The XX Factor: What women really think.

Dynasty Sick

Hey Melinda, you're right about the question that's everywhere today, Did Jesse Jackson Jr. or a Jesse bagman "pay to play" with Blagojevich? With all due respect to worthy speculators everywhere, I'm going to soberly concentrate on assuming the best until I see evidence of worse. I'm feeling duly chastened by Jack Shafer's piece, in which he points out that we're all ready to convict Blagojevich for selling a Senate seat before he's even indicted on those charges. (Money quote from the legal expert the NYT relies on today: "He's dead.")

I've got a different bone to pick with treating open Senate seats as ice cream sundaes with the cherry on top. Are we really so impoverished for political talent that Chicago will pick a Jackson, New York a Kennedy or a Cuomo, and Delaware (in two years, after seat-warmer Edward Kaufman goes home) a Biden? This is boring. It is like legacy admissions run riot. And it's reminiscent of Tudor England. Which as you may recall didn't last all that long.