Bleep Them!

'They're not willing to give me anything but appreciation. Bleep them,' close quote. And again, the bleep is a redaction. Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney

Thus the wiretapped governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (D), alluded to the Obama's team refusal to reward him for appointing their favorite candidate for the US Senate seat that the president elect vacated in late November. The seeming foolishness of a high official who, aware of being under surveillance, (allegedly) escalated his corrupt dealings can be easily explained with that age-old trait of human nature: hubris. The Greeks codified it in Tragedy and it's still raging with all its blinding fire. Obama's critic were predictably quick with the obvious smearing associations. They failed to noticed that if Barack had survived the much stickier association with Tony Rezko this new allegations were much less likely to stick. Obama's supporters, on the other hand, seem to have missed the silver lining. The inability of the Rezko's mud to stick was already a sign of Barack's integrity: how else can you survive when surrounded by a pack of ravenous wolves, no media infatuation can rescue, you are on your own! But Blago's debacle is also a powerful reminder that Barack politically grew up in one of the most corrupt milieux in the US, and the very fact that he hoped and inspired hoped while most were succumbing to the temptation of business as usual is another bight sign of what a solid job candidate we just hired for president!