Bye Rod! Bye Tom!

Blago's appeal continues to falter:

• A federal judge on Wednesday refused to throw out former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's lone conviction from his trial last summer.

  U.S. District Judge James Zagel rejected the defense contention that prosecutors brought an overly complicated case that confused the jury and then damaged Blagojevich's right to defend himself by limiting his lawyers at every turn.

  The jury convicted Blagojevich of a single count of lying to the FBI but deadlocked on all 23 other counts. He is set to be retried on those charges April 20.

And Tom Dart drops out / is forced out of the mayoral race:

• In a stunning turnaround, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has decided not to run for mayor of Chicago.

  He was not willing to spend the time away from his five young children, he said.

  “I was convinced that if I ran I could win as mayor,” Dart said. But he said he decided it would be “impossible’’ for him to be mayor and also manage the responsibilities of being a husband and father: his kids are all between the ages of 1 and 9. To be mayor would mean to “be less of a father,’’ Dart said at a news conference from outside of his offices at the Cook County Jail Wednesday.

So we've got "reverend" Meeks, who might not even live in the city, Mosley-Braun who is a product of the Machine and known moron, Chico who has enough baggage to perform as a Samsonite commercial and Fioretti, an aldercreature/lawyer who has a lucrative law office that will keep him from starvation.

Oh yeah, and Rahm. We are so doomed.