Are Blago and Junior in the prison-to-Congress pipeline?

Thank you for your attention to these matters!

7-10- 2025 (issue No. 201)

This week:

• Blago for Congress? I say maybe

• Last week’s winning quip

• News and Views — Hot takes, fully baked on Jesse Jackson Jr.’s political future, Alex Cooper’s awful “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” the Tribune newsrooms cold shoulder to a buyout offer and more

• Land of Linkin’ — Where I tell readers where to go

• Squaring up the news — Where Charlie Meyerson tells readers where to go

• Quotables — A collection of compelling, sometimes appalling passages I’ve encountered lately

• Quips — The winning visual jokes and this week’s contest finalists

• What’s on “The Mincing Rascals” podcast this week

• Good Sports — Angel Reese talks shit about the refs and I am there for it

• Green Light — A reader recommendation of James Dodson’s 1996 nonfiction book, “Final Rounds: A Father, a Son, the Golf Journey of a Lifetime”

• Mistakes were made — A correction

Will Blagojevich join the wild rumpus for Schakowsky’s congressional seat?

Tuesday’s announcement that gun control advocate Phil Andrew of Wilmette is entering the Democratic primary race to succeed retiring veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky puts the number of hopefuls at 14.

Here’s Politico’s Illinois Playbook rundown of others in or about to enter the field so far:

(State Sen. Mike Simmons), state Sen. Laura Fine, state Rep. Hoan Huynh, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala, civil rights attorney Howard Rosenblum, progressive influencer Kat Abughazaleh, community organizer and former Schakowsky aide Miracle Jenkins, high school math teacher David Abrevaya, Evanston resident Bethany Johnson, environmental health and safety professional Justin Ford and homeless advocate Lauren Million. Democratic Committeeman Bruce Leon has signed his paperwork to run but won’t officially launch until later this month.

Not all of these candidates will be on the March 17, 2026, ballot in all likelihood. They won’t get the necessary signatures or have the necessary money. But a large field in a race without ranked-choice voting increases the chances that a candidate with a relatively strong but devoted following could eke out a plurality victory with a relatively small percentage of the overall vote.

Andrew, 57, could well turn out to be such a candidate. He’s an attorney and former FBI special agent who survived being shot in the chest by Winnetka schoolhouse killer Laurie Dann in 1988 after Dann entered his family’s home in her failed effort to flee. He is also the former head of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Violence Prevention Initiatives and the founder and head of the PAX Group, a crisis management consultancy. (Here is his campaign introduction video)

But you know who else could turn out to be such a candidate? Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

I know, I know.

• He was impeached and removed from office in 2009 by the General Assembly and then convicted in federal court on corruption charges in 2011, after which he spent nearly eight years in prison. And despite his recent presidential pardon, it remains journalistic convention to preface his name with the adjective “disgraced.”

• His Ravenswood Manor home is not quite in the boundaries of llinois’ 9th U.S. Congressional District — about a mile away as the crow flies.

• He’s no longer aligned with Democratic Party values to judge by such recent tweets as, “Congratulations to President Trump on the passage of his historic big beautiful bill,” “Doesn't Trump make you proud to be an American!!! Strong and decisive leadership. … God bless President Trump!” and “Trump will go down in history as the President who made America great again!”

But consider:

• Blago, 68, served six years in the House and six years as governor and still has devoted fans. And there are more than enough Republicans in a district that Schakowsky won with 68.4% of the vote in 2024 to cross over, take a Democratic ballot and hand him the nomination with, say, 20% of the vote in a very crowded field.

• He’s now a popular enough fixture on national right-wing cable talk shows that MAGA would likely raise campaign funds for him nationwide and urge Republicans in the 9th to forget about their party’s U.S. Senate and gubernatorial primaries, meddle in the Democratic primary and steal the seat from an actual Democrat.

• He wants to get back in the game — in fact, he filed a lawsuit to regain the right to run for state office, a right stripped from him when the General Assembly removed him from the governorship.

• The law does not require members of Congress to live in the districts they represent.

• Voters have shown the ability to look past criminal convictions. See USA today’s list of pols redeemed at the ballot box after convictions, a list that now includes Trump and just may (see below) soon include Jesse Jackson Jr.

• No matter what you think of him — and my opinion of him could hardly be lower — G-Rod is very gifted at the shake and howdy of retail politics.

