Governor Rod Blagojevich and his staff have attempted to muddy the waters on the question of that now-infamous $1,500 check from his friend by seizing on the flip-flopping of the friend's wife, Beverly Ascaridis.

Mrs. Ascaridis, you will recall, got a state job about the same time that her husband, Mike Ascaridis, wrote the governor a check for $1,500. The governor has admitted to directing his chief of staff to find Mrs. Ascaridis a job, but claims that the check was for his daughter Amy's college fund. He has so far refused to provide any supporting documentation that the check was ever deposited into a college fund, however.

Okay, by a show of hands, how many of you out there have ever given $1,500 to the college fund of a friend's seven-year-old and then didn't tell your spouse about it?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

In case you haven't heard yet, I'll give you a brief wrap-up of the latest scandal that has befallen Governor Rod Blagojevich.

You may remember that the governor amended his statement of economic interests after he was interviewed by the FBI. One of those amendments included a previously undisclosed gift from Michael Ascaridis, his campaign treasurer during his congressional bids and his first run for statewide office.

As President George W. Bush's job-approval ratings continue to slump, Republican incumbents almost everywhere are running away from him as fast as they can. It's gotten so bad that even U.S. Representative Tom Reynolds, the chairperson of the National Republican Congressional Committee, doesn't have the word "Republican" on his campaign Web site's front page.

If you wanted to get an idea of how downright negative the governor's race will be this fall, all you had to do was hang around Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair last week and check your e-mail from the governor's campaign.

One speaker after another ripped into the Democrats during the Republicans' annual event. The speakers focused mainly on Governor Rod Blagojevich and the harm he has allegedly done to Illinois.