Traditionally, all the U.S. attorneys would offer their resignation upon Obama's inauguration. But appointing someone new to the office in the middle of a politically sensitive prosecution could pose problems.

There's no reason that Fitzgerald's resignation needs to be sought, or accepted. He seems to be a stand-up guy, so keep him and let the USA out in California who says she won't resign know she's fired. That should preempt the calls that are sure to come that her firing was politically motivated.

Also, any reason why Fitzgerald's name is highlighted in the post?

a good man and a good example of what a true civil servant should be.

Even as an MOR liberal, I like him (I've heard he leans a little to the right politically) and I know that Obama intends to keep him. Bascially the dude is Elliot Ness on the political corruption front -- no Ken Starr he.

Anyway, the news is both shocking and not surprising. Blago has had the whiff of stink about him ever since he took office, and even his fellow Dems have described him (in all seriousness) as a sociopath. Certainly the allegations are Nixonian in their alleged abuse. In fact, they'll end up making Ryan's crimes seem like child play in comparison.

Does nobody speak English anymore??? I mean, technically, English is my second language, but even I know laid is what hens do.

Sorry, but this kind of stuff drives me wild.

I LAY awake at night. . .

The rest of the country really did not have a clue what was going on with Gov Blagojevich. Apparently, several of you in Illinois did.

OK, fess up. Who else has a corrupt governor out there? Who has a squeaky clean governor?

Our Governor is boring as hell, but not a sniff of corruption about him. (Gov Henry, Oklahoma)

It's "and I lie awake at night"- objects lay, people lie. (lol)

I mean, technically, English is my second language, but even I know laid is what hens do.

"Laid" is merely the past tense of "lay". Hens lay eggs, too.

O.k., people, here's the English lesson.

First of all, he was saying "I laid awake at night" = past tense. He should have said "I lay awake at night" = past tense.

Hens lay eggs = present tense.

Hens laid eggs = past tense.

Lie = prone/present tense

Lay = prone/past tense

Lay = put something down/present tense.

Laid = put something down/past tense.

So he can say "I laid my body down" because he put his body down. But he shouldn't say "I laid in bed" because that implies that he put something into the bed -- not an especially pleasant thought.

Just like most people wouldn't say "I'm going to set down on the chair" when they should be using the word "sit," they shouldn't say "I'm going to lay down now" when they mean "lie down."

Rant over.

Hens lay eggs, but the past tense is laid.

People lie in bed, but the past tense is lay (hence the confusion, as past tense of this word is the same as present tense "lay eggs.").

Because Fitzgerald is speaking of his actions in the past, before he brought the charges, the original comment about this burning issue is correct:

He lay awake at night.

Oops -- I see you beat me to it, and more thoroughly too!

As long as he keeps putting these jackasses on layaway.

I shouldn't make such a Federal case of this, but I hear this ALL THE TIME. Americans can no longer correctly use the word "lie/lay." Listen for it on T.V., your friends, co-workers -- all of them use the term incorrectly.

It drives me nuts! I recently read a book by an author who had an MFA in Fine Arts, and she wrote, "I laid on the floor." It drives me nuts!

How about the Gubernator himself, Ahrnie Schwarzenegger, who appointed Brent Wilkes to two prestigious CA state (horse) racing boards in return for approx. $100,000.00 in contributions?

Wilkes, an associate with Jack Abramoff, Mitch Wade and involved in the bribery of ex-Congressman Randy Cunningham was asked to resign from the Boards the day after his indictment.

So why isn't Ahrnie now pumping his iron in the Yard?

I apologize for the juvenile humor below, but given the number of f-bombs thrown around in this story, it seems almost appropriate:

"and I laid awake at night," appears to suffer from a dropped word or two that might clarify things:

"and I would get laid, awake, at night,"

I posted the present tense. I just thought it was unnecessary (arrogant?) of you to point out a spoken grammatical error, especially when it's really not what Fitzgerald is focusing on right now. I doubt people think less of him right now because he used lie/lay incorrectly. Can't you just wince and move on, like the rest of us?

The quote reads the way it does because that's the way Fitzgerald said it. I copied it directly from a transcript.

that really glowing piece of crap about 5 months ago for Salon about how great politics are in Chicago now and that's why Obama will do special things because he comes from that environment of - special cooperation and bringing something to the table.

What did Blagojevich bring to the table? Hey, what did Obama bring to the table.

Egads! Let's hope he doesn't govern Chicago-style. lol