Mell-Blago Saga Closes With Tears, And An Open Dump

In a teary press conference held today, Ald. Dick Mell (33rd) insisted he was right to take a stand against his son-in-law governor, Rod Blagojevich, for closing his distant nephew's garbage dump in Will County. "What was done is regrettable, I think. I'm hoping there's a possibility of repairing it," Mell said. But oh yeah, the dump is reopening. So something must have been repaired, right?

Mell didn't apologize. But he did remind everyone how hard he worked to get Blago elected to the State House. And Congress. And everytime he mentioned his seriously ill wife, Marge, he shed a few tears.

Frankly, nobody looks good here. Eric Zorn points out that by tossing his weight around to punish people, the Governor looks just as bad as when using power to reward people. And while we know the Mell-Blagojevich family is not a harmonious one, letting this whole thing play in public reeks of ego.

But then, tin foil-hat-wearing-conspiracy-theorists will notice that it did divert attention from the indictment of one of the Governor's fundraisers. Watch out for the black helicopters!