and then again a Republican could win the open seat !!!!
Besides, Illinois is all voted out. Plus the fact hey are angry with Obama for leaving the seat so soon after they voted him in.

I would say some of this is dependent on what (and how fast) the asshole does. Obviously if he tries and stay on then the state will do whatever is absolutely has to, in order to insure that he doesn't have a thing to do with appointing a successor.

Since he does seem like an incredible asshole he might just want to f**k with everyone and make the twitch by holding out until being forced out.

On the bright side he has managed to kill his Senate and Presidential aspirations....

We're not angry with Obama for leaving the seat so soon...

I'd advocate a special election to avoid gifting a senate seat to the ass hats that have been proposed. Let's get some new blood in there...

Coral: are you high?

Ain't no Republican could win an open Senate seat in Illinois right now. As bad off as Blago is, the GOP here is toxic. And, no, we're not upset at Obama, not even a little bit.

The only people in Illinois that are mad at Obama are the very small minority of Republicans in the state. They made some snarky remarks over the past couple of years about various votes in the Senate that Obama missed because of being on the campaign trail, but that was actually to their advantage and they knew it, because he wouldn't have voted the way they'd have liked.

Wouldn't a special election mean that the party leaders would choose the candidates? If so, are we just going in circles?

Danp: "are we just going in circles?"

Welcome to the wonderful world of Illinois politics.

In order to use a special election to fill the open seat, Illinois law has to be changed. The State Senate president has announced his intention to call the Senate back into session to pass such a law. I guess he thinks he has the authority to call the Senate into session. I've seen statements that say only the gov can call a special session. No word yet from the General Assembly (Illinois House). Then Blago(!) would have to sign the bill, or they would have to override a veto.

A special election requires legislation that the Governor would have to sign. He can simply do nothing for a period of time and we would be at a standstill.

This is a political problem that requires political action. The Governor can be impeached and tried within 10 days to 2 weeks or perhaps even sooner. An impeachment "trial" such as it is is not the same as a criminal trial. there are no due process rights. I say impeach and have it over by Christmas.

Ok, I will stay in context with this one. Governor Rod Blagojevich arrested for corruption, like in movie gangster style according CNN. For me it is justified if Blagojevich has done some horse trading to benefit his position in power and money? Blagojevich is heck of guy isn’t he.

But, the near end timing of this is peculiar. From my view this was a deliberate humiliation in open public view, staged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Especially when CNN now characterizes Blagojevich as a “Punk�. Blitzer and Cafferty agree he is nothing but a “PUNK�. Or could we say Blagojevich is truly a Maverick. Get this, all this time Rod has been in office now Illinois is the most corrupt state in America. For me I don’t think so, Texas, with his Bush Buddies is the premier corrupt state.

The protocol and the method to sneak the arrest made it more inviting to say hey look what is happening. Fitzgerald in a professional way should have held a news conference that would bring these issues in front of the public. But instead did grand standing in the media. My curiosity is there enough background material and residual evidence that would support even more serious cover ups. Actually worse, this is typical Republican media driven political blow back.

It is true Fitzgerald went after a few Republicans, for me most of the chase avoided the real problems. Face it in Illinois the Republicans via Chicago news papers like the Tribune, Sun times, Hate Radio, and major big Republican money for decades wanted to bust up Chicago Democrats. And, sorry, now with Fitzpatrick likely getting a new boss the Commander and Chief is going to face some interesting things in the next days.

Fitzgerald is likely getting orders from Bush and Company to grand stand if you have to but get a corruption creation scheme going for the media guys to pound on for a long time, do it. Here, pulling in Obama by saying he is not part of it. Either by sting or what the CNN people call a Garden Variety Play for power by Blagojevich alone or collateral damage. We see what sore losers the Republicans are. For me it is obvious blow back from loosing the White House.

Blago could be hung upside down from the sears tower wearing a thong owned by Borat himself and some of us would still not think it was enough...

Blago does seem to have a certain ability to think he's god, I bet he'll hang on to the bitter end and take as much as he can down with him.....

Hmmmmm..... yes, I agree that Fitz has done this in a public way, but I think that may be partly because Blago can be so very wily, anything less than public humiliation and Blago seems to have a way of squirming out of it all....

Illinois simply has a political culture that doesn't really align with the laws in Illinois, quite odd that is, but it seems to be true, and I should know, I was once an IT director at a non-profit that did quite a few things with state and local agencies, and some of the things I saw led me to wonder who was in who's pocket....

I think this whole ugly affair is good news for Jim Oberweis. Therefore, it is bad for the nation.

