Blagojevich is gone!

It appears that Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has been impeached and removed from office for his role in attempting to sell incoming President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. From the Chicago Tribune:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Illinois Senate voted to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office Thursday, marking the first time in the state's long history of political corruption that a chief executive has been impeached and convicted.

The 59-0 vote followed several hours of public deliberation in which senator after senator stood up to blast Blagojevich, whose tenure lasted six years. And it came after a four-day impeachment trial on allegations that Blagojevich abused his power and sold his office for personal and political benefit.

The conviction on a sweeping article of impeachment means the governor was immediately removed from office. The Senate also unanimously voted to impose the "political death penalty" on Blagojevich, banning him from ever again holding office in Illinois.

Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, Blagojevich's two-time running mate, has become the state's 41st governor.

[....]

Highlighting the day's serious nature, Blagojevich offered his own sprawling, passionate closing argument after ignoring a Senate impeachment trial all week to take his case to the nation on the talk-show circuit.

I've been keeping half an eye on the Blago circus, amazed at how far Blago has been thumbing his nose at just about everyone--the Senate Democrats for when Blago chose former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill Obama's Senate seat, or how Blago dismissed the Illinois House vote to impeach him, or even how Blago refused to attend his own impeachment trial--let alone Blago's legal team pulling out of the impeachment trial. And to make matters worst, Blago decided to spend this week in a surreal media tour, before returning to the trial to present his own closing arguments against the impeachment. I don't know what else to say, aside from the fact that Rod Blagojevich was a complete idiot for not only attempting to sell Obama's U.S. Senate seat, but also for digging himself into his own political grave with this "damn you all to hell" attitude against anyone who opposed him over the past month. And that attitude pretty much included the entire Illinois state legislature. The Blago pissy attitude probably made this circus so bad, that the Illinois state legislature decided to kick Blago out for not just being an idiot, but for being a pissy idiot.

I guess we will no longer have to worry about Rod Blagojevich anymore. On to the next circus!