Surely one of the reasons why Blago is so brazen and cynical in his machinations is his trust in the content of the Catch-22 transcripts, or his gamble that he can make others think that such conversations are on tape, and/or that his fate is, in the Chicago sense, tangential to Obama’s himself. He knows what was said and who said it — and knows it may well be on tape. Furthermore, he knows that those on the other end of the line did not volunteer to any authorities the rather sordid horse-trading going on, which, even if not illegal, could prove very embarrassing reading during a criminal trial.

Pay for play? Ask the Jesse Jacksons. Crass talk and political cynicism? Talk to Rahm Emanuel. Racial politics? Consult Harry Reid. What sunk Nixon was not just the illegality evident on the tapes, but rather Nixon’s sheer cynicism and profanity that turned off the general listener and hastened the end of his public support. During the Monica Impeachment mess, Clinton unleashed his surrogates on a sort of scorched earth strategy of “he without the sin of adultery cast the first stone” against the Congress. In the end, Clinton was not convicted, and a lot of Congressional careers were either destroyed or short-circuited. Blago may have the same sorts of strategies in mind. Either Samson takes down the temple with him, or the collateral damage that looms is simply not worth the cost of continuing.