Illinois Senate President Emil Jones has never been fully appreciated as a legislative leader. Jones, who announced his retirement last week after years at the helm, has a manner of speaking that leads far too many people to assume that he is not intelligent.

The genesis for this week's legislative special session on education funding is Senator Reverend James Meeks' call for a boycott of the Chicago Public School system's first day of fall classes. But a campaign threat is what really seemed to motivate Governor Rod Blagojevich to take some action.

Last year, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was able to use his alliance with the House and Senate Republicans to thwart Governor Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones at almost every turn.

Whether it was the budget, or the governor's health-insurance expansion, or a multitude of other issues, Madigan and the Republicans were a solid team throughout the long overtime session.

This year, the Republicans have flipped on Madigan, allying with Blagojevich and Jones on the $34-billion capital-construction package, funded by expanded casino gambling and by leasing the Illinois Lottery to a private company.

Senator Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) was one of just a tiny handful of Illinois Democratic state legislators who backed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid over the local favorite Barack Obama.