No surprises, says Chicagoist, that Stroger is using patronage to reward supporters. No surprise either, sez I, that Blagojevich used his office to enrich himself. We are used to hearing about both of them, as we have long been used to hearing about political corruption in Illinois, especially Cook County, especially Chicago.

What’s new this time around is the brazenness and ineptitude of Stroger and Blago, to whom we should be grateful for making it all so clear, so that maybe, maybe a periodic paroxysm of pseudo-reform can have its 15 minutes of fame in our state, county, and metropolitan area.

(By the way, when was the last time any of us heard a sermon against political corruption? Like this by Rev. Dr. Bellows in NYC in 1875?)