Patterson Votes No on Impeachment of Gov. Blagojevich
The only member of the Illinois House to vote against impeachment of Gov. Blagojevich was Milton Patterson (no relation to me).
The lone holdout in the Illinois House of Representatives’ 114-1 vote to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich was Rep. Milton Patterson, a Chicago Democrat from the Southwest Side whose office is on West 63rd Street. (Source: The Huffington Post)
What a circus the last month has been. If the charges against Blago are true then the man clearly lost his mind. Not voting to impeach him is certainly a way for a state rep to make national news.
I find it interesting that most people in Illinois think he’s guilty and want him impeached. Where were these voters during his last election when it was well documented he was under investigation by the feds? Now they want the legislature to do what they should have done at the last election. My feeling is, “you elected him, you live with him.” Maybe next time it will cause the average Illinois citizen to dig a little deeper into who they are voting for.
I have very mixed feelings on this one. Yes, I think he is guilty. Yes, if found guilty in a court of law he should be impeached. Does the IL House Committee that held the impeachment hearings have the authority to subpoena? Do those who testify have to take an oath? Did those hearings shed any more “factual” light on what was done other than what we heard in the press?
My big hang up here is that they are impeaching him without any sort of review of any facts in the matter. In my mind it belittles the very severe nature of an impeachment. The legislature should be making the laws and not enforcing the laws without a way to decipher fact from fiction.
My hat goes off to the one Rep. who voted “no” if that was his reasoning. He took a reasonable stand in a situation which he will pay dearly for back home. To the rest of the 114 who voted “yes”, congratulations on doing what your constituents wanted, for once.