* If you don’t subscribe and were wondering about that mysterious subscriber-only post yesterday afternoon, here’s the rundown…

The acrimony between Gov. Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan hit a new low Thursday after the administration abruptly fired the wife of Madigan’s top aide from her $102,000-a-year state post.

The Department of Human Service justified last week’s firing of Bronwyn Rains, noting she did not meet educational requirements dictated by the Social Security Administration, which funded her job.

But Madigan spokesman Steve Brown dismissed the justification as “an absolute lie.”

Key House Democrats viewed the firing as a new phase in the “political vendetta” Blagojevich is waging against his chief nemesis, who has stifled the governor’s agenda.

“I think the governor’s latest move seems clearly vindictive and can do nothing but make an already volatile situation worse,” said Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago).

* Thanks to the AP for giving me some props on yesterday morning’s scoop…

Mapes said he didn’t know why his wife was fired after a long period of service with the state but acknowledged retribution could be a reason.

“She’s doing fine,” Mapes said. “Just like any person when they’re terminated, she finds it unusual.”

News of the move, first reported by the Capitol Fax political newsletter, caught lawmakers off guard Thursday, as they wrapped up the first week of their two-week fall veto session. Some feared it could poison any chance of reconciliation between Blagojevich and Madigan on key policy issues for the rest of this year and beyond.

* More…

Tom Green, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said the federal Social Security Administration notified DHS that certain disability determinations must be signed by psychologists who either have doctorates or, alternatively, master’s degrees coupled with a listing on a national register of health service providers in psychology. Rains and another person doing the same job at DHS had only master’s degrees and aren’t on the national register. […]

Because of the change in rules, he said, “It was a decision that was made by the federal government.” […]

Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan, D-Chicago, said, “We find the administration devoid of credibility.”

* The trouble is, as subscribers know, it took the administration three tries to finally come up with that explanation, which still isn’t complete. The first two (actually, the first three, but I didn’t report the other one) were factually incorrect.

Plus, and I can’t emphasize this enough, the DHS explanation doesn’t really matter, no matter how credible you find it. What really matters here is how the players react to it, and Madigan is one angry camper.

* More…

A spokeswoman for the governor said the issue is not personal despite such heated rhetoric.

“I think that people are starting to filter out comments that we’ve come to expect from Mr. Brown. But this issue is not between Governor Blagojevich and Speaker Madigan. It’s between Human Services and the Social Security Administration,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch. “The federal government was very clear … that they would no longer fund a person in that position that did not possessed a specific set of qualifications.”

There’s more to this story, but you’ll have to subscribe to get it.

* Meanwhile…

Rep. Tom Cross, the Republican leader in his chamber, had the quote of the day from the House floor before lawmakers finished their first week of the annual fall session.

“Perhaps, at least at the higher level, we’ve had an inability to communicate to get the budget done, to take care of capital, to take care of RTA, to take care of gaming. And I have a suggestion,” he said.

He cited psychologist and author Kate Wachs, who’s been interviewed by such media entities as the Chicago Tribune and Oprah Winfrey.

“She’s a nationally acclaimed relationship expert, and she’s written a book, Relationships for Dummies,” Cross said. “And she has a very good chapter on good communication, the bolts. One of the things she talks about is finding compromises that work for you and your partners. And I thought maybe she could come to a leaders’ meeting.”

I kinda think that won’t work. You?