« Kennedy vs. King Polling in New York
This is Your Life…on Coal: Before & After Video, Harriman, TN Coal Ash Disaster »
Illinois House Impeaches Gov. Blagojevich: Now Comes The Trial
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has now been impeached: so now comes the trial….thus guaranteeing a continuation of a story that has “legs” and that’s a boon to newspaper cartoons everywhere:
The Illinois House of Representatives impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich for abuses of power after federal prosecutors accused him of trying to auction President- elect Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.
The House voted 114-1 today to remove Blagojevich for violations of the state constitution such as creating health- care programs unauthorized by the Legislature and rewarding campaign contributors with jobs and contracts. Blagojevich now faces a trial in the Senate of the fifth-most-populous U.S. state.
Blagojevich, 52, is the first governor impeached in Illinois’s 191-year history. A 67-page report underpinning today’s vote said the governor should be removed for “scheming to obtain a personal benefit for the Senate appointment” and engaging in “abuse of office of the highest magnitude.”
“This is a good, glad happy day for the state of Illinois because it shows that no one is above the law,” said state Representative William Black, the deputy leader of Republicans in the House.
This means Gov. Blagojevich will have more than a bad hair day. Given his rock bottom popularity in polls and the number of politicos of both parties who now have no use for him, it’s unlikely he’ll serve out the rest of his term in the end.
Cartoon by Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons
UPDATE: AP video on impeachment:
opinions powered by SendLove.to
2 Responses to “Illinois House Impeaches Gov. Blagojevich: Now Comes The Trial”
And maybe not a good hair day for Burris………
January 9, 2009
BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND JORDAN WILSON Sun-Times Staff Reporters
SPRINGFIELD — A potentially troublesome new detail emerged about Roland Burris' controversial U.S. Senate appointment Thursday after a state House panel voted unanimously to recommend Gov. Blagojevich be impeached.
For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich's former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September.
“If you're close to the governor, you know, let him know I'm certainly interested in the seat,” Burris said he told Monk.
That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no “representatives” of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I
thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say
except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting
this blog very often.so you also can read my blog.my blog is about
Nike AIR Force.welcome to visit.