Posted on 01/02/2009 9:31:46 PM PST by BAW
Roland Burris does not want to be in the face of the senators whose ranks he hopes to join, I am told. Yet Burris, appointed by the scandalized Gov. Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama, is expected here Monday. Burris' mere presence to try to claim the seat will, of course, be a spectacle.
He won't get into the chamber because the Senate Democratic leadership doesn't want anyone sent by Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Obama's seat for a plum job or campaign cash.
Here's what I've learned New Years Day:
I think Burris is underestimating how hard the Senate Democratic leaders are resisting his appointment. No one doubts that Burris is eligible to serve. No one is going to challenge Blagojevich's power to make the appointment. But they won't make it easy.
The new Congress will be sworn in Tuesday. Burris will arrive with no floor privileges because Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will not certify his appointment. The Senate will likely refer the matter to the Rules Committee, where it will be handled as s-l-o-w-l-y as possible. For example, the rules panel will require a very, very, very complete investigation to make sure the appointment is stain-free.
While the Senate Democrats are slow-walking, they want the Illinois House to fast-walk the Blagojevich impeachment proceedings, and then have a swift state Senate trial, conviction, and installation of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn as governor. Quinn then can make the pick, preferably a Democrat with an excellent chance of winning either a special election or the 2010 contest.
Given Burris' string of statewide defeats for senator and governor, he does not fit that profile.
Burris has unrealistic hopes of getting assistance from Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate leader.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Roland Burris goes to Washington on Monday. Should be a fun day for all of us here on FR.
Hmmmm...I wonder if Robert K.K.K. Byrd (RAT-WV) is going to take his robe and hood out of retirement for the occasion.
I’m a bit mystified by all of this.
Since when do the ‘rats insist that their own be “untainted” to enter the ranks??!?
Somehting’s fishy about this whole thing.
Everything about this Blagojevich, Burris thing should be targetting zero.
HE'S the one that the senate should refuse to seat, investigate, make very, very, very sure of his qualifications!!!!
If he is seated and runs for reelection the Republicans will win, that is why they do not want him. He’s weak, and predators destroy the weak in their pack.
Why will he be seen as weak—just because he was defeated in the past, and has the association with Blogo on him? Seems far fetched to me...the whole point for the commies is to have a black negro in the senate, a black to replace Hussein, and so it seems to me he’d get reelected..heck, he’s already got rock-star status as a result of all this, so my guess is that the Dems are up to something with all this, some kind of subterfuge, distraction, sleight-of-scandal...
There would be nothing quite as fun as having Blago impeached, and the new governor making a new appointment.
Imagine the precedent if subsequent governors can replace legally chosen senators.
Since Blago made his pick, the seat is no longer vacant.
BTW, imagine what would happen if Pawlenty declared the Minnesota senate seat vacant (it will be on Monday since they won’t have decided the election), and he was to appoint Coleman to the seat. No way the democrats would seat him.
The democrat party in this state stinks to high heaven, so does everything it touches and everything it does. Elect one of them to national office, and the funk gets loose and spreads around the world. 'Fishy' is too charitable.
The democrat party in this state stinks to high heaven, so does everything it touches and everything it does. Elect one of them to national office, and the funk gets loose and spreads around the world. 'Fishy' is too charitable.
Should be good for popcorn and beer sales. This whole fiasco is God’s way of making us even for the last election (of O).
I’m 200 miles east of MN, but I still can’t believe half the people in MN were STUPID enough to vote for Frankenstein. Even the deer are fleeing that state and coming to WI.
...I REALLY hope Blag goes with him. It should be a fun day....
I was watching a DC-based political show (Inside Washington) and they were saying that an appointment is an appointment.
Meaning as long as Burris wants to hold on, he can - a new guv cannot rescind a previous guv’s appointments.
Supposedly, the Illinois SOS has no leg to stand on by not certifying - it is a legal appointment as long as Burris is qualified (and he is). Burris can ask the Illinois Supreme Court for a Writ of Mandamus to compel the Illinois SOS to certify ... if he doesn’t, it goes to SCOTUS (who presumably will issue the Writ).
As for the U.S. Senate, if they do not seat Burris, Burris can file at SCOTUS - citing Powell v. McCormack as precedent. Under the Stare Decisis doctrine, SCOTUS will presumably order Burris seated.
As for going SLOWLY - the Senate Rules Committee only has 3 qualifications to assess:
1. Is the person thirty years old?
2. Has the person been a citizen of the U.S. for nine years?
3. Is the person an inhabitant of the State?
Pretty straight forward ... if the Senate Rules Committee dawdles, Burris can file a Writ of Habeas Corpus with SCOTUS.
You know, the Illinois legislature wanted to have its cake and eat it too on this ...
They had the opportunity after Nov. 4th to enact legislation that would have allowed for a special election and Blago said he would have signed it ...
But the legislature was scared that a Republican might win - so they took a pass ...
Now, they want to impeach him (and may very well do it), but the appointment stands ...
So, to the legislature, like my Dad used to say, “Sometimes you just have to eat the sh*t sandwich”!
When did it go out of retirement? I thought it was always available for special occasions such as this.
Pass the popcorn!
The people's business will be taking a back seat to monkey business for a long time to come.
Wow, that says it all right there in 3 sentences.
No one doubts that Burris is eligible to serve. No one is going to challenge Blagojevich's power to make the appointment. But they won't make it easy.
Translated into more constitutional terms, it says: "We won't block him on qualifications, we won't block him on elections and returns, We'll just block him because we want to. The constitution and the laws don't matter."
Pass the popcorn.
You betcha!
I think my favorite Governors are Jindal, Palin, and Sanford (in no particular order), followed closely by Blago. LOL
I am not even in Chicago or neccessarily a student of the machine....but it is beginning to seem blatantly obviously that the fix must be in for Baby Mandigan.
Reid lobbied for her and he and The TURBAN are throwing their weight around to nullify Burris.
and Blago is not playing the game.
“I’m 200 miles east of MN, but I still can’t believe half the people in MN were STUPID enough to vote for Frankenstein.”
Minnesota is a very socialist-loving state. The judges there are right out of the Politburo.
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