If Trump pardoning Blago helps put 4,982 miles between us and that sleazebag, I'm all for it!

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Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. I talk with WGN-AM 720 host John Williams about what’s making news and likely to be grist for the PS mill. The WGN listen-live link is here.

No matter what, Blago, you’ll still be a washed-up turncoat crook

As you have no doubt read or seen, President Donald Trump has pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, utterly erasing his criminal convictions, possibly freeing him up to run for office in Illinois and greasing the way for his rumored appointment as ambassador to Serbia.

The Associated Press:

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 on charges that included seeking to sell an appointment to then-President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat and trying to shake down a children’s hospital. Blagojevich…. served eight years in prison before Trump cut short his term in 2020.

The endlessly annoying. insufferably vain, incorrigibly combative, brazenly corrupt and stubbornly unrepentant former Democratic governor has been sucking up to Trump for nearly five years now, and it has truly paid off.

The Illinois Constitution says:

A person convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime … and committed while he or she was serving as a public official in this State is ineligible to hold any local public office or any office created by the Constitution of this State unless the person's conviction is reversed, the person is again restored to such rights by the terms of a pardon for the offense.

So though Blagojevich, 68, could have run for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House or the presidency — federal offices — with 17 federal felony convictions still on his record even after Trump’s 2020 commutation, he was barred from holding other offices in Illinois. With a pardon, we might see him stand for City Council, the Cook County Board, the General Assembly or any one of a number of executive offices, though the Tribune reports:

It is doubtful the Trump pardon would allow Blagojevich to seek state office since the courts have ruled that impeachment is a political — not criminal — process.

The Sun Times reported that Blago “brushed aside speculation that he might seek elected office again,” quoting him as saying that his wife —’has made it abundantly clear that if I ever do that again, she said I’ll be doing that with my second wife, and I don’t want to lose her.”

The irony of Blagojevich getting a pardon or legal mercy of any sort should not be lost on anyone.

He had the power to commute sentences and issue pardons for state crimes when he was governor from 2003 to 2009, but allowed an enormous backlog of petitions to pile up on his desk. In the summer of 2008, the Prisoner Review Board put the number of prisonsers and former convicts who were still seeking a decision from him at 1,571. The number was so damnably high that he was being sued for his inaction. And when he had taken action, he’d granted 67 pardons and denied 1,160 to that date, an 18-to-1 denial rate apparently rooted in a fear of being seen as soft on crime.

So add mericless, cowardly and lazy to the list of his brazen shortcomings.

But if Trump appoints him ambassador to his ancestral homeland of Serbia, he’ll be nearly 5,000 miles away in the Serbian capital of Belgrade for the next four years. That sounds awfully good to me.

Pennywise: At last Trump proposes change I can believe in

Wrecking ball President Donald Trump floated an idea Sunday that I have long championed: Retire the pesky penny.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump posted on social media during the Super Bowl. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

Nearly 20 years ago, the U.S Mint reported that the cost of producing a penny had finally exceeded the value of a penny for the first time due to the price of metals needed to produce it — 97.5% zinc. Last year, the Mint acknowledged that the cost of making a penny was now 3.69 cents, meaning each one they make generates a loss of 2.69 cents.

Multiply that by 3.2 billion pennies now produced per year and you get a net loss to taxpayers of $86 million — not a significant chunk of the federal budget, to be sure, but when you factor in the environmental costs of mining, manufacturing and transporting all those basically useless coins, “What the hell?” is certainly a relevant question.

The zinc lobby helps fund Americans for Common Cents, a pro-penny group that has fought off end-the-penny proposals for decades.

That lobbying group claims that Americans have a sentimental attachment to these trinkets of song, and that rounding prices up or down to the nearest nickel would be inflationary (it would not be; as Canada and other nations that have gotten rid of their least valuable coins have discovered.)

Speaking of nickels, they now cost nearly 14 cents each to make, so getting rid of them and rounding cash-sale prices up or down to the nearest dime would also save taxpayer money.

What ought to — but won’t — give Trump enthusiasts pause is that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution clearly says that “Congress shall have power ... to coin money [and] regulate the value thereof.”

His unilateral order to stop making cents would therefore seem to be extra-legal. No surprise there. But I’m hoping that he has started the process moving in Congress.

As usual, John Oliver was on point:

Notes and comments from readers — lightly edited — along with my responses.

I received scores of letters, comments and social media replies on the topic of taste in foods — what you like that others hate; what you hate that others like and so forth. I remain curious about certain foods that seem to be on borderline between popular and unpopular, and will post an online survey on this (heart)burning topic.

