Land of Blago is no more

January 29th, 2009 at 10:25pm Chuck Sweeny

What a circus! I came into the Capitol Building Thursday morning at 8:30 and Rod Blagojevich was governor. I left around 6:30 p.m. and Pat Quinn was governor. What a state!

Seriously, Thursday’s wrap-up of the impeachment trial was an exercise in good government. As State Sen. James MEeks of Chicago pointed out, in this country we don’t form armed militias and throw bombs to remove rotten leaders, we use the constitutional process. Or, as he more colorfully put it, “We’ve got this thing, impeachment, and it’s worth bleeping gold.”

Senators looked at the evidence carefully, and they were frustrated that Blagojevich ignored the process until the last day, when he waltzed into the building via a side door, then gave an in-your-face lecture to senators, telling them they wouldn’t let him present witnesses, like Harry Reid, Rahm Emmanuel, Dick Durbin. He clearly could have brought witnesses while complying with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s restrictions. As one senator pointed out later, if he didn’t do anything wrong, as he contended, why not bring his brother Robert into the chamber, where he could rebut his own words and those of the ex-gov, captured on FBI tape?

Clearly, the 59-0 vote sent a strong message that Illinois is fed up with Rod Blagjojevich.

“I wish him well in his criminal trial,” said Senate President John Cullerton.

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