Governor Rod Blagojevich

Illinois Governor Tried to Sell Senate Seat: Prosecutors Reuters CHICAGO (Reuters) - The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was arrested on Tuesday on "staggering" corruption charges that alleged he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat, President-elect Barack Obama. The governor also tried to extort the Chicago Tribune, one of the country's leading newspapers, into firing editorial writers who were critical of him, federal prosecutors said. Obama has long distanced himself from the governor of his home state -- who has been under investigation on other issues for years -- but Blagojevich's arrest was a likely embarrassment to the president-elect. ... Read Full Story

Harry Reid v. the Constitution If Roland Burris isn't fit for the Senate, how is Chris Dodd? An Illinois court will eventually decide if Governor Rod Blagojevich is guilty of corruption. But on at least one issue he is more law-abiding than Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Democrats: the seating of Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. AP Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich. Mr. Blagojevich appointed Mr. Burris to represent Illinois on Tuesday, ahead of the official start of the 111th Congress next week. This was certainly an act of brash defiance given that nearly everyone had warned the ... Read Full Story

By Wayne Barrett Tuesday, March 10th 2009 at 2:42pm When Mike Bloomberg named Bradley Tusk to run his $80 million re-election campaign in December, the mayor took pains to explain that his new 35-year-old hire was not tainted by his most prominent prior employer—Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who had been arrested just three days earlier. Tusk "never had anything to do with parts of that administration," Bloomberg told the Times . He knew this, he explained, because Tusk, Blagojevich's first-term Deputy Governor, had told him so, bringing it up himself "to make sure we were aware of the issues" before he was given the ... Read Full Story

CHICAGO, Illinois — Ousted Governor Rod Blagojevich doesn't seem to mind being the butt of a theatrical joke. Blagojevich got in on the joke Saturday evening, appearing as himself in a comedy show that lampoons the rise and fall of his own political career. He opened The Second City's "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a parody of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar," standing on a chair with his arms raised as if he were being crucified. more HERE Read Full Story

Welcome back, folks. This week, Reed and I are revisiting political matters, mostly because there's a lot to discuss, but also because we sense our readers prefer political topics to non-political ones. Feel free to correct our assumption if it's wrong. The coin flip has me arguing this week that the United States Senate should not block the seating of former Illinois Attorney General, Roland Burris, as Barack Obama's replacement. My arguing this position requires that indicted Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was within his legal rights to make this appointment (which I believe he was), and, further, that the Illinois Supreme Court will either force ... Read Full Story