Madigan's roadside bomb
If Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan believes there is a valid reason to hold impeachment proceedings against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, why doesn't he call for them?
The notion of discussing the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich didn't seem like such a bad idea until the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois – Blagojevich's own party – drew up a 14-page memo in support of it.
There may be legitimate reasons to bring articles of impeachment against Blagojevich, but it's clear that House Speaker Michael Madigan is using the issue only for political purposes – to immunize Democratic candidates for the House in this fall's election so that they can't be tied by Republicans to the forlorn governor.
If Madigan's concerns about Blagojevich's governance were genuine, he wouldn't have circulated his "talking points" memo to just Democratic legislative candidates, he would have released them upfront and would have been willing to confront the issue personally.
Instead, we have the political equivalent of a roadside bomb, a dangerous weapon dropped off anonymously and in the dead of night. If Illinois government is to take such a drastic and unprecedented step, shouldn't the Speaker of the House, the man suggesting impeachment proceedings, be accountable and answerable? Not, apparently, in Speaker Madigan's world.
Rod Blagojevich's tenure as governor has been a dazzling failure in every way except in terms of fundraising and elections. His list of legislative accomplishments is meager. The state's financial condition is awful. He has misspent hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Two of his best political pals have been indicted (one already convicted) and his administration is under investigation. Somewhere in the long litany of failures, missteps, wrongdoing and possible malfeasance, there may be grounds for an impeachment proceeding.
But if Michael Madigan believes so, he should be the leader he purports to be and responsibly address the issue, not leave it to would-be lawmakers to bring it up and do his dirty work.
I wouldn't say it was done anonymously-Madigan's office has been identified as the author from the start.
The better question is why? He's a master at the art of politics: there must be some payoff for doing this in public instead of just having underlings chat with candidates one-on-one.
I think its a good political idea for Democrats to distance themselves from Blagovich. Lack of action on George Ryan did cost the Republicans. The only question in my mind is the manner in which this was done-but I have no doubt that there is a method to Madigan's madness.
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