Is he interested? Mark Vargas, editor-in-chief of the conservative Illinois Review who has been serving as a Blagojevich family spokesman, said “he’s already served in the House. Why go back?”

Vargas pointed to a Breitbart article from April in which Blagojevich replied “never say never” to a question about whether he’d consider a run for U.S. Senate.

(My wife Patty has) made it clear that if I did something like that I’d have to do that with my second wife. So, in order for me to actually decide to do something along those lines, I’d have to win my first primary — and that one’s right in my bedroom.

He would not run as a Republican, Vargas said, but as a “Trumpocrat” — a Democrat who strongly supports the Republican president.

I will say “never” to the idea that a Democrat in the thrall of Trump could win a statewide Democratic U.S. Senate primary. But could he slip back into Congress by taking advantage of a fragmented Democratic primary field?

Maybe.

Last week’s winning quip

And to my children I leave my collection of grocery bags that I store inside of a grocery bag. — @Kica333

Here are this week’s nominees and the winner of the Tuesday visual-jokes poll. Here is the direct link to the new poll.

News & Views

News: Jesse Jackson Jr. is reportedly considering a bid to return to Congress.

View: I like his chances. I’m old enough to remember when Junior, as he was commonly known, was considered mayoral, senatorial, gubernatorial or even perhaps presidential material. Junior, the son of the famed civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, held the 2nd Congressional District seat from 1995 to 2012, winning reelection by suffocating margins. He ended up resigning his seat, pleading guilty to offenses related to violations of campaign finance laws and spending a year and half in prison.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, Jackson’s successor in the 2nd, is giving up the seat to run in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary to replace the retiring Dick Durbin, and so far, the biggest name in the primary field is state Sen. Robert Peters, who is well regarded but has little of Junior’s name recognition.

Junior, 60, has so far been unsuccessful in efforts to secure a presidential pardon. Kissing up to Trump seems to be the surest route to that remedy, but if he does that, voters will likely turn on him. If he preserves his liberal bona fides, we’ll be calling him “Congressman” again in early 2027.

News: Podcaster Alex Cooper draws boos from Cubs fans when she camps her way through leading the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the 7th-inning stretch, prompting suggestions that it’s time to retire the tradition of celebrity song leaders.

View: Mend it, don’t end it. Put the focus on the crowd by having a vocalist — maybe the same one for every game — help with the first line, then let the organist and the fans carry it from there.

In 2011, the woman who was designated to lead the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” prior to Northwestern University’s home men’s basketball game against Michigan State started off, but then mistakenly pressed the mute button on her microphone.

"In the awkward moment, the generous fans — both home and visiting — began to sing together without prompting, picking up the young woman who was hung out to dry," an athletic department spokesman recounted at the time. "It was a moving experience."

So began a tradition of asking a student or special guest from the community or a newspaper columnist looking for a story, to sing just the first line into the public address system, after which the fans would take over.

That tradition faded away, but the Cubs should adopt it and ditch the self-promoting celebrities. After all, Harry Caray, the announcer who led the singing at home games up until his death in 1998, often just waved the microphone in front of him to pick up the crowd’s vocalizations:

News: “Mayor Brandon Johnson pushes ‘granny flat’ ordinance forward”

View: I’m with Hizzoner on this one. The city needs more housing, and allowing residents to construct coach houses and other so-called accessory dwelling units will help address that problem. Opponents are fretful:

The measure’s chief opponent (when it was derailed) last summer, Ald. Marty Quinn, signaled he would once again vie to block it. The ordinance threatens to “erode the fabric of these beautiful neighborhoods,” the Southwest Side bungalow belt alderman said.

Quinn, 13th, cited parking, garbage, noise and school overcrowding as top concerns he hears about from constituents — each an issue that would worsen if Johnson successfully “jams ADUs down the throats of aldermen,” he said.

“Those quality-of-life issues will be accelerated if this is allowed to happen,” Quinn said. “For the mayor to think he knows best about what the needs are on the Southwest Side, it’s not accurate.”

Yes, there is a potential for minor disruptions. But evidence from elsewhere suggests that ADUs are overall beneficial. “ADUs Are Good for People and Places,” reports AARP. “Cities need more housing. ADUs can help,” reports the Brookings Institution. The Cato Institute has taken note of “The Promising Results of Accessory Dwelling Unit Reform.”

