Posted on 12/30/2008 12:32:54 PM PST by radar101
Senate Democratic leaders are refusing to seat Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice for President-elect Obama’s former seat.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) issued a joint statement blasting Blagojevich for naming Roland Burris to the seat and said they will block his appointment.
“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,” Reid and Durbin said.
“Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.”
The two leaders emphasized they were not judging Burris, but simply noting the ethical cloud over Blagojevich. They also pointed out the Senate faces a heavy legislative calendar in January. They repeated their call for the Democratic governor to resign and their threat to refuse any appointment he makes.
“We again urge Gov. Blagojevich to not make this appointment,” the statement reads. “It is unfair to Mr. Burris, it is unfair to the people of Illinois and it will ultimately not stand. The governor must put the interests of the people of Illinois and all Americans first by stepping aside now and letting his successor appoint someone who we will seat.”
But questions remain as to what authority the Senate has when it comes to accepting or rejecting a gubernatorial appointment.
Associate Senate Historian Don Ritchie said the four examples since 1913 include Democrat Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, who died while a Senate committee was investigating corruption charges against him in 1947; Republican Frank Smith of Illinois, whom the Senate voted against seating due to corruption charges in 1928, and Democrats Henry Clayton and Franklin Glass of Alabama, both of whom withdrew their bids in 1913 after a dispute arose over the governor's authority to appoint them.
Ritchie also said senators are often seated but then investigated by the chamber’s Rules Committee to determine whether any charges against the senator have merit.
That was the case in Sen. Mary Landrieu’s case, Ritchie noted for example. The Louisiana Democrat won a narrow election in 1996 and was seated while the Rules Committee probed charges of voter fraud before ultimately exonerating Landrieu after 10 months
But Ritchie conceded the Blagojevich situation was different.
“We really haven’t had a case like this,” he said. “There’s just nothing quite comparable.”
Burris, 71 and African-American, is a former state comptroller and attorney general of Illinois. He also was Blagojevich’s Democratic primary opponent in the 2002 governor’s race and was endorsed by Obama in that primary battle. Burris and Blagojevich have long since patched over any differences — Burris praised the governor to the Chicago Sun-Times in 2006.
"I can't see how anyone can say he is not governing," Burris said at the time. "I think he is doing a helluva job."
Blagojevich’s move comes despite allegations that he attempted to sell Obama’s seat for his personal benefit, according to a complaint filed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, which cited wiretapped conversations.
Burris was not on the list of preferred candidates that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, sent over to Blagojevich’s staff.
An Obama spokesman said the transition team had no comment on Blagojevich’s move “right now.”
After Blagojevich’s initial arrest, Reid and Durbin both reacted early, pressing him not to make any appointment. At a Dec. 9 press conference, Durbin called for a special election, saying, “No appointment by this governor under these circumstances can produce a credible replacement.”
A day later, in a letter to Blagojevich written by Reid and Durbin and signed by all other Democratic senators, the Democratic leaders told the embattled governor “any appointment by you would raise serious questions … For the good of the Senate and our nation, we implore you to refrain from making an appointment to the Senate.”
Reid and Durbin also threatened Blagojevich that “should you decide to ignore the request of the Senate Democratic Caucus and make an appointment, we would be forced to exercise our constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated.”
Blagojevich's move Tuesday surprised even his own lawyer, who said only a week and a half ago that the governor would not make an appointment.
That’s still a fact. I’m agreeing with his point which is that acting against the seating of a Black to replace Obama will have ramifications for the jury. That was his point. It has nothing to do with Obama being president. It has everything to do with how the jury will perceive Blago appointing a Black to replace him, and the Senate speaking/acting against that appointment. Big time sympathy for Blago. And that’s likely part of the defense’s plan.
Elite super rich white racist Rat $inators are refusing to accept a man of color with a documented record unlike the mythical record of Zer0.
Is there a white elite Kennedy, they can crown as the Illinois $inator? As with past Kennedy’s, lack of residence in the state is not a problem.
I do, and I've thought that for a long time. It won't happen, of course, but it should. For me, the issue doesn't not center on corruption, but upon the balance of power between the federal government and the states.
The original Constitutional scheme attempted to create a balance of power between big states and small, and also between the states and the federal government.
