Results for the IL-05 primaries: Pulido, Quigley, some Green.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  March 4th at 09:50 AM  | 

The general election is in April, but the majority of reporting is assuming that the winner of the Democratic Party is a shoo-in for the general election. So noted. Moving along, on the Republican side anti-illegal immigration activist and Minuteman member Rosanna Pulido has won the nomination. Speaking as a pro-”amnesty” anti-immigration squishy-soft moderate, I sincerely congratulate her on her victory and wholeheartedly endorse her | Read More »

Gov Pat Quinn calls for Burris to resign.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  February 20th at 12:32 PM  | 

[UPDATE] Well, well, well: I may be happy to be proven wrong in this case: “Illinois governor says Burris should resign Quinn says a new senator should be chosen by special election.” Via Hot Air. Reported by Jim Geraghty: given the drumbeat of articles cropping up (“Black Ministers May Rethink Backing Sen. Burris,” and “Blagojevich aide tells of Burris call in fall,” and “What people | Read More »

Senator Durbin (D-IL) abandons Senator Burris (D-IL).

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  February 19th at 02:13 PM  | 

Abandons him quite comprehensively, in fact: WASHINGTON–Embattled Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is cancelling his Thursday schedule, where he was to have met with Rockford area civic, elected and religious leaders as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent out a very frosty statement, saying Burris failed to disclose under oath the nature of his relationship with former Gov. Blagojevich.

Chicago Tribune futilely calls for Burris’ resignation.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  February 17th at 09:49 PM  | 

(Via Hot Air Headlines) It’s a lovely thought, but it won’t happen. If either state or Senate Democrats cared enough about the humiliation that they were putting the people of Illinois through with this sorry mess, they would have changed the law to permit a special election in the first place. But that wasn’t important. Keeping the seat in the hands of one political party? | Read More »

Well, Senator Burris (D-IL) is from Illinois.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  February 14th at 05:00 PM  | 

Annnnd that would be perjury: Blago hit up Burris for cash EXCLUSIVE | In his third sworn version of events, senator confirms pitch for donations Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother solicited U.S. Sen. Roland Burris for up to $10,000 in campaign cash before Blagojevich named Burris to the coveted post — something Burris initially failed to disclose under oath before an Illinois House impeachment panel, | Read More »

Blagojevich stripped of office, any reason to keep his mouth shut.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 29th at 08:00 PM  | 

They threw him out 59-0: SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been convicted at his impeachment trial and thrown out of office. His removal comes nearly two months after his arrest on charges of trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. He becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment. …and AoSHQ reports that | Read More »

It’s the biography of Churchill that makes this picture.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 26th at 11:00 AM  | 

Ride that puppy all the way down, Rod. Impeachment trial to proceed without Ill. governor SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Gov. Rod Blagojevich, taking his defense to television rather than his impeachment trial, lashed out at his accusers Monday and revealed he had considered naming Oprah Winfrey to the U.S. Senate. The embattled governor told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the idea of nominating the talk show | Read More »

Go down swinging, Rod Blagojevich.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 23rd at 02:18 PM  | 

For great justice. CHICAGO — Illinois’ embattled but defiant governor, so fond of reciting poetry as he defends himself against federal corruption allegations, has turned instead to the history books to describe the emotional strain his arrest put on him and his family. In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared his early morning December arrest by FBI agents to Japan’s | Read More »

Blagojevich scandal? “Let’s go to the video tape…”

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 14th at 09:42 AM  | 

Capuchin monkeys with flaming chainsaws, that’s what: Federal authorities used a video camera as part of their cache of tools to investigate Gov. Blagojevich in the final weeks of 2008 before his arrest, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The camera, which likely was remote-controlled, was trained on the Friends of Blagojevich offices, 4147 N. Ravenswood, to help FBI agents identify individuals entering and leaving the | Read More »

Breaking: Rod Blagojevich has been impeached.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 9th at 01:01 PM  | 

