The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.
Shortly after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich's arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor's support.
Damn Blagojevich must have balls almost as large as those freaky bangs of his!
Here he is under indictment for corruption, under intense scrutiny by the media, being vilified by his own party, and he still has the temerity to pick the Senate replacement for the next PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
Hey look I think the guy's a crook, but I am beginning to develop a grudging admiration for this little bastard.
And he chooses an African American! Which means that if the Democrats refuse to give their blessing, and then choose a white guy, they will look like they have turned their back on the black community in Illinois and will guarantee that their candidate will lose in 2010.
Well played Governor Blagojevich, well played!
Update: Here is the video from MSNBC.
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The Democrats are definitely NOT happy!
Harry Reid: "It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. This is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat."
And it looks like Obama agrees with the Democrats on this subject as well.Blagojevich has the Democratic party in a very unenviable position. If they reject this appointee and then hold a special election in which the seat is taken by a Republican they lose a Senate seat. If they allow this to take place then they look toothless because they demanded that Blagojevich NOT make this appointment.
If this were a chess game the Democrats queen would be in deep shit.
Hiya! First time poster here; I'm not from Alaska, but will support your efforts in anyway I can to warn the rest of the nation about Sarah Palin. Unless she starts doing porn.
ReplyDeleteAnyways; I just wanted to remind you that so far, after SIX years of investigating the prosecutor:
a) only comes up with tawdry conversations on the phone.
b) presents no evidence of any transaction based on his words; in other words, no money no favors have been exchanged.
c) SIX years deep into the investigation, and he asks for an extension(which is granted) to review more of the telephone calls. What? You didn't finish your homework? This means to me that the calls he did 'cherry pick' to display, did not correspond to any illegal action, so now, he has to find more phone calls to show a pattern; instead of showing evidence.
Granted, Gov. Blagojevich should have had the consideration to hold off the appointment; BUT, we owe him the consideration that he is INNOCENT until proven guilty. No evidence no guilt, pure and simple.
(By the way, can anyone say Duke Rape case? Remember what happened to that prosecutor after he jumped the gun?)
However, Dems overall need to start packing some big kahuna's in their pants. The constitution presumes EVERYONE is innocent until proven guilty(unless you are talking about the Gov.'s bangs). No Repugnican would stop what he's doing even if it tramples on the Constitution. Here its just questionable ethics from the capitol of dirty politics.
When the prosecutor comes up with something real, then we can move on. But even then, that doesn't mean Burris did anything wrong either.
When the Prosecutor actually provides evidence of fraud or bribery, then we can start worrying.
My feeling is the Dems will seat this guy because:
a) they don't want to look racist
b) it gives them an edge.
c)[and I'm still researching this] they hope that Article 17 of the constitution won't be read by the public. Which I believe states that such appointments are temporary until a special election is held...and that doesn't mean two years later...its not specified what the timeframe should be, but, its taken on its face to be acceptable to wait for the next election, instead of an immediate special election.
[That goes for you to New York...]