Governor

Eric Zorn has the right reaction to recall in Illinois:

I’m fearful of it, too. I worry that it will give too much power to interest groups with the money to mount petition drives and make elected officials even more skittish than they already are.

Zorn describes the Governor as non-plussed:

It was a bit rainy but that didn't dampen anyone's spirit at the Evanston 4th of July Parade. The first shot is just before the parade with Gov. Pat Quinn and DPOE President Daniel Biss getting their picture taken by Daniel's wife Karen. The second shot is a group shot taken afterwards.

Talk about sweeping things under the carpet:

Mayor Richard Daley today said Illinois already has “moved on” from the corruption scandal involving former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was indicted Thursday along with five others, including his brother.

Gov. Pat Quinn: "The ordeal is over".

One of the most frustrating things about Blagojevich's tenure as governor was just how little got done in Springfield. You'd think with Democratic majorities in the legislature and a Democratic governor, we'd be able to advance a progressive agenda a bit further. Instead what we got was constant bickering and stalemate.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Illinois Senate votes to remove Gov. Blagojevich from office.

Is Senator Dick Durbin hitting the brakes on Burris? Here's part of his remarks from a press conference courtesy of Progress Illinois:

"At this point, we've clearly reached an impasse. The Illinois Supreme Court has said, 'Our state has done all it needs to do under its statutes and constitution to fill the vacancy. We're not going to do anything, nor require any officer of the state to do more.' The Senate rules say, 'More needs to be done.'

Let's say someone robs a bank and right before he gets nabbed by the police, he hands over the loot to one of those Salvation Army bell-ringers.

Are we going to spend much time dwelling on the probity of the bell-ringer -- much less, let him hold on to the money?

Illinois SOS Jesse White:

As I have previously stated publicly, I cannot co-sign a document that certifies any appointment by Rod Blagojevich for the vacant United State Senate seat from Illiois.

Although I have respect for former Attorney General Roland Burris, because of the current cloud of controversy surrounding the Governor, I cannot accept the document.

[h/t TheCapitolFaxBlog]

The following ended an article in Politico titled "Obama's Five Rules of Scandal Response":

"To the extent that the report succeeds in its goal of establishing the distance between Obama and Blagojevich, it necessarily raises the question: Why was the president-elect and leader of the Democratic party playing no role in a key appointment to national office being made in his home state, and by a Democratic governor?"

Add me to the thumbs-down column on calling a special election for U.S. Senator. We have an approved-upon method of replacing a senator and suddenly we're going to throw that out and do something completely different? That seems like bad policy to me.