Blago in 2016!

If it's true that Jesse Jackson, Jr. is "Senate Candidate 5" in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, I'm wondering about the following statement attributed to the Illinois governor: "We were approached ‘pay to play.' That, you know, he’d raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made [Senate Candidate 5] a senator."

It's very clear now that Blagojevich is a delusional megalomaniac. It's not too difficult to imagine him telling Jackson that he plans to run for president in 2016 and that he'd like Jackson to raise $500,000 for his presidential campaign and then Jackson, tongue in cheek, saying, "Sure, Rod, I'll raise money for you when you run for president. And oh, by the way, I have a friend who just won a major election. He can raise $1 million for you when you run for president. Looking forward to your campaign for president, Rod."

In all seriousness, I'm confused by Jackson's possible involvement in all this, especially by the fact that Blagojevich had the impression that Jackson was not one of Obama's favored candidates. But maybe Obama knows something about Jackson that we don't. Or maybe Blago was wrong. Certainly, regardless of the truth of the matter, Jackson has been treated unfairly by the media, who have engaged in a ghastly game of speculation about what he may or may not have done.