Blagojevich, Hair Removed From Office

I'm mainly grateful that the sideshow has ended.

The Illinois state senate on Thursday convicted Governor Rod Blagojevich of abuse of power, removing him from office amid charges that he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.

More than two-thirds of the 59 senators, acting as a jury following the two-term Democrat's impeachment on January 9, voted to find him guilty, effectively ousting him from office.

Blagojevich is the first sitting governor to be impeached and removed from office since Arizona's Evan Meacham in 1988, and just the eighth overall (and the first in the history of Illinois). And it was unanimous.

Lt. Governor Pat Quinn becomes the Governor now. And the bookers of The View and Larry King Live get nervous. How will they fill the time? Hint: there is a near-depression on.

Out Of His Mind

Earlier today I speculated that the Senate might use the incidence of Rod Blagojevich's impeachment to stiffen their spines on the seating of Roland Burris. That's sure what it looks like:

No one can occupy the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama until the governor of Illinois is removed and a new appointment can be certified, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Friday.

Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, was reacting to the Illinois Supreme Court's ruling denying a motion by Roland Burris that the state's secretary of state certify his appointment to the seat.

They're really sticking to the whole "the Secretary of State didn't sign the piece of paper and we can't go against tradition argument, even though the IL Supreme Court basically called it ridiculous today. But what's unsaid here is that Blago was impeached, and the Senate trial will probably be expedited, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was out on his ass in a couple of weeks. Not to mention the fact that he's being publicly insane and further tainting the appointment by making everyone aware of it.

Okay, fine, Blagojevich is clearly insane. I'm sitting here at my desk, listening to him chatter on in the background about the impeachment vote. And he's going on about how his policies let someone get a liver transplant, and should he really be impeached for that? It's like some bizarre performance art. Now he's quoting Tennyson.

No, really.



As Blagojevich swirls the bowl, Burris' hopes of getting seated do as well. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that Lt. Gov. Quinn will appoint Burris, the Secretary of State will sign the order and everything will be fine.

Annals of Bad Headlines

The AP sez Burris Denied by Illinois Supreme Court. What actually happened is that the court ruled that Jesse White, the Secretary of State of Illinois, doesn't have to sign Roland Burris' appointment papers for the US Senate to seat him, under Illinois law. The heart of the ruling does nothing to Burris except make his seating more likely, because it essentially tells the Senate to "stop playing dumb."

This, then, represents the IL Supremes "denying" Burris.

Ah, media.

There's A Guy Who's DISLIKED

Rod Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois House today on a vote of 114-1. The case now moves to the State Senate for a trial, where conviction, given the House vote, is probably a certainty.

Everyone who thinks that Blagojevich is some kind of evil genius for getting the Senate to back down and seat Roland Burris needs to explain to me how that helped Blagojevich in any way. As I see it, Burris, even if he gets seated, isn't surviving a Democratic primary, now that he's become something of a laughingstock. And even if he did, the act of appointing certainly didn't endear Blago to Illinois lawmakers, in whose fate he now rests. It didn't save him from impeachment and it won't save him from indictment. There's the theory that this helped him with African-American potential jurors in an upcoming trial, but that's speculative at best. Also, the whole trial could take place in Springfield and not Chicago, which would change that calculus quite a bit.

Blagojevich is delusional and just decided to stick his fellow politicians in the eye one last time. He's no great tactician.

Meanwhile, Burris might have his own issues to deal with, after admitting he talked with the guy known as "Lobbyist #1" in the criminal complaint about a Senate appointment. I would caution those who think his seating is all but done.

Senate Replacement Follies

The Illinois Speaker of the House is moving forward on the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich in a deliberative fashion, which is how these things must be done, under the proper rules and constraints. Of course there's the time frame of appointing a Senator to replace Barack Obama, which is hurting representation of the citizens of Illinois even as we speak, and would greatly impact the President-elect's agenda if no successor is found until April, which would be the timeline of a special election.

The best option for all involved would be for the Governor to resign, or even step aside while keeping his pay, long enough for the Lieutenant Governor to name a replacement as a placeholder. Then there should be a special election on top of that so that the interests of the citizens of the state are represented instead of the whim of one politician.

(Of course, while I do agree that all Senate seats should involve special elections, fatigue could set in. For instance, as it stands now in New York, whoever is appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat will have to face voters in 2010, to fill out the remainder of the term, AND in 2012, when Clinton's term ends. There's nothing totally wrong with that, but at some point, the notion of service gets lost in all these elections.)

There needs to be a full complement of 100 Senators when the next Congress begins, and so the requisite steps must be taken. But I do have a distaste for the appointment process. Caroline Kennedy seems like a nice person but open politicking to be handed a Senate seat doesn't seem in the spirit of anything American. It smacks of dynastic politics. Maybe she'd be good at it, but she ought to make her case to the voters, with all the specifics on the issues that such a case would imply.

Who Will Be The Next Senator From Illinois?

Things are moving rapidly in the Rod Blagojevich case. Within hours of recognizing that Blago still has the ability to make an appointment to the US Senate, despite being arrested for trying to sell the seat, Dick Durbin called for a special election to fill the seat:



Then the Illinois legislature decided to move into a special session (called by Emil Jones, the state Senator thought to be a possible pick for the seat), with the goal of having legislation moved within a few days. Of course, that legislation would have to be SIGNED by the Governor, which seems unlikely since Blagojevich thinks it's a "fucking valuable seat" and wouldn't want to give up the power to appoint it. So who knows at this point. Harry Reid said that the process for selecting a new Senator shouldn't involve Blago, so there's at least a chance that whoever would be submitted by him would be rejected by the Senate, too.