“Cry “Havoc!” – and let slip the dogs of war.” The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state’s 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois’ longstanding reputation for political corruption. [snip] A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign. A 2 p.m. news conference with the governor is scheduled for the James R. Thompson | Read More »

Barack Obama is/is not interfering with Reid’s seating/not seating Burris.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 8th at 02:52 PM  | 

This is from yesterday, via TPM, and it’s President-Elect Obama declaring that the Burris pick is a “Senate matter:” “That is a Senate matter. But I know Roland Burris, obviously he’s from my home state. I think he’s a fine public servant. If he gets seated then I’m gonna work with Roland Burris just like I work with all the other senators to make sure | Read More »

Democrats cracking over Burris?

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 7th at 10:50 AM  | 

Thin gruel, as of this moment: WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant seat. …but quite possible. (You can catch up on this here, by the way. Sort of.)[UPDATE: And more from our own Dan Spencer.)

America to Democratic Party: Hey, you know what would be great? A Special Election in Illinois.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 6th at 03:58 PM  | 

First, America as a whole: Poll: Half say Burris should be blocked from Sen. seat WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say Roland Burris should be blocked from taking a U.S. Senate seat and Illinois should hold a special election to fill the vacancy he was appointed to fill, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. [snip] Interest in the dispute is high — six in | Read More »

Jesse Jackson, Jr, Emil Jones, and Danny Davis have at least two things in common.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 3rd at 11:18 AM  | 

The second thing is that Harry Reid made it a point to oppose any of them being picked to replace Obama in the Senate: Reid pressured Blagojevich not to appoint Jackson Jr. to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat

Democrats: Burris to be barred by men with guns, if necessary.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 1st at 04:12 PM  | 

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP: WASHINGTON — As U.S. Senate leadership developed an elaborate set of contingency plans today to keep Roland Burris from taking over President-elect Barack Obama’s seat, the disputed appointee promised not to “create a scene” when the Senate convenes next week. If Burris shows up Tuesday to claim the seat given to him by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the outcomes | Read More »

Blagojevich looks around at the pools of gasoline, giggles, and ignites the magnesium flare.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 19th at 06:47 PM  | 

And will he hit the bottom? Sure. Single-digit approval ratings and the instinctive public shunning by the national Democratic Party leadership is fairly diagnostic – hey, I’m not going to be on his jury; no harm in me saying what we all know already. Blago’s dirty, he’s finally gotten caught on something that we can hammer him for, and he’s going to get hammered. But | Read More »

Meet Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D, IL-4). He likes real estate deals.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 19th at 10:01 AM  | 

Blagojevich crony, by the way. Mentioned in passing in this WSJ article, so I took a look-see, and hey: acts like you’d expect a Blagojevich crony would. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez has made more than $420,000 on real estate deals Many are done with campaign contributors When U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez was looking to buy in the sizzling Bucktown real estate market, he teamed up | Read More »

Reviewing Governor Blagojevich’s (D) status.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 18th at 06:00 PM  | 

He’s not resigning. He’s not going to get declared mentally incompetent by the Supreme Court of Illinois. He’s not going to pick Obama’s replacement in the Senate. He’s not going to be successfully impeached for months. He’s going down swinging, including petitioning to use campaign funds to pay for his defense. He’s, in fact, thoroughly messed up the mojo of the Illinois Democratic Party, and | Read More »

CNN: Jesse Jackson, Jr working with the feds for a decade.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 17th at 04:31 PM  | 

Note my bolding. Oh, my, yes, note my bolding: SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (CNN) — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — who was cited in a criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich — has been an informant for at least a decade with the U.S. Attorney’s office, and has informed on the embattled governor of Illinois, though not in the case currently under investigation, Jackson spokesman Kenneth Edmonds told | Read More »

Going after anti-democratic Democrats: Special Election Ad.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 15th at 09:00 AM  | 

The Illinois GOP is certainly happy to keep running with this theme, huh? What makes this especially fun is that they included Illinois AG Lisa Madigan in the above montage of politicians that are supposedly for the special election.