Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
AP Photo/Mark Carlson
It's the day after and while Governor Rod Blagojevich gets back to work (we assume there were a lot of stilted phone conversations), will part of that include picking that new senator of ours, a large part of what got him arrested in the first place? The answer, it appears, is a resounding "No." Sun-Times politics guru Lynn Sweet - who we dug on MSNBC yesterday - says:
Blagojevich lost the ability to pick Obama's replacement. The leaders of the Illinois General Assembly will meet in special session next week to strip Blagojevich of his appointment power, and I bet they will do it with veto-proof majorities.This is no surprise. Reid joins a growing list of politicians who are urging state legislature action in the senate seat fracas. Outgoing State Senate President Emil Jones and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin have already called on the legislature to pass a bill that would allow them to call a special election to select the replacement.And if a brazen Blagojevich insists on selecting an Obama successor in the meantime -- who in their right mind would accept? -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will invoke a rarely used power that senators have to decide whom to seat.
"A different process to select a new senator must be put in place -- and that process should not involve Gov. Blagojevich," Reid said in a statement.
Even longer is the list of people who are calling on Blagojevich to resign. It's no surprise that the Chicago Tribune has published an editorial asking for his resignation.
This moment, though, shouldn't be all about politicians and laws. This moment should be about the serially cheated citizens of Illinois, people who pay their taxes and expect honest governance in return. They have to choose better officials. They have to demand more. They deserve more.Makes sense coming from the paper that Blagojevich tried to freaking extort - one of the most mind-blowing aspects of this whole thing. In a huge blow to Blagojevich's chances, President-Elect Obama issued a statement asking Blago to resign. State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) and House Republican leader Tom Cross (Oswego) have both threatened impeachment charges and they're not alone. U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who just last week asked Blagojevich to make sure Obama's replacement was black, has called on the governor to resign, saying, "This guy, to be honest and frank, had a hard time governing before he was charged."Right now, though, the state faces a financial crisis, a $2 billion budget shortfall and an abundance of difficult choices of what to fund and what to cut. Illinois needs a governor who can lead through this crisis. Rod Blagojevich is, more than before, the governor who cannot govern.
For an impeachment trial to take place, the State House has to have a majority supporting the trial. If that happens, the State Senate holds the trial and must have a two-thirds majority vote in favor of impeachment for the governor to be removed from office. If Blagojevich somehow manages to both dodge resigning and impeachment, attorney general Lisa Madigan "is prepared to invoke an obscure Illinois Supreme Court rule under which the state's seven justices could vote to oust a sitting governor deemed unfit for office." As the Sun-Times points out, the rules for such action are pretty vague, so it remains to be seen if such a threat is credible. One thing is for certain, though: the remnants of Blagojevich's political career isn't long for this world.
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I won't miss that goofy haircut either.
Yea that hair is bad. I just want to give him a coupon for a good hair stylist.
Going to the corruption however, I think that the corruption is underneath the Gov. Hope that Blagovitch's actions turns on the lights how "Business as usual" in Chicago and Illinois is done. We have to get some quality public servants in there. Not people who serve themselves, but people who serve others. It take two to tango. Pay to play? There is two guilty parties. The people who demand the illegal payment, and those who want to pay to play! (Looking in Jessie Jackson Jr. direction)
I heard a comment somewhere where G-Rod's handlers said, in effect, "no wrongdoing has taken place and nothing that's going on has anything to do with his ability to govern the state."
Wait, what? Conspiring to do all this, the profanity, the looking out only for himself - that has nothing to do with how he will continue to run this state?
Which step of the process is Denial?
"who in their right mind would accept?"
Exactly, I mean no one in Illinois has ever had the gall to, oh I dunno, accept a hefty pension after only working a few months ... or, um, hiding a post-stroke vegetable from the voters for months, in cynical and shameless fashion, so he can "win" re-election and immediately "appoint" his son to the post. We're (cough) above such low-road politics in Illinois.
Guess what? Any law the legislature should pass regarding a special election would fly in the face on the Illinois Constitution and no doubt be subject to a legal challenge. Also: the Gov could VETO that legislation.
The only way is impeachment, which will take months and months.
CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS!
I'm still trying to figure out how they can get around the state Constitution, but, jenny, they'd have enough votes to override the veto, no?
Jenny: Why do you think impeachment would take months and months?
Even if the legislature overrode the veto, Blago could still just sit on it for like 60 days, right?
And it would still be subject to a challenge at the State Supreme Court.
My understanding of impeachment is that the HoR has to draw up articles of impeachment and then there has to be a trial in the Senate. From what I have heard, there isn't a lot of talk about this possibility yet, as people are figuring out the best way to get the Senate seat filled.
If he is impeached, I don't think he would really be out of office until at least February. The legislators aren't going to give up their vacations to deal with this.
The legislators aren't going to give up their vacations to deal with this.
Given the piss-poor record of public service by the GA and its leaders, most of whom are barely more useful than Blago, I worry that you are right.
Marcus/Chicagoist -- excellent coverage of this so far. The recaps and latest news have kept me from bothering to delve deeper into longer articles on major news sites. thanks
Sorry for all the posts:
Also, according to the State-Journal Register, there is a question of if impeachment proceedings start before January 14th, before the new legislators are sworn in, would the new GA have to start over?
http://www.sj-r.com/news/x1049851022/Impeachment-option-complicated
Jessie Jackson Jr. Guilty? Covering up? Anyone see his news conference? Or was he a FBI informant?
Here is what went down that made Jackson Senate Candidate No. 5...
A few weeks back, it was reported on local television in Chicago that the Feds were tapping Blago in cooperation with uber-lobbyist John Wyma. When asked, Wyma said it was untrue and said he had not provided Feds access to his phone calls. Wyma is hooked in with both Blago and Jacko.
My theory: the media was leaked by a source inside the Feds that judges had provided them the OK to wire tap.
Wyma wasn't being wire-tapped, but a conversation between him and Blago was wire-tapped per the court order provided to the Feds. In that wire-tapped conversation, Wyma brought the gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Blago on Jacko's behalf.
This gives Jacko's attorney, James Montgomery, the wide berth to make the claim that Jacko and Blago never had direct contact. Wyma carried Jacko's water, floated the offer out there, and Jacko was almost our United States Senator.
Blago was slated this week by media sources to make the Senate announcement. Jacko brought the correct currency and the seat was his. The Feds felt the need to intervene on the Monday morning after the Sunday morning the story ran saying the pick was on the verge of being made.
Jacko will be in a bind, but direct culpability will depend on whether Wyma rolls. He likely will.
Hope that Wyma will roll, that would be a Christmas Present! Jacko is clearly not qualified, and probably does not give a rat's backside about helping people out via public service. I have no idea how he got to be Congressman anyway, his dad right? Jackson Sr.? gawd, I am depressed now.
"The Fall of Blago: So What's Next?"
1) Illinoisans will still vote with blind allegiance to party, allowing fucksticks like Blago to get re-elected.
2) This blind allegiance to party will provide Illinoisans with a continued excuse to remain ignorant about candidates' records on issues and ethics.
3) We will slide further down the tubes while states that do not support brazen corruption happily accept our residents and businesses.