Tag: Rod Blagojevich

Lisa Madigan Seeks to Oust Blago

December 12, 2008
ConstitutionCook CountyDemocratic NewsLegal
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The state of Illinois has been plunged into a constitutional crisis this week with the stinging indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  Today, State Attorney General Lisa Madigan took it all up a notch:

Attorney General Lisa Madigan today opened an unprecedented legal attack against a sitting Illinois governor, taking the formal steps to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Gov. Blagojevich unfit to hold office.

Madigan filed paperwork with the state high court this morning, invoking what is known as Rule 382 that would ask justices to rule on “the ability of the governor to serve.”

Madigan is seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, urging the state high court to oust Gov. Blagojevich “due to disability.”

The Sun-Times calls this an “untested legal front.”  You better believe it.  This move is without precedent in the state of Illinois.  If Blagojevich continues to insist on his innocence and remains in office, we are left with government essentially at a standstill.

Again from the Sun-Times:

Only 15 states, including Illinois, grant their state’s highest courts authority to remove a governor from office. The last time one of those states invoked that special power was in Indiana in 2003, when former Gov. Frank O’Bannon was removed from office after having suffered a stroke.

This will be much more difficult.  The man is innocent until proven guilty.  Madigan made a point of saying in her press conference on this matter that she was in no way making a statement about the guilt or innocence of the governor in these alleged crimes.  Her concern is that state government can no longer function.

Twice in one week, I’m completely blown away.

Oy! Blago Thinks He’s Black as Pat Quinn Protests

August 11, 2008
ChicagoChicagolandDemocratic News
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Certainly one of the strangest comments in recent Illinois politics escaped the mouth of Gov. Rod Blagojevich today.

According to our friend Gregory Tejeda at the Chicag Argus, Blago described himself Monday as a “homeboy” and “possibly the first African-American governor of Illinois.”

Just try and find a context for that one.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn stood “outside an event featuring Governor Rod Blagojevich, passing out flyers and urging the state Senate to reject automatic pay raises for lawmakers and top government officials,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Quinn says he doesn’t have a ticket for the City Club of Chicago event Blagojevich is headlining. But he’s outside handing out information alongside a staffer holding a sign that reads “Vote Now, Vote No.”

Quinn says he wants Blagojevich to also urge a no vote by senators.

What a surreal afternoon in Illinois politics this must have been.

From CBS Chicago:

Handing out leaflets headlined “Stop Political Pay Raises Now!” Lt. Gov. Quinn and a few friends protesting outside the governor’s luncheon speech on the Near North Side didn’t impress Illinois Senate President Emil Jones. He said legislators need the 12% raise.

“I have members of my caucus who are single parents … who feel very strongly that they deserve a pay raise,” Jones said.

To avoid Quinn and reporters waiting at the front door, the governor snuck in a back door to deliver his speech. When cornered later, though, he criticized state senators who are blocking a floor vote likely to kill the unpopular proposal.

When someone gave the governor a coffee mug, he reflected on friends gained and the many lost since he took the state’s top job:

“Better a mug than a mug shot, right?” Blagojevich said. “This is such a tough job, you know, I think it’s fair to say I have fewer friends now than I had before I was governor.”

Calling Jones one of his most loyal friends, Blagojevich added, “Emil and I are homeboys, man. … There are times I consider myself the first African American governor of Illinois.”

What is this?  Blago thinks he’s black because he has a black friend?

Oy.