The larger deal here is that both progressive organizations and the Obama transition are threatened by being tried in the media over their ties to Blagojevich. Change to Win says there was no position promised to the Governor on their staff in exchange for any appointment, and the President-elect briefly addressed the controversy today as well.

"Like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S.. Attorneys office today. But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I donʼt think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time [...] I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening," Mr. Obama said. "And as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

The buzzards are nonetheless circling. I don't think Obama has much to do with Blagojevich, who wasn't even invited to the Democratic convention, and whose machine-backed candidates he beat in a primary to get to the US Senate. Obama wouldn't play ball with Blago on the Senate appointment in question, either. But the unequivocal statement Obama made ("I had no contact with the governor or his office") is probably not true, and categoricals like that are a mistake.

His statement that he didn't have contact with Blagojevich about the Senate seat seems to conflict with that of top adviser David Axelrod, who told Fox News Chicago on Nov. 23: "I know he's talked to the governor, and there are a whole range of names, many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."

Obama transition officials say Axelrod misspoke.

That's certainly possible, but I imagine Obama would want to share his views on the seat, even as a courtesy. That's not to say he did anything untoward here, however.

What a mess.

The Selling Of The Senate

The Rod Blagojevich saga has been going on for years, but right at the time when he wields tremendous power, empowered to choose a successor to Barack Obama for the US Senate, he has been taken into federal custody in a widening corruption probe, one that includes the Senate selection process itself:

A three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has expanded to include his impending selection of a new U.S. senator to succeed President-elect Barack Obama, the Tribune has learned.

Federal authorities got approval from a judge before the November general election to secretly record the governor, sources told the Tribune, and among their concerns was whether the selection process might be tainted. That possibility has become a focus in an intensifying investigation that has included recordings of the governor and the cooperation of one of his closest friends.

A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

• a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
• placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
• promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and
• a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

It is expected that the seat will be filled by the end of the month. Would Blagojevich be dismissed in time for him not to choose the next Senator from Illinois? Or will that Senator be chosen by somebody from a jail cell. This is bizarre.

Here's the criminal complaint. Blagojevich is a true scumbag. Political corruption does not have a partisan face. I don't think you'll see one liberal blogger defending Blagojevich today.

...This is incredible. From a statement released by the Office of the US Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald:

In the earliest intercepted conversation about the Senate seat described in the affidavit, Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A on November 3 that if he is not going to get anything of value for the open seat, then he will take it for himself: "if . . . they're not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it." Later that day, speaking to Advisor A, Blagojevich said: "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain." He added later that the seat "is a [expletive] valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."

The election was on November 4.

Resigning

Probably before being impeached! (snort, giggle)

No, actually, Barack Obama's just resigning from the Senate to focus on the transition.

"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate. In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who've taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children's future. It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next President," said President-elect Barack Obama.

This means, I guess, he won't have a vote in the Lieberman business, among other things. It also means that there will be the option for a Democrat who will actually be present during the lame-duck session to cast votes on stimulus, etc. Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, needs to not wait until Christmas for a successor. We need that vote now.

(Blagojevich is, by all accounts, a scumbag, and I don't hold much high hopes for a good choice. My guess is he punts and puts in a caretaker like Emil Jones, the head of the State Senate who's retiring and wouldn't run in 2010. But there is the possibility that he chooses a crony.)

Shiftless And Lazy

The flooding in Iowa all flowed into the Mississippi River, and now it's a floating hazard running downstream, encountering levees throughout the Midwest and breaching them. 19 levees in all have been compromised in cities in Iowa and Illinois. This is going to play out for the entire week, and Bush is back from his European vacation vowing quick action.

This is a disaster, but it's largely a property disaster. Towns on the river are not surrounded by water on all sides, they have plenty of notice, and deaths have been thankfully minimal. Most reasonable people would see this and be happy that this is not the challenge residents faced on the Gulf Coast. Rush Limbaugh sees it and can only see color.

Limbaugh: I want to know. I look at Iowa, I look at Illinois—I want to see the murders. I want to see the looting. I want to see all the stuff that happened in New Orleans. I see devastation in Iowa and Illinois that dwarfs what happened in New Orleans. I see people working together. I see people trying to save their property…I don’t see a bunch of people running around waving guns at helicopters, I don’t see a bunch of people running shooting cops. I don’t see a bunch of people raping people on the street. I don’t see a bunch of people doing everything they can…whining and moaning—where’s FEMA, where’s BUSH. I see the heartland of America. When I look at Iowa and when I look at Illinois, I see the backbone of America.

How must it feel to be so aggrieved that any opportunity to denounce blacks as lazy is taken. Never mind that there was one high-profile black man who was working on the front lines of the floods in the Midwest.



Now I could go ahead and debunk all of Rush's lies. The devastation in New Orleans and the Gulf was orders of magnitude above that of Iowa. Nobody in New Orleans shot at cops. The lurid stories of rape and gang warfare weren't true. But there is no point, really. Because all we're seeing here is a stone racist, convinced of his own biases, assured of his beliefs in how Heartland Americans are real Americans.

These next eight years of a black President are going to put him over the top.