School funding

Bob E. — How much more revenue would “underfunded public schools” need to be “fully funded,” as the unions and activists demand? What's the baseline there? Surely you or a resource with which you are familiar has some estimate of the cost to “fully fund” public schools. Then let the debate continue as to how the funding will be raised, whether the people of our state can afford to “fully fund” public schools.

Zorn — You are right to point out that the term “fully funded” is elusive, and I don’t have a good definition. Does every school, no matter now small or under-enrolled, need a full-time nurse and librarian? Need to have staffing to support a full array of sports and arts programs? How do the costs of special services needed for students with various challenges factor into “full funding”? I suspect we’re going to be debating/discussing this topic a lot in the coming weeks, at least, as the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public Schools head toward a possible strike date.

Rick Weiland — I asked ChatGPT, my new best friend, to compare what is spent per-student at CPS vs the Illinois and National averages. Here's what it said:

"As of the most recent data, per-student spending in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is significantly higher than both the state and national averages. Chicago Public Schools (CPS): In the current school year, CPS is spending approximately $29,028 per student, which represents a 97% increase since 2012. [newsweek.com]

State of Illinois: The average per-student spending in Illinois is around $16,227. [wisevoter.com]

United States National Average: Nationally, the average per-student spending is about $12,612. [worldpopulationreview.com]"

So CPS is spending well over twice the national average per student, nearly twice the Illinois average (which includes CPS, of course), and what are we getting for this? Not excellence. Surely there are some good ideas out there that are not just more money.

Zorn — I take issue with these comparisons for the way they imply that CPS teachers are incompetent or resting on their shovels as they earn more than they deserve. I certainly can’t defend every last dime CPS spends on layers of bureaucracy or every last teacher, but the reason per pupil costs are higher in the city is that we ask the schools to tackle all sorts of problems, pathologies and other challenges that are less severe in wealthier districts and most suburban and rural districts.

I didn’t check your numbers or your sources, but I have been noticing that AI has been getting more and more accurate when generating statistics and issue briefs.

Dissent welcome

Laurence Siegel — Frequent commenter David Leitschuh has been giving a lot of trouble to Eric lately for running an ultra liberal newsletter. Leitschuh has been catching flak from the rest of us for his pro-Trump views. But open-minded people listen to opposing views before they make up their minds.

Zorn — He’s no trouble! I’m very glad for Leitschuh’s spirited and civil dissents to many of the other views expressed here and for his critiques of me. Over the years I’ve had a number of conservative commenters bail out, and I’m never happy about that. Here’s a recent sample from him:

David Leitschuh —-Not surprisingly, you are presenting your overwhelmingly left of center readers a great deal of gratifying red meat with your current rant about President Trump.

People may find things to complain about Trump all they want, but he has been enormously effective in just his first couple weeks in office!

• $500 billion Stargate AI development consortium projected to create 100,000 new mostly tech jobs.

• Saudi Arabia commits to $600 billion investment in US over the next 4 years.

• Mexico agrees to send 10,000 Mexican National Guard troops to secure the US border against fentanyl drug smuggling.

• Canada commits to $1.3 billion in additional personnel and new technology to increase US border security.

• Panama commits to Secretary of State Rubio to terminate agreement with China on canal operations.

• Venezuela releases 6 US citizens held prisoner to Trump envoy and commits to accept return of illegal immigrants from US.

Zorn — This comment provoked an interesting exchange on the comment threads that I encourage others to read.

One point: China’s does not control access to the Panama Canal, Trump’s blathering notwithstanding. A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based conglomerate operates two ports on the canal where workers “only load and unload containers onto ships and supply them with fuel,” according to the link he sent along.

Good times!

Mark K. — I still remember when people were losing their minds that Hillary Clinton stored some emails on a private server.

Puns and mistakes

Michael Weiland — Was "Just plane racist," the first words in your headline over the item about how Trump blamed the D.C. air crash on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives a pun on an aviation disaster. Or was it a typo, like where you wrote "principal" instead of "principle"?

Zorn — Oh, that plane pun was deliberate. As for “principal” where I meant “principle,” well, that wasn’t a typo but a brain-o. I blame DEI for that, even though I was the only one to proofread the item.

