I really have a problem with what Lisa Madigan is trying to do, and hope the Ill Supreme Court

[RB TexLa]

throws it right out the window.

If the legislature wants to impeach Blagojevich that's fine. I don't think they will have that big of a problem getting the votes. Her wanting the court to rule him unfit to serve because of a scandal sets a very bad precedent. And yes, scandal is putting it mildly but there is the problem. How bad a scandal is, is a matter of opinion. True very few doubt the severity of the situation with Blagojevich, but how about a sex scandal? What about a governor's sibling involved with a major crime and maybe the governor was or wasn't involved? Once this precedent is set it's there. I think we should leave the supreme court to rule a governor unfit to serve due to physical or mental illness without the tarnishment of impeachment and use impeachment for those who deserve impeachment.

I'll probably be alone on this but that's ok.

[leftstreet]

1. They're all acting soooo scared

:wtf:

And I agree Madigan's request would set a dangerous precedent

[robinlynne]

2. But he does deserve impeachment. selling a senate seat is pretty serious. It is not like

the other examples you posted. It is way more serious than any of them.

[RB TexLa]

4. I didn't say he doesn't. Line the legislature up and vote, that is their job.

[WillowTree]

18. It isn't that simple.

It isn't a matter of just "line them up and vote" and you should know that. The House may be able to impeach relatively quickly (though then you'd be saying that it was being done with undue haste and without proper hearings), but he'd still be in office until the trial was held in the state Senate, and that could take weeks or months. Meanwhile, who knows what further damange he could do?

No thanks. Ms. Madigan is doing her job according to state law and most of us here in Illinois are behind her.

[pampango]

23. I suspect many Illinois politicians are hesitant about an impeachment process, since

it involves the public display of evidence and testimony. Much of that evidence and testimony may well implicate some of these same politicians. Much better from their perspective if the Illinois Supreme Court quickly removes Blago with a minimum of the public airing of all the details of his misdeeds and hope this blows over to the extent possible.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Can you imagine what Blago's wife is saying about Lisa Madigan?

I can hear it now..."Why that Bleeping Bleep! How dare that Bleep try and Bleeping rule you unfit to Bleeping run this state?!?!?! :)

[RB TexLa]

11. That made me think about something. I was working for a candidate for US Senate once

we had this big binder with all the names, phone numbers and such of supporters and everything else important in it. We called it "the Bible." One time when the candidate wanted a phone number of someone to call, we couldn't find it. From the candidate came "Where the fuck is the motherfucking Bible? If that God damn Bible is not in this fucking truck someone is walking thier ass back to Baton Rouge and getting it!"

Every one just fell out laughing and of course it turned up. The candidate also laughing then said "we've got to come up with a new fucking name for that thing."

[Catherine Vincent]

14. Funny!

[tom_paine]

25. Oh, that is an AWESOME story, RG!

:rofl:

You made my day with that one!

:hi:

[robinlynne]

5. Perhaps you don't realize exactly what he did? And with 28 phone messages recored about selling that

seat, it's not as if the evidence is circumstancial or as if this "might or might not" be true.....

[RB TexLa]

7. This time, but maybe not so much the next time an AG and majority of the supreme court

don't like a governor.

[book_worm]

6. Hopefully Blago will come to the conclusion that he can no longer effectively

serve as governor and resign. If not resignation hopefully he will be impeached. But he should certainly not be allowed to appoint the next senator, rightly or wrongly that person would be serving under a cloud.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. I think she knows there's more to come from Blago.

The locals know he's buried many bodies, they just don't know where all of them are and they know him too well to know he's not going to do what's honorable.

[madrchsod]

12. lisa`s dad and blago are enemies......

illinois politic`s is a family affair. i think she`s going to be our next governor.

[madrchsod]

9. i see no problem with what she is doing

i`m relying on her interpretation of the laws of the state of illinois pertaining to the removal of a public official. if the courts here rule otherwise so be it.

for the good of citizens of the state of illinois he needs to resign his office monday.

[Gundam Macross]

10. Seems inappropriate. Doesn't she want to be Gov.?

[madrchsod]

13. yup... i hope she does

i think we are finally ready to vote for woman to run our state....

