Ok, he should go, but what about the Senator who dallied in airport restrooms and the Senator who uses ladies of the evening (and, am I remembering correctly his love of wearing diapers)? Oh, that's right, they get to stay, so maybe Burris should stay too. The Senate isn't exactly pristine.
RitornaVincitor
· 11 months ago
Where are all the people who yelled at us and called us names when we said Burris should never have been appointed?
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
You have a point.
But as a resident of Illinois, I don't want to pay for a special election for term that will only last a year and a half at most.
I wouldn't have a problem with Quinn appointing a new senator, but I also wouldn't mind just knocking Burris off in the primaries a year from now either.
AdrianBrowne
· 11 months ago
I suspect that Blagojevich thought it would be funny to pick someone rather odd and that it would bug all the senators to be lumped in with Burris.
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Gee, I think I remember some aphorism about people who live in glass houses not casting stones. Frankly, no one in the Senate is pristine when it comes to lobbyists or fudging statements, at least IMHO. That said, either let the old guy finish out the term or not, but cheeez, don't crucify him for something others do all the time. You'd think the Senate would have taken care of Diaper Dave and a few others first when it comes to ethical considerations. But no--
Meanwhile, could it be true? Pelosi not ruling out that Rove, Meirs and Bolten might be prosecuted, per KO tonight? And Howard Dean has either lost weight or has been sick; he appeared that way on KO's show.
Raymond T. Anderson
· 11 months ago
Yes, you're probably right about Burris having to go, but I think we need to wait for this to play out. There was no good way of refusing to seat Burris, and Reid was wrong to try, because it just made him look the spineless idiot he actually is. Burris should've come clean at the beginning, but like so many before, he refused to see that the cover-up is worse than the crime. Sure, you could say "I told you so", but there was no good way out of this.
If Burris resigns, I'm okay with Gov. Quinn appointing his replacement, but I'll be even happier if Sen. Feingold's constitutional amendment becomes law and we can put all the states on the same level playing field.
Beth
· 11 months ago
Now we know why he was so determined to elbow his way in there!!!! I never liked the little runt - there was something fishy about him from the start.
SI Reasoning
· 11 months ago
I had no issue with seating Burris at the time. He had a clean background (so I was told.) I also thought that Blago was trying to best the senate Dems that condemned him while building his case for his innocence by doing a clean appointment. It is not unheard of for a politician to do the right thing when under investigation (see Nixon and the EPA.) Nevertheless, it appears that Blago was a total idiot and Burris seems to share that distinction.
henrythefifth
· 11 months ago
Sorry, but all you have to do is see the picture of his ridiculous grave/tomb to know that this guy is totally insane.
cowboyneok
· 11 months ago
Hey, I'm with "SI Reasoning" and I saw the tomb. There is a difference between grandiosity and narcissism and insanity. He actually had quite a few accomplishments to be proud of. Isn't it hard to find Chicago politicians who haven't participated in "pay for play" positions? Chicago politics is a complete cesspool.
I was one of those people who thought he would "work out" and maybe Blago might be doing the right thing because he was in trouble. Naive? Yep... probably so.
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Hah! Per, KO, Hannity ordered gold from Stanford Coins and Gold...reads the commercial himself! I hope it was a huge "investment.". All the paranoiacs are ordering it, you know.
triple7s
· 11 months ago
Please god, I hope he talked lots of people into the investment.
henrythefifth
· 11 months ago
Hey, on the bright side, he probably has another "1st" for his ridiculous tomb:
1st IL Senator Appointed By A Booted Gov to be Booted Out of Office!
This guy is a joke.
triple7s
· 11 months ago
Just wondering, does Burris get the Senate salary for life deal? Even if he does time? Sweet.
gerry
· 11 months ago
It's like the Dems are kittens not used to their bodies yet. They're learning how to weild control over themselves and their world, but everynow and then they fall off the couch or run into a wall.
I just hope they get their legs soon.