News: President Donald Trump is criticized for playing golf instead of going to Texas to show his concern for victims of the July 4 catastrophic flash flood.

View: Whatever his reasons — a tee time? laziness? thoughtful concern? — Trump was right to stay away while rescue and recovery efforts were in full swing. Politicians looking for a photo-op with performative visits to scenes of devastation end up diverting resources from the urgent tasks at hand.

News: Former Ald. Ed Burke leaves federal prison after serving just 289 days of a two-year sentence for racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.

View: Galling. I’ll do the math for you here. Burke served just 39.6% of a sentence that was widely regarded as astonishingly light when handed down by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall. Normally, federal convicts would be expected to serve 85% of their sentences before release — 612 days in this case (Burke served 47% of that) — but Burke, 81, evidently received some sort of “compassionate release” now available to inmates over 70.

It undermines whatever faith we have left in the justice system when the rich and powerful get slaps on the wrist and then phony sentences that don’t mean what they say. At least be honest and tell us that Burke is sentenced to nine months and 16 days.

But his true punishment will be going down in history not as the canny dean of the City Council whose 54 years in office set a record, but as just another rogue legislator who added to Chicago’s colorful reputation for political corruption.

News: Tribune buyout offer evidently fizzles, as the newsroom union knows of no takers other than a reporter who had already announced his retirement.

View: The company should have done better. The “offer” was no better than what the Tribune Guild contract requires be paid to journalists who are laid off, according to City Hall reporter Jake Sheridan, who chairs the bargaining unit. So there was little incentive for anyone without another job already lined up to sign on to a voluntary separation agreement.

“We fear layoffs will follow,” Sheridan told me.

Land of Linkin’

• Lynn Sweet, for many years the Chicago Sun-Times’ Washington bureau chief, has shifted from the politics team to the “audience” team, according to a recent Chicago Public Media news release. In her new role, Sweet, who started at the Sun-Times in 1976, will “break down political news for Chicago area audiences on TikTok, newsletters and other platforms,” according to the paper. It’s a fitting transition given that Sweet has always been tech forward, having hosted a pioneering political blog at the paper and “At the Table,” an online video political talk show.

• Trib Sunday home-delivery subscribers: Here’s an easier way than navigating the dreaded phone tree to opt out of paying for your ‘premium issues.’

• Here is the audio of my Tuesday conversation on WGN-AM 720 with host John Williams about “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” local politics and Illinois’ ban on consumer fireworks.

• This list of the least erotic ways someone can agree to having sex in five words or less never doesn’t crack me up.

• “Camelcamelcamel is a free Amazon price tracker, alerting you to good deals on products you love.” The newsletter Popular Information consulted it in making the argument that Amazon Prime Day sale (through Friday) is a scam. But speaking of scams, “Amazon warns millions of users about fake membership subscription emails - here's how to stay safe.”

Squaring up the news

This is a bonus supplement to the Land of Linkin’ from veteran radio, internet and newspaper journalist Charlie Meyerson. Each week, he offers a selection of intriguing links from his daily email news briefing Chicago Public Square:

■ Colbert, Stewart in the balance: Now that Paramount has settled Donald Trump’s revenge-driven lawsuit, media monitor Oliver Darcy says the ground is “shifting fast” for Trump-critical programming on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show and Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. Darcy adds: Likely new owners at Skydance want to rid CBS of “what they see as a liberal taint.”

■ Federal emergency workers tell The Handbasket’s Marisa Kabas the response to the Texas floods was delayed and deficient under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership.

■ Wonkette’s Rebecca Schoenkopf was more direct: “Trump and Elon Musk’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre … just killed 27 little girls.”

■ Jeff Tiedrich at Everyone Is Entitled to My Own Opinion: “The message that Donny farted out … was ‘none of this is my fault.’”

■ Timelapse video shows the water’s horrific rise.

■ Poynter explores how a “100% inaccurate” story of two Texas girls’ miraculous rescue went national.

■ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz attended Trump’s Iowa rally last week: “I witnessed the masculinity crisis … and got my chair stolen.”

■ Sources tell investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein that what was intended as a federal show of force by immigration and customs agents in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park proved instead “a botched laughingstock.”

■ 404 Media: ICE is now searching medical bills.

■ Drop Site: The cost of “Alligator Alcatraz” has already ballooned to more than $600 million.

■ The American Prospect surveys 10 “nutty provisions” hidden in Trump’s big tax-and-spending law—including a “mass shooter subsidy.”