I feel that those who are upset at the spectacle that this has been this afternoon don't understand what the governor has done in the past. His and his wife's involvement with various patronization of state jobs and their involvements with Tony Rezko, not to mention the daily commute controversy, have already created a very bad image of Blagojevich. As a resident of Illinois, I didn't vote for him in 2006, even as a Democrat, and I certainly wouldn't vote for him now.

Also, I would agree that it is still politically near-impossible for a Republican to win a state-wide election. Dick Durbin won last month by a margin of 30 points. And on a related note, I'll bet many Illinois voters wished they had checked yes on the Constitutional Convention vote now.

Update-

Ther are two ways to call a Special Session of the Illinois General Assembly-

The gov can call one.

One can be called by a joint proclamation of the presiding officers of the House and the Senate. Senate pres Emil Jones has announced his intent to call one. No word yet from House speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan is not a friend of Blago's.

Once in session, the G A could pass a bill to change the law, but Blago cold ignore it for a while without a veto, I suppose. Plus, that would seem to be a retroactive law since the vacancy has already occured and Blago currently has the right to fill it.

Of course, once the session is called, they could impeach.

A special election is an unnecessary waste of money, especially for a state without any to waste.

Find a way to get Blago out and let Quinn appoint someone.

More Illinois law:

If a bill for a special election is passed, Blago can sit on it for 60 days before acting. Then he can veto it. By then, a new G A would have been seated, so they couldn't override the veto. They would have to pass the bill again, and Blago could stall another 60 days, before a veto and override. So if Blago wants to be stubborn, no bill for 4 months. Then campaigning time.

Impeachment would be faster. Then either let Quinn appoint someone, or pass the special election law and let Quinn sign it.

Ain't no Republican could win an open Senate seat in Illinois right now. As bad off as Blago is, the GOP here is toxic. And, no, we're not upset at Obama, not even a little bit.
Posted by: Chocolate Thunder on December 9, 2008 at 3:52 PM

Jim Edgar?

Spitzer resigned because the NY legislature threatened to impeach him if he didn't. Even a man as stupid as Blago should see the light and do the right thing. But who knows.

Chocolate Thunder:
No I'm not high - I'm sitting right here next to the state I was born and raised in, well aware of the politics. Illinois voters are fickle - they've had 3 republican govs. Downstate Il is very republican. Plus, there are fewer appealing Dem contenders.

Once in session, the G A could pass a bill to change the law, but Blago cold ignore it for a while without a veto, I suppose. Plus, that would seem to be a retroactive law since the vacancy has already occured and Blago currently has the right to fill it.

Illinois may have some special constitutional limit on retroactive laws, but generally, in the US, they are as valid as any other law, except for retroactive creation of criminal offenses or enhancements to criminal penalties (i.e., ex post facto laws.)

bring back alan keyes!!!

Doubtful that Illinois will want to pony up the $50 million or so to hold a special election. They already can't make payments to agencies that rely on state funding.

Not trying to dismiss what this guy is guilty of. But isn't it ironic this news wasn't made available, and the arrest didn't happen until after he threatened the livelihood of BofA?

Let's try this again,

You don't think there's a connection between BofA and this arrest?

Isn't this all about Wall Street?

You don't think BofA called in favors?

Annjell, @ 19:48 and 20:04

Yeah, the Bank of America's possible connection is interesting. But so is Tribune's filing for the bankruptcy yesterday. Lots-a possible "goodies" in today's news...

Exlibra,

Yeah, the guy was a scumbag, and created enemies. But I don't think Tribune had the political connections that BofA had. Tribune didn't get $25 billion dollars of taxpayer money.

I'm so tired I am drawing a blank, but remember when Obama said they won't fund his campaign, and they won't run his white house.

The word I was looking for "Lobbyists"

A special election is a bad idea. There is no reason why Dems should give the GOP a chance to take this seat. We should insist on waiting until Blogo resigns or is impeached and then let the Lt. Gov. appoint a good solid Democrat.

There should be a special election. Now knowing that this is how they do things, it should be up to citizens to appoint these seats.

Whos's to say the next appointment by a politician is going to be better. As far as I'm concerned, the longer they're in politics, the dirtier they become. It's time for new blood.

Maybe we should start having elections like they did in the presidential race, more than 5 candidate for each position.

I'll defer to Illinios residents who say that the GOP couldn't win a special election now, but why give them a bite at the apple at all?

ISTM the obvious path is 1) impeachment and 2) having the Lt. Gov. appoint Obama's successor.

Well as of Wed. AM looks like Blago is going to try and hold out a la Jefferson and Stevens (as if the people of Illinois need any more evidence that this guy is an asshole). So basically it looks like it is up to the state legislature to get this dynamited out of the governors mansion.