The mind of Rod Blagojevich

One of the great things about the Blagojevich story is not just the epic level of corruption, but learning about the pathetic deluded shell Pay-Rod lives each and every day in. To call the man a piece of work is to not get the full picture. The New York Times today tries to provide a little context to our crazy corrupt uncle from Illinois. Among the highlights:

• He can treat employees with disdain, cursing and erupting in fury for failings as mundane as neglecting to have at hand at all times his preferred black Paul Mitchell hairbrush. He calls the brush “the football.”
• John Fritchey, a Democrat who shared a campaign office with Mr. Blagojevich, was told that his stepfather had suffered a serious stroke. He walked over to Mr. Blagojevich, who was making fund-raising calls, and shared the news. “He proceeded to tell me that he was sorry, and then, in the next breath, he asked me if I could talk to my family about contributing money to his campaign.”
• Even with approval ratings that had sunk to 13 percent as details of the federal investigation into his administration had seeped out over the past three years, Mr. Blagojevich, incredulous prosecutors say, still spoke in his recorded conversations in the past six weeks of the possibility of remaking his political future and running for president, perhaps in 2016.
• At points in early 2004, Mr. Blagojevich appeared with Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate...Mr. Blagojevich seemed confident, said two former employees, who refused to be named out of concern that their comments could jeopardize their current work, that he would soon be selected as Mr. Kerry’s running mate. (An aide to Mr. Kerry’s campaign says he was never under consideration.) At the time, there seemed only one problem: Mr. Blagojevich was uncertain he wanted to be a No. 2.
• In December 2003, the employee recalled, Mr. Blagojevich flew into a rage because he thought he was late for a holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Springfield, and his two young daughters — who were visiting with Santa Claus in the parlor of the Governor’s Mansion — did not have their shoes on yet. “You’re trying to sabotage my career!” the employee recalled Mr. Blagojevich screaming at staff members.

Assuming he was the VP pick for Kerry because they appeared twice together, was Rod perhaps gazing into our "One 15 minute meeting beforehand" Palin future and saying "Me first"? It's a shame though that this massive corruption trial and assured conviction might somehow affect the 2016 run he wants to make. Reading this article it's not surprising to see that Blagojevich was caught, no his dimwitted cash grabs seem to have been a hallmark of his career since he started in politics, the surprise is that he wasn't caught in a shady motel accepting a large burlap sack with a dollar sign on it. He is the Babe Ruth of Illinois corruption. Bow at the feet of the master.