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Blagojevich convicted. removed by Illinois State Senate


Over the wire services, looking for a link.

first one is here

Blagojevich has been a bleeding sore for some time, re-elected only because of the disarray of the Republican Party in Illinois, a state which seems to make high level corruption a way of life. However, serious moves for his impeachment and removal only began when Fitzgerald released tapes that had the governor conspiring to sell the appointment to the US Senate Seat vacancy. These tapes had expletive laden hard sell in them, and shocked the nation.

The Illinois legislature dithered, allowing Blagojevich to appoint Rolad Burris, and the Senate then capitulated on seating the former state wide elected official.

[Updated: Vote was unanimous.]


Stirling Newberry January 29, 2009 - 6:46pm
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Illinois Senate Votes to Oust Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Washington Post, By Peter Slevin and Kari Lydersen, January 29

CHICAGO-- The Illinois Senate voted unanimously Thursday to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) from office for abuse of power, ending a weeks-long impeachment ordeal that ranged between drama and farce.

One by one, Republicans and Democrats stood to call for the governor's ouster, rejecting his last-minute pleas and criticizing him as a liar and a hypocrite before voting in the late afternoon.

By a matching 59 to 0 vote, the Senate also voted to bar Blagojevich for life from holding Illinois political office.

Blagojevich, who addressed the senators Thursday morning and told them he had done nothing wrong, was already home in Chicago went the votes were tallied.

When he arrived home, he changed into running clothes and went for a jog.

They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm.

Raja January 29, 2009 - 7:54pm
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Give me 30 wiretaps & we'll get to the bottom of this

Alright, just let me tap the room where they are giving out the Treasury money, the rest of the Wall Street CEOs, whoever's still running the secret airlines, and some GOP governors, for a change. Then you'll see how many shady deals + expletives/hour we can collect.

Total Information Awareness can become a fishing expedition, once the angles of 'lawful interception' and GOP perception management close in. Blago's only mistake was that he wasn't well connected enough -- nor savvy enough to hold the previous corrupt episodes of Chicago stuff (like the Denny Hastert Turkish money from the Sibel Edmonds thing) over people. Fitzgerald is tied into all of this - the Libby thing, AIPAC espionage, all of these interlocking affairs around the same general set of people.

On the other hand, Blago was a great scapegoat for what ailed everything so imminently after that Illinois factory occupation: from anger at the financial sector to anger at petty criminal Dem officeholder.

Fortunately, the media doesn't have neo-Nixon to kick around anymore: expect a fresh nominee for 'bete noir du jour' soon!

--
Hongpong.com

HongPong January 29, 2009 - 8:07pm
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Blago was a problem for a long time

He should have been primaried, but was not.

Stirling Newberry January 29, 2009 - 8:51pm
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used to be called..

.."The Chicago Machine"....Dem politics in the Windy City have had stories to tell going back decades (I remember stories about Mayor John Daley when I was a kid in the late '60's)
-5.75,-4.05
"God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time." -- Robin Williams

justadood January 29, 2009 - 11:27pm
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His replacement

sounds worthy of being the Governor. Perhaps, finally, an 'ethical' politician was at hand in the wings. Time will tell.

canuck January 30, 2009 - 4:53am
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Successor in Illinois Is the Anti-Blagojevich

New York Times, By Susan Saulny, January 30

CHICAGO — Temperate, unfussy and, at times, so independent that he can be out of the loop, the 41st governor of Illinois could not be any more unlike the man he replaced — the attention-loving showman, Rod R. Blagojevich, who was removed from office on Thursday.

And that has a lot of people in Illinois breathing a sigh of relief.

The new governor, Patrick J. Quinn, was once known as more gadfly than political heavyweight. He eased his way into state politics more than 30 years ago on the dry work of petition drives (one led to a reduction in the size of the Illinois General Assembly), getting ahead despite shallow pockets and a disdain for the Democratic Party machine.

Mr. Quinn, 60, can be so unassuming that he watched the inauguration of President Obama in Washington crunched down on his knees so that people behind him could get a better view. When prone to boasting, which is not very often, it can be about miserly stuff, like staying in budget hotels and eating discount meals.

His idea of a political stunt is walking more than 150 miles from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan to raise awareness of health care needs. And with a hairline more John Lithgow than Elvis, he does not even look the Blagojevich part.

“What you see is what you get,” said one of Mr. Quinn’s longtime allies, State Representative John Fritchey, a Democrat. “He is an apolitical creature in a political world.”

As a team, Mr. Quinn, who was until Thursday the lieutenant governor, and Mr. Blagojevich were always more odd couple than twins, thrown together in their first race for statewide office in 2002 after winning separate Democratic primaries. Shortly after their re-elections in 2006, they stopped speaking altogether.

[...]

One thing he will not do, he said, is let his newfound popularity go to his head.

“You want to know my philosophy?” Mr. Quinn said. “One day a peacock. The next day a feather duster.”

They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm.

Raja January 31, 2009 - 2:40pm
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geez, he really pissed Rahm off

I'd venture.
so what are we Illinoisians to expect in return?
waddya got for me Rahm? a big fat nothing?

The impeachment case included not only the criminal charges against Blagojevich, but allegations he broke the law when it came to hiring state workers, expanded a health care program without legislative approval and spent $2.6 million on flu vaccine that went to waste. The 118-member House twice voted to impeach him, both times with only one “no” vote.

oh, what a terrible guy. and to think he wanted a job paying $350K, just who does he think he is?
and what's taking Fitz so long to bring charges? why bother now?

dk January 30, 2009 - 6:46am
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