Surprise.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—Sen. Roland Burris admitted Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother asked him for a campaign contribution before the governor appointed Burris to the Senate.

The disclosure is at odds with Burris' testimony in January when an Illinois House impeachment committee specifically asked if he had ever spoken to Robert Blagojevich or other aides to the now-deposed governor about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Burris issued a statement Saturday saying he voluntarily gave the committee a Feb. 4 affidavit disclosing the contact with Robert Blagojevich because "there were several facts that I was not given the opportunity to make during my testimony to the impeachment committee."

Blagojevich throws down the gauntlet.

I caught a little bit of it this morning, and, frankly, I believe he's innocent of all charges (he might have something on me, too). It's absolutely amazing what politicians can say once they no longer give a fuck.

Blagojevich says a bunch of them cheat on their spouses, drink too much and blindly follow their legislative leaders because they don't know what's going on in Springfield.

That's pretty much verbatum what he said, so I don't know why the AP article paraphrases here.

This will get really, really good at the criminal trial

Testicular Fortitude.

Impeachment proceedings against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are scheduled to begin Monday in the state Senate, but the embattled governor is expected to skip the trial and instead appear on several television programs.

Now, look. The man is in a difficult spot. He can't defend himself at the impeachment because he's in the middle of a criminal case. So going to the proceedings would be pointless. But you don't have to go on national television, piss off your lawyer and have him resign, compare yourself to Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and I forget the third guy, Jesus Christ, probably. You don't do that. You say you have evidence that proves your innocence? Show it at the trial, and shut the fuck up until then.

I can't say this is totally shocking coming from a man who blackmailed a children's hospital for campaign contributions.

It's clear by now that he's just doing whatever he wants. He said today that he considered Oprah for Obama's senate seat that eventually went to Roland Burris. Oprah? Fuck it, why not. He has nothing to lose, he might as well get as crazy as he wants and enjoy it. He'll have a few years in a federal prison to write his book, and the crazier he is right now the more stuff he can write about.

Anyway, as long as you're not pretending to govern, knock yourself out, man. Just don't touch the state stuff, let the grown ups do that.