The man who should have been finishing his second term as governor of Illinois was on the phone, and he wasn't holding anything back.

No, it wasn't Rod Blagojevich. Thursday's massive 75-page federal indictment of former Gov. Dead Meat and his crew exposed once and for all that there is no true two-party system in Illinois, but rather a bipartisan Combine of insiders who gorge on public dollars and public trust.

It was Paul Vallas on the phone from New Orleans, where he's overhauling the public school system. We spoke just as the Blagojevich indictment was dropped.

"The Combine didn't want me as governor," said Vallas, the former boss of public schools in Chicago before Mayor Richard Daley invited him to leave town. "They backed Blagojevich.

"They selected a candidate who would perpetuate the status quo. They didn't want me. They didn't want real reform," said Vallas, who narrowly lost to Blagojevich in the 2002 Democratic gubernatorial primary. "The Combine got the candidate they wanted. They just didn't realize that he had so much hubris, he'd self-destruct."

Vallas isn't surprised. "No one should really be surprised," he said.

According to Thursday's indictment, Blagojevich was already scheming in the 2002 campaign to set the government table for his hungry Combine friends. And where would Illinois be after almost eight years with Vallas as governor? It's a safe bet that we wouldn't have a massive racketeering indictment, the state wouldn't be bankrupt, the people so weary of corruption and tax increases that we can hardly breathe with the weight of it all on our necks.

But the Daleys wanted Blagojevich, as did then-future President Barack Obama. Later, even House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Lisa's Daddy) became a reluctant Blagojevich campaign co-chair. And though the Republican establishment screeched loudly Thursday, its de facto GOP boss, Springfield insider Big Bill Cellini, stands indicted in the same alleged scheme with Dead Meat.

"The reality is that the political system in Illinois is designed to perpetuate the status quo," Vallas said. "What's happened in Illinois is that the only accountability comes from the U.S. attorney's office. God knows it's not being done in the political process."

Vallas lost the 2002 primary to Blagojevich by about 25,000 votes out of 1.3 million votes cast. He lost in a squeeze play featuring Blagojevich and his loyal wingman, longtime political hack and current U.S. Sen. Roland "Tombstone" Burris.

Burris had no hope of winning, but he did an excellent job blocking for Blagojevich. Burris played the race card, saying he was more qualified than those "white boy" opponents of his, ham-handedly reminding constituents that he was indeed black. He also helped bring those votes to Lisa Madigan, a daughter of the machine, now the state attorney general who wants to become governor and share Illinois with her daddy.

There are no coincidences in politics. Burris came in third and later began receiving state contracts from Gov. Blagojevich, who, in a last desperate act before being forced out of office, appointed Burris to the U.S. Senate. See how Chicago politics works?

"I have no personal regrets," Vallas said. "I just think I could have made a difference as governor."

Vallas is considering a run as a Republican for Cook County Board president, but I think there are two other offices he should consider. The one in Springfield, the other on the 5th Floor of City Hall.

From a distance, he can see the tipping point in Illinois

"When the economy is booming, people put up with higher taxes and higher fees. But when they're losing their jobs, when they're feeling insecure, those extra quarters in the parking meters, those extra dollars in their taxes matter," Vallas said. "Those things become factors in their decision-making."

If he'd been elected in 2002 and was at the end of his second term, what would he be thinking?

"I'd be lobbying to replace Bud Selig as commissioner of baseball and watching White Sox games for the rest of my life," Vallas said. "I'd hang out at Sox Park, get a tan. That's what I'd be contemplating."

The rest of us should contemplate the fact that baseball is a game. And what happened to Illinois when Vallas was iced was something else, a Combine squeeze play, Republicans and Democrats working together, to make Rod Blagojevich our governor.

Mayor Richard Daley trotted out his top aide Tuesday to try to assure the public that officials are doing all they can to correct the "simply unacceptable" work of Chicago's new private parking meter company.

The hastily called afternoon news conference featuring Daley chief of staff Paul Volpe came almost two weeks after the Tribune reported widespread problems with parking meters since the city sharply raised rates and turned over control to Chicago Parking Meters LLC for a $1.2 billion payment.

The Tribune story revealed outdated fee and violation-enforcement information still posted on many meters, meters that charged the wrong hourly rates, a surge in broken meters and stepped-up ticket writing for violations.

But Volpe said the private company has made great progress in the last two weeks.

Dennis Pedrelli, chief executive officer of Chicago Parking Meters, joined Volpe at the news conference and acknowledged "some operational challenges" after the privatization deal closed Feb. 13.