The Senate voted either unanimously or close to unanimously to impeach Blagojevich, and right as it was being announced from the Illinois Senate, the feed to CNN cut off abruptly, and my first thought was “Blago blew up the tv station.”
Blago Out
by John Cole| 31 Comments
This post is in: Democratic Stupidity
John PM
From the Chicago Tribune:
The Illinois Senate is now voting on whether to remove impeached Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office.
As each senator’s name was called, they and spoke their vote, either "yes" or "no."
The question posed to them was: "Shall the Senate sustain the article of impeachment against Rod R. Blagojevich and remove him from the office of governor?"
The vote right now is 58-0 with one vote not yet counted due to some sort of technical issue. Senate President John Cullerton, who is to cast the final vote, could not get his vote recorded.
They’re now going to redo the roll call by allowing senators to press a button.
They did, and it’s 59-0 to remove Blagojevich from office.
Next stop: George Bush! (my comment, not from the Tribune)
dmsilev
I’m half expecting to read tomorrow that he’s decided to shave his head in protest.
In any event, good riddance to my Governor.
-dms
Laura W
59-0
Lynn Sweet needs to send both Obama and Blago a Fruit of the Month basket for the next four years because there just can not be a luckier person in the world. Her whole tee vee career is owed to them. She bores me to death.
J.
Governor Blagojevich may soon be gone, but his memory and words will linger on. And on the bright side, he’ll be free to star as himself in the made-for-TV movie.
Mart
Probably have seen this already – but in case you were wondering, the kids are alright.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkTflRQzCZg
John PM
Oh, and a little more salt for the wound:
4:58 p.m. Senate votes to ban Blagojevich from ever holding office again
The state Senate voted 59-0 to ban former Gov. Rod Blagojevich from again holding elected office in Illinois.
The vote is the equivalent of the political death penalty.
Ash Can
:hands out cyber-beers to everyone who wants one:
Cheers, everyone — and here’s mud in your eye, Blago.
BFR
…and there was much rejoicing.
Mart
Here all over the local news, but good to see the kids are alright:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkTflRQzCZg
ricardo
The Governorship of Illinois is a f—ing valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.
But Blago just did.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
OT: Looks like someone needs a Terrible Towel.
Litlebritdifrnt
So I have not been paying attention, who be the Lt. Gov? Is he clean or ya know not quite as grubby as Blago? What are his chances?
4tehlulz
I saw this on TPM and lol’d harder than I have in months.
Ash Can
@Litlebritdifrnt: It’s Patrick Quinn, and his resume is much cleaner than Blago’s. He should be fine.
Polish the Guillotines
I bet he doesn’t leave. He’ll just barricade himself in some custodian’s closet and continue to "govern."
L’il Jimmy: "Who’s that man in the broom closet?"
Tour Guide: "Oh, that’s just Crazy Rodney. (whispering) He thinks he’s still governor."
Swervus
I personally want to thank Blago for helping to give us a working definition of the valuable political term "Batshit Crazy" for the forseeable future.
And to all those Illinois residents who voted for him… WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?
PaulW
I dunno, Katherine Harris made a pretty good show of it, didn’t she?
"Let’s be more corrupt than Texas and Florida and Louisiana put together! WOO-HOO!"
I’m gonna kinda miss Blago now… well there’s still his trial vs. FITZ! to watch…
Zuzu's Petals
@John PM:
Can they do that? Really?
The Grand Panjandrum
Lest we forget: Illinois Democrats (they control both chambers of the state legislature) stepped up and did the right thing. Good on them. I hope Harry, Nancy and the Republicans were taking notes, because they had several years to rid this country of the war criminals who formerly occupied the executive branch.
Laura W
Get your rubbernecks ready.
He’s about to quote poetry to us one last time…
(Tweety makes fun of Blago’s "stream of consciousness" manner of speech. HA!)
John PM
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Yes, the Senate has the power to bar an impeached official from holding any other office. If you think about it, it makes sense. Wouldn’t it be a kick in the pants if Blagojevich were removed as Governor only to have him for state representative or senator (representing the Town of Crazyville) and win?
Zuzu's Petals
@John PM:
It makes sense on that level, but it seemed at first glance to be questionable because of free speech issues. But I see that the Senate can prohibit and impeached and convicted President from holding any public office again, so I guess it’s a nonissue.
