Illinois Legislature Convenes this Afternoon to Impeach Hot Rod Blagojevich?

The Illinois Legislature convenes in a special session later today to sort out the Governor Rod Blagojevich mess with Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Illinois lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday with plans to disarm and dislodge Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose arrest in an alleged attempt to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat has thrown state government up for grabs.

But with Republicans looking to turn the tables on Democrats who control the Statehouse, and disagreement among leaders over whether to proceed with impeachment and how to handle the Senate dilemma, the only certainty on the agenda is chaos.

Blagojevich, arrested Tuesday on charges alleging that he sought bribes for everything from Obama’s Senate seat to state jobs and contracts, met with a prominent defense attorney Sunday but stayed largely out of sight and made no comment about his situation.

In his absence, leading Democrats and Republicans jockeyed for position in a growing battle for the two biggest prizes in state politics: the office of governor and a seat in the U.S. Senate.

The Illinois GOP should remain focused on two goals:

• Impeach Governor Blagojevich
• Enact legislation to enable a special election to replace Barack Obama in the United States Senate.

The rest of the political posturing is just noise and should be ignored.

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