[Tinksrival]

15. It's a political power play

Does two things.... Puts huge pressure on Blago to resign and it distances her from him as they are both Democrats. Lisa is playing her part in the power grab. If they decide to put it to a special election all hell will break lose, Repubs smell blood.

[pnwmom]

16. The problem is that -- in order to qualify for lending to the state --

she had to certify to the banks that Blago wasn't involved in any controversial legal action.

How could she certify that?

So as long as Blago is the governor, the state's financing is in jeopardy.

[WillowTree]

17. This isn't something Lisa Madigan just pulled out of her hat.

Illinois law provides for the AG to do exactly what she's doing if s/he believes that the situation warrants it. He'll have to resign or the legislature will still have to impeach him to get him permanently out of office, but this ruling will prevent him from making any more appointments or signing (or vetoing) any more legislation and will give us an acting governor in his place until something more permanent can be done.

[mucifer]

19. He has a history of weird behavior and my state is really suffering for it.

He's been very erratic and unstable. That's why his approval rating has been 13% BEFORE he was arrested. He has been refusing to communicate with the state legislature even tho his party is in the majority. Again this is BEFORE he was arrested. He just adds weird things to the budget at the very last minute confusing everyone. One example is last year there was a huge budget fight lots of deficit no money in the budget and blago out of the blue said he would sign the budget if all senior citizens get to ride public transportation for free. It actually insulted many people who had the money to pay and there was no money for this available. It was a horrible mess and it hurt him more than it helped him. I'm sure many elderly appreciated this, but blago did it in such a weird bizarre way.

For the sake of my state, I really hope Madigan is successful. I'm also very much looking forward to Pat Quinn who is a true progressive and knows how to get things done. He's the Lt. Governor next in line for the spot. As part of blago's weird behavior the 2 have not spoken for years. In IL the gov and Lt. gov do NOT run together in an election. It's not like prez and vp.

[Gundam Macross]

20. The citizens of Illinois are not blameless here, he was re-elected while under investigation.

[elleng]

21. She argues that Blago is disabled from doing his job

because of the charges against him; the Ill Sup Ct in fact has the authority and obligation to determine the existence and nature of such dissability. Article V sections (b) and (d), Illinois Constitution

His job requires him to do a number of things that relate in fact to elements of the Complaint, in addition to naming a new Senator, and in my opinion its clear that he's not able to take such actions due to the charges against him. The Illinois Supreme Court is well suited to decide such matter.

[Brazenly Liberal]

22. I agree with you 100%

This is exactly the sort of case that tests our rights. And make no mistake about it - our rights are no more certain or secure than Blago's. The courts put great weight on precedent and therefore each of us has no more reasonable expectation of human rights/civil rights than the worst of the worst has.

Miranda was a creep and a thug. The ruling protecting his rights has protected the rights - and, in some cases, freedom - of thousands of innocent people.

Blago is a slimeball. He ought to resign. If he refuses, we have an established route to get rid of him. Yes, it takes a while, but the damage he can do staying in office for a few more months is nothing compared to the damage that will be done to the governorship if we go down Lisa Madigan's road.

Ms. Madigan has gubernatorial ambitions of her own. I would have thought her a qualified candidate before this. Now that I see she views the law as a situational, sometime kind of thing, I have doubts about her qualifications for the job she already has.

[Fumesucker]

24. I want to see an impeachment/trial... I want the dirt to all come out..

I'm weary unto death of corrupt politicians and I hope the maximum amount of dirt comes out, I don't care if they are Dem or Repub.

Unless and until we hold our own to the highest standards we have no room to talk about the other side.

[MadHound]

26. The trouble is impeachment, no matter how fast it goes through the IL Congress

Is going to take far too long if Blago decides to act. The Supreme Court of IL can shut him down tomorrow, and then he can be impeached. At this point it's all about preventing him from causing further harm, including appointing somebody for that Senate seat.

What Illinois really needs to work on is finance reform for their elections. It's no wonder that there is seemingly always corruption problems in Illinois, their election finance laws have so many holes in them they look like Swiss cheese.