Illinois governer Rod Blagojevich was impeached unanimously by te Illinois State Senate - fifty-nine votes for impeachment, none opposed. On the way out, his verbla parting shot suggested that if he was impeached, the so should U.S. Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy. I guess it's what Mahatma Gandhi would have said. After all, Blagoyevich sees himself as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela, all rolled into one. A class act to the very end. Now all that he can look forward to is his criminal trial.
There's more...at his home, after the vote, he apparently indicated to reporters that he has some dirt on the Obama administration. Was he blowing smoke? Probably. But, I wouldn't put it past him to make up things just to be spiteful. More drama to come! LOL ps Congrats to the Illinois Senate for taking the right action.
Have to love Blagojevich, making my adopted state look so proud with that muskrat adorning his head. If you've yet to see the man, I have included a picture:
I haven't been following this case very closely, so I don't know the details. But I do know that every time I see him pop up in the news, he's saying something incredibly stupid. The moment he compared his impeachment to Pearl Habor, I was through with him, and it only got worse from there. It seems like he's been sending a major "f-you" to the world, basically saying "I'm gonna be here whether you like it or not." I guess the appoval of the people is no longer a requirement for public officials, lol. Goodbye Mr. Blagojevich. Have a nice life.
The press conference at his home was a little ridiculous... I didnt see any video of it, but I read quite a few articles. What I found most ridiculous was how many people showed up to support him, signs saying things like "Forgive and Forget" and "We still support you," I believe is what they were. He's quite the character. I absolutley guffawed at what came out of this man's mouth, because of course it's absolutely insane. He's a politician! You'd think he'd be a better liar, or at least a more proficient speaker. I'm glad the Senate also made the decision to not allow him to hold office in the state again. Illinois deserves better.
I wonder how he managed to pay them all? From what I heard, he needs every dime he can scrabble for to cover his upcoming legal fees.
Ha, ha! You know, good point. You've got to be someone who supports the party instead of the person to be blind to everything he's gotten himself into. You know, I am always surprised; politicians dont earn nearly as much as I think they do.
To correct things first. When one is 'impeached', one is accused of some action and a political trial is set to take place. Then after the trial a politician can be removed from office, depending on the vote. President Clinton was impeached, but he remained in office. While Blagojevich may be a bit off and have a massive ego such that it clouds his thinking, he was correct to realize that he was not going to get a fair hearing. He could not call people he needed to make his case. Bottom line, I believe, is that there are possibly more than a few corrupt individuals in that legislature, who have done much similar to what Blagojevich was accused of doing. But bringing forward such people, or witnesses who could expose this, would have brought a lot of other politicians down by calling into question their honestly, actions and fitness for office. They (the Illinois State Legislature) effectively avoided, for the moment, getting mud thrown back at them. They could have waited until the Governor's criminal trial took place (if it ever does) and then impeach him. I suspect that they could have even removed Blago from office temporarily until he was cleared or convicted... Does anyone think the fix wasn't in when the Governor was impeached? Chicago and Illinois politics is rough and tumble and the Governor didn't play it well enough to survive. Just my two cents. Terry
Well this governor did accomplish one very impressive feat... He got fifty nine politicians to agree on something.
He needed to be removed quickly before he created further chaos. His appointment of Roland Burris to take over Barack Obama's Senate seat was tainted by the criminal charges against Blagojevich. As it was, it nearly derailed the appointment of a man who in other circunstances would probably have been confirmed with little fuss. It was political mischief on Blagojevich's part to go ahead and make the appointment, so it was clear that something needed to be done quickly to disarm him. No one fixed the outcome other than Blagojevich himself with his antics. The forum software prevents all-caps posts.
