Blago Busted

[stoutfellow]

So, Illinois Governor Blagojevich has been arrested on charges of "conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife". That's two governors in a row. (Beat that, Louisiana!)

So, does he still get to pick Obama's successor?

Comments

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

I heard on NPR when I was driving into work that there's some sort of bill being floated in the IL legislature to authorize a special election.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I think the problem's pretty much moot, now. At this point, no one with any sense would accept appointment by Blagojevich; anyone he did appoint would probably be rejected by the Senate; and Blago's probably going to be impeached pretty quickly. Still, it's a bizarre situation.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I liked the way Obama handled it -- at least the way it appeared that he handled it on the news tonight.

He's an odd duck. A non-corrupt Chicago politician [g].

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

I'm just hoping he winds up in jail. Because lord almighty? I mean seriously, he is totally begging for jail time here.

[sunlizzard.livejournal.com]

When that popped up on my news feed, I was actually looking for the December equivalent of April Fools. I mean, gawdamighty, even for Illnois that is hard to get your mind around...!

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

The only event I can think of in the same league (qualitatively, at least) was in the late '40s, when Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge died. Despite the existence of a perfectly suitable Lieutenant Governor, the Georgia legislature voted to install Eugene's son Herman as governor. There was a lawsuit, and eventually the Supremes slapped them down.

Herman was elected governor legitimately at the next opportunity.

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

According to KMOX this morning, we're only the 18th most corrupt state in the union. I wonder if the 50th most corrupt state is actually less corrupt or just better at it.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall suggested that Alaska, Louisiana, and Illinois were the three most corrupt states in the union. Immediately, complaints began flooding in from readers who wanted a piece of the action for their states: Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts... (No one seems to have mentioned Maryland yet, which surprises me.)

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall in some state somewhere (look at that citation, baby, PURE WIN) that a high volume tunnel was completed with corruption built into the concrete. It collapsed recently due to poor... everything. Selling a seat doesn't bother me so much. I mean, it does, but it's just lobbying on a whole new level. The kind of corruption that drops sections of concrete on my head while I'm trying to go to work - that's the kind of corruption that scares me.

I'll try to find out where I heard that, so my post is less urban legend and more facty.

[kattsune.livejournal.com]

Found it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig_(Boston,_Massachusetts)