Work crews this morning took out a 90-to-100-year-old, semi-rotten sugar maple tree on the Capitol’s south lawn, right by the corner of Elm and Trinity, across from the Secretary of the State’s office building. They started cutting away branches at the top and eventually carted away a 25-foot-long lower section of the tree, chipping the rest into the back of a truck. They took the trunk down past the stump and now there’s just a mound of mulch, awaiting further landscaping, the smell of saw dust the only lingering evidence of its former spot on the lawn and its long-past glory. The Blogster took it as a hit-you-over-the-head metaphor for the recent events that threaten Dick Blumenthal’s once-easy run for the U.S. Senate and Susan Bysiewicz’s in-your-face rejection yesterday of her bid for the Democratic nomination for attorney general at this weekend’s convention. Bysiewicz is making rounds of calls to reporters today, but offering no information on her immediate plans, which have to be: a) try to hold on as secretary of the state at this weekend’s Democratic state convention; b) shift her career focus a third time and run for comptroller; or c) drop out of sight and gather strength for that US Senate run in 2012. The Blogster believes that running for comptroller is more likely because of the lack of well-known competition. But she almost has to keep her name out there or retire from politics.