Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has officially been impeached by the Illinois State House.

Yahoo! News:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly Friday to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, an unprecedented action that sets up a Senate trial on whether he should be thrown out for abuse of power, including allegations that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

Impeachment required just 60 votes. The final result was 114-1.

Legislators accused the second-term Democratic governor of letting down the people of Illinois by letting ego and ambition drive his decisions.

“It’s our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that’s become Illinois government,” said Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat.

Blagojevich was out jogging in his Chicago neighborhood when the vote came down. When he returned to his home, he compared his situation to a short story about a petty criminal called “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner.”

“And that’s what this (impeachment) is, by the way, a long-distance run,” Blagojevich said, promising to say more at an afternoon news conference.

Blagojevich is the first governor impeached in Illinois’ long and often sordid political history. He could become only the eighth U.S. governor to be impeached and removed from office; the last was Arizona’s Evan Mecham in 1988.

During the House’s 90-minute debate on impeachment, no one spoke up to defend the governor. But Rep. Milton Patterson, a Chicago Democrat, made the sole vote against impeaching Blagojevich.

The next step:

The Illinois Senate is working to draft rules for a trial, which could begin as early as next week. The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court will preside over the proceedings.

Fox News’ coverage is here; hotair.com had the following to say:

My heart-ache is sincere. The circus is leaving town.

The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state’s 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois’ longstanding reputation for political corruption.

Rep. Milt Patterson (D-Chicago) was the lone vote against impeaching the governor. Patterson, from Chicago’s Southwest Side, said after the roll call that he didn’t feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor. He declined comment on whether he approved of the job Blagojevich is doing.

A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign.

Why would he resign? He just got done rolling Harry Reid, and Fitzgerald’s indictment is still months away. I’m not even sure what the charges against him in the impeachment trial will be at this point. Supposedly he can no longer perform theduties of governor effectively. Really? He was effective enough to make the entire U.S. Senate choke on the Burris appointment.

And this is RedState.com’s commentary:

“Cry “Havoc!” – and let slip the dogs of war.”

The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state’s 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois’ longstanding reputation for political corruption.

[snip]

A Blagojevich spokesman said the governor will not resign. A 2 p.m. news conference with the governor is scheduled for the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago.

… What? Burris lied in an affidavit about contacting a Blagojevich representative about his interest in the seat?

Let me go get a match, then.

This simply doesn’t flow right, now does it, ladies and gentlemen?

Like this: What if the next Governor — presumably the current Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn — is installed and decides he is going to appoint the next US Senator? Kind of makes you want to pass the popcorn and watch what the next moves will be, eh?

-Phil