‘If Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s one hell of a competitor.’

The FBI Special Agent in Charge of the investigation of Blagojevich just said, “If Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, it’s one hell of a competitor.” Beautiful.

Give Obama a bit of credit; from the indictment, it sounds like Blagojevich wanted something in exchange for naming Obama’s preferred candidate (Valerie Jarrett?) and all he was offered was “appreciation,” spurring a profane response from the governor.

The question is, facing one of the most open-and-shut, slam-dunk corruption charges in recent political memory, does Blagojevich try to save his skin by talking about the corruption of other figures who have recently been involved in Chicago and Illinois politics? I wouldn’t count on it, but it certainly isn’t unthinkable.