Ben Joravsky is the author of Hoop Dreams and a staff writer for the Reader newspaper in Chicago.

It's only appropriate that Governor Rod Blagojevich appoint Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama's vacant senate seat. After all, Blago owes his governorship to Burris.

Last fall, a Bush-bashing ad in The New York Times included among its signatories the name of Norman Pattiz, the celebrated creator of Radio Sawa, a radio network fashioned to win hearts and minds in the Muslim world. This year, some say as a result of the ad, Pattiz has found himself battling for his seat on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent government commission that oversees the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/ Radio Free Liberty, and Radio Sawa and its sister TV network, Alhurra.