Conspiracies Abound

Here's some amusing fodder for speculation:

• ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he needs to find a way to take the “financial stress” off of his family and that his wife is as qualified or more qualified than another specifically named individual to sit on corporate boards.

As part of the "pay-to-play" access granted to certain corporations for contracts, opportunities or whatever, seats on corporate boards are often given to relatives of the elected and connected to mask bribes and payoffs. It's all legit, right?

So who is the "specifically named individual" that Patti Blagojevich is more qualified than to sit on corporate boards and pull in a massive salary? You'll never guess:

• The “specifically named individual” is Michelle Obama, who was appointed to the Board of TreeHouse Foods, a WAL-MART vendor, on June 25, 2005, even though she did not have experience in the private sector previous to the appointment. Here are the benefits the Obama family received as a result of Michelle Obama’s stint with the WAL-MART vendor:

  According to the couple’s tax returns, Mrs Obama earned $51,200 (£25,700) for her work as a non-executive director on Treehouse’s board last year, on top of the $271,618 salary she was paid as a vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals.

  She also received 7,500 Treehouse stock options, worth a further $72,375, as she did the previous year, when she banked a $45,000 salary from the company.

Illinois politics at its best.