Seat Jumping with Stars

Illinois governor Rod "Bag-a-chips" Blagojevich is in some political hot water these days. First, the media determined that he appointed a Louis Farrakhan aide to his Illinois Human Rights Commission. Second, it was revealed that Blagojevich signed a proclamation honoring the Citizens for the Remembrance of Elijah Muhammad, a group which advocates racial separation. As it turns out, the CROE is run by Munir Muhammad, member of the gay governor's Human Rights Commission. People are up in arms because of the popular perception that the Commission is designed to promote racial unity. By its own charter, the Commission is just a hearing board for discrimination cases, so we think this issue is a little overblown.

At Stay Chisel, we try to fly above politics. We are interested in this story solely because Munir Muhammad is the host of cable access TV's "Muhammad and Friends." We have watched this show for years and think it is fantastic. More importantly, we have sat next to Muhammad at countless Chicago Bulls games. He seems nice and always rolls with guys in shiny suits (our money is on Roberto's on State Street). Although he attended virtually every home game during the 2005-2006 season, we don't think Muhammad ever had tickets. On more than one occasion, Muhammad was ushered from his seat by United Center staff for sitting in someone else's seats. Given his stature in the community, we applaud Muhammad's efforts to improve his seats at the risk of being escorted from the building. As far as Stay Chisel is concerned, Muhammad should be elevated to the chairman of the Human Rights Commission, if not governor of Illinois.