Bill from Dover
· 11 months ago
"Had the Democrats held their ground, they'd now be able to hold their heads high."
Had the Democrats held their ground, I doubt any of this would have been found out.
"
KingCranky
· 11 months ago
I'd venture one reason Blagojevich and Burris thought they could punk out Obama & the Senate Dems was because they decided to be nice and let that blithering Bush Jr lackey Joe Lieberman keep his DHS & Govt. oversight Committee chairmanship.
Blago, especially, seems to get politics at the jugular level, pouncing on any signs of weakness from political opponents.
And letting a louse like Lieberman retain his ability to actively hamper/impede an Obama agenda by keeping his chairmanship-knowing full well that even though Obama helped Lieberman out in the 2006 Dem. primary, not-so-holy Joe still campaigned for McCain and attacked Obama in the 2008 campaign-seems a monumentally stupid strategy, almost guaranteed to bite Obama at some point.
The Senate Dems brought this on themselves by first saying there'd be no way Burris would be seated, to putting conditions on such an action, conditions that didn't have to be fulfilled for Burris to take Obama's former Senate seat, completely undercutting themselves in the process.
Gabe Shippy
· 11 months ago
Your giving the Dems too much credit John. They didnt do a 180 on Burris in a week, they did it in a matter of 48 hours!!!!
LuZenMyMnd
· 11 months ago
I gotta kinda disagree. The dems were damned if they did....and even if they didn't. In likelihood, all of this might not have come out if they hadn't accepted him. Burris became a cause that Blago knew was a no-win situation for the dems. He intentionally made the fact of the only black senator of the US senate as his rallying call. Which made the NAACP and other like-minded organizations say...."Hey...we are under-represented all ready."
Even though it wasn't a racial issue....Blago and Company played it like it was one. And coming from an entire state of cronyism the dems would have had a great fight on their hands. Blago was brilliant in playing to the sensitivities of a region.
I think the dems did well to let it all reveal its' self. This continues the un-doing of the Blago affair. Just let it continue to unfold.
All Comments
But as a resident of Illinois, I don't want to pay for a special election for term that will only last a year and a half at most.
I wouldn't have a problem with Quinn appointing a new senator, but I also wouldn't mind just knocking Burris off in the primaries a year from now either.
Meanwhile, could it be true? Pelosi not ruling out that Rove, Meirs and Bolten might be prosecuted, per KO tonight? And Howard Dean has either lost weight or has been sick; he appeared that way on KO's show.
If Burris resigns, I'm okay with Gov. Quinn appointing his replacement, but I'll be even happier if Sen. Feingold's constitutional amendment becomes law and we can put all the states on the same level playing field.
I was one of those people who thought he would "work out" and maybe Blago might be doing the right thing because he was in trouble. Naive? Yep... probably so.
1st IL Senator Appointed By A Booted Gov to be Booted Out of Office!
This guy is a joke.
I just hope they get their legs soon.
Had the Democrats held their ground, I doubt any of this would have been found out.
"
Blago, especially, seems to get politics at the jugular level, pouncing on any signs of weakness from political opponents.
And letting a louse like Lieberman retain his ability to actively hamper/impede an Obama agenda by keeping his chairmanship-knowing full well that even though Obama helped Lieberman out in the 2006 Dem. primary, not-so-holy Joe still campaigned for McCain and attacked Obama in the 2008 campaign-seems a monumentally stupid strategy, almost guaranteed to bite Obama at some point.
The Senate Dems brought this on themselves by first saying there'd be no way Burris would be seated, to putting conditions on such an action, conditions that didn't have to be fulfilled for Burris to take Obama's former Senate seat, completely undercutting themselves in the process.
Even though it wasn't a racial issue....Blago and Company played it like it was one. And coming from an entire state of cronyism the dems would have had a great fight on their hands. Blago was brilliant in playing to the sensitivities of a region.
I think the dems did well to let it all reveal its' self. This continues the un-doing of the Blago affair. Just let it continue to unfold.