Taking Blago Out

Source:
nytimes.com
cnn.com

Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested a few days ago based on a (dirty) laundry list of corruption charges such as conspiracy, soliciting bribes and even an attempt to "auction off" President-elect Obama's former Senate seat. (And we thought Spitzer was bad...)

However, Blagojevich can still theoretically appoint someone to that seat at this point in time. To some people that is a frightening notion. That may be why Illinois State Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, is petitioning the Illinois state Supreme Court to remove Blagojevich from power temporarily on the basis that he is unfit for office. This would allow Lieutenant Governor, Pat Quinn, to step in as acting governor.

Madigan is also urging the State Legislature to hold impeachment proceedings when they meet on Monday to discuss a possible special election for the former Obama seat. Illinois Democrats in the State Legislature seem to be on board with Madigan's actions and have begun to circulate a letter that calls for an impeachment process by the Illinois House and Senate. President-elect Obama, who has remained relatively low key during this process has called for Blagojevich to step down, voluntarily.

I think most would agree that whichever method of taking Blagojevich from power is irrelevant. If he is allowed to appoint an unqualified person to the vacant Senate seat out of spite, Springfield's troubles could become Washington's troubles. There are too many important things for Congress to be worrying about right now for the Senate to be distracted by a bad Blagojevich pick. Although, Congress doesn't seem to be making much progress anyway with things like the bailout for Detroit.

I think the best possible course of action would be the fastest. The state Supreme Court should strip Blagojevich's powers immediately, giving the State Legislature time to prepare an impeachment process. Hopefully this process will result in Blagojevich being removed from office. Then Illinois should hold a special election allowing the people to decide who will be Obama's successor. I do not think many people in Illinois have faith in their leaders to make this decision for them. I know I wouldn't.

The strangest aspect of this entire scandal to me is the fact that it does not look like anyone went out of their way to keep this hidden. That makes me wonder if the people behind this scheme were really that arrogant in thinking they would not be caught or whether they simply did not believe their actions were illegal. Either way this scandal will probably not affect the incoming administration all that much, but it will give the pundits and late night talk hosts something to chew on until the Inauguration.