One step closer to justice in IL: Rod Blagojevich has been impeached

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Chad Rubel

The sigh of relief you may have heard this morning all the way from Illinois was the news that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached.

The vote was a nailbiter, 114-1 with one rep voting "present." Milt Patterson (D-Chicago) becomes the answer to the trivia question of "Who voted against impeachment of Rod Blagojevich?"

Patterson said he wasn't comfortable voting against the governor because he has "no first-hand knowledge of any of the evidence."

He also said he didn't feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor, and declined comment on whether he approved of the way Blagojevich is doing his job. If you are a state representative, it is your job to vote on impeachment, and he did, he voted no.

Rep. Elga Jefferies, a South Side Democrat, voted "present."

One state representative who didn't get a chance to vote, because she is an incoming state rep and the new House doesn't convene until next week, is Deborah Mell, who happens to be the sister-in-law of Blagojevich. That could have been awkward.
 
The trial goes on to the Senate, where 40 of the 59 senators need to find him guilty to remove him from office. If this happens, and it just might within the next month, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn takes over and becomes the 41st Governor of Illinois.

What does that mean for the Roland Burris Senate situation? If the U.S. Senate really wanted to stall, and given that Al Franken won't be seated anytime soon, it would seem to make sense to make everyone wait, especially if Quinn can name a replacement by, in his words, Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday (February 12).
 
That mark would be less than a month after the Inauguration, and other than passing the economic stimulus package, there won't be any major Senate business. And if Pelosi's timeline for passing the economic package, just before the President's Day recess, follows in reality, that person could be there in time to cast a vote for the economic package.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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