blagojevich

"Blagojevich's lawyers.. asked permission for their client to travel to Costa Rica in June to be a contestant on NBC's 'I'm a Celebrity ... Get me Out of Here' (show)," Chicago Tribune reports today.

"(NBC) said (Blagojevich) could have made up to $123,250 on the 12-episode show if not voted off by viewers."

Auction rate political vehicle Rod Blagojevich became a toxic asset following revelations of his profanity-wrapped RFP for President Obama's vacant US Senate seat. At the end of an impeachment process the Illinois State Senate bailed him right out of the governorship, Thursday.

"He's out" was the Chicago Tribune's headline. That was Thursday.

Illinois' Lt Gov Pat Quinn says one of his first moves when he replaces impeached Gov Rod Blagojevich will be to get the Illinois Tollway to take down its signs bignoting the disgraced governor (see example nearby).

Quinn is quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying the Blagojevich signs on the Tollway are a symbol of pompous and imperial government.

Illinois Tollway spokesman Joelle McGinnis says that Governor Blagojevich was not controlling Tollway contracts and that the Tollway has not been involved in the fundraising by the Governor which got him arrested by the FBI and put under impeachment proceedings by the state legislature.

Ulysses S Grant writes in his Memoirs of the 1845 campaign into Mexico: "I am not aware of ever having used a profane expletive in my life; but I would have the charity to excuse those who may have done so, if they were in charge of a train of Mexican pack mules..." (p66)

As much reported James A Aloisi is the new Secretary of the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works of Massachusetts, it having been formally announced this morning by Governor Deval Patrick. In plainer english Jim Aloisi is transportation secretary and will be chairman of the board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the transit authority.

Some extracts from sharp columnist Michelle Malkin in National Review on "The real housewives of Crook County":

"It’s old news to folks in Chicago, but the woman who masquerades as a sweet gubernatorial spouse dedicated to children’s advocacy is a cutthroat wheeler-dealer in heels who schemed with the gov to fire pesky editorial writers and get herself placed on paid corporate boards in exchange for naming the president-elect’s pick to the Senate.

Some frauds are so audacious you've got to admire them. In a former occupation I had a small landscaping business, and I used to subcontract a lot of the specialized work. A number of jobs were rehabbing gardens in a suburb of large mature trees. Many benefitted by skilled pruning. One of my best subcontractors was a tree trimmer named Simpson who was a whiz with ropes.

Illinois Attorney-General Lisa Madigan has asked the state Supreme Court for an injunction preventing Governor Blagojevich from "directing the activities of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority" among other gubernatorial powers. Madigan's 12 page motion titled "PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff v.