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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

So... are the Illinois citizens stupid, King Rod? Was the question stupid? Or, are you stupid for not acknowledging that you are in the gun sights of the United States Attorney General? I wonder if Clown Prince Emil Jones, who may be more politically savvy than King Rod, has covered his tracks, too?

Well, finally, almost all of the Democrats working hard in Springfield have told Governor King Rod Blagojevich to take his name off of state-owned property. The sole dissenter in the House was Kenneth Dunkin, who said there is value in having an officeholder's name emblazoned on signs promoting state programs. What was your first clue Sherlock Dunkin - the fact that it costs businesses thousands of dollars every month to use an outdoor advertising structure? And King Rod has commandeered over 30 of them?

The depths to which Governor King Rod Blagojevich will go in order to hide from public scrutiny are purely astounding - being aided and abetted by his attorney William Quinlan and Abby Ottenhoff.

So much for his "open and transparent" government.

Ottenhoff, when queried by the Decatur Herald & Review on the nature of the search for documents related to Tony Rezko said:

""We don't comment on internal legal communications."

Are the members of the Democratic Party who live in downstate Illinois brain damaged, or just sheeple willing to be led to the slaughter? Your leadership has been totally and completely overrun and corrupted by the Chicago Machine. And yet, you helped elect, then reelect, King Rod Blagojevich, who is on the path to becoming known as the most corrupt governor in the history of the state.

Do the folks in the mainstream media really think Clown Prince Emil Jones is going to let any measure that would hamper his or King Rod Blagojevich ability to raise heaps of hot sweaty cash come to a vote on the Senate floor? Does anyone in Illinois really believe the Senate, controlled by the Chicago Democrats who play favors for dollars, will vote to approve this?

I wonder how many of King Rod Blagojevich's political appointees are looking over their shoulders these days? How many of them have gone to throw-away cell phones for communications with the Governor's office - how many demand personal meetings in safe rooms recently swept of electronic monitoring?

Riddle me this - when did the Associated Press put two and two together, and finally figure out that Tony Rezko is merely a stepping stone to the headwaters of Illinois's corrupt government? And why did they soft peddle the mountain of testimony pointing at Governor King Rod Blagojevich?

The financially beleaguered Illinois Teacher's Retirement Fund had a little help into falling into its woes, courtesy of King Rod Blagojevich's cronies. The Chicago Democrats - the people who helped spawn Senator Barack Obama's meteoric rise into political superstar status, should be so ashamed.

The entire Loop School million dollar boondoggle is starting to take shape, with Ms. Gill's ties to Jesse Jackson revealed, and Jackson apparently exerting influence on King Rod Blagojevich to pardon her.

Is anyone else wondering what sort of deals are being offered to Tony Rezko's lawyers by federal prosecutors for testimony against King Rod Blagojevich? Yesterday's testimony about how Levine and Rezko were manipulating the near-bankrupt Teacher's Retirement Fund's dollars is getting mighty close to King Rod.

Ah, the chickens are coming home to roost. How much more will the prosecutors get on record from Levine against King Rod Blagojevich during his testimony is the BIG question. Man, this investigation reached right to the top a LOT faster than the one against George Ryan.