[Posted by Kevin Fanning]
* Kristen McQueary had a very funny article yesterday about another Blagojevich…
At first, I couldn’t quite see the resemblance. The flowing mane, maybe. The brown eyes, a little. The flaring nostrils, a touch.
Then, the more I got to know Blagojevich, the more I appreciated how aptly named he was — this tall, dark and handsome creature born into a political family and groomed for great things but alas, disappointing to his keepers.
At least for Blagojevich, a standard bred harness-racing horse at Balmoral Park Racetrack in Crete, his struggles are behind him after successful throat surgery. The horse’s potential for greatness remains largely unrealized.
And continues…
Blagojevich’s grandmother was Would I Lie, an award-winning horse who produced another strong performer, Political Promise. When Political Promise gave birth in 2005, extending the political lineage only made sense.
“We breed a lot of horses in Illinois and generally try to come up with theme names. We didn’t do it to pick on the governor, but we try to come up with names that are fun. Aside from Blagojevich, we’ve never named one after a specific person. You never know, the governor might come through for the horse-racing industry,” Hunt said.
* I recommend reading the article in it’s entirety.
LIVE session coverage...
- Ghost - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:00 am:
You missed the best bit: “Blagojevich, you see, was a bit too aggressive and unfocused.” And to think there exists a medical solution to this problem.
- Speaking At Will - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:04 am:
Gimme the the $20 superfecta on Blagojevich, Emil, Madigan, and I’ll throw in Mike bost as a sleeper horse.
- Levois - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:29 am:
I think I can see that there is an insult on the horse.
- Kevin Fanning - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:30 am:
lol
- wordslinger - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:31 am:
Gotta have great stud value with that testicular virility.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:37 am:
I agree that both Blagojevichs are remarkable creatures, however in my opinion, the human one is surrounded by many more horseflies, due to the extraordinary ability to produce a lot more, uh, “apples”.
What’s the difference between Republican and Democratic horses? Democratic horses are usually geldings.
And neither animal appears to be capable of working longer than a few minutes a day, or capable of pulling any heavy loads. Both animals are show horses, mostly.
- fedup dem - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:40 am:
Notify the Puliter committee… we have a winning column here from Ms. McQueary!
- MG - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 10:43 am:
My two favorite horses of all time are:
(Pending Grand Jury) Citation, and
Affirmed (as Invidual A)
- Cal Skinner - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 12:08 pm:
Blagojevich’s mother was a Goldwater Republican.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 12:17 pm:
And he was a Reagan Republican.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 12:34 pm:
Great article! I think Rich or Kevin should start a thread ala the old Illinois Leader’s Derby thread on the 04 Senate race during the next Guv’s race.
Unfortunately, Proft had to take the post down shortly after it went up because some people felt it was too “snarky”, but those of us who read it could see the brilliant creativity and potential behind it.
I wonder whether McQueary read it and used it as her inspiration for the subject article.
Talk about “engaging readers” in the major press. Great job, Kristen! Honor is due.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 1:56 pm:
This was absolutely one of the best pieces of writing old AA has seen in a long time, whether you like horses, Rod, both, or neither.
Perish the thought of comparing it to anything on the gone, and forgotten, Illinois Leader.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 3:34 pm:
Oh, come on, AA, that’s a bit unfair. The Derby post was made by, and further enhanced by the bloggers, not the Illinois Leader staff–and there ARE major similarities, though the predecessor blog was a bit more brash than Kirsten’s article.
Furthermore, I think that the Leader is part of our history in that it seemed to be one of the first major experiments in determining what impact, if any, a blog could have on an election by allowing pundits and others to “collaborate” freely and without (egads!) huge restrictions. I’m sure that wasn’t its charter, but it was an outcome of its existence at the time.
Say what you will about the quality, snarkiness, authority, etc. of both the staff’s and bloggers’ contributions, but I think it truly has a place in history because of it’s timing as one of the first of its kind and the opportunities for related analyses it provided.
Give Proft some credit for a novel idea way ahead of its time.
- Jake from Elwood - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 3:47 pm:
McQueary has been on-fire lately with some of her articles. I particularly fancy the recent articles aimed at school superintendent perks. Keep firing.
- Huh? - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 7:03 pm:
A nag is still a nag no matter how pretty it looks. The one that is supposed to be governor is ready for the glue factory.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Jun 30, 08 @ 9:18 pm:
Point well made, Anon. The Leader was also ahead of the pack in Big Bob Kj-bashing, a trait AA finds admirable in any medium.