■ PolitiFact: That law’s provisions could indeed hit Social Security benefits—especially for those born after 1967.

You can (and should) subscribe to Chicago Public Square free here.

Quotables

A collection of compelling, sometimes appalling passages I’ve encountered lately

Donald Trump is certainly the most inept person ever to occupy the White House. Always an incurious, profoundly lazy dullard and a terrible manager whose real estate and casino projects imploded. — Ryan Cooper

When I was hungry, you put up posters of the Ten Commandments in my classroom while making sure I didn’t get a free lunch at school. — unknown

I’d like to say, you know — it’s a little controversial, but I couldn't care less — we have a lot of bad criminals that came into this country, and they came in stupidly. It was an unforced error. It was an incompetent president that allowed it to happen. It was an autopen, maybe, that allowed it to happen. And it did happen. But we also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time. People that whack people over the head with a baseball bat from behind when they're not looking and kill them; people that knife you when you're walking down the street. They're not new to our country. They're old to our country. Many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too, you want to know the truth. So maybe that'll be the next job that we’ll work on together. — Donald Trump

Let’s not politicize this tragedy, whine the shitwads who politicize everything. … On January 10, 2025, while parts of Los Angeles were burning to the ground, fires were still raging (Republican Texas U.S. Sen.) Ted Cruz couldn’t wait to politicize the shit out of that tragedy. He dove head-first into partisan finger-pointing. … In fact, every Republican joined the let’s blame Democrats pile-on — and it wasn’t even legitimate criticism. It was the dumbest fucking hallucinatory bullshit imaginable. — Jeff Tiedrich

Celebrating our country’s independence from a monarchy given the state of things feels wrong. Like getting a Facebook birthday notification for a friend who’s dead. — unknown ‪

Guys, I’m starting to think all lives do not actually matter to them. — PleaseBeGneiss

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

You can tell Monopoly is an old game because there's a luxury tax and rich people go to jail. — unknown

I have this firm belief that if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough. — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey

Doomstrolling: Going for a walk with your bestie and talking about how effed up the world is. — unknown

Quips

In Tuesday’s paid-subscriber editions, I present my favorite tweets that rely on visual humor. Subscribers then vote for their favorite. Here is the winner from this week’s contest:

The new nominees for Quip of the Week:

• Whenever I tell my dog she’s a good girl, I add, “But you could be great.” Because I don’t want her to get complacent. — @uncleduke1969.bsky.social

• Maybe your baby is crying because he knows you don't have rizz. — @Quartzjixler

• Abraham Lincoln: Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Me: What about Gary? Lincoln: Well, obviously not Gary. — @buckyisotope.bsky.social

• Weddings should have a slide show of the couple’s exes and all the guests get to boo and throw bottles at the screen. — @CasualThursday

• Driving around in a car all day with Denzel Washington is not as action-packed as "Training Day" would have you believe. This is our third stop at a pharmacy. — @jakevig.bsky.social

• Child: I can't wait to be an adult. Me [shaving my earlobes]: Yes it's great. — @RodLacroix

• It really annoys me when someone asks me a question they already know the answer to. Does it annoy you too? — @wildethingy

• New evidence suggests ancient Egyptians visited the pyramids only when friends were in from out of town. — The Onion

• Don’t fall for scams. That’s how they get ya. — @camerobradford

• Bored? Start an argument by saying things you can't take back! — @jakevig.bsky.social

Vote here and check the current results in the poll.

For instructions and guidelines regarding the poll, click here.

Why “quips”? See “I’m rebranding ‘Tweet of the Week’ in a gesture of contempt for Elon Musk.” Also, I’m finding good stuff on BlueSky now as well.

Minced Words

Cate Plys, Marj Halperin and I joined host John Williams on this week’s episode of “The Mincing Rascals” podcast. We discussed the blame game regarding Texas flooding, the future of NASCAR in Chicago and my notion (above) that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s best chance to win elective office again is to run for the seat of retiring Democratic U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky of Evanston.

Subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Or bookmark this page. If you’re not a podcast listener, you can hear an edited version of the show at 8 p.m. most Saturday evenings on WGN-AM 720.

Read the background bios of some regular panelists here.

