Gone

Illinois senators stripped Gov. Rod Blagojevich of power Thursday in the final act of a political drama that handed the reins of state government to his estranged lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, and likely will end Blagojevich's career in politics.

Senators voted unanimously to convict Blagojevich and bar him from holding political office in the state again. Shortly after the vote, Quinn was sworn in as Illinois' new governor.

From here.

A federal criminal prosecution awaits the former Governor, and time will tell is taint in the process that resulted in Blagojevich's appointment to fill the vacancy created by President Obama's election to nation's highest office will attach to the apparently blameless candidate who received the boon.