The Chicago Tribune reports that as soon as the state Senate voted yesterday to convict Governor Rod Blagojevich, the locks and keycodes were changed on the Governor's statehouse offices. Signs in the State Capitol Building and elsewhere in the state were changed immediately to replace Blagojevich's name with that of Patrick Quinn.
But here's what I want to know, which I haven't been able to find out yet: does the Blagojevich family have to move now? Is their Chicago house an official governor's mansion, or does it belong to them?
Even if it does belong to the family, how are they going to make the payments on it? The Tribune reports here that Patricia Blagojevich was fired last week from her job at a Chicago homeless shelter. The Blagojeviches have two daughters, aged 12 and 5; the ex-Governor told Larry King that they'd gotten a puppy to help them through these rough times. I'm glad the little girls have a puppy, but I also wonder how that family is now going to pay for dog chow, vet bills, and everything else a new puppy needs.
The Blagojeviches are undoubtedly racking up terrifying legal bills, and impeachment doesn't come with a severance package. I wonder what they're going to live on. I wonder what will happen to those little girls, and that puppy.
In his public statements, Rod Blagojevich has shown himself to be at best delusional. He obviously could not stay in office as governor, and -- as the impeachment conviction ordered -- should never hold public office again. Watching his fall has been the best public circus since the release of Kenneth Starr's report.
But I'd like to hear more about the human side of the story.
What I Read This Week
Two manuscripts. That is all.
2 comments:
The Blagojeviches own their home on the North Side. One of the things that has long rankled the Illinois Legislature in Springfield is that Blago refused to move into the governor's residence "down state," or even spend much time outside of Chicago.
And the family -- no charges of graft stated or implied -- should have plenty of money laid by. Blago was a high-powered business lawyer before getting into politics full time, and Mrs. Blago was a successful real estate agent until last summer (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blagojevich-wife11-2008dec11,0,5341798.story).
If you want to worry about the junior Blagos, worry about them being raised by a father who is clearly mentally unstable and possibly felonious. The kids'll be housed and fed, no worries, but having HIM as your father can't be easy.
The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services should certainly look into placing those poor kids in a more suitable environment...
As for the parents, I hope they starve. The puppy can come live with me.
I hear Mayor of Detroit is open. Wouldn't that make a great reality show? The Blagos have to live in Motown in order to collect the paycheck. Rod gets caught sneaking across the border to buy cheap Rogaine...
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