Blue on Blue: And lo, there were rumors of impeachment in the Illinois legislature.
Obama campaign no doubt about to preemptively issue a "____ was not the man that I knew" press release.
By Moe Lane Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Blagojevich | Corrupt Democrat Watch | Illinois Combine | Rezko | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Breitbart has some details of a very interesting memo:
Memo outlines Illinois gov's potential impeachment
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The speaker of the Illinois House is circulating a memo outlining how legislative candidates can call for impeachment hearings against the governor, calling corruption during his tenure "a tumor."
A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, said the memo is intended for candidates who have requested more information if voters ask about Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and potential impeachment.
The memo sent to some House Democratic candidates, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, offers a rundown of Blagojevich's alleged "misdeeds and malfeasance" and detailed talking points on the merits of impeachment.
Division Street has what purports to be the entire memo: feel free to read it, then come back here for discussion.
Read on.
Let us establish something, just for the record: Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is in fact pushing for the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich, and never mind what's being spun as "not necessarily reflective of the Democratic speaker's view." The document in question has been at least thoroughly researched (I'll leave it to somebody familiar with Illinois politics to tell me whether it's effective), and would be have been suggestive of a personal animosity between Madigan and Blagojevich, if only it weren't already obvious.
Of course, what is also obvious is that Patrick Fitzgerald's hoping to have an Illinois Governor under indictment next Fitzmas Day, and given his recent conviction record, he stands a very good chance of having that happen. This would not look good for the state Democratic Party in Illinois, unless of course they can scapegoat and kick out Blagojevich first; hence the push for impeachment. Madigan obviously doesn't expect it to happen before November - hence, the talking points issued to state House candidates - but cases against Governors take time.
Alas for Illinois Democrats, they have a Presidential candidate - one with a good deal of linkage to Governor Blagojevich, not to mention convicted felon Tony Rezko - this year; and while actively pursuing impeachment proceedings might help Democrats on the state level, it will certainly not help Senator Barack Obama. You might be forgiven thinking that this is the major reason why Illinois Senate President Emil Jones (Obama super-delegate, not to mention mentor) is about the only Democrat trying to logroll this. You might even be forgiven that this is the only reason why Jones is trying to logroll this, in fact.
Now, it is true that a lot, if not most, of this situation is politics-driven. That doesn't take away from the major problem for Senator Obama: yet another one of his associates is turning out to be questionable. He has more of an excuse than he'd had in the past for associating with Blagojevich (hard to be in state-level politics and not be associated with the Governor), but the fact remains that Blagojevich is so obviously corrupt that his own party is trying to shake him loose, from the Lieutenant Governor on down. The fact also remains that Blagojevich's most prominent major supporter is also unquestionably linked with Obama, and has been almost a decade. If the Senator does not like the fact that these two facts are relevant to his current campaign for President, the Senator is perfectly welcome to go back to doing the job currently assigned to him by the population of Illinois. Until then, I ask: so, Senator Obama, is this the Rod Blagojevich that you knew?
Or the Emil Jones?
Moe Lane
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Blue on Blue: And lo, there were rumors of impeachment in the Illinois legislature. 2 Comments (0 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
* While I respect the work of United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and while I would not support any actions that would interfere with the investigations that he or the FBI may be conducting into Governor Blagojevich’s administration and its associates, nor would I want the House’s inquiry to compromise any current or future prosecutions, our duty to our citizens, constitution and conscience demands that we act now.
While this appears to be a very healthy civil war in Obamaland, I can't help but wonder if the whole point is to get in front of the prosecutor and to blunt fallout from any Emil Jones-related dirt.
I'll look forward to your blog, flyover.
Sadly, I reside in Illinois. Even sadlier (my word, suck it grammar-nazis), the residents of the People's Democratic Republic of Illinois have put up with cronyism, corruption and the Daley machine for so long that most down-staters (the residents south of I-80) seem to have given up all hope of a rational state government. The up-staters are either complicit, jaded, crushed or ignorant as regards state politics.
I'm going to make an attempt to be an "Illinois" blogger for RedState, per Erick's post yesterday. Step One is to tackle this story, as it is one I've been following ever since Senator Rutherford introduced a petition to amend the state constitution to allow recall of corrupt or inept politicians.
Predictably, Emil Jones quashed Rutherford's recall initiative, just as Right to Carry laws and tax breaks have been manhandled by the Senate leader in recent months. In this, I can assure you that "Emil Jones is the man I knew."