Illinois Thu Dec 18 2008

Impeachment Hearings Go On (and on and on)

By Ramsin Canon

Fran Eaton of the Illinois Review covers it live.

Governor Blagojevich's attorney can't believe the Governor is not being afforded "due process" and "equal protection," though one wonders if he isn't aware that Governor Blagojevich is being treated the same way any other sitting Governor of Illinois would be treated in an impeachment proceeding -- and that the impeachment itself is the "due process."

This is a political activity. Impeachment is about votes, not legal standards and tests.

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What a joke / December 18, 2008 4:54 PM

"This is a political activity. Impeachment is about votes, not legal standards and tests."

Ramsin, this is why you have very little credibility outside of the . You are always thinking that the end justifies the means.

What a joke / December 18, 2008 4:54 PM

"This is a political activity. Impeachment is about votes, not legal standards and tests."

Ramsin, this is why you have very little credibility outside of this circle. You are always thinking that the end justifies the means.

Ramsin Canon / December 18, 2008 5:05 PM

That's a non-sequitor accusation. I'm not saying anything here that isn't being said by the folks running the hearing themselves.

In an earlier post I said I didn't quite think this all was fair--the guy is innocent until proven guilty--but does that change the fact that an impeachment proceeding in the House is not a criminal procedure?

Insulting me, "What a Joke", doesn't turn it into a criminal proceeding, does it?

Posting anonymously of course makes your credibility marvelous, but what would enhance it even more is if you had read the Illinois Constitution:

SECTION 14. IMPEACHMENT
The House of Representatives has the sole power to conduct legislative investigations to determine the existence of cause for impeachment and, by the vote of a majority of the members elected, to impeach Executive and Judicial officers. Impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When sitting for that purpose, Senators shall be upon oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to law. If the Governor is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators elected. Judgment shall not extend beyond removal from office and disqualification to hold any public office of this State. An impeached officer, whether convicted or acquitted, shall be liable to prosecution, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.

Don't waste my time, lightweight.

Ramsin Canon / December 18, 2008 5:38 PM

Further reading for the obviously illiterate:

And the standards and procedures for impeachment, described in the state Constitution, are extremely broad, offering scarce guidance other than calling for a majority vote in the House, a trial in the Senate presided over by the State Supreme Court’s chief justice and, for a conviction, a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate.

“They’ll have to decide what their standard is,” said Dawn Clark Netsch, a political scientist at Northwestern University who was once a Democratic lawmaker and comptroller of Illinois. “They’re going to look to language or grounds or standards used in other states. They may be somewhat influenced by language in the U.S. Constitution, but they certainly aren’t bound by any of that.”

What a joke.

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Illinois Thu Dec 18 2008

Impeachment Hearings Go On (and on and on)

What a joke / December 18, 2008 4:54 PM

What a joke / December 18, 2008 4:54 PM

Ramsin Canon / December 18, 2008 5:05 PM

Ramsin Canon / December 18, 2008 5:38 PM

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Substance, Not Style, the Source of Rahm's Woes

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