Illinois Republicans Drop the Hammer: Will Governor Pritzker’s “Hateful Rhetoric” Spark an Unthinkable Impeachment Battle?
Ever wonder what happens when politics turns into a quirky blend of reality TV and a chaotic science experiment? Welcome to the latest episode from the Laboratories of Democracy, where states like Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and Oklahoma are stirring the pot with equal parts drama and determination. Illinois kicks off the show with a theatrical impeachment call over some fired-up rhetoric—because apparently, words can be as scandalous as a bad fitness fad. Meanwhile, Iowa’s local official is boldly refusing to follow the governor’s flag protocol, proving that sometimes standing up means waving a different banner. And just when you think the plot can’t thicken, Utah’s Supreme Court delivers a knockout punch to gerrymandering, reminding us that the game isn’t over yet. Rounding it off, Oklahoma’s political sparring reveals the real cost of policy on its most vulnerable citizens. It’s a wild ride, packed with the kind of spectacle that makes you ask: in the race for power, who’s really winning—and who’s just burning out? Hold onto your sweatbands; this democracy workout is anything but boring.
This Week in the Laboratories of Democracy
(Permanent Musical Accompaniment to This Post)
Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done and where a childish dream is a deathless need. We begin in Illinois, where some trollish types in the state legislature have found a new method for killing time—namely, Futility in the first degree. From WGN:
But the Illinois House Freedom Caucus, comprised of conservative state lawmakers, accuses the governor of inciting violence. The group brought articles of impeachment against Pritzker, citing various statements made by the Democratic Party, including remarks in New Hampshire back in April. Illinois State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) further explained the motivation behind the Illinois House Freedom Caucus. “We’ve proceeded with Articles of Impeachment against Governor Pritzker for his own hateful rhetoric, as well as no safety and security here in the state of Illinois,” Niemerg said. … The Articles of Impeachment are unlikely to move forward, as the Democratic supermajority in Springfield would need to agree to bring the bill to the floor. Also worth noting is that the GOP leadership did not introduce the measure.
Yes, I noticed that, too. These guys want to impeach a governor over stuff he said. It’s as if the guys bringing this action live in their own private drive-time radio talk-show. They’ve imbibed so much of that swill that they can’t determine where what they actually know ends and what they’ve come to believe begins.
We move on to Iowa, where Governor Kim Reynolds eagerly joined the martyrdom cult and ordered the state’s flags down to half-staff. Out in Johnson County, however, a local official named Jon Green refused induction. From The Guardian:
Jon Green, the chair of the Johnson county board of supervisors in Iowa, announced on Thursday on social media that he would not follow governor Kim Reynolds’s directive to fly flags at half-staff for Kirk through Sunday evening.“I condemn Kirk’s killing, regardless of who pulled the trigger or why,” Green, who is a Democrat, wrote. “But I will not grant Johnson county honors to a man who made it his life’s mission to denigrate so many of the constituents I have sworn an oath to protect—and who did so much to harm not only the marginalized—but also to degrade the fabric of our body politic.”
I wish this guy ran a TV network.
And off we go to Utah, where the state supreme court grabbed the dreaded gerrymander by the throat and tossed it out the window. From Democracy Docket:
The decision likely ensures that Utahns will have fair districts when they go to the polls next year, and could give Democrats an additional seat in Congress. The League of Women Voters of Utah, the Mormon Women for Ethical Government and individual voters filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging the GOP-controlled legislature’s new congressional map and the repeal of Proposition 4, a ballot initiative passed in 2018 that created an independent redistricting commission composed of citizens.
A district court ruled last month the 2021 map unconstitutionally violated the redistricting reforms voters approved through Proposition 4, and it developed a plan to put in place a new map in time for the 2026 election. The court also denied the legislative defendants’ motion to keep the 2021 map in place throughout the remedial process and any appeals—a ruling they appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. In the latest development, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the district court’s decision to deny the motion keeping the 2021 map in place.
State courts have been sources of resistance in a number of odd places. Utah is certainly one of those.
And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, whence Blog Official sarronca inspector Friedman of the Algarve brings us the tale of some Sooner on Sooner crime. From Public Radio Tulsa:
Last week, Stitt announced he was directing the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to clear out Tulsa’s camps. OHP swiftly began “Operation SAFE,” though officials say the governor’s promise to either escort people to housing or jail is false advertising. Displaced individuals have merely had their things thrown away while being randomly driven around and released, Democrats said at a press conference.
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols thereupon lit the governor on fire.
“And I think the best way to maybe go to Iowa as a presidential candidate is not to talk about how you stuck it to the Democratic mayor in Tulsa, but to talk about how you got your state off the bottom of every list out there,” said Nichols. “I mean, if you Google right now where we are in education, you’d probably guess we’re near the bottom or something like that. Health outcomes, you’d probably guess we’re near the bottom. Mental health, you’d probably guess we’re near the bottom. Economic opportunity, you’d probably guess we’re near the bottom. What does that all ladder up to? It ladders up to homelessness growing in your state over the seven years you’ve been governor. I think that’s gonna be a hard case to make in Iowa.”
There’s an interesting point to be made under all the bombast. Come 2028, how many GOP candidates will run on the MAGA agenda and policy prescriptions and how many will run as some sort of artificial “moderate.” A lot depends, alas, on how much damage the current administration ends up doing to the country.
This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.
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