The nation's chief executive and his backup were elected by the states.
The states, as sovereign governments, each had two agents (senators) to represent them in congress.The people elected their own representatives to serve in the U.S. House.
The balance of power, and checks on federal power, that this approach created is now all but non-existent. What we have instead is a disconnect between the states and the federal government, which treats the states more as regional adjuncts of itself than as sovereign entities. We also have professional politicians almost for life. This is particularly true in the senate. More and more, senators see themselves as mini-presidents; national figures rather than agents for their states and a check on federal power.
“When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot it’s sometimes better to just sit back, be quiet, and watch him do it.”
Or if your opponent is trying hang himself, throw more rope on the stage and sit back, be quiet and enjoy the show.
Why are they replacing a 46-year-old with a 71-year-old?
Why do we keep getting OLD people in the Senate?
This is possible, (a) if the case ever gets in front of a jury, (b) if the members of the jury even know or care that he appointed a black to fill Obama's seat, and (c) if it is a point that the prosecution and defense teams explore during jury selection. More likely, Blago is trying to show he has made an appointment free of the play-for-pay scheme Fitzgerald claims was going on. The fact that Burris is black is icing on the cake, and I have no doubt Blago picked a black man precisely to make the appointment much harder for the senate Dems to reject.
It's not so much that we keep getting old people in the senate, as it is people get elected senator then most of them stay in the job for 40+ years.
(b) if the members of the jury even know or care that he appointed a black to fill Obama's seat
(c) if it is a point that the prosecution and defense teams explore during jury selection
Believe me, this is all over Chicago and Illinois. Blacks are paying attention to what's going on with this seat. A group of Black ministers has already gotten involved in keeping it a Black seat. And now Bobbie Rush has spoken from his bomb factory... Beyond Blacks, there are few in Illinois not talking about the Blago scandal. We're all watching. And waiting to see how this comes down.
This is now part of the Blago story. And if/when it ever goes to trial, this will be part of the defense mix.
More likely, Blago is trying to show he has made an appointment free of the play-for-pay scheme Fitzgerald claims was going on.
This goes to his point #2; reasonable doubt. It doesn't take away from the above portion of their strategy.
You think Harry Reid was impotent dealing with President Bush? Wait until the Congressional Black Caucus gets done with his sorry arse!
Been over on the DUmmies board, they're a mix between horrified, and admiring Blago for having the testicular fortitude to stand up to Reid. It's gotta be tough to be him during the next few weeks!
“Republicans (not to mention Conservatives) are somewhere South of Square One in this blue state.”
Try looking south of Springfield. There are some very solid Conservative Republicans in Southern Illinois. I know because I married into a very fine family of Conservative Republicans.
Actually I don’t think they can block this appointment. They can throw him out of the Senate once he is seated but they can’t refuse to seat him, IMO.
Burris was not on the list of preferred candidates that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, sent over to Blagojevich’s staff
I wonder how they know that-has that been reported elsewhere?
Breaking per Fox News - Obama supports Senate Democrats not to seat Blao Aappointee.
This nullification of Blago and now this move are really interesting moves by Zero.
Reid the Dead and Pelosi Galore will have their hands full with the Congressional Black Caucus as you noted.
I need to buy a new microwave and a ton of popcorn.
I told you this would be fun to watch! Stock up on popcorn!
I am, as they say, getting on.
I think there was a black senator way back when, from Massachusetts. Drawing a blank on his name, though.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2156374/posts
Blagojevich Plays The Race Card On Fellow Democrats
Legal Insurrection Blog ^
Posted on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 2:28:09 PM by Legal Insurrection
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appointment of Roland Burris has put the Democratic party in a box. By appointing an African-American to the empty Senate seat, Blagojevich has forced his political opponents to risk being called racists. In supporting the appointment, Congressman Bobby Rush called opposition to Burris an attempted lynching. Whether this analogy is justified is questionable, but it is the same tactic that has been used against conservatives for decades, most recently by the Obama campaign. Democrats are getting a dose of their own medicine, and I hope it goes down like a bitter pill.
Edward Brooke, Republican
You are correct! He is the one I was thinking of...
Back in the reconstruction days, weren’t there a couple of black Senators appointed?
I believe there were 2 appointed in the reconstruction era, both from Mississippi I think.
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