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You can’t make this stuff up. After seeing @ejacqui and @chartier tweet about TEABAG OBAMA, I had to check this out for myself. I have been hearing pundits call on conservatives to "teabag the White House" or "teabag Obama" for a few weeks now. So, I did not understand why anyone would make a big deal about it now. And then I saw the video:

I’m glad someone other than The Daily Show (possibly broken link to the video) is starting to address this ludicrous slogan. Nobody is coming right out and saying it, but for those of you incapable of using Google, checkout the Urban Dictionary definition of teabag.

I know there are Young Republicans out there. I would think that at least one of them has used the internet, at least one of them has a marketing background, at least one of them would pull one of the older conservatives aside and say, "Hey, you might want to rethink that slogan."

Beyond that, I don’t have a clear understanding of why they are choosing teabagging as their method of protest. They want to draw a parallel to the Boston Tea Party, but that was about taxation without representation. Today, both sides of the aisle are being represented. It just so happens that one side of the aisle isn’t getting what it wants (frankly, I think both sides of the aisle might be losing on this one).

In recent years I have started following major political news. I just read that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was taken into custody this morning by federal authorities. According to both the Chicago Tribune and WLS ABC-7 Chicago, the arrest of Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris comes from a probe involving pay-to-play politics surrounding the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

From the ABC-7 report:

The affidavit was unsealed around 8:30 a.m. That affidavit accused Gov. Blagojevich of, among other things, trying to obtain campaign contributions up front in consideration of an appointment to the Senate seat left open by Pres.- Elect Barack Obama. From the affidavit:

Later on November 3, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with Advisor A.

By this time, media reports indicated that Senate Candidate 1, an advisor to the President-elect, was interested in the Senate seat if it became vacant, and was likely to be supported by the President-elect. During the call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated, "unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], shit, I’ll just send myself, you know what I’m saying." ROD BLAGOJEVICH later stated, "I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself." Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that the Senate seat "is a f-ing valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing."

This is the culmination of a three-year probe in Illinois regarding the hiring for state jobs. I’m not sure what all this means for the state government and how it will be conducting business in the near future, but I am sure that Rich and/or Brad might have something to say about that later today.

Here is my miniscule contribution to the 2008 Election coverage — other services’ maps of the election results.

I have been really lame lately when it comes to blogging. Twitter has been stealing my blogging ideas with the ease of using TweetDeck and TwitterBerry. Here’s a quick one that I won’t let Twitter steal.

I didn’t see SNL last night, but I just saw the opening skit via the Chicago Tribune web site, of all places. Tina Fey did a great job as Palin. Check it out:

[Clip removed]

Hopefully I will be less lame in the future.

Update: Not even an hour later, and I am foiled. YouTube pulled the clip from last night. Here’s NBC’s clip, which is of better quality, but it has a pre-roll ad:

[Clip removed]

Update: Argh! NBC sucks. Not only did they get the clip pulled from YouTube, but their embed code doesn’t even show the correct video. Here’s the actual page where the video is. Don’t click on the ads. Stupid NBC.

This past weekend, Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago), a pastor at Salem Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side, brought more attention school funding in Illinois. Meeks’ has called on Chicago parents to boycott the Chicago Public Schools, keeping children out of school until the funding issues are resolved. To make things worse, nearly 50 other Chicago ministers yesterday announced their support for Meeks’ boycott.

There has been a bunch of celebrity news that I have heard this weekend. Here’s a quick wrap up of what I have heard:

• Morgan Freeman is alive, but getting a divorce from his wife of 24 years.
• John Edwards admits to having an affair while his wife is sick with cancer.
• Clay Aiken is the father of a newborn baby boy.
• Bernie Mac died from complications with pneumonia.
• Isaac Hayes died after collapsing at home.

In other news, Russia and Georgia entered into war with each other at the start of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. At least the two countries’ Olympic shooters are friendly.

I heard about this on the radio this morning, but I completely forgot about it on my walk from the car into the office. Thanks to Clint for reminding me.