Over the course of the holidays, I totally stopped paying attention to the whole Blagojevich thing.   Seriously, I had chocolate to unwrap and eat, how could I find time to read the news?  Apparently my lack of interest hasn’t stopped the story from moving forward, and Blago has appointed former Attorney General Roland Burris to the position.  The Senate Dems have said they won’t seat him, there’s considerable argument over whether the Senate has that power, but Blago’s sent a man to Washington nonetheless.

Being a resident of Illinois, I actually kinda want to have a Senator.  We can’t depend on Durbin alone to get federal funding for all of our stuff.  We need someone.  Since the trial and impeachment or whatever is going to go on forever, it’s going to be a long time until we can get what we need if we have to wait.  In the meantime, who knows what awesome federal funds we might be missing out on.  Actally, probably not much, since Mr. O is gonna be at 1600, but still.  My solution, which is impossible but still would be great, would be to compromise with Burris.  Let him have the seat, but with the understanding that he’s not to run for reelection in 2010, and, ideally, that he would resign should Blago be found guilty.  Of course, he wouldn’t want to do that, but that’s what he gets for letting a corrupt jackass appoint him.  If he wants to be senator badly enough to agree to those terms, then you realize that he’s so desperate for the job that he clearly shouldn’t have it, so you turn around and renege on the deal.

Wait, that doesn’t solve anything.  We still don’t have a senator.  So..  back to square one.  We need a Senator, anyone who Blago appoints isn’t any good, Blago’s the only guy who can do it.  So I guess we need to hurry up and get him out of office, or stick to my earlier plan, except without the turning around and changing the game.  We really just ought to have a quick election, in March when we do the Alderman elections.  Randomly pick an R and a D who currently hold statewide office, stick them on a ballot, call it a day.  Who cares.  We just need to get one of our homies up there to keep our highways built.

(Side note: Burris named *both* of his kids after himself, a la George Foreman.  He also already has his grave picked out, complete with a mausoleum and a list of al his accomplishments.  There’s still room for one more office on it.)

(Side side note:  How creepy is it to pick out your own grave and headstone and stuff?  I wonder he he hangs out there and listens to the Smiths.)

Just in time for..  Well, nothing in particular, the US Mint is jolting us all out of what will surely be a deep post-holiday sleep with the exciting introduction of four new penny designs!

In 2009, the United States Mint will mint and issue four different one-cent coins in recognition of the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the first issuance of the Lincoln cent.

Wow.  Apparently the designs were unveiled months ago, but I somehow didn’t notice.  And now I’ll probably not notice the first time I get one of the amazing new-fangled pennies.  I’d like to take this time to thank the US Mint for giving me something to not care about.

I wonder what this guy would say:

I like thinking that our government, surely fully aware of all the good reasons for retiring the penny, finds a ground-breaking, innovative solution to the problem.

This story is one small reminder of many of the things that are changing around here.  Apparently a car tried to pass the presidential motorcade, resulting in a black SUV pulling in front and drawing their weapons.  Wow.  Until Tuesday, when people saw sirens, it was more of a suggestion that they pull over.  Now, I imagine we’re going to have to take those darn cop cars a little more seriously.

A few years ago, President Bush shut down about four blocks near my office while he was eating at one of my favorite downtown restaurants.  For some reason, I had chosen to drive to work that day and ended up being an hour and a half late.  But I imagine if it were President Obama, I wouldn’t be so annoyed.  At least for the first six months.