Where are the adoring crowds who wish to shower him with gifts (of eggs)?
Or shoes?
He’s having a 3pm (ET) news conference to announce former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris as Obama’s replacement in the Senate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28435846/
What a set of grapefruits on this guy!
I wonder if this was a compromise worked out with the legislature, or if he’s shoving Burris down their throats. (Bet it won’t take long to find out!) Certainly it looks like a big fuck-you to Jesse Jackson Jr. in particular.
I think this is a huge F.U. to the legislature. And I can’t imagine any person wanting to touch this appointment with a 99-foot pole, other than a 71-year-old retired politician, I suppose. Accepting this would be political suicide, unless you don’t care about your political career. Then, I guess, what the hell; go for it.
Is there anything actually wrong with this Burris guy?
I like the FU, though. This Blago is starting to grow on me.
Roland Burris is a thoroughly mediocre politician who happens to be black. I guess Blago sees him as a perfect placeholder until Blago himself can run for the seat in 2010.
Jesus. You can’t make this shit up.
Yeah, he’s like a fungus that way.
An aide to Harry Reid says Burris is “unacceptable,” probably because he’s Blagojevich’s pick and not because of any other defect of his own. I’m trying to guess what the thinking is here, both for Blago and for Burris - I guess Burris is admitting he’ll take any promotion, and maybe Blagojevich thinks this will count as making nice by appointing a former rival who Obama supported. Or maybe he thinks the black community will rally on his behalf. Who knows.
I’m trying to figure out how the Senate Dems feel they would be better off rejecting an ostensibly acceptable nominee such as Burris. At least it would ensure them of retaining that seat within the party. As things drag on, you never know what will happen, including a special election which the Repubs might win. And until a new senator is seated, the Dem majority is 1 less than it might be.
According to the NY Times, Blago is going to make a speech today at 3:00 PM (Eastern time) naming the new senator, who is presumed to be Roland Burris. (I’m not from Illinois and know nothing about him.)
(Sorry for the redundant post!)
The guy who appointed Burris is a flat-out crook, and that’ll be used against them.
Yes, but if he’s accepted into the Senate, he’ll be the one and only African-American Senator. It’s not so easy to oppose that.
And just based on numbers, he might be hard to get rid of. But it would make the Democrats look totally impotent if they can’t stand up to this.
Why do they have to stand up to it. I don’t see why they feel the need to oppose it. Blaogojevich was legally required to make this appointment, there’s nothing legally wrong with it. There’s nothing legally wrong with Burris. What’s the problem?
The only real problem seems to be perceptual; that is, Blago is perceived as still being able to play a role. That’s got to rankle some, and it gives the Pubbies a nail on which to hang an argument that the Dems are undisciplined and ineffectual. Personally, i’m not too thrilled with the idea of them getting anything morale-boosting out of this debacle.
That said, I think the best approach at this point is going to be to suck it up.
Hey, it needed a name. 
I don’t see that Harry Reid has a leg to stand on.
“Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members” says Article I, Section 5. Nobody’s been elected. IIRC, in the Adam Clayton Powell case, the Supremes ruled that ‘Qualifications’ means the *Constitutional *qualifications for the office (e.g. at least 30 years old). Burris is OK there. Maybe one of our legal eagles can tell us what ‘Returns’ means, because I haven’t a clue, but I’ll bet it doesn’t apply.
Whether the Illinois Secretary of State can nip this appointment in the bud is another story, and would be totally dependent on whether Illinois law gives him the power. My hunch would be that it doesn’t, and he can’t, but that’s not based on any detailed knowledge.
For one thing, Blagojevich’s corruption is going to be used against them. For another, a guy who is accused to trying to sell a Senate seat should not be allowed to appoint the person who fills that seat. It’s like giving an arsonist a house he’s tried to burn down and then turning your back.
According to Nate Silver he gave $11,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund just recently. You need anything else?
Whatever Blago’s smoking, I want the recipe.