If the governor of the State of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, can no longer fulfill the duties outlined for him by the Constitution of the state, he should no longer occupy that office. He should resign immediately!
If the governor of the State of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, can no longer fulfill the duties outlined for him by the Constitution of the state, he should no longer occupy that office. He should resign immediately!
It is as simple as that, yet, it is complex.
Surely, Gov. Blagojevich has not been convicted of committing any crime. The criminal complaint filed against him last week contains transcripts of taped conversations that paint Blagojevich as a scheming, arrogant, profane profiteer, who sought to derive personal financial and political benefit from his constitutional duty of choosing an individual to fill the vacated United States Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama.
He did so with full knowledge that his every word was being watched and listened to. Such brazen corruption is an affront to every citizen of the state and the United States.
But here is where the complex part comes in.
Illinois still needs a U.S. Senator, and the question now becomes how do we get one. We stand committed to the idea that an African American should fill the position, given that with President-elect Obama’s resignation, there are now no African Americans in that august body.
If Blagojevich does not choose a successor (and we vehemently oppose him doing so) and resigns, then the duty falls to Lt. Governor Pat Quinn. Quinn has had little or no relationship with the Black community, so we are not sure he is sensitive to the desires of the Black community.
Quinn has been Blagojevich’s running mate twice. We are troubled by his admission that he had not spoken to Blagojevich since 2007. We wonder how he was doing his job of lieutenant governor if he had no contact with the governor.
Quinn has called for the impeachment of the governor, but that is a political act. Blagojevich will get his opportunity to defend himself in a court of law, and impeachment proceedings will necessarily founder on political maneuvering, not seeking the truth, or justice, just political retribution and gain. The end run to the state Supreme Court, to strip Blagojevich of the governorship because of “disability,” proposed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, is unpalatable, especially since it is no secret that Madigan has designs on the governor’s seat.
The most fair way of solving the dilemma is a special election to fill the post. Such an election will take time and money, but aren’t we worth it? It certainly beats having a corrupt governor, an out of touch lieutenant governor or an ambitious attorney general pushing the decisions. Blagojevich should resign, and the voters should decide who should replace Barack Obama and for that matter Blagojevich.
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