Illinois Senate Votes to Oust Gov. Rod Blagojevich

CHICAGO, Jan. 29 -- The Illinois Senate voted unanimously Thursday to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) from office for abuse of power, ending a weeks-long impeachment ordeal that ranged between drama and farce.  One by one, Republicans and Democrats stood to call for the governor's ouster, rejecting his last-minute pleas and criticizing him as a liar and a hypocrite before voting in the late afternoon.  With that vote, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D), a former running mate who hasn't spoken with the increasingly isolated Blagojevich in 17 months, became Illinois' 41st governor.  By a matching 59 to 0 vote, the Senate also voted to bar Blagojevich for life from holding Illinois political office.  Blagojevich, who addressed the senators Thursday morning and told them he had done nothing wrong, was already home in Chicago went the votes were tallied.  When he arrived home, he changed into running clothes and went for a jog.  Earlier in the day, the House prosecutor summed up the case against the governor, saying that "the pattern of abuse of power is unmistakable" and Blagojevich should be removed from office. Blagojevich defended his actions shortly after Ellis finished, criticizing the proceedings as "a rush to judgment and an evisceration of the presumption of innocence."  "There was never a conversation where I intended to break any law," Blagojevich said. "I'm appealing to you and your sense of fairness."  "How can you throw a governor out of office on a criminal complaint and you haven't been able to show or to prove any criminal activity?" Blagojevich asked. "The evidence showed that throughout his tenure as governor, the governor has abused the power of his office and put his own interests above the interests of the people," David Ellis told the 59 senators. "Which interests?" Ellis asked, quoting Blagojevich's own words as captured on secret FBI tape recordings. "Legal. Personal. Political."SOURCE:WASHINGTON POST.COM