And this final note. Braggadocio did not qualify as evidence in the corruption trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Today a jury convicted him of 17 of 20 charges, including allegations that he tried to cut a deal for the Senate seat vacated by President Obama’s victory in 2008. The counts against him include wire fraud, conspiracy and attempted extortion. The most serious carries with it the potential for a 20-year prison sentence.

Blagojevich commented only briefly after the verdict, saying he’d learned not to talk so much.