The governor once again lashes out at whistleblowers, calling them “scoundrels.”

But Blagojevich, who is facing a challenge from Republican Judy Baar Topinka, lashed out against those who he said were making “wrongful and harmful” accusations against his administration that have led to state and federal investigations into alleged improprieties involving hiring, contracting and fundraising.

“C’mon,” he told reporters after an appearance before the Metropolitan Planning Council. “It’s absurd, ludicrous, ridiculous, outlandish, OK? Accusations by scoundrels, OK?”

He’s sounding more and more like George Ryan every day.

He also went back to an old complaint.

The governor said he believed complaints about his administration, including those that have resulted in state and federal investigations, were a result of the “push back” from “bringing change” and “ruffling feathers” and “shaking up a system.”

“When you change things, it’s going to be filled with conflict and tension. That’s inherent,” Blagojevich said. “And I frankly think all of that you hear and the stuff that people say and the complaints and the criticism and the loose accusations that people make that are wrongful and harmful–that’s proof that we’re changing things and not afraid to make the hard choices.”

But it sure looks like he was going along and getting along on this little gem.

Gov. Blagojevich last year billed the new Illinois Global Partnership as “another effective tool in creating more opportunities for our working families to get ahead.”

But the only people who really got ahead were the trade group’s $100,000-plus-a-year executives, who traveled, wined and dined on the taxpayers’ dime, a state audit shows.

The idea for the group was pushed by state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), who encouraged the governor to name business consultant Thomas H. Miner as the group’s CEO.

UPDATE: Krol’s column today about George Ryan ended thusly.

But what always struck me during the trial was how relatively penny-ante all of it was. Prosecutors claimed Ryan received about $167,000 in ill-gotten benefits for himself and his family. Those same prosecutors now are looking into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund-raising practices amid last year’s (unproven) allegations in a federal plea agreement of a kickback scheme arranged by Blagojevich and two of his top fund-raisers. The governor has raised nearly $50 million since January 2001, with many of those millions coming from those to whom he awarded special contracts or appointments. That’s far from penny ante.

When you stack up what Ryan was convicted of taking against what Blagojevich reaped for his campaign fund, the mind reels at what the proverbial scales of justice would look like should charges come out of the federal probe into Blagojevich’s dealings.

Ryan is considered an old-school relic today, but it’s not of a bygone era. The proverbial cigar-smoke-filled backroom of Ryan’s heyday hasn’t gone away, it’s just been replaced by fancy dinners in smoke-free restaurants where checks with a lot of zeroes at the end are written to campaign funds and lucrative special state contracts just happen to be granted soon thereafter. The gruff politicos of old are replaced by blow-dried types who are able to go in front of the cameras with a straight face after the deals are exposed and tell voters that you do things right — complete with an ever-present twinkle in your eye that says you don’t really take any of this seriously.