What took them so long?
The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to impeach the state’s scandal-hit governor, Rod Blagojevich.
Mr Blagojevich was arrested last month and charged with attempting to solicit bribes, as well as “selling” Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.
Illinois’s State Senate will now try Mr Blagojevich. If found guilty, the governor will be forced out of office. […]
The Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach Mr Blagojevich, although only 60 votes were needed for the motion to pass.
“It’s our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that’s become Illinois government,” said Jack D Franks, a Democratic representative.
114 to 1. I wonder who the lone holdout was? And yes, freak show is an appropriate term. The US media certainly contributed to the circus atmosphere, egged on by the Republicans, but Blagojevich did most of the damage all by himself. The sooner he’s ousted from office the better for everyone concerned.
Update [2009-1-9 13:25:30 by Steven D]: Found him! The only politician in Illinois (besides Roland Burris, of course) who stands by his Governor:
Rep. Milt Patterson, a Chicago Democrat, cast the lone vote today against impeaching the governor. Patterson said after the roll call that he didn’t believe it was his job to vote to impeach the governor. He declined to comment on whether he approved of the job Blagojevich is doing.
Gee, Milt. What has Governor Blagojevich ever done for you? That’s a real question by the way. Hope you can answer it in the negative.
