To seat or not to seat: that is the question of the day

By E.J. Keene

Filed Under General on Jan 5 

  Roland Burris 

Should Roland Burris take the US Senate seat of Barack Obama? I mean, he’s not guilty (yet) of any wrong doing. He’s arguably a competent politician, being a former AG and all that. Even though his governor looks and acts like a Russian slum boss, he himself has done nothing wrong…I think. I mean it is Chicago, after all.

So should he get the seat? Does the inimitable Harry “left my last three brain cells in Vegas” Reid have any valid grounds for blocking it? Blago doesn’t think so; what say you, PD crew?

One the one hand, he’s African American, and that could look dicey for the Dems to reject him. On the other hand, Blago is giving the double-barreled version of flipping the bird to the Dem leadership and acts like he’ll be governor of Illinois till Antarctica completely melts, which doesn’t sit well with Team Obama. They want their sycophants to fall on their own swords, not be pushed onto one (see Bill Richardson for exhibit A on how to self-sacrifice for the Oba-wan).

So sling those opinions like swords; whip those metaphors like halberds in a Mel Gibson medieval flick. Hack away to your hearts’ content. Let’s see who wins the day on this one.

Comments

  • JE

    It’s official, he was turned away. He is looking at his options. How much TUMS and Exedrin Migraine will Harry Reid’s stimulus check buy???

    • Troy La Mana

      I bet Blago failed to put a seal on the document on purpose. This way it causes a major rift in the party and diverts attention away from Blago but doesn’t really seat anyone that hasn’t paid him.

  • East of Eden

    I done’t see how Reid has any legal grounds to block him…however…Burris was a fool to take this position. There will always be a cloud of doubt over him, and I doubt if he does get seated if Harry’s group will even pay attention to him. He might be “the jr senator from Il” but he’s doing the people of IL a disservice by sticking around.

  • Gary Russell

    Handpicked by a scumbag crook who will be impeached within a week?
    Yes.

    A pawn being used in Blago’s end-game?
    Obviously.

    The person who is most qualified to represent Illinois in the Senate?
    Hardly.

    Tainted by the above-mentioned process?
    You betcha.

    Gonna get seated?
    They’ll have to, legally.

    Though I’m loving the complete irony of the situation (Democrats showing what they REALLY think of racial politics), I’m at a loss as to what Harry Reid thinks he stands to gain by blocking this.
    From all indications, he will lose, and the Dems image will suffer.

    (Four years of this drama??????!!!)

  • Chris

    not seeating him might send a dangerous precedent. What would happen if a party with a large senate majority decided it didn’t like an appointment by an opposition governor purely on political grounds.

    I suppose the Dems should be grateful that he chose someone otherwise reasonably acceptable and not some nutter

  • Lawson

    Roland Burris is the junior senator from Illinois; even if the Senate doesn’t realize it yet.

  • Alaina

    Ideally, the wouldn’t seat him until it can be confirmed that he wasn’t involved in the auctioning of the seat.

    In real life, he’ll be seated… innocent until proven guilty.

  • Brian H

    The legal pundits I have heard all agree that the appointment is legal and that Harry has no chance of blocking him.

    Welcome to the Senate, Roland.

  • JE

    RSE,
    Burris is a poor choice for senator. At the announcement the statement was made that he has never lost to a republican…that is because he lost the dem primary when he ran for senator as well as losing to blago in the dem primary for governor.
    That said, i don’t see where reid can block him. My understanding is that any previous blocking of a senator being seated was based on corruption of the senator. Blocking burris based on the governor who nominated him would be a new trick. Though the out in all of this may be the fact that our sec of state (Jesse White, who is also african american) has refused to certify him, which i guess harry can use as grounds not to seat him.
    Either way, you gotta think harry is wondering how he wound up with such a massive headache from democrats.

    • Red State Eddio

      I love how this IL administration has just ocmpletely knifed each other in the back (or in the front) over this whole thing.

      - LT Gov says resign to the Gov.
      - Sec State won’t certify his order.
      - Gov refuses to step down; nominates another crony.

      Gotta luv those goofy Chicago pols going at one another.

      • JE

        The funny part is that the house met to strip blago of his power to appoint a senator and to schedule a special election to fill it. The Dems didnt want the election for fear of losing a dem senate seat so they skipped it and started talking impeachment because no one thought he would fill it. Needless to say that political gamble backfired. IL is 100% dem controlled so you can extrapolate to what will happen in washington.

  • kristen

    Don’t know too much about the guy, but I’ve seen some clips of him. Not impressed. He acts like he deserves the Senate seat–like he’s so high and mighty. Anyone that seeks that much fame and power should be tossed aside.