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Opinion: Blago does Donald Trump. Maybe Patrick Kennedy’s right. Is there no shame left in America?

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Let’s be clear. Rod Blagojevich is an impeached former governor, facing charges of trying to sell Barack Obama‘s old Senate seat. The indictment against him -- prepared by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, famous for going after former Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby in the Valerie Plame case -- reads like a textbook case of corruption.

But these days he is enjoying a renaissance as a figure of note on television shows.

The other night he did the ‘Late Show with David Letterman.’ In his list of Top 10 laments, he included a mention of beleaguered New York Gov. David Paterson, as in, ‘How come I’m not a governor and Paterson is?’ Um, maybe because he hasn’t been indicted? Just a guess.

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Then this Sunday, Blago is on the season opener of Donald Trump‘s ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ show. Trump, himself a figure of some controversy, was on MSBNC’s ‘Morning Joe’ today reporting that Blago was great on the show, really great.

Maybe there’s no harm in having disreputable public figures appearing on reality television. After all, they are part of our reality. And maybe Blago should be presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.

But maybe, just maybe, Patrick Kennedy was right. The other day the Rhode Island Democrat, who is retiring from Congress, blasted the media for its nonstop coverage of another disgraced figure, former Democrat Eric Massa. In a rant heard round the water cooler, Kennedy railed against the media’s fixation on one sick individual in Congress when other lawmakers were working hard, grappling with heady issues like healthcare reform and the war in Afghanistan.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

-- Johanna Neuman

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