Now, this takes the cake.  King Rod wants to be a reality television star. Perhaps the Federal and Illinois prison systems install 24/7 cameras inside of prisons, and broadcast it live daily, with weekly segments devoted to knifings and rapes that go on inside.  Talk about finally doing public service - maybe he'd keep some kid from winding up in prison.

Uh oh, Lisa Madigan has done it now - she's called for a reform of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.  If you've ever tried to extract information from a government official in Illinois - and I'm talking PUBLIC information - you'll know why the IFOIA is one of the most insincerely named laws on the books.

Well, here we go into a new legislative session, and the fifth most populous state in the nation is short a Senator in Washington because anyone even mildly tainted with the King Rod Blagojevich scandal is unacceptable to the Democrats in Illinois, and the national leadership of the party.  Roland Burris?  Come on - the guy is, of course a Chicago Democrat, and therefore subject to skepticism?  But the man has not ever been associated with anything dirtier.  Which, of course, says enough - that he's a Chicago Democrat.

This headline almost sounds like the editors at the Pantagraph are SHOCKED by King Rod Blagojevich's paid mouthpiece doing his job - keeping his client in office and out of jail.  Unfortunately, the people of Illinois will have to suffer at least another week of King Rod in the seat of power as his impeachment hearing is briefly drawn out.

Governor King Rod Blagojevich obviously sees the handwriting on the wall.  With federal prosecturors feverishly drilling convicted influence peddler, and Blagojevich insider, Tony Rezko, King Rod is due up on the Attorney General's hit parade of corrupt politicians.

King Rod Blagojevich's comments show that he may have totally lost touch with reality, blaming the staggering national economy for approval ratings that have almost slipped into the single digits as he has reigned over one of the most corrupt and ineffective administrations in the history of the state of Illinois.

I do have to ponder though - who ARE those one in 10 citizens of Illinois who think King Rod is doing a good job?  Have they been living abroad?  Did they just relocate here?  Were they in a coma for the past 6 years?

Here we go - one more step toward Big Brother watching our every move, our every waking moment's activities. And in February 2009 - Big Brother will be in your living room via DHTV - able to monitor everything going on in that room.

You have to wonder about the Illinois Constitution's set up, don't you.  Unlike the US Constition, which requires the President to veto a bill within 10 days, we're stuck with legislation sitting for weeks... months... years under the thumb of Governor King Rod Blagojevich.  Sitting... waiting... to cut off the funding that he oh so loves in his "pay to play" brand of politics.

Jesse Jackson was caught with his mouth flapping last weekend, only this time, he didn't know he was being recorded, and he said he wanted to "cut his nuts off" when discussing Barack Obama's speech to a Black church - in which Obama discussed the problems with fatherless children and promoted fatherhood, and said that staying in school was more important than trying to get into professional athletics. And this is talking down... how?

King Governor Rod Blagojevich is trying to get two political heavyweights, Glen Poshard and former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert to convince the General Assembly that he can be trusted. Crain's Chicago Business is apparently buying into this bamboozle, too with their headline "Blagojevich moves to break budget logjam." But then they go on to say that King Rod himself never bothered to actually sign the memo that outlines the capital spending plan.

Rep Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) was a loyal follower of old King Rod Blagojevich way back in the early days of the Governor's takeover of the state government for his personal pleasure. And way back in 2003, King Rod asked those loyalists to submit the names of people to fill up porky seats in state government, with hefty salaries and even heftier perks - so Jack be nimble, and he tried to get some family members some nice jobs, sorta like the one Clown Prince Emil Jones' wife got.

Well, King Rod Blagojevich is at it again this year, stalling the state budget. Technically, all of the employees of the state should be on unpaid furlough right now and every state agency, other than emergency services, shut down. And King Rod says he's looking at the unbalanced budget looking for the appropriate areas to slice and dice with his line item veto authority, which he so callously used as a political weapon last fall.

One thousand bodies showed up to dole out chunks of hot sweaty cash to support their favorite potentate and Federal Investigatee - King Rod Blagojevich - the other night. Makes me wonder if any of them worry that they are now potential suspects in the ongoing Federal investigation of King Rod's Jobs for Donations program.

Julie Sayre of ABC-Fox News in Springfield was simply AGHAST as she introduced a story that Rep Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) has put a bill onto the floor in the General Assembly to *gasp* CUT OFF GIVING TAX DOLLARS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS! No, Bill, no! How COULD you think of of cutting off the flow of tax dollars to criminals, and making Illinois a less cozy environment for King Rod Blagojevich's favorite ethnic group?

How COULD you?

As if Illinois wasn't already in enough trouble - Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's BROTHER wants to be governor, to replace Governor King Rod Blagojevich in 2010? I swear, if the Democrats outside of Chicago make THIS dumb mistake, everyone with half a brain should leave the state before Prince William is sworn into office.

And good Old King Rod - there he goes filling his coffers to try to fight him off.

Old King Rod Blagejovich managed to declare Coles County a disaster area over the weekend - fully a week after the damn burst and the levy failed flooding the small town of Oakland. And it took a day to get Lake County disaster relief. Maybe you should visit us poor country folk here in central Illinois more often, King Rod, maybe you'd have some sympathy for our plight.

The Illinois Republican Party is hard at work in Decatur discussing how best to combat the rising tide of influence, and power, and corruption of the Chicago Democrats, not just on the state scene where the Machine of Corruption already holds total domination, but also how to stop them from taking hold of the White House.

A century is a long time to wait for anything - and Chicago Cubs fans are holding their breath in a collective gasp as they see their north side home team enter June with the best record in the major leagues - and the best opening record the team has accumulated since it last won the World Series in 1908. Perhaps it is the discussion of changing the name of the stadium that is helping lift the infamous curse - or perhaps it is just their time. Or perhaps the Cubs will fold, once again, in ignominious defeat in a home field loss that breaks the team's fans' hearts.

A tough week for Governor King Rod Blagojevich in a short four day span. A discrimination lawsuit against him is moving forward, an independent auditor sampling a minuscule portion of the state's contracts found some hanky panky going on with how King Rod doles out our tax dollars - and his buddy Tony Rezko gets indicted in Nevada for more gambling related shenanigans. Oh - and the House has collectively told him to kiss their ass on the budget.

OAKLAND Illinois - The community of Oakland was filled with the sounds of chainsaws and heavy equipment Saturday morning, as this small town at the northeast corner of Coles County recovered from damage from high winds that rolled through the area Friday night.