Temperate, unfussy and, at times, so independent that he can be out of the loop, the 41st governor of Illinois could not be any more unlike the man he replaced — the attention-loving showman, Rod R. Blagojevich, who was removed from office on Thursday.

I practically crashed my car the other day from laughing so hard at the relish with which the bbc world service refered to blago being "sacked."