Burris has long history of brazenness

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | December 30, 2008 | Andrew Herrmann

[BillyBoy]

Burris has long history of brazenness

'I AM A VISIONARY' | First African American elected to statewide office cites 'divine providence'

December 30, 2008
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter

The choice of Roland Burris for Illinois' open U.S. Senate seat may surprise some but not likely Burris himself, a man who has brimmed with confidence -- even when he was losing elections -- throughout his more than 30 years in the public eye.

The 71-year-old Burris -- who often refers to himself in the third person -- has never been shy about broadcasting his ambitions and loudly celebrating his achievements.

"I am a visionary," he declared in a 2002 interview with the Sun-Times when he was running for governor, his third unsuccessful try at the job.

In a 1994 interview with the paper, during his first effort at capturing the governor's office, Burris said his past success -- he had been elected comptroller and attorney general was "divine providence" that began at age 15 when he decided to become a lawyer and officeholder.

"People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter," he said. "I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model." In 1953, as a youth in downstate Centralia, Burris tried to integrate the local swimming pool. Burris' father, Earl Burris, spent $100 -- more than a month's earnings as a laborer for the Illinois Central railroad and as a grocery story owner -- to hire a lawyer for his son.

Under growing community pressure, the pool attendants sold tickets to Burris and a handful of other black children, who then dove into the previously forbidden pool. Giddy with success, they returned to Burris' home to celebrate.

But Earl Burris was upset because the lawyer never showed up at the pool to represent the boy. Burris later said his father told him, "If we as a race are going to get anywhere, we need lawyers and elected officials that are responsible and responsive." At 15, Burris set his sights on law school and statewide elected office.

Attending Southern Illinois University, he studied political science, played football and was president of his fraternity. Later, he earned a law degree at Howard University.

After law school, Burris launched a career in banking, becoming one of the first black professionals at Continental Bank. In 1973, he earned a Cabinet post in Gov. Dan Walker's administration.

Six years later, he became the first black politician in Illinois elected to statewide office. He served three terms as comptroller, the state's chief financial officer. In 1990, he was elected attorney general.

Speaking of himself in the 2002 interview, Burris said, "Roland Burris, who started way down here, in the segregation of a southern Illinois community, was able to set goals, plan and strategize and make it." Burris professional life has been mostly conflict-free and he has often run on a theme of "integrity." A religious person, he has called the bible his "blueprint for life." As attorney general, Burris battled environmental polluters, created divisions to help protect victims of domestic violence and child abuse and restarted the civil rights division to fight racial profiling.

But it was as attorney general that he also found himself the target of criticism in connection with the prosecution of Rolando Cruz in the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville.

In 1992, as Burris sought the death penalty for Cruz -- who had been convicted twice by juries -- a Burris deputy resigned in protest. Deputy Attorney General Mary Brigid Kenney became convinced that Cruz was innocent, the victim of "many instances of prosecutorial misconduct." She asked Burris to stop defending the case before the Supreme Court but Burris refused. In her letter of resignation, Kenney claimed her boss had "seen fit to ignore the evidence in this case." Burris countered that "it is not for me to place my judgment over a jury, regardless of what I think." The state Supreme Court eventually tossed out the conviction and a DNA test in 1995 matched a different man, Brian Dugan, to the crime.

Burris has given $15,296 to Blagojevich since 2002. That includes contributions directly from him and his firm, Burris & Lebed Consulting. The firm's clients have included Comcast, the Illinois Funeral Directors Association and Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council.

His wife Berlean Burris, with whom he has two grown children, Rolanda and Roland II, has said her husband is "serious, but he knows how to have fun," including enjoying cartoons and dancing.

Contributing: Chris Fusco, Kate Grossman

[BillyBoy]

Some freepers from outside Illinois are asking why Roland Burris would be "crazy" enough to accept a Senate appointment under these circumstances. Perhaps this article will provide some insight. Burris is a generally a soft-spoken, polite, likeable guy, but there's no doubt he's always had an ego the size of the titanic.

