding of the good book, right?

“Thats to bad. I AM a bible thunper who likes to tell everyone how to live their lives, STRAIGHT from the Owners manual!! The Bible!” [sic]

Yep, Rosanna, those words sound like they came from the mouth of Christ himself.