“So thanks to Barack, Alan Keyes got his way all along. We now have a Senator selected by Illinois state government in that seat.”
Blago was impeached and removed from office BY THE STATE LEGISLATOR(Same body that the founders rightfully choose to select senators) for trying to sell a Senate seat for PERSONAL(Not State) gain.
And Blago ended up selling the Senate seat ANYWAY (AFTER he was arrested!) because the state legislature FAILED to do their job and bar him from doing so (even though they KNEW he had been caught on tape solicting bribes for it!) . As a result, we now have Senator Roland Burris. And yes he was impeached as well. What exactly is your point? Of course he was trying to sell the seat for PERSONAL and not state gain. That will happen if all the other 49 states if you repeal the 17th. If you're delusional enough to believe your state house speaker will decide solely on the criteria of "who's the most qualified person to serve our state, regardless of whether that person helps me", that's your problem. You obviously have a very unrealistic view of state politicans if you believe they're good little public servants who would never dare think of doing things for personal gain.
As for your snarky little "solution" that if I don't like the way my state government is run, I should "MOVE!", the same can be said of you with the federal government, buddy. If don't like our system of electing the upper house of Congress, you are free to MOVE to another country. There are plenty out there that have upper houses whose members are appointed by political insiders and local government bosses. Nobody is forcing you to live in a country with an elected upper house. Since your odds of repealing the 17th amendment are virtually impossible, the ideal solution is to MOVE and find yourself a country that does things the way you want. Canada is right next door and their entire Senate is filled with political hacks appointed for life by government officials, and you'll be pleased to know the citizens of Canada have absolutely no say in the matter. Feel free to move there and you can enjoy your new government overlords and take comfort in the fact you'll have absolutely no power to hold them accountable or vote them out of office.