January | 2009 | Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities

Ex-Gov. Blagojevich: Still Crazy After All These Years!

January 30, 2009 — Patrick Zimmerman

Ex-Gov. Blagojevich: Still Crazy After All These Years!

Illinois State Senators stood up one by one in a hushed chamber in Springfield (IL) on Thursday, calling Gov. Rod Blagojevich a liar and a hypocrite who put his ego and his pocketbook ahead of the interests of Illinois. One senator called him “devious, cynical, crass and corrupt.” Another said the evidence of abuse of power was “overwhelming.” A third said he was “without a doubt unfit to govern.”

Subsequently, the Illinois Senate voted 59 to 0 to reject Blagojevich’s theatrical last-minute plea and to remove him from office. The vote to impeach him ended a stormy period of time that had left the nation’s fifth-largest state paralyzed by its governor’s alleged misdeeds and nationally ridiculed for its latest bout of corruption.

Throughout his last day, Mr. Blagojevich was, in turn, furious over the methods of the trial, morose as he said goodbye to staff members at the Governor’s Mansion and brimming with a bizarre gallows humor long before the lawmakers cast their votes. All the while, his office assistant packed his belongings into cardboard boxes, among them, family photographs, a bust of Lincoln and a statue of Elvis.

At another point, he pondered the more practical consequences of losing his job. “I wonder if we’ll have to hitchhike home,” he said. “Maybe we could take the bus.” In the end, he left the Capitol in Springfield through a secret basement corridor full of grunting, clanking pipes, bare walls and puddles.