Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois House yesterday, bringing him one step closer to being evicted from office. Blagojevich responded with a press conference that was a bit rambling, but during which he threw down the gauntlet to the Illinois Legislature, accusing them of attacking him because of his good deeds. From MSNBC:

The governor responded with what has become trademark defiance since he arrested on federal charges a month ago. He accused the House of retaliating against him for trying to help the people of Illinois and said he’s confident he’ll be “properly exonerated” at a Senate trial.

“The causes of the impeachment are because I’ve done things to fight for families,” said Blagojevich, who was joined by some beneficiaries of his health programs during a news conference in Chicago.

Governor Blagojevich is wounded, but not yet dead. Yesterday the Illinois Supreme Court essentially allowed the Governor’s senate appointment to be made without a “certification” from the Illinois Secretary of State. They ruled that the Secretary’s act, already completed, of “registering” the appointment, was all that was required for the appointment to proceed. From the Court decision:

The issue presented by this original action for mandamus is whether Jesse White, the Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, is required by section 5(1) of the Secretary of State Act (15 ILCS 305/5(1) (West 2006)) to countersign and affix the seal of the state to
the document issued by Governor Rod R. Blagojevich on December 31, 2008, certifying the Governor’s appointment of Roland Burris to the United States Senate. For the reasons that follow, we hold that section 5(1) of the Secretary of State Act (15 ILCS 305/5(1) (West 2006)) is inapplicable to the Burris appointment, and that no further action is required by any officer of this state to make that appointment valid. We further hold that the only ministerial act required of the Secretary of State in this case is that he register the appointment in accordance with section 5(2) of the Secretary of State Act (15 ILCS 305/5(2) (West 2006)). The Secretary of State having performed that responsibility on December 31, 2008, the writ of mandamus is denied.

The Governor left the Majority Leader Harry Reid and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin with egg all over their face. He is likely gone, but this saga has a very long way to go.