THE DAILY BLADE: Blago’s Bait And Switch
After promising not to insert himself into the process of filling the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) named former state attorney general Roland W. Burris to take the president-elect's place, reports The Washington Post:
In a raucous news conference in
"As governor, I am required to make this appointment. If I don't make this appointment, then the people of
In a joint statement, five Senate Democratic leaders vowed to block the appointment, arguing that Blagojevich is unfit to make the selection. "This is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of
In a statement issued in
The New York Times imputes impure motives to Blago’s choice:
The choice of Mr. Burris immediately injected the issue of race into the appointment process, which may very well have been part of the governor’s calculation. Representative Bobby L. Rush, Democrat of Illinois, who was called to the lectern at the news conference by Mr. Burris, noted that there were no blacks in the Senate and said that he did not believe any senator “wants to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate.”
Natch, the state’s Repubs smell a rat:
Jim Durkin, a Republican state representative who sits on a committee that is conducting an impeachment inquiry into the governor, said, “This process is so tainted, it stinks beyond belief.”
He said he intended to request that Mr. Burris be summoned before the committee to discuss how the appointment came about. “Mr. Burris left
The announcement renewed calls among Republican state lawmakers for a special election to fill Mr. Obama’s seat. State lawmakers had considered that option, but Democrats, who control the House and the Senate, had dropped the idea. An election, which Democrats complained was too expensive, would mean Republicans would have an opportunity to win the seat.
Most legislators had assumed, it seemed, that Mr. Blagojevich would not try to fill the post now, and Democrats had hoped that he would be impeached and that his most likely replacement, Mr. Quinn could fill the post.
Meanwhile, Dems are scrambling to figure out how to undo the deed. At first, the IL secretary of state said he would refuse to sign the formal document appointing Burris that Blagojevich would present to the state Senate but it turns out the signature is symbolic. Citing Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution (“each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own members”), the U.S. Senate is exploring its options, reports The Times:
The majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, convened a call of his aides from his home in Searchlight,
“It had nothing to do with Burris,” said Jim Manley, Mr. Reid’s top spokesman. “Anyone picked by this guy would be tainted.”
A statement issued by the Democratic leadership said bluntly that anyone appointed by Mr. Blagojevich “will not be seated by the Democratic caucus.”
Since Blagojevich has not been impeached or convicted and has the power to make the appointment Constitutional experts don’t think Burris can be turned away, considering the 1969 Supreme Court decision that Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-NY) was otherwise qualified to assume his House seat, even though he was under an ethical cloud.
Race-baiter Al Sharpton – whom the WaPo identifies as an “activist” – tells the paper: "I think that Governor Blagojevich is trying to save himself and cynically trying to draw the president-elect into this." Yes, he’s trying to save himself, but until evidence emerges to the contrary Obama is a bit player in this drama. But appointing Burris does strengthens Blago's claim that he was all talk and no action on those influence peddling charges, since Burris’s name never came up in the FBI’s tape recordings.
And with the results of the MN Senate race still up in the air (Dem Al Franken currently has 50 votes more than Repub incumbent Norm Coleman), Reid and the Dem Caucus are also likely to be all talk and no action because the appointment obviates the alternative of holding a special election that will cost the state $30 million and avoids the possiblility that moderate Repub Congressman Mark Kirk will win, whittling down the Dem majority in the 111th Congress.
Shaken – Maybe Stirred, Too
Posting on The New York Times booze blog, “The Colbert Report” writer Glenn Eichler concocts a recipe for “The Blurry Zeitgeist.” In addition to
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