Azam Ahmed, Chicago TribuneMired in a scandal that could strip him of his pride, his job and the misperception that anyone shares his enthusiasm for his hair, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has now also been stripped of his clothes.
A nude portrait of the governor, by artist Bruce Elliott, is nearly complete and will hang on the wall of Elliott's wife's bar, the Old Town Ale House, next to his infamous depiction of a naked Sarah Palin. It is the next installment in what Elliott loosely calls his "nude governor series."
Mr. Elliot, before you do the other 48 governors, I have a word of advice: DON'T! Sarah Palin I can see, because, let's face it, she's smokin' hot. Blago, on the other hand, is the opposite of "hot." As for most of the rest of 'em, like, say, my own state's Ted Strickland, really, really, we do not need to see them unclothed. It's a bad idea. Don't go there, please.
WARNING: Readers may wish to have a full bottle of brain bleach handy before reading further.
The scene imagines Blagojevich handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit pulled down to his knees. Among the onlookers is a guard, with a look of grim determination, pulling on a rubber glove. The painting, which is taking Elliott a little over a week to finish, is titled: "The Cavity Search."