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Blagojevich Removed From Office
Rod Blagojevich has been convicted in his impeachment trial by the state Senate, removing him from office, making him as of now the former governor of Illinois.
The vote by the Illinois state Senate just came to a close, with a unanimous 59-0 verdict against him. A threshold of 40 was required to convict, and the impeachers definitely got more than that.
Late Update: The Illinois Senate has just taken the next step in this process, voting unanimously that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is disqualified from holding public office in the state of Illinois ever again.
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Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
I didn't think it would be that close.
January 29, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
:)
January 29, 2009 9:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heh, I'm sure his brilliant "defense" helped him a lot.
January 29, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Will he be taken out of the State House in a straightjacket?
January 29, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
What if any recourse does he have now?
January 29, 2009 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Talk radio? Morning Joe?
January 29, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alleluia!
January 29, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he might also be convicted in unfair trade practices in damaging (i.e. stealing) the livelihood of stand-up comics everywhere.
January 29, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good thing Peloisy didn't serve in the Illinois House, otherwise impeachment would have been off the table.
January 29, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't even know how to spell lousy. That would be Pelousy. Not Peloisy.
January 29, 2009 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you meant to say: good thing Cheney was not the Lt. Governor, otherwise impeachment would have been off the table
January 29, 2009 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
They also voted to ban him from ever holding office in Illinois again.
January 29, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now comes the tell-all book deal...
January 29, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
So ??? (the dick in me)
January 29, 2009 9:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
If it's any consolation, they voted for Pearl Harbor too.
January 29, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, he's a nut, but did they ever really have anything on the guy? I hope Fitzgerald has a better case than what we've seen so far because nothing I've seen would convict him.
Maybe it's the hair that got me....
January 29, 2009 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
They had him dead to nuts. However I think if every politician was phone-tapped a whole lot of politicians would go down. I mean lobbyists exist because votes can be bought.
January 29, 2009 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's phone-tap more politicians
January 29, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I bet the NSA already did that under Bush...
January 29, 2009 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hm, good point. Revised statement: Let's start sharing more of the phonetaps with the public like they did in Blago's case. :P
January 29, 2009 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Being a nut is not a crime but IS a perfectly valid reason for removal from office. So it really doesn't matter.
January 29, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess Blago is having a bad hair day. You know I just had a thought what if you had someone with Blago's hair and John Bolton's mustache, you'd get a really annoying idiot. Oh, wait the describes Geraldo Rivera.
January 29, 2009 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what are the chances that Burris will do the honorable thing and tender his resignation from the Senate?
January 29, 2009 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL.. oh wait... you're serious?
January 29, 2009 6:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad...the guy's protestations of innocence were as entertaining (and well founded) as Bagdad Bob's propaganda. I'll miss the daily laugh.
January 29, 2009 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
...So let's make it one for my baby, and one more for the road... Rod Blagojevich, but really as the thousands on the National Mall sang to the ex-Decider and Chief in DC recently, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey goodbye!"
January 29, 2009 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a Chicagoan this feels as liberating as last week's inauguration of Obama. Finally we are free at last. I give the Illinois Senate credit today but they are not entirely guilt free. The calls for Blago's impeachment began years ago and with good reason even back then.
January 29, 2009 7:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish the media would stop following this man, this story. Cover the news instead.
January 29, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
But Blago was the msm definition of "balanced and fair reporting" considering how many rethugs they had on teh teevee since Obama took office.
January 29, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
GOOD riddance to political THUG BLAGO. Maybe, he can come and run for office in Kentucky! OsiSpeaks.com
January 29, 2009 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently there is going to be no happy ending to Blagojevich's Frank Capra movie.
January 29, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad. Blagojevich was entertaining as hell.
January 29, 2009 10:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Think. If this had been a Republican Governor, it would not be resolved until somewhere around August - September maybe.
And he would not have been impeached. And it would have cost millions, and millions, and millions more.
Paid by Us, of course!
January 30, 2009 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is a lot of confusion caused by the fact that we refer to an impeachment "trial" and "conviction." They really should call it a hearing to sustain the impeachment. It is not a criminal proceeding. The only question was whether Blago has abused the public trust enough to be deprived of the Governorship. By that standard, the choice was obvious.
In his forthcoming criiminal trial, all of the usual rules of evidence and constitutional protections will apply since in this case he will be threatened with actual punishment, i.e. fine or imprisonment, as opposed to just losing his job.
Blago's comment that "if they can do this to me, they can do it to you" is patently absurd, since only an elected official like a governor can be removed from office. Most of us hold no office and therefore cannot be removed from anything.
January 30, 2009 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for the very germane and needed clarification!
January 30, 2009 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink