Say goodbye to Blago, hello to Governor Quinn

[cali]

Does anyone doubt that next week the Illinois Senate will make short shrift of Blagojevitch? The trial phase of his impeachment begins on Monday. By the end of the week, Illinois will have a new governor.

Here's an article all about the trial.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-trial-bd-25-jan25,0,2473289.story

[Wetzelbill]

1. I don't see how it goes any other way nt

[WeDidIt]

2. It is a foregone conclusion

No way does Blago survive this.

Now way.

[Bluzmann57]

3. If and when it happens

Can Blago challenge it in the U.S. Supreme Court? And if (when) he does, will the impeachment hold up?

[cali]

5. nope. this has nothing to do with federal law or the U.S. Constitution

He'll be convicted this week and removed from office.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. The SC has no jurisdiction

and if they touched this case with a 10' pole, constitutional scholars would be howling in outrage. My first instinct is to call BS whenever the term "states' rights" is invoked, but this is a perfect example of its proper employment.

[LiberalFighter]

11. If they try I hope those that try are impeached and removed.

[DCBob]

4. No doubt. Illinois desperately wants to end this fiasco.

Blogojecvich is his own worst enemy. His recent press conf was bizarre and embarrassing. He also plans to go on the View on Monday. What a nut.

[Shiver]

6. Guess Illinois won't have to worry about this then:

From the Stimulus Bill, page 14:

1 SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE

2 OF FUNDS.

3 None of the funds provided by this Act may be made

4 available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the

5 State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is

6 approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date

7 of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich

8 no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illi-

9 nois. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds

10 provided directly to a unit of local government (1) by a

11 Federal department or agency, or (2) by an established

12 formula from the State.

Is it wrong that I found this small section utterly hilarious? :rofl:

[mucifer]

7. The important thing is Quinn is a liberal dem who can work with others.

I'm excited to get a new governor. However, I was more impressed with the way we in IL lost our senator than how we lost our governor

:)

[Ysabela]

9. *sigh*

Amazing how they supposedly have a mountain of evidence against Blago, yet no indictments have been brought for weeks now. Just the initial catch & release by the Bush Administration.

No transcript snippets that have been released show any illegal activities, only unethical ones. And many of the snippets are taken out of context by shows like the Colbert Report (we expect distortions from Fox and CNN, but Stepthen?) to make the snippet about having a golden opportunity make it sound like he was simply trying to sell a senate seat for cash, when he was merely speaking about trying to get himself a promotion to the Cabinet. Does anyone think that Gov Paterson didn't make a backroom deal with the DLC in order for them to get another undercover Republican into the Senate?

So now we're left with a supposedly dead-to-rights guilty man who the Feds can't even indict due to lack of evidence, and since they KNOW they can't convict Blago criminally, they are now deciding to convict him politically.

It sickens me how many Democrats and progressives are overjoyed that Blago is being denied a defense. By having a political show-trial instead of a criminal trial, the Illinois Senate is apparently allowed to strip a citizen of their constitutional rights. So when Bush revokes Habeus Corpus, OMG it's wrong. When the Illinois Senate denies a US citizen their right to call witnesses in it's defense, OMG it's a great day now that us Democrats can ignore the Constitution! And it's not just obscure people with nothing to do with the case that are being called as witnesses, he wants to call the key witnesses, you know, the ones cited in the "damning" transcripts that we haven't seen all of.

This showtrial is disgusting. I sure hope that if Blago is removed from office, he pressures to Feds to either brings charges against him in criminal court or not. If the Feds don't bring charges because he has done nothing illegal, I would hope Blago could sue the State of Illinois for illegally terminating his employment.


And progressives everywhere fall hook, line, and sinker for the GOP media plan for the next 4-8 years. Wiretap Illinois politicians, expose their private political negotiations, and condemn them in public for being unethical and corrupt (although no charges are ever to be brought, like with Gov Spitzer being politically assassinated ahead of the engineered mortgage crisis). Illinois will be the new Arkansas for the next 4-8 years, the hotbed of corruption and lack of ethics. The Republicans will campaign to save us from the corruption in 2012.

Why isn't the FBI and DOJ wiretapping Senator Coryn's office to determine what backroom deals he's making with Haliburton and KBR to make sure no torture and gang-rape charges are ever brought against them? Because he's Republican and not from Illinois. Most of the Senators and Representatives make political deals. None of them are ever exposed unless it fits into the GOP media plan. And Democrats always fall for it.

[jacksonian]

10. i agree with you 100%

not to mention the leak, leak, leak of innuendo from Fitzgerald that has been going on for years to lay the groundwork for this.

the bottom line here is, if they really had anything on him, he'd be indicted. Ok everyone, you can return to your hair jokes now.

[crispini]

12. You should make this an OP

It's an interesting post and I think it would get a lot of discussion, and I think it deserves its own thread.

[cali]

14. Blago is, to put it bluntly, mentally unstable

And I think they know it. Should they try and remove him on those grounds? I don't know. It would certainly be just as, or more painful, and even more humiliating. He clearly has no business being in a position of power at this time.

[H2O Man]

15. These are distinct.

Facing a potential criminal charge in federal court and an impeachment -- which is a civil case -- in the state are very different. Impeachment can include both criminal offenses and abuse of the power of office. As the OP focuses on impeachment, rather than the potential federal prosecution, it is possible to agree that he will/should be impeached, but still keep an open mind as far as the likely federal charges go.

The postponement in the federal charges is, of course, due to the very recent events that appear to be likely to result in additional charges, beyond what the prosecutors had been working on in the past.

[Avalux]

13. It will be quick and painless. Blago isn't even going to show up.

The sooner they get the trial over with the better - then they can get back to work and put Blago behind them.