1865 Nast Print: Mourning Death of Lincoln. Beautifully hand colored, somber print from the April 29, 1865 issue of Harper’s Weekly. The print is by Thomas Nast, the most famous political cartoonist of the 19th century. It features Columbia, a woman who appeared frequently in Nast’s cartoons, representing all that is good and true about America. She is kneeling next to Lincoln’s coffin, weeping with her head in her hand. On either side of the image, a Union soldier and sailor are seated with their heads bowed in grief.
Prints Old and Rare
And the grief continues still in Illinois.

Illinois Democrats Let Blagojevich Retain Senate Appointment

By Joe Carroll

Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats in the Illinois House of Representatives postponed stripping Governor Rod Blagojevich’s power to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama that prosecutors say Blagojevich tried to sell.

The governor, a Chicago Democrat, retains authority to appoint Obama’s successor while the House pursues an impeachment process that may last weeks. Democratic lawmakers led by House Speaker Michael Madigan dropped plans late yesterday to schedule a special election to fill the post after failing to agree in a closed-door meeting, said Steve Brown, a Madigan aide.

Blagojevich, 52, has resisted demands he resign since his Dec. 9 arrest by the FBI and accusations he tried to auction Obama’s seat for personal gain and intimidate the Chicago Tribune newspaper into firing editorial writers. Republicans said Democrats, who hold a 67-51 majority in the chamber, seek to avoid a loss of the seat to the GOP in a special election.

“Shame on you,” Representative William Black, deputy leader of Republicans in the House, shouted during a debate in the state capitol building in Springfield. “We had an opportunity to limit the power of this governor and you refused.”...

bloomberg report

Just in case one needs a little interpolation here...what this story says is...the good Gov. Blagojevich, has the goods on the democrats in the state of Illinois. If they bring him down they know he's going down in a flaming ship of fools...of which they are the crew.

shalomed