[Note: This post rambles quite a bit. Forgive me. My thoughts were all over the place and I needed to get out of the house.] The Illinois Governor's Mansion can't seem to catch a break. The last chief executive, Republican George Ryan, is currently serving a prison sentence related to a scandal involving the illegal sale of drivers licenses and government contracts during his tenure as the Illinois Secretary of State. (In Illinois that post deals with drivers licenses and other related issues, as opposed to dealing with election issues, as is the case in most other states.) In the mid-90s, a truck driver with one of those illegal licenses got behind the wheel of his semi and caused a horrific traffic accident in suburban Chicago in which six children burned to death in their family's mini-van. That event started the ball rolling on a wide-ranging corruption investigation.
I used to live in Illinois and voted for Mr. Ryan twice - in 1994 for the Secretary of State post and again in 1998 for Governor (both votes were cast before the scandal was made public). That 1998 vote, despite the charges that came down the pike later, is still one of the votes I'm extremely proud of. A pro-life Republican, Ryan still had the more progressive position on social issues than his downstate Democratic opponent (who was also pro-life and therefore made that particular issue moot). Toward the end of his one term, following reports from university students that several death row inmates had been convicted and sentenced by mistake (based on advanced DNA testing), Gov. Ryan cleared out death row and placed a statewide moratorium on carrying out the death penalty. For an anti-death penalty guy like me, the Governor's brave actions (a REPUBLICAN Governor, at that) made me admire the guy even more. Despite his later conviction, that admiration still holds. Stupid deeds done by underlings seemed to overtake things and he is now paying the price.
The same can't be said for the current governor, Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY-uh-vich). This guy is just a fuckin' slimy weasel who abused his office up one side and down the other, leaving those of us who knew he was a bad seed slack-jawed at the depth of the charges filed yesterday by the U.S. Attorney.
Many of the charges in the complaint are political old hat: Shaking down contractors for private financial gain, demanding political contributions for his campaign coffers in return for signing off on state projects. But the peace de la resistance are two-fold:
1. The parent company of the Chicago Tribune was looking to sell the stadium (Wrigley Field) of its baseball franchise (the Cubs). The Governor told the paper's editorial board (who have never been kind to Blagojevich, and for good reason) that in order to get the sale over typical state hurdles, they would need to fire members of that editorial board. If not, they could kiss the sale goodbye. Rod's exact words: "Fire those fucking people. Get them the fuck out of there. Get us some editorial support."
2. This one is the biggie (I am still slack-jawed and amazed at the stupidity of this one): Blagojevich tried to SELL the empty U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama to the highest bidder. "I've got this thing and it's fucking golden. I'm just not giving it up for fucking nothing. I'm not gonna do it. I can always use it." And when the President-elect's team wouldn't play ball, the Gov is recorded saying, "They're not willing to give me anything but appreciation? Fuck them!"
Day-yum!
Blagojevich has been under investigation for wrong doing since 2005. In fact, I was surprised at his re-election in 2006 (too bad...his Republican opponent, Judy Baar Topinka, is the type of liberal Republican many progressives could live with). But alas, ol' Rod was returned to office for a second term and therefore able to dig himself deeper into his hole. The state legislature had been entertaining impeachment, a fact that led Blagojevich to entertain the idea of appointing himself to Obama's Senate seat (if no one else paid his price, that is), thinking that a change of jobs would clear his name and...get this...repair his reputation enough so that he could run for president in 2016.
The man is truly psychotic.
Following his arrest yesterday, the Governor was able to post bail and return home. Many questions remain: Will he appoint Obama's replacement? And if he does, would the appointee accept it? (Coming from this guy, I can't see how any appointment would be seen as above board.) If he appoints himself, will the United States Senate refuse him the seat (apparently they can do this)? Will the state legislature vote to hold a special election for the seat and override the Governor's ability to appoint?
Bigger questions still: Will Blagojevich take the advice of just about every citizen of Illinois - and virtually every member of state government - and resign? Or will he continue to be pathological, dig his heels in, and fight this? If so, will the state legislature meet before the end of the year and move for immediate impeachment? Or will they leave it for the new legislature to take up once they are sworn after the holidays? Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told WGN-TV last night that if impeachment doesn't work, she will petition the Illinois State Supreme Court, under the state constitution, for a court-mandated removal from office. Would the Supremes make such an unprecedented move?
There are too many pieces to this puzzle still up in the air. My take is that Blagojevich should resign immediately and let Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn take the reins of government - and make the appointment for the U.S. Senate seat. If the Governor doesn't resign by noon on Friday, the state legislature should be laying in wait in Springfield, ready to impeach the son-of-a-bitch at 12:01pm. Bypass the hearings and red tape. Just put a basic bill on the floor that would remove this no-good goon from office before it's too late.
Side note: While it doesn't look like President-elect Obama has anything to do with this scandal (it's restricted to the Gov's office, AND Obama has never really liked Blagojevich), his skirting of the issue during a brief news conference yesterday was a bit disconcerting. Mr. President-Elect...we're about to get rid of an administration that was notorious for its "we can't comment on that" answers to important questions. No one is expecting you to lay everything you may know or not know on the table, but a strong rebuke to the Governor's actions would have gone a long way in my book.
The Republicans are going to try their best to hang this around your neck. Bush-esque answers to questions are only going to fuel their fire.
I'm sure you are far removed from this crap. But, man, just watch your back.
Side note 2: For constant updates and hard-hitting investigative journalism regarding the Blagojevich scandal, make sure and check in with Talking Points Memo. They're all over this story.
