Run Jesse run: Bad day for Junior at Blago trial and a new line of T-shirts

"Illinois is America." Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Since January 20, 2009, sadly, Illinois has been America. And with Illinois you get President Obama, disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Junior.

The son of noted civil rights leader and strong arm hustler Reverend Jesse Jackson, the South Side Chicago congressman clearly was lured by Blago bait: You raise campaign cash for me, I will appoint you to Obama's former Senate seat.

Yesterday, out of earshot of the Blago trial jury, prominent Indian-American businessman Rajinder Bedi told Judge James Zagel that he met with another Indian businessman and Junior at a downtown restaurant a few days before Obama won the presidential election. Jackson, who had not previously disclosed this meeting, told the pair about his interest in what is now the Roland Burris Senate seat, and Bedi told Junior that he'd raise $1 million for Blago to get the deal done.

The Junior pay-for-play allegations are not new, but this new revelations certainly ends any hope of the Jackson running for a political office other than Illinois' 2nd Congressional District. He's in a very safe Democratic seat, but perhaps a Dem can knock him off in the 2012 primary.

In related news, the Illinois Republican Party wants to make this state the Land of Lincoln once again. Our 16th president, who possessed a rollicking sense of humor, would certainly like the GOP's new Blago Wear line of T-shirts. Under the caption of "Unplug the Machine," the shirts show our hair-brained former governor armed with a blow-dryer, with a happy Republican elephant unplugging the dryer.

And finally, America is Illinois. President Obama has been expanding the federal workforce during this cruel recession, and Blago's successor in Springfield, Pat Quinn, in a time "shared sacrifice" has blessed his staffers with raises, some of them as high as 20 percent.

UPDATE 5:45pm CDT: Although it's a safe Demcocratic seat, independents, Republicans and open-minded Democrats in the 2nd can shake Junior's world by voting for the Rev. Isaac Hayes, the GOP nominee. Safe for the Dems does not mean impossible for the Republicans, as we learned when Joseph Cao ousted the corrupt William Jefferson in Louisiana's 2nd in 2008.