Growing up in Wisconsin, I remember family trips in the station wagon (a Vista Cruiser just like in That 70's show) where whenever we saw a car with Illinois plates, we knew it would likely be a traffic scofflaw. It was just assumed that people from Illinois were not law-abiding citizens like us cheeseheads north of the state line.
And so I was never a believer in the myth that Obama was some kind of new era politician. You don't survive in Illinois politics at the Chicago or statewide level without some kind of skill swimming with the sharks. I suspect that Obama is better than most at the fine arts of political sleaze, as demonstrated by his ability to walk through the muck and come out looking clean.
Blagojevich himself seams to be a pathological liar. But then that's not any different than Spitzer, "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, Rangel, or the master: Bill Clinton himself (aka slick Willy!)
Watching democrats and their apologists try to spin their way around this one is just way too much fun!
