It’s looking increasingly like Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., was truly uninvolved in Rod Blagojevich’s alleged Senate-seat-for-sale scheme, other than expressing the usual interest in getting the appointment. Most telling was the report from Jackson’s lawyer today that the feds called Jackson as Blagojevich was being arrested to give him a heads up that the arrest was happening and that Jackson might see his name in the news. If this all bears out and Jackson turns out to be a victim here, too, it’s hard not to feel pretty bad for the guy. Yeah, yeah, he’s an experienced pol and a big boy and all that. But still a pretty a raw deal thanks to Blagojevich:

Obama will be announcing Tom Daschle as his pick to head HHS — and fielding Blago questions, one would imagine — at an 11 a.m. ET press conference in Chicago. That and the day’s other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.

TPM Reader DG:

This morning, one of the remaining Chicago newspapers headlined the current doings as Blago-Gate. Now, this nickname shows no originality. Surely, you and your readers can come up with something more scandalicious. I throw down the virtual gauntlet.

Late Update: Left holding the Blag? — jmm.

TPM Reader BB chimes in from the Big Easy …

Look, if you want, the New Orleans bloggers can put together a comprehensive file for you. But you need to know it will be thick.

In the many categories that people argue for (cash involved, historical entrenchment, recent scandal, profile, fed/state/local), each of your wannabe states points out that the category they happen to be strongest in really matters the most. And that’s why they’re wannabes…they need special consideration.

Louisiana will let any state in the union pick the turf and the time. You want state level corruption? Local? Bring it. Historical tradition? Game on. Recent scandal? Easy money. You name the category, any category, and we’ll have a big dog in that fight. And that is why Louisiana is the all time champ.

Dana Perino just said we may need to “rethink” our North Korea policy after the recent hiccups in the nuclear negotiations. Presumably that means going back to the catastrophically unsuccessful Cheney/Bolton strategy of the early Bush years.

Obama: I’ve asked my team to review Blago mess.

Zach Roth has more.

Like a movie producer timing the release of a new film to maximize its impact on Oscar voters, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made a strong play for the Golden Duke for “Outstanding Achievement in Corruption-based Chutzpah,” getting himself busted by the feds the day before we launched the contest. We appreciate his dedication.

TPM Reader AR takes a page from the sports world and suggests a new approach to picking the Golden Dukes:

Regarding BB‘s assertion that you won’t find a more corrupt political machine outside of Louisiana: see, that’s the problem when you allow people the chance to nominate scandals for the Golden Dukes. Everyone’s going to bring their own personal biases, old rivalries and memories of historical slights to the table. For example, Alaska may be the newest state and lacking in the tradition of grifting and palm greasing in the style of a Chicago political machine or Tammany Hall, but between Don Young, the Murkowskis, Ted Stevens, and Sarah Palin’s Troopergate and Bridge to Nowhere, they have clearly demonstrated their ability to take corruption to the highest level.

That’s why I am proposing a new system for awarding the Golden Dukes whereby six computer algorithms rank the various scandals in order of strength. The top twelve win the statuettes. I call my system the Bureaucratic Corruption Subdivision–or BCS, for short. This system eliminates the agendas that human nominators inject into the process and ensures that only the highest-quality scandals are selected for recognition.

Of course, you’ll always have some people complaining that the thirteenth-ranked scandal should be given a chance to be in the mix and others complaining that the only fair way to award the Golden Dukes is through a series of head-to-head matchups, but the amount of hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, angry blog posts, etc., that my proposed BCS system would undoubtedly provoke would bring much-needed buzz to this illustrious award!

As a firm believer in college football playoffs, no bleeping way.

The big day has arrived. In today’s episode of TPMtv, we’re announcing the categories and deadlines for this year’s 2nd Annual Golden Duke awards, our prestigious annual awards given out for achievements in corruption, betrayals of the public trust and shameful behavior in general. Check out the categories, get in your nominations and you too could win a prized Golden Dukes T-shirt …

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.