Good Sports

Reese gives pieces of her mind regarding WNBA officiating

Chicago Sky all-star forward Angel Reese unloaded on the referees after the Sky’s loss to Minnesota on Sunday, saying:

“I don’t give a damn if I get fined because that shit’s cheap, and I’m tired of this shit,” she said. “I’ve been nice, and I’ve been humble, but I’m tired of this shit.”

Sore loser? No. She’s telling it like it is. The WNBA referees too often swallow their whistles, look the other way at obvious fouls and let games get out of hand. The womanhandling down in the paint can resemble rugby and detracts from the beauty and flow of the game.

Curmudgeonly of me to say so, yes, but the same is true of NBA refs, who are lax about allowing significant physical contact and inconsistent in their calls.

“Idgaf” she posted to Twitter, using the common abbreviation for “I don’t give a fuck.” “Do better.” And this:

On the Rockies

This year I am tracking the Colorado Rockies’ progress down the highway to the hell of the worst record in modern MLB history. Rather than explaining all the factors to readers each week I’ve created this permanent link outlining the situation.

Baseball’s modern era began in 1901 for reasons explained here.

The lowest winning percentage in the modern era was .235, a mark set by the 1916 Philadelphia A’s. That team finished 36-117, and you can examine their entire season here.

Note that the hapless A’s played in a 153-game season. In the early 1960s, first the American League and then the National league expanded to the current 162-game season.

The 1962 expansion New York Mets quickly set the record for most losses, going 40-120 in a season shortened by two rainouts that were not made up. Their winning percentage was .250

The Mets’ record for most losses stood until the 2024 Chicago White Sox went 41-121. That winning percentage was .253, a whisker better than the ‘62 Mets.

If the 2025 Colorado Rockies finish with a record of 39-123 or better, they will have a higher winning percentage than the 1916 Philadelphia A’s.

If the 2025 Colorado Rockies finish with a record of 42-120 or better, they will have fewer losses than the 2024 Chicago White Sox (41-121 would tie the record).

As long as any of these outcomes remain a possibility, I’m post a table each week that shows:

• The number of games the Rockies have left in the season

• The number of games they need to win to finish at least 39-123 and have a better winning percentage than the 1916 Philadelphia A’s

• The number of games they need to win to finish 42-120 and have a better record than the 2024 White Sox.

---

So, with a record for the Rockies of 21-72 (.226) after Wednesday, July 9th’s second straight 10-2 drubbing by the Boston Red Sox, the team has:

Put another way, if they go 18-51 (.261) down the stretch, they beat the A’s, and if they go 21-48 (.304) down the stretch, they beat the Sox.

Green Light

Green Light features recommendations from me and readers not only of songs — as in the former Tune of the Week post — but also of TV shows, streaming movies, books, podcasts and other diversions that can be enjoyed at home — i.e., no restaurants, plays, theatrical films, tourist sites and so on. Email me your nominations, and please include a paragraph or two of explanation and background along with helpful links, perhaps including excerpts from reviews or background articles. For TV shows, please include links to trailers/previews on YouTube and advice on where to stream them.

James P. Yarbrough gives a green light to author James Dodson’s 1996 nonfiction book, “Final Rounds: A Father, a Son, the Golf Journey of a Lifetime.” Yarbrough describes Dodson as “quite the wordsmith.”

The Goodreads write-up is enticing:

James Dodson always felt closest to his father while they were on the links. So it seemed only appropriate when his father learned he had two months to live that they would set off on the golf journey of their dreams to play the most famous courses in the world. … Throughout their poignant journey, the Dodsons humorously reminisce and reaffirm their love for each other, as the younger Dodson finds out what it means to have his father also be his best friend.

Dodson, a 1975 graduate of East Carolina University, has written numerous books. many of them about or adjacent to golf.

Mistakes were made

When I become aware of errors in the Picayune Sentinel, I quickly correct them in the online version, but since many of you read just the email version, which I can’t correct after the fact, I will use this space periodically to alert you to meaningful mistakes I’ve made. (Not typos, in other words.)

In a Quotables item last week, I misidentified former Ald. George Cardenas. He is now a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review.

Info

Eric Zorn is a former opinion columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Find a longer bio and contact information here. This issue exceeds in size the maximum length for a standard email. To read the entire issue in your browser, click on the headline link above. Paid subscribers receive each Picayune Plus in their email inbox each Tuesday, are part of our civil and productive commenting community and enjoy the sublime satisfaction of supporting this enterprise. Browse and search back issues here.

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