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

Senators voted unanimously to convict Blagojevich, 59-0 and shortly thereafter, Quinn was sworn in as Illinois' new governor.

The outcome was never in doubt. In fact, Quinn went to the state Capitol earlier in the day  in preparation of being sworn in.

The governor's impeachment was triggered by his arrest last month on a variety of federal corruption charges. The criminal complaint against him included a long list of shocking quotes that portrayed Blagojevich as trying to auction off President Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat and pressure people for campaign donations.

The former governor had refused to take part in the trial, but he surprised everyone by asking to make a closing statement in which he insisted that he should not be tossed out of office on what he called incomplete evidence.

"You haven't proved a crime, and you can't because it didn't happen," Blagojevich pleaded with state senators. "How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?"

But state senators were unswayed. One by one, before casting their votes, they expressed their contempt for Blagojevich with a litany of names, calling him "dishonest," "devious," "corrupt," and a "hypocrite." 

It's now a matter of waiting to see if Patrick Fitzgerald proceeds with a criminal indictment.  Should that happen, Blogo may disclose details that could be very embarrassing to the Obama administration.  It seems unlikely that Blogojevich is the only one tainted by stench and filth of the cesspool that is Illinois politics.  He's just the only one to get caught .  .  .  so far.