"Delusional"
As the full extent of Rod Blagojevich's alleged scheme to auction off the vacant Illinois Senate seat became known, some of the Governor's Illinois colleagues were at a loss to explain what, exactly, he was thinking.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D), in an interview Tuesday afternoon, was nearly shell-shocked by the full extent of the Justice Department's complaint, saying that Blagojevich had exhibited remarkably reckless behavior.
"I think, perhaps, [crazy] is sort of a clinically appropriate word," she said of Blagojevich, who allegedly sought to reap massive financial rewards from candidates vying for Obama's seat. "If you think about it, this individual who was still willing to entertain the notion of himself as Secretary of Health and Human Services or being a candidate 2016. There is something not right there ... It is absolutely so fanciful or delusional and individual. It's not representative of, 'well here are the rules.' It is not, in fact, the way most political people would handle a serious situation."
Schakowsky, considered a possible replacement for Obama, argued that Blagojevich, in light of these charges, should step down from office. Absent that, she added, the Illinois state government should launch impeachment proceedings. She agreed with the notion -- put forward by State Senate President Emil Jones and Senator Dick Durbin -- that the legislature should pass a bill allowing the people of Illinois to determine Obama's replacement (legislation that Blagojevich would, if governor, have to sign). And she cautioned that anyone appointed by the embattled governor to the post -- even if that person was herself -- would not enjoy political legitimacy.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D), in an interview Tuesday afternoon, was nearly shell-shocked by the full extent of the Justice Department's complaint, saying that Blagojevich had exhibited remarkably reckless behavior.
"I think, perhaps, [crazy] is sort of a clinically appropriate word," she said of Blagojevich, who allegedly sought to reap massive financial rewards from candidates vying for Obama's seat. "If you think about it, this individual who was still willing to entertain the notion of himself as Secretary of Health and Human Services or being a candidate 2016. There is something not right there ... It is absolutely so fanciful or delusional and individual. It's not representative of, 'well here are the rules.' It is not, in fact, the way most political people would handle a serious situation."
Schakowsky, considered a possible replacement for Obama, argued that Blagojevich, in light of these charges, should step down from office. Absent that, she added, the Illinois state government should launch impeachment proceedings. She agreed with the notion -- put forward by State Senate President Emil Jones and Senator Dick Durbin -- that the legislature should pass a bill allowing the people of Illinois to determine Obama's replacement (legislation that Blagojevich would, if governor, have to sign). And she cautioned that anyone appointed by the embattled governor to the post -- even if that person was herself -- would not enjoy political legitimacy.
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 9:23 PM
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