* US Sen. Dick Durbin doesn’t have much good to say about Gov. Rod Blagojevich…

Illinois’ senior Democratic senator said Friday he had a much better working relationship with former Republican Gov. George Ryan than Democratic successor Rod Blagojevich. […]

“You may assume—and it’s natural that you would —that there’s a closer working relationship with the governor and senator than there actually is. There isn’t much,” Durbin said, adding he’s talked privately with Blagojevich only a handful of times since Blagojevich took office in 2003. […]

As for how Ryan compares to Blagojevich, Durbin said he regularly received phone calls from Ryan as late as midnight to discuss public business. That never happens with Blagojevich, he said.

* He also touched on the governor’s legal problems…

Durbin… said he was “troubled” by some of Blagojevich’s early appointments. Some of those appointees, Durbin noted, played prominent roles at the public corruption trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a former top fundraiser for Blagojevich. […]

Asked whether he should have registered his unease to Blagojevich about appointees like Levine, Durbin said, “When it comes to dealing with the state and all of the decisions involved in it, there’s just so much I can do, to be honest with you.”