# Impeach Roland Burris **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870 "2009-02-14T21:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/121 "2009-05-28T14:15:44Z")
I agree with Moto, and am willing to demand Democrats stop acting like partisan dicks and remove Burris from the Senate. I’ll start the day after the Pubs are successful urging Norm Coleman to stop acting like a partisan dick. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/122 "2009-05-28T14:33:22Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Heh. Harry Reid. I can’t figure out how he managed to competitively box with no spine at all. You can dodge and weave like nobody’s business without a spine. And without balls, you can just shrug off low blows. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/123 "2009-05-28T14:55:32Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I agree with Moto, and am willing to demand Democrats stop acting like partisan dicks and remove Burris from the Senate. > > I’ll start the day after the Pubs are successful urging Norm Coleman to stop acting like a partisan dick. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/124 "2009-05-28T15:05:21Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Ditto. Maybe a deal can be worked out. Coleman drops his hopeless delaying tactics, Democrats toss Burris into the dumpster (or the state pen - did he do anything actually illegal?). Everyone wins, and politics in the USA become one billionth of a percent less sleazy. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/125 "2009-05-28T16:02:29Z")
Look, I personally find Coleman’s actions at this late date to be hopeless, but a distinction has to be made - they aren’t the actions of a corrupt man. What Burris and Illinois Democrats did is far worse. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/126 "2009-05-28T16:05:51Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Look, I personally find Coleman’s actions at this late date to be hopeless, but a distinction has to be made - they aren’t the actions of a corrupt man. Yeah, Coleman’s corruption problems are separate from his actions since November. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/127 "2009-05-28T16:41:54Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, Coleman’s corruption problems are separate from his actions since November. Agreed. Though to be fair, Senate rules don’t cover spouses for a rather obvious reason - that’s where many senators hide payments of various kinds. If we were to go looking at this sort of thing across the board, it is likely that the problem would be bipartisan indeed. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/128 "2009-05-28T16:55:24Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > If we were to go looking at this sort of thing across the board, it is likely that the problem would be bipartisan indeed. I actually wouldn’t dispute that. I don’t have a lot of bonds with Congressional Democrats, other than as a counter to the Congressional Republicans who are, at this point, mostly functionally insane. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/129 "2009-05-28T18:10:49Z")
The Democrats benefit from hanging Burris out to dry, whether or not the Republicans admit publicly that Coleman’s denial of defeat is laughable. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/130 "2009-05-29T01:58:40Z")
He’s gone in November anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/131 "2009-05-29T02:25:27Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > He’s gone in November anyhow. Uh, no. His race is in 2010, so unless he is removed somehow, we’re stuck with him for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/132 "2009-05-29T02:28:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You can dodge and weave like nobody’s business without a spine. And without balls, you can just shrug off low blows. You don’t need to dodge and weave when you hold strong majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as the White House. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/133 "2009-05-29T14:43:38Z")
Aw, man, 2010? Yeah, that should be long enough to impeach him. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/134 "2009-05-30T03:58:43Z")
Special election? Under a heavily tainted cloud? As a longtime observer of Illinois politics, it ain’t gonna happen. As a longtime Illinois Democrat, though I see the party’s failings, I don’t want it to happen. I mean, in recent years the Illinois Republican Party has brought us such luminaries as Judy Baar Topinka (okay, my pastor used to date her, but, despite my backpedalling on it, ie: “She just comes across as an idiot and I’m sure she’s a wonderful person, but that does not make her higher office material”) and Allen Keyes. They were easily kicked to the curb. And even now, when their leading light is that multi-time loser and ccongenital political moron (though I know several people who find him the most congenial soul, as long as he stays away from politics), Jim Oberweis, I don’t want to take that chance. However, as the Blago appointment recedes and the chances for an Amy Madigan (hot in a Tina Fey way, but I’d prefer her dad poked around in national politics because local politics affect me more) candidacy improve, te happier I am if Burris chickens out. Not that he will, not without a tape of him on his knees pleading, [Jim from “Huckleberry Finn”]“PLEEEESE, Massa Rod! I NEEDS to end my career as a US Senator, and ahm willin’ to pay for it,”[/JfHF] and probably not until long after its release. He doesn’t seem able to distinguish between a ship that will sail next week and one that sailed last week. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/135 "2009-05-30T04:06:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > He doesn’t seem able to distinguish between a ship that will sail next week and one that sailed last week. From what I get of the Post-Dispatch coverage of Illinois, he doesn’t seem to want to run next year. I seriously believe that he’s hoping for an unspoken, between the lines deal: “I won’t run if you don’t expel me.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/136 "2009-05-30T04:22:59Z")
For some months I’ve been willing to toss him that bone. He’s worked his way through IL politics to deserve, as the party realizes, a role as placeholder. As long as he maintains it, realizes it is self-limiting, votes by party lines, and keeps “Dopey” Oberweis grabbing at a regular election he cannot win, I’m happy. Party politics is different from “I vote for the best candidate,” and more effective. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/137 "2009-05-30T04:32:15Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > For some months I’ve been willing to toss him that bone. He’s worked his way through IL politics to deserve, as the party realizes, a role as placeholder. As long as he maintains it, realizes it is self-limiting, votes by party lines, and keeps “Dopey” Oberweis grabbing at a regular election he cannot win, I’m happy. Party politics is different from “I vote for the best candidate,” and more effective. Party before country (state), then. I thought that was supposed to be bad, or has it changed now? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/138 "2009-05-30T04:56:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > For some months I’ve been willing to toss him that bone. He’s worked his way through IL politics to deserve, as the party realizes, a role as placeholder. As long as he maintains it, realizes it is self-limiting, votes by party lines, and keeps “Dopey” Oberweis grabbing at a regular election he cannot win, I’m happy. Party politics is different from “I vote for the best candidate,” and more effective. “We all like to hear a man speak out on his convictions and principles. But at the same time, you must understand that when you’re running on a ticket, you’re running with a team.” Richard J. Daley The Democratic team in Illinois right now is long on convictions and short on principles. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/139 "2009-05-30T05:28:29Z")
Call it what you wish, but a party consists of people with similar beliefs. My fondness for Burris waned long ago, but because his beliefs generally parallel mine, I would rather have him voting on legislation than some scumbag Republican. If the only way I can guarantee that is by his not resigning, it’s a bitter pill I must swallow. I have no reason to believe any Republican cunts would, away from an internet message board where their lofty claims mean shit, think differently. The Republicans abandoned the moral high ground YEARS ago, and your attempts to reclaim it ring false. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870/140 "2009-05-30T21:38:36Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I have no reason to believe any Republican cunts would, away from an internet message board where their lofty claims mean shit, think differently. The Republicans abandoned the moral high ground YEARS ago, and your attempts to reclaim it ring false. Right, because all Republicans are scumbags and cunts. Is that the sum total of your “reasoning”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeach-roland-burris/485870.md?page=8)