Demagogue

The AP reports:

(Illinois) Gov. Rod Blagojevich wasn't in on the joke.

Blagojevich says he didn't realize "The Daily Show'' was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes-confused Democratic governor.

"It was going to be an interview on contraceptives ... that's all I knew about it,'' Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a story for Thursday's editions. "I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was 'the gay governor.' "

The interview focused on his executive order requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control. Interviewer Jason Jones pretended to stumble over Blagojevich's name before calling him "Governor Smith.''

He urged Blagojevich to explain the contraception issue by playing the role of "a hot 17-year-old'' and later asked if he was "the gay governor.''

At one point in the interview, a startled Blagojevich looked to someone off camera and said, "Is he teasing me, or is that legit?''

The segment, which aired two weeks ago, also featured state Rep. Ron Stephens ... who opposes the governor's rule. Stephens has said he knew the show was a comedy.

"I thought the governor was hip enough that he would have known that, too,'' Stephens said.

Governors have press secretaries and other staff who are supposed to brief them on upcoming interviews. It doesn't speak well of Blagojevich's staff that the governor went into this interview so clueless.