(A sincere apology to both of my readers, who have probably missed my insightful commentary deeply. I will probably change gears and stop talking about politics eventually, but I cannot not talk about Blagojevich.)

I’m not going to say the honeymoon is over for Barack Obama, but there is some talk circulating, including at least one unfortunate headline, which makes it sound like people think Obama knew about Blagojevich’s mind-numbingly stupid corruption. And people were concerned about his cabinet choices–Clinton cronies, people who have a history of sending dead fish to people they don’t like. They wonder if his politics of change was just talk, and if he will basically be the same as any other politician–or worse, because he’s from Chicago, which is comically corrupt.

I’m not sure if this qualifies as buyer’s remorse, but I haven’t lost my generic hopefulness just yet. Consider a comparison of the McCain and Obama campaigns, if you will. McCain’s campaign felt like it was being run by his advisors. McCain allowed himself to be herded and ended up appearing disingenuous. Obama never seemed to lose control. Perhaps he simply chose the right advisors, but it seems like he has the force of will to keep any of his staff picks from running amok–or at least that he can reign them in and use their powers for good.

But Blagojevich! He may sound like a badly written villain in a comic book, but is his corruption going to ruin the Obama presidency? In this particular instance, I am going to say no. The American public has the memory span of a goldfish, so even if he did something shady, he’s in the clear in four years–and he has already been elected. Right now, public opinion can’t do anything to him.

The media is a big fan of freaking out. It always ends up blowing over.