Final Thoughts (for now) on Blago

Ding dong, the wicked governor is dead. At least his career is.

Of course there are second acts in American life, despite rumors to the contrary. Richard Nixon came back from the political dead to become president. Kurt Warner comes back from the football dead tomorrow, after a number of years of injuries, backing up, and ineffectiveness, to QB the Arizona Cardinals in a Super Bowl.

But WWBD - What Would Blago Do? I think the political sphere is truly lost to him, certainly in the state of Illinois, where he can no longer legally hold office. Perhaps once he gets out of prison, and he will do time eventually, he could become a television preacher. He's got the hair for it.

Jon Kass wrote an interesting column in the Chicago Tribune, suggesting that Blagojevich, an avid runner, should run himself right downtown to the Federal Building, home of federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, and start talking.

But what has Blago got to talk about? Blagos self-centered arrogance alienated him from many of the big players in Illinois the last few years, and those who still talked to him and did business with him, like power broker/contractor Bill Cellini, or Anton Reszko, are already indicted, and quite possibly doing some talking themselves. Unless Blago has something on President Obama, he's got nothing. He certainly doesn't have anything on Richard II, King of Chicago. The late King Richard I was a Master of Puppetry; he knew how to pull the strings on thousands of puppets without anyone being able to see where the strings led. Richard I taught his son well, and odds are there will never be someone named Daley indicted in the state of Illinois.

The only possibility for Blago is to do something nice for his wife. Patty Blagojevich, holder of a real estate license, is under investigation by Fitzgerald's office for business dealings. Rod could plead guilty and save the wife from prosecution. Of course, there is very little, especially recently, in the long and stupid saga of Rod Blagojevich that shows he is a stand up guy. From my perspective, Rod is the kind of guy who will throw his wife under the bus if he can gain something from it. The Blago Saga will drag out, and it will be an ugly spectacle.