What are the the criminal charges against Blagojevich? As governor, it was his right and responsiblity to appoint the senator as he saw fit. You might call that political mischief. I would call it a political struggle, which he lost, quite soundly. Terry
The criminal charges are that he tried to sell that very Senate seat to the highest bidder. Surely that taints any appointment he might make after those charges were filed, even though his trial has not begun. On that basis, he was infornmed that any appointment he might choose to make would be rejected. He chose to flip a bird at the prosecutors and at the U. S. Senate by going ahead with the appointment anyway. I call THAT political mischief. The intent was not "business as usual". it was to throw a monkey wrench into the works, without regard for the actual appointee. You can argue otherwise, but his actions and words around that time make it very clear that he acted for the effect. Other than the appointment and his nearly daily attemots to plaster his face over every TV in existence, he virtually abandoned his post as governor. It's commendable that youi wish to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he has strained MY credulity well beyond the breakingf point.
That's the thing, Cogito. I don't believe any charges have been filed against the former Governor. So, if I am correct, you're basing your 'political mischief' and everything else on a false belief that something has occurred that actually hasn't occurred. Terry
I think the Illinois legislature acted unfairly, even though I despise this guy's behavior. There was no reasonable opportunity for the governor to call witnesses and present a reasonable defense. It's a fundamental concept in American justice. Since the mechanism for replacing a senator is left entirely up to each state, why couldn't they simply use all those unanimous votes to strip the governor of the right to make such an appointment? They could also add a provision for "no confidence" which would allow the legislature to suspend a governor's authority for a fixed period of time...say, ninety days. This would allow the accused to continue receiving compensation and to build a defense to the upcoming impeachment while directing the Lieutenant Governor to tend to the state's business until the impeachment is fairly resolved.
He was arrested on a set of federal corruption charges on December 9. The charges were filed as part of the arrest warrant. The impeachment proceedings and all his malarky have taken p-lace after the charges were filed. He is awaiting trial on those federal charges. The evidence brought forth for impeachment proceedings includes FBI recordings that will be used in the criminal trial. But the FBI has not released the most damning recordings to the Illinois Senate for the impeachment. Those are being held for the criminal proceedings.
The formed governor has in fact been charged and is pending trial. His arrest on 9 December is what started this whole thing. And selling the senate seat isn't the only thing he's been charged of either. He's also facing charges of violating various employment and contractor laws, mail fraud, conspiracy (in relation to the Chicago Tribune), abuse of power, taking favors from lobbyists (which I know is illegal), and blackmail (something related to selling the Chicago Cubs...). He's dirty and corrupt and even if what he did wasn't illegal his removal is proper because he was drowning within his own state before this started. Afterwards I fail to see how he could get anything done. I don't see the impeachment as a problem. He's been arrested and charged with so many crimes! If we can impeach a president for lying about his affairs and the definition of 'is' we can impeach a obviously corrupt and compromised public offcial. Impeachment is not a criminal trial (thus, no justice factor involved). It's political. After all this the Governor refused to resign which he should have because it would be impossible for him to fulfill his duties under charges of corruption and mounting his criminal defense. Nixon's resignation was rather noble for the guy (though I doubt there's anything particularly noble about Nixon...) because he got the whole scandal over with with a signiture and the nation could move on. Since the good Governor refused to do the same and bow out with at least a half a thread of dignity, he had to be removed.
Thank you Cogito and LordofHats. I stand corrected. I still believe the 'fix was' in. The rules were set, as discussed in a previous post, such that he really didn't have a chance to defend himself. The senators already had their minds made up before it begain. I'm not saying that the fellow doesn't have issues, at least how I see it. Still somehow, however, he did get elected to a state-wide office. In the end, the public will get to see the whole picture, and the full tapes. I suspect it'll be entertaining, if you don't mind listening to heavy doses of profanity. Terry
Bummer, I'm gonna miss the guy! I haven't even been watching any TV shows lately- seeing the updates on his story every day on CNN have been enough entertainment for me I agree, the trial process was somewhat iffy, but some things just don't deserve a real trial. I know, this is America, and everyone gets a fair chance, but sometimes I really couldn't care less if someone is cheated out of that opportunity. I think you only earn the right to this kind of treatment if you yourself are a good citizen