FAMOUS ROLAND BURRIS QUOTES:

"I am a visionary"
- declared in a interview with the Sun-Times when he was running for governor, 2002

"I am the greatest."
- perform as Muhammad Ali in a skit before hundreds of journalists, lobbyists and politicians at a banquet in Springfield. Wearing shorts and boxing gloves, he wasn't shy about repeating one of Ali's famous lines, 1984

"Well, today Illinois is known as Land of Lincoln. Maybe someday it will be known as the 'Land of Burris’"
- Quoted during his second run for Governor, Jan 1998

"Trail Blazer"
-- Chiseled on to Burris mausoleum that he built as a momument to himself

"I am the only black candidate in a Democratic field of four. I am the only one who has held statewide office. My opponents in this campaign consist of non-qualified white boys."
- speech to an African-American community group when he was running for Governor, 1998

"People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter. I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model."
- In an endorsement interview with Chicago Sun-Times, 1994

"I heard Abraham Lincoln himself during a visit to his tomb in Springfield. He told me: 'I know who you are and I am pleased at what’s taking place in Illinois today'."
- Burris inauguration speech as Illinois Comptroller, Jan. 1979

"I'm a small piece of leather but I'm well put together."
— on how he's managed to remain so well-preserved, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, March 3, 1998

"I'm not some fluke or perennial candidate."
— quoted to Chicago Tribune on his belief that he would become Illinois' first black governor. He subsequently ran for losing campaigns for the office three more times, Nov. 8, 1993

"Why not me?"
— to Rick Garcia, director of gay-lobbyist group Equality Illinois, on who should replace Obama in the Senate, Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 10, 2008

"Faced with these challenges and challenged with these crises, it is incomprehensible that the people of the great state of Illinois will enter the 111th Congress shorthanded."
— on the possibility that U.S. Senate Democrats would not seat him, press conference, Dec. 30, 2008

“It is a fact, there are no African-Americans in the United States Senate. Is it racism that is taking place? That’s a question that someone may raise.”
- On whether Rep. Bobby Rush is correct in using race as an issue in this Senate appointment, Dec. 31, 2008

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

Wow. He’s a legend in his own mind.

[StAnDeliver]

"In 1953, as a youth in downstate Centralia, Burris tried to integrate the local swimming pool. Burris' father, Earl Burris, spent $100 -- more than a month's earnings as a laborer for the Illinois Central railroad and as a grocery story owner -- to hire a lawyer for his son.

But Earl Burris was upset because the lawyer never showed up at the pool to represent the boy. Burris later said his father told him, "If we as a race are going to get anywhere, we need lawyers and elected officials that are responsible and responsive."

Rife with irony, irony, irony, and I'm sure it's completely lost on this 'visionary' megalomaniac.

[Steamburg]

No wonder there’s a problem, this dude would be direct competition to Reid for Moron of the Senate.

[freekitty]

He has a long history thinking he is hot you know what.

[Red_Devil 232]

Hehehheeee! Bolgo + Burris = the perfect storm for Obambi and Fitz!

[fieldmarshaldj]

And, as was posted yesterday, look no further than the monument to his ego, his future burial location...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2156384/posts

[RipSawyer]

Burris’ father, Earl Burris, spent $100 — more than a month’s earnings as a laborer for the Illinois Central railroad and as a grocery story owner — to hire a lawyer for his son.
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A dollar was worth much more in 1953 but this figure is ridiculously low! We are supposed to believe a man who owned a grocery store also worked as a laborer and between the two made no more than $100. a month? Horseapples, my mother worked in a sewing room in the late forties and made $.75 cents an hour. That comes out to $130. a month for a forty hour week and that was in South Carolina, a historically low wage state. Plus she didn’t own a grocery store! The whole thing sounds preposterous.

[Wuli]

Notice that Burris cannot admit one truth in his story about the segregated pool - the lawyer was not needed, it was not and did not become a legal case; once Burris and his friends acted, with the help of the pool attendants (I wonder how many of them were NOT black), the pool was integrated.

Baseball, Basketball and no major sport was integrated by some great legal demand.

The film industry was not required, by law, to give prominence to Sidney Poitier. No law demanded that Sammy Davis Junior, the Motown celebrities, or any other black entertainers be given professional opportunities.

History is filled with proof that social “justice” is achieved socially, not by law and economic “justice” is achieved by economic means, not by law.

If there is political “justice” in persons of a particular group serving in political positions, it will be met by those individuals themselves who step up to meet the challenges of those positions, because they want to and because they earn them, not by hand outs for them.

[river rat]

I keep looking for a bright sign in America's politics, economy, Congress or academia — and there appears to be none...

This mess in Illinois simply highlights the fact we are surrounded and controlled by knaves, thugs and fools.

[csmusaret]

Especially if he continues to quote Dolomite.

[JCG]

His wife Berlean Burris, with whom he has two grown children, Rolanda and Roland II, has said her husband is "serious, but he knows how to have fun," including enjoying cartoons and dancing.

Hey, anyone who enjoys cartoons can't be all bad.

----

Send treats to the troops...
Great because you did it!
www.AnySoldier.com

[BAW]

Burris' memorial to himself . . .

[BAW]

BillyBob, you - and Free Republic - earned a mention on the HolyCoast.com blog **grin**

http://holycoast.blogspot.com/2008/12/roland-burris-memorial.html