Posted on 12/30/2008 7:15:34 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
John / Billybob
What a shock, NOT! The press always get the law wrong. A fifth grader knows more about the law than they do.
Brilliant analysis from Billybob, as usual.
Congressman,
Do you know what time you will be on? I would like to catch you if I can.
Thanks for your fine work.
You have that knack of making something complex more understandable. Thanks for the edumacation, JA.
Only in Chicago. This stuff just gets better every day. (And a great distraction from having to think about “that 0ne” taking the oath of office.)
Happy New Year bump!
“This is the essence of what I will discuss tomorrow morning with Jerry Agar on WLS in Chicago.”
What time??
I don't really see any way that Burris won't be seated.
Here's why:
1) There are no allegations or questions about Burris. He hasn't been accused of any misconduct. He meets the constitutional requirements for the office. There's no way to disqualify him based on who he is.
2) Blago is still governor of Illinois. He hasn't been impeached. He hasn't been indicted. He certainly hasn't been convicted by either the legislators or a jury. And Illinois law says the governor appoints the replacement when a Senator steps down. There's no way a court is going to find any question in whether Blago had the authority to make the appointment. He did have that authority.
3) Correct me if I'm wrong here, but in Powell v. McCormick, didn't the courts say that Article 1 Section 5 was limited to questions of constitutional qualifications and questions about the election results. There was no election, and there's no question about Blago's authority to make the appointment. And there's no question that Burris meets the constitutional requirements.
The last thing the Illinois legislature, Patrick Fitzgerald or Barack Obama want is an actual impeachment of Blago, because he would then have the right of discovery and presentation of evidence and sworn testimony from LOTS of folks, including Obama, who'd really rather not be put under the spotlight... /g
All of these fine folks have really grabbed the tar baby with this one, and just about the only option they have is to either kill Blago or continue tap dancing via constant media distractions until the public's eyes glaze over and they can quietly reach an accommodation with Blago and let this all quietly fade away...
John
The legalities of this aside, Reid and the Senate Democrats all have an incredible image problem if they take the steps you’ve outlined. Black America will not be satisfied by mere nuances of Constitutional law.
Thanks for setting things straight.
When the house senate and presidency are split between the parties there is a fair amount of isle crossing in the senate and it is hard to make a filibuster stick. But when one party has the house senate and presidency the out of power party tends to stick together to block as much of the in power party agenda as possible
If Obama can’t get his agenda passed because Reid refused to seat a Democratic senator, there will be hell to pay with his more liberal senators who see this first year as the best leftist chance since 1933.
Look for McConnell to force a cloture vote on nearly every bill that comes up. Refusing to seat a sure vote for cloture in order punish Blago and please the press is not a very bright thing for Reid to do. I doubt if Reid has the votes to make it stick.
Reid has said several times that he has the votes to do something when in fact he does not.
Listen online
WLS, 890 AM, Chicago.
6:15am, CST
Gosh....a high-profile discussion of who is eligible for higher office!!! Imagine that!!
If they throw him out for being appointed by a crook, to be consistent, half the officials in Illinois would have to resign.
Also, if the Pubbies merely voted Obama-style ("present"), the Dems couldn't get the 2/3 to throw him out.
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