Blago regretfully declines HopenChangefest invites

When a president gets inaugurated, politicians from his state usually get VIP invitations to the best bashes and get the fatted-calf treatment.  It’s practically unheard of that a sitting governor would not attend the inauguration of a President from his own state.  Of course, impeachment doesn’t happen every day, either:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, worried he would be a “distraction” given the impeachment and criminal charges against him, won’t be going to Washington for President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities, a spokesman said today.

The governor was invited to several inaugural events, but won’t make the trip, Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said. …

One invitation came from the Democratic Governor’s Association before Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest, Guerrero said. As far as the governor’s office knows, the offer hasn’t been rescinded.

Maybe the DGA leadership doesn’t read the newspapers.  Blagojevich has some Hope and Change of his own to confront in the Illinois legislature, involving the monumental task of convincing his own party not to kick him out of office.  One might have thought that the Democrats in Illinois might have reached out to the Democrats in the DGA to note that an invite for a governor that they’re trying to boot for corruption doesn’t exactly send the right message on the whole culture of corruption issue.

It seems someone sent Blagojevich a message, if not the DGA.  The last thing they need is pictures of Blagojevich and his hair at inaugural events, rubbing shoulders with members of the new administration.  Did a member of Team Obama drop a horse’s head into Blagojevich’s bed?  The other end of the horse may have been more appropriate.

Addendum: While researching the image for this post, I ran across a site that sells Godfather-style horse’s head pillows.  You think Coppolla had this in mind?

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