Feels to me like a version of this paragraph ought to be standard for advice columnists

Dear In A State: I know neither you nor daughter other than what you have described to me. Continue talking with your therapist for guidance. This individual is most familiar with your history and how hard you have tried to repair the damage you caused. — Dear Abby, Feb. 5

Sure, some of the problems readers submit to advice mavens are minor and momentary dilemmas — should I cut ties with my rude brother in law? and so on — but others are major, ongoing and troubling. I applaud Jeanne Phillips, the current writer of the syndicated Dear Abby column, for this answer to a woman who developed a “psychosis with a personality change” that ruined her relationship with her daughter.

Unpopular opinions?

Reader Rick Lietz proposes having every-other-day mail delivery instead of every day except for Sunday, as is now the case. “If a document or other item must arrive by a certain date, you’d pay a little extra, as with Federal Express,” Lietz wrote. “Otherwise, the envelope or package would arrive at most just one day later than it would have under the current system.”

I suspect this money-saving idea will be unpopular, though it’s vanishingly rare that I receive anything by mail so urgent that it couldn’t have waited an extra day. More popular might be the idea of simply eliminating Saturday deliveries, which postal authorities estimated 12 years ago would save $2 billion a year in fuel, personnel and other operating costs.

Presumably — though not assuredly — such savings would forestall rate hikes. What say you?

Last week’s result

The clicklectorate is firmly opposed to keeping the Super Bowl where it is on the calendar, with half of respondents favoring a move back a week to the Sunday before President’s Day and a third wanting to shift it back a day to a Saturday.

Kent Frederick — Here's the issue with the Super Bowl on the Sunday before President's Day. A surprising number of people don't get that day off: The people who get off President's Day are government employees, school kids, and some in financial services.

David Leitschuh — One problem in pushing the NFL schedule back would be the increased chances of extremely cold temperatures for the late season and playoff games in northern cities with outdoor stadiums. Dangerous for both the players and fans.

Michael M, — It’s stupid not having climate-controlled stadiums in this day and age.

This occasional Tuesday feature is intended to highlight opinions that are defensible but may well be unpopular. If you have one to add, leave it in comments or send me an email, but be sure to offer at least a paragraph in defense of your view.

In Hebrew veritas

In looking through my archives for something else the other day I came across something I’d written long ago on the Hebrew expression, “Bekoso, bekiso, bekaso.”

A friend who is a former rabbinical student introduced me to it when we were discussing the drunken, racist ravings of actor Mel Gibson — now apparently forgiven and forgotten. It refers to a passage in the Talmud that says people’s true character is best revealed:

bekoso--by their cup; or, metaphorically, how they behave when drunk

bekiso--by their pockets; or, metaphorically, how they manage money

bekaso--by their temper; how they act when angry.

The idea behind the expression covers lots more ground in its three words than the Latin observation “in vino veritas,” meaning that wine (vino) tends to cause one to speak truth (veritas).

I came up with at least two other tests beyond bekoso bekiso bekaso. The first is how a people treats servers — literally waiters or waitresses but metaphorically anyone who is at least for the moment in a socially subservient role.

The second is how they behave on the golf course. Do they cheat? Respond with the requisite grace and good humor to the inevitable disappointments and failures?

So, to expand: Bekoso, bekiso, bekaso, beservo, begolfo.

A NewsWheel puzzle

I have previously written about my fondness for the WordWheel puzzle in the Monday through Friday Chicago Tribune. The challenge is to discern the missing letter that completes an eight-letter word that may appear either either clockwise or counterclockwise around the circle. Solving the WordWheel can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes — unlike the far more involving Spelling Bee puzzle so many people I know work on throughout the day — and it’s a lovely little wakeup.

In my exchanges with Doug Hendry of The Puzzle Company, which produces the WordWheel for syndication, he told me that he creates WordWheels far in advance of when they appear in newspapers, and that he would have no objection if I were to create a more timely puzzle for the Picayune Sentinel tied to current events. I was reminded about this when the solution was “VERDICTS” on Jan. 29, the day jurors began deliberating the fates of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his co-defendant Michael McClain. Pure coincidence, of course, but it’s motivated me

My NewsWheel puzzles will be as tied to the news as I can make them. Hendry’s solutions are always one word — only rarely proper nouns — and he told me he attempts to avoid controversial or potentially upsetting words such as “abortion” or “molester.”

The NewsWheel, in contrast, will occasionally have two-word solutions (like today) and won’t shy from proper nouns or lighting-rod terms. I’ll put the solution at the bottom of the newsletter if you’re stumped.

Solution below

The week’s best visual jokes

Here are some funny visual images I've come across recently on social media. Enjoy, then evaluate:

Source for t-shirt image: Teexcop

There’s still time to vote in the conventional Quip of the Week poll!

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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.

Contact

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NewsWheel answer:

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