I think the only governor we have (until Thursday, apparently) has less resemblance to a cuckoo than a dodo, but even that analogy isn't quite apt. Cuckoos, recall, are parasites, hijacking the nests of other birds, killing their hosts' chicks, and taking heavy losses themselves when their hosts discover their predations. Dodos, on the other hand, were inoffensive, peaceful birds who had no defenses against the rats and pigs who ate their eggs with reckless abandon, causing the birds to go extinct within 40 years of first contact with humans.
No, after reading about our only governor's performance with Diane Sawyer this morning—hours before his presence in Springfield might be appropriate—I think, possibly, he's a peacock: a strutting, narcissistic, totally useless and not fairly intelligent bird, with a loud and grating call that irritates everyone within earshot.
Anyone else have suggestions? If Soon-To-Be-Former-Governor Blagojevich were a bird, what kind of bird would he be?
Update: Barbara Walters this morning did not ask Blagojevich what kind of bird he would be; instead she asked him "why are you wasting time on these shows?" Seems a fair question.
When the temperature falls below -5°C, practicing landings increases the risk of frosted spark plugs and other cold-weather engine failures. So why not go sightseeing instead? Especially late afternoon in the dense, calm winter air? I mean, it's not like there's a baseball game:
Having the President out of town does make it easier to fly in the area, however. With him in town we have to stay about 3 km off the lake shore near Hyde Park, making it very tricky to thread the airspace restrictions to get up the west side of the Loop:
Good flight. Can't wait to fly again—when it's warmer.
Also: here's the KML.
The only governor we have takes his fight to the air in a self-parody so pathetic it made his lawyers quit:
Edward Genson, Blagojevich's lead criminal defense attorney, announced he was quitting hours after his client smeared the impeachment trial as a "sham" in a series of radio interviews and a nationally televised news conference. Blagojevich said the criminal case was being used as a pretext to impeach and remove him by fellow Democrats who have a vendetta against him for his independent political streak.
"That's what this is all about," Blagojevich said during a nearly 20-minute news conference in the Thompson Center in Chicago. "The heart and soul of this has been a struggle of me against the system."
It was all too much for Genson, a cautious criminal litigator who didn't approve of his client going public.
"I never require a client to do what I say. But I do require them to at least listen," Genson said after a federal court hearing related to the impeachment case. "I wish the governor good luck and Godspeed."
It's sad, really, that the governor doesn't realize that he is the system. Or, rather, was.
Even the pot—er, Mayor of Chicago—"puckered his lips and—in a high-pitched, sing-song voice—chirped: 'I said cuckoo once, I'll say it again. Cuckoo.'"
Via The Atlantic's James Fallows, a report that Microsoft's latest round of layoffs means the end of Flight Simulator:
[A]s of yesterday, it's the end of development for the venerable FS franchise (and probably the associated Microsoft ESP, the new commercial simulation platform based on FS), one of the longest-running titles in the history of the PC.
Sigh.
Trib headline: "Gov. Rod Blagojevich's lawyers expect his removal from office":
"As far as I know, the people in the Senate are more likely than not to convict him, and he will be removed from office," Blagojevich attorney Edward Genson told the Tribune. "I don't welcome it, but I expect it."
Genson also said Blagojevich won't mount a defense during the impeachment trial.
Duh. Everyone in Illinois knows the Governor will lose his job next month. Everyone, it seems, except the Governor:
"What the Senate and House are trying to do is to thwart the will of the people and remove a governor elected twice by the people without a fair hearing, without due process and without giving me the right—the most basic right every citizen in our country has—and that is the right to call witnesses," said Blagojevich.
In advance of a series of news media appearances on Friday, Blagojevich told the Associated Press on Thursday: "I'm going to fight this to the very end. ... Dec. 9 to my family, to us, to me, is what Pearl Harbor Day was to the United States," he said. "...And just like the United States prevailed in that, we'll prevail in this."
Memo to Governor: Your approval is in single digits. The only two reasons you are still in office are (a) you're too stupid to resign and (b) Illinois doesn't have a recall provision in its constitution. It's not a criminal trial; it's an exercise of political power. Don't worry, even after your conviction in the Senate next month, you'll still get your day in court. Oh yes. You will.
The President has ordered the military prison at Guantánamo Bay closed within a year, directed intelligence services to abide by the Army's interrogation standards, and directed Justice to review an important terrorism case with an eye towards giving the defendant actual Constitutional protections.
If he keeps this up, we could restore our standing in the world in less than 20 years, perhaps.
In local news, the Chicago Tribune has picked its favored bidder in the upcoming Cubs sale (without revealing who it is), and Illinois first lady Patricia Blagojevich got fired from her job as fundraiser at the Chicago Christian Industrial League. These stories aren't related, mind you; they're just current.
Yesterday was also a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, which is as good a reason as any to republish this photo:
Life goes on:
Now I'm going back to the NPR story about all the stuff we're not shipping from our major ports.
"President Barack Obama."
"Former President George W. Bush."
Ahhhh.
Or, at the very least, to the reality-based world. And look at all of those people...I'm now totally happy not to be on the National Mall today.
More later, sometime in the next Administration.