If it seems like just a few days ago that Rod Blagojevich believed there was “nothing but sunshine” over him, that’s because it was. But it would seem that the events of the intervening days have done nothing to blunt the soon-to-be-ex-Gov’s unswerving belief that not only is he fit to govern, but also that reality as we know it deserves to be ignored:

Still ducking questions three days after his arrest on sweeping corruption charges, the governor’s office issued a statement from Blagojevich this afternoon that only pertained to the legislation he signed into law.

“I have continued to fight for this cause and I am pleased to sign this bill into law today,” the statement read.

Stupid reality. Who needs it?

Bad Horsey

Not to beat the Blago horse to death, but if there’s one thing that’s bugged me about the whole deal it’s all the pearl-clutching that’s gone on (Quid pro quo for a Senate appointment? Shocking!!!). There has always been a quid pro quo for such things. Ask any politician with the power of appointment whether they make such decisions solely based on ability and the needs of the people, and they’ll tell you that of course they do — in public. In private, they’ll fall to the floor in gales of laughter.

Political appointments always have connotations beyond filling the office, usually involving the settling or incurring of a political debt. The familiar questions are “Who do I owe?’ and “Who do I want indebted to me?” Ambassadorships have always gone to heavy donors and political cronies, as have positions large in small, in bureaucracies prominent and obscure. Indeed, the Bush Administration has made such a practice of this that you can’t swing a cat without smacking a beneficiary of the quid pro quo syndrome.

No, the crime here isn’t that the Senate seat was “for sale”; the crime was that Blago was gauche enough to ask for payment upfront and stupid enough to get caught at it. Think of it in terms of flatulence: everyone does it, everyone knows it, but the idea is to leave no evidence. Blago basically just let a loud one rip. In church. During a pause in the sermon.

As I’ve said earlier, I don’t have much use for crooks. But politics is filled with them. If we want to clean the mess up, we have two choices: we can pretend that Blagojevich is an exception to the system, or we can realize that he is the epitome of it.