I'm sure you've probably heard by now that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested and charged with corruption for, among other things, trying to sell the Senate seat that Barack Obama recently resigned. The Governor has allegedly been trying to get the best deal for himself from those interested in the seat while using the threat of appointing himself to it should a better offer not be made.
The truly awful part of this tale is that, under the law, Blagojevich is still going to have to choose the new Senator, unless he resigns immediately as Governor, which is unlikely.
Senator Dick Durbin, the other Senator from Illinois, has called for a special election to fill the seat in light of this turn of events. This would certainly make more sense than allowing Blagojevich to appoint someone who would remain tainted for the next two years by association with this mess and likely lose the seat in the 2010 election because of it.
This certainly isn't a promising start for the new Administration and Congress, having this mess to clean up.
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