Also, I think courts have held that there’s no fundamental right to hold office, but would have to look that one up.
LanceThruster
The sad note here is that it is said that most Dems knew what kind of person Blago was from the getgo but kept quiet about him because he was one of their "team" (Dem).
Ed Marshall
*sigh*
I didn’t vote for him in the 2002 primaries, I voted for Burris. In 2002, we had just jailed the Republican governor for selling CDL’s to companies, and the corruption was so thick if you ever go to Dupage County (ancestral home of the Illinois Republican machine) I challenge you to find more than 100 square feet of bare earth that hasn’t been paved over in some sort of make work scheme for Republican cronies.
Blago was a money machine and I knew what he was about but it was a choice between fattening up the Dupage County boys and fattening up the Chicago machine. It’s ugly politics. I voted Green in 2006 and it almost wasn’t a protest vote, that’s how fucked up the Illinois republicans are.
Bill H
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Hardball have both blathered endlessly about this. Why? Who gives a flying fuck? The national economy is melting down, the national government is playing politics instead of dealing with it, the world is at war in multiple places, people are dying and starving to death, and we are blathering about a state governor? It’s probably worth noting that he has been thrown out of office, but to mouth off for hour after hour, and engage in endless speculation about future prosecution, blah, blah, blah… Good grief.
shortstop
Like Ed Marshall (I once knew an attorney by that name, but he wouldn’t be hanging with DFHs), I voted Green in the 2006 general and very reluctantly for Blago in the 2002 general. You guys who keep asking "Why’d you do it?" just don’t get what our other choices were.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. No one "kept quiet" about Blago. Ever. Illinois Dems, including most of the Democratic caucus in the General Assembly, have been bitching about him since day one. Naked disgust at his corruption has been part of dinner table conversation across the state for years. The Green took double digits in 2006 in protest votes. With very few exceptions (Bobby and Emil, I’m looking at you), no Dem in the GA, in Congress or in the White House defended him from these charges. It was understood by both legislators and voters on Dec. 9 that his career was over and good riddance.
Anyway, he hasn’t been barred from holding national office (yet), and so he’ll probably spend the months between now and his criminal trial planning his run for the presidency. Don’t laugh. One of the most shocking things to me in Fitz’s complaint was the news that Blago’d sat on the phone musing on how naming himself senator would help him when he got indicted and would simultaneously be a good launching point for the presidency. He. Planned. To. Run. For. Prez. After. He. Was. Indicted. What the hell do you do with someone like that?
Church Lady
I wonder what Blago’s record as a prosecutor was? If his incoherent closing argument today was any indication, he must have sucked. I’m still not sure if what he did concerning the senate appointment rises to an actual crime, but after this week’s media blitz and his grand finale today, I am convinced he is absolutely batshit insane.
Ed Marshall
His record as a prosecutor was good. He’s sharp, what he’s been doing the last couple days is pissing in the jury pool through the media and hoping he can contaminate it enough to stay out of prison. What else can he do?
LanceThruster
shortstop – Sorry. I’ll defer to your familiarity with the political landscape. The way I heard it was that his flaws were well known, but that he was good at fundraising so the party (national? – do they get involved much in gov races?) was willing to go with him as opposed to backing another more preferable candidate (were there even better contenders to begin with?). I agree that choosing the lesser of two evils happens all the time (by me included) and being able to raise money demonstrates clout and is a distinct advantage. It just seems to me that party higher ups might be able to see trouble ahead of time. As you pointed out, I myself have no first hand knowledge of the situation. Who in the party would, and what, if anything, might they do to field a better candidate?
I think Blagojevich is an example of the maxim, "Not more Democrats, but better Democrats."
shortstop
He may have succeeded in that. He’s been remarkably adept during this media blitz at firmly planting misperceptions–the major one being the GA’s alleged refusal to let him call witnesses in his impeachment trial–among the general populace, the uninformed MSM and even bloggers who should know better. Hey, one of the horrifying lessons of the last eight years has been that if you repeat the same lies often enough, they become truth for a good chunk of listeners.
Roza Hussein
I’m going to miss Blago
gonna miss his brand of crazy