Obama: Gov. Blagojevich should resign

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: MSNBC

CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

Gibbs said Obama agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of scheming to enrich himself by selling Obama's vacant Senate seat. The governor has authority to appoint the replacement. Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat. Gibbs said the hope is to put a process in place to select a new senator who will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28155450/

[krispos42]

1. Link:

Dec 10, 12:27 PM EST

Obama calls for Illinois governor to resign

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama is calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs says the president-elect agrees with other prominent politicians that "under the current circumstances, it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois."

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of scheming to enrich himself by selling Obama's vacant Senate seat. The governor has authority to appoint the replacement. He denies any wrongdoing.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat.

Gibbs says the hope is to put a process in place to select a new senator who'll have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ILLINOIS_GOVERNOR_OBAMA?SITE=NCBER&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. If Obama was involved in any way, he would not have done this.

Blago is a lose canon and is probably going to try to take down as many people as he can.

[Dappleganger]

5. Is Blago a mental case?

From all that I've read/seen of him he doesn't appear to be a stable person (all corruption aside).

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. I always thought he was just an arrogant, egotistical idiot. But after reading that indictment

He thought he was going to be president! With a 13% approval rating in his own state!

[apnu]

21. No he's not mental (I've met him, funny story) he's just drunk on power. (nt)

[ananda]

12. "lose canon"

Well.. so many possibilities.

Blag is a canon of the church who is a loser.

He is also a loose cannon, as in a gun that
cannot be controlled.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

23. I apologize. Typing with a cat crawling all over you, is tricky at best.

[Believing Is Art]

14. If he was involved . . .

I'm guessing it was aiding the investigation. Motherfucker isn't an overwhelmingly endearing term.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Another Obama masterstroke.

Moving early to dissociate himself from trouble. This will put a spike in what the wingnuts were hoping to make into a big gun.

[barb162]

4. Blago really, really needs to resign.

He has no support right now by anyone asaik. Not that he had a lot of support a few months ago. But I bet his supporters are down to an effective zero right now. He just has to resign.

[madrchsod]

9. the closing of the state parks and other historical sites

sealed his fate with the voters. the closing of the parks in northwestern in will cost us millions in lost revenue.

http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/


our next govenor....lisa madigan

it`s time for a lady to run this state!

[Believing Is Art]

15. Ugh, I know!

I'm in east-central Illinois and now all we have is Allerton, which does not have camping or boating or anything other than some hikes.

[Critters2]

19. Closed Illini State Park here, a beautiful place,

that he admitted he'd never visited...what with it not being in Chicago and all. Bastid.

[Mike Daniels]

16. I don't know...he seems to have some pretty vocal defenders on DU

Of course, it's only because he has a 'D' behind his name.

Everything else being equal, if he had an 'R' behind his name these same people would be laying down the rails they were going to use to run him out of town as we speak.

[florida08]

7. actually

from what the New York Times has written it was Obama's urging of a states ethics bill in Chicago to be passed that helped expose this guy. Obama supports Fitzgerald's effort to rein in corruption and so does Dick Durbin. So I applaud them both. If the crazy right wants to link Obama it will obvious what they're doing. Of course the choir's ears will always drink in the koolaid
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/politics/10chicago.html?_r=1&em

[wolfchat]

8. ebay posting of senate position

I saw this on ebay for senate position

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=220327638735

[humbled_opinion]

10. LOL

Too Funny.

[kay1864]

22. The seller is clearly a RWer

Scroll down to the questions.

[skeewee08]

11. I Agree with you President Elect!

[scytherius]

13. Agreed. And I think they should have a special election.

And what is SO different is that if this were a conservative, the Freeper hate site would be defending whoever it was. The liberals see a crook and they don't care what party the crook is in.

[Mike Daniels]

17. You might want to revise your opinion of how DU'ers would respond

Flip through some posts on general discussion and you'll see quite a few who are claiming this was a partisan witch hunt and who completely disregard the number of Illinois residents who say that the Gov. is as dirty as they come.

[humbled_opinion]

25. Ahem....

The witch hunt comments as I understand them are being made because this idiot, obviously unbalanced, unhinged and deluded governor is going to be used by the Repukes to try and paint a pitcutre of pure corruption in Chicago/Illinois politics. That hunt will conspire to pull Obama and his associates into the mix for testimony and other distractions.

The new President has alot on his plate and doesn't need this crap but it is exactly the set up that the wingnuts want.

[russspeakeasy]

18. Should every arrogant, stupid thief politician resign?

Who would be left?

[kay1864]

20. WHY do we need a special election? (costs $50+ million)

If he resigns, isn't the Lt. Governor sworn in immediately? And doesn't he then have the power to appoint a replacement?

:shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

24. I've read that figure, too

and with about 5,400,000 votes cast by Illinois voters just five weeks ago, why would it cost nearly ten bucks per voter to run an election?

[kudzu22]

26. Because

Blago might not resign right away, and no one will trust him to appoint an honest candidate. Plus the numbskull has tainted the entire government with his conduct. Deserved or not, anyone appointed by Blago or Quinn would carry that taint with them forever.

[IsItJustMe]

27. Where is Quinn mentioned anywhere in all of this?

[Duppers]

28. hell yes and even 'committed'

the man is nuts, imho.

Rachel and her guests shed some light on Blagojevich's sanity in her evening show tonight.

[Augdog20]

29. Vote in poll: who's the worst governor of 2008?

Check out my blog
& vote on who is <b>the worst governor of 2008?</b>
Rod Blagojevich?

http://bluesunited.blogspot.com

[PATRICK]

30. It looks like he was THAT

corrupt and stupid. Has no one suggested a m9ore malicious type of spin, namely that the beleaguered Governor, under investigation and imminent threat of indictment after Obama took over, tried to make the Obama administration at least COMPLICIT in a major ploy.

Of course if the Feds encouraged him to engage in a sting type operation this would be even deadlier spin, considering the effect it might have on destroying Obama before he got to take office. How dumb or how smart was he, or rather, why is no one exercising their imagination very much beyond the typically weak surface stories?