Burris Should be seated, but the man is an egotistical jackass.

[MadBadger]

Him accepting the appointment is all about "me." The man is an opportunist, plain and simple. Any politician with any sense of what is right and wrong would turn down the seat if offered, but Burris could only think of himself and how he wants to be in the Senate.

But he should be seated because he was legally appointed by the Governor of Illinois. The Governor has not been convicted of anything yet.

[WeDidIt]

1. As an Illinoisian I disagree with the first bit

but fully agree with the second.

[Cha]

48. As a New Yorker

I don't think he would be good for the US Senate. I think the second part explains why.

[Jennicut]

2. He is a nut. He is a "trail blazer" per his mausoleum, who has one when they are still alive???

[wndycty]

3. A ton of folks do. . .

. . .but Burris is held to a different standard.

[Jennicut]

6. I don't know, I have never seen that before!

Strikes me as very odd.

[Critters2]

35. Oh, please. It's done all the time. nt

[Fire1]

44. Not odd at all. It's called 'planning.' People who are living

have 'wills,' don't they? Also, have burial plots!

[MadBadger]

10. Its seems weird to me, as do the Children. And it has NOTHING to do with him being black.

As you suggested yesterday.

[wndycty]

13. People often name their children after themselves

:kick:

[cali]

16. people rarely name more than one child after themselves

[Critters2]

34. As an Illinoisan, I would simply ask you to worry about the egotistical jack ass

you keep sending to the Senate.

[Nickster]

42. Word.

[lazer47]

4. If the first part of your statement is true, then he should fit right in.

[PurityOfEssence]

39. Tee-hee-hee

As John Lennon said: "all I can tell ya is: it's all show biz."

Sounds like reasonable casting to me: the guy sounds puffed-up with self-importance, not particularly bright and playing to the cheap seats. Oh, this pesky "law" stuff; what a beastly nuisance.

Seat him. It's simple respect for the law.

[randr]

5. He should not be seated and his insistence of legitimacy,

and the circus surrounding him, is proof of how effective this curve ball from the disgraced governor will play out.
His selection is a parting shot at Democrats that the governor feels abandoned him.

[MadBadger]

7. What was illegal about the Governor's appointment?

[WeDidIt]

8. He first attempted to sell it

This corrupted process resulted in candidates who should have been considered not being considered because they would not pay for the seat.

Because of this, the entire process is tainted and no untainted appointment can be made by this governor.

[Raineyb]

47. Except he hasn't been indicted for that yet

And apparently Fitzgerald is looking for another 90 days. Looks like he jumped the gun and hasn't much of a case.

Ted Stevens got a friggin' standing ovation AFTER he was convicted.

:shrug:

At least Burris isn't a felon.

Regards

[SuperTrouper]

9. Nothing illegal but a dark cloud over Burro since Blago had the seat for sale

and that is illegal.

[MadBadger]

11. Sure there is a dark cloud, but unless this appointment is proven illegal, its not.

[randr]

12. It is the disrespect that Burris is showing to the Democrat

leadership, who I believe are attempting to establish some form of decorum in this situation, that is disturbing to me.
Burris is taking advantage of a sticky situation for his own egos sake, and is not looking at the larger picture of a party trying to move forward without the stink of scandal.
As for the legality, I do not think the appointment has legal problems, although the lack of required signatories has added a wrinkle that needs ironing. I would be interested in knowing if the requirement for the Secretary of State to sign on was an attempt to stop an appointment in just this situation.
Regardless, Burris is allowing himself to be used and if, he is actually seated,he will certainly attract enough contempt to make an eventual run for the office a near impossibility.

[JFKfanforever]

15. He is 71! Why would he even consider "an eventual run"?

Roland Burris said he would be proud to serve his state in a
caretaker role as the interim junior senator.  Senator Burris
is legally appointed. Just seat him, minimize the circus
phenomenon and get on with the pressing legislative matters at
hand!

[BlueMTexpat]

Given that the Dem leadership has not shown him much respect,

his own "disrespect" seems understandable. I frankly don't see anyone involved here behaving like an adult, and that includes Reid & Co.

*******
Those who are enjoying this whole situation the most are the Rethugs.

[BlueMTexpat]

40. Given that the Dem leadership has not shown him much respect,

his own "disrespect" seems understandable. I frankly don't see anyone involved here behaving like an adult, and that includes Reid & Co.

*******
Those who are enjoying this whole situation the most are the Rethugs.

[rvablue]

23. The fact that the Illinois SoS hasn't signed off on it as required by the Illinois state constituion

a pesky lil' detail ain't it?

But it would actually be ILLEGAL for the Senate to swear in Burris today, despite the false allegations swirling around on DU today.

[MadBadger]

25. That isnt what I asked. I'm talking strictly about Blago appointing him

I think the SOS should sign off and that is what I mean by being seated.

[ShortnFiery]

14. So is Bill Clinton but that didn't stop me from voting for him twice ...

as "the lesser of two evils." :shrug:

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. He should be seated, but not until his appointment is certified by the IL SoS, as per

IL law and US Senate rules.

[bdamomma]

20. what is holding up the IL SOS with the certification of Burris.

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. He refuses to certify anyone Blago appoints:

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003002248

[bdamomma]

18. Harry Reid and his repig friends are being a$$holes in both

cases of Burris and Franken. Burris is not Blago.

[brianna69]

19. I loathe Burris

[ShortnFiery]

26. I loathe both Clintons' personalities but they're better legislators than the GOP of any flavor. eom

[olkaz]

30. And it's a totally useless comparison.

Clintons: Best political minds of their generation, period.

Burris: Not so much.

[ShortnFiery]

32. No it's pretty apt to me. The DLC Clintons are better than right wing republicans but in the 1970s

they'd be "moderate republicans." Unfortunately our country is now a right wing duopoly: The GOP - bat shit insane corporate right; and The Dems- moderately corporate right.

[ieoeja]

22. "legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments"

Given that the head of the state department of education is a part of the executive, the state legislature could empower the department of education to make the temporary appointment. The 17th Amendment to the US constitution lets the state legislature make that determination.

What the legislature of the state of Illinois did do is empower the executive to make such an appointment by (1) the governor selecting a replacement and (2) the secretary of state certifying that choice.

The secretary of state, also a member of the executive branch, has not yet certified the appointment.

So, no, he has NOT been fully legally appointed by the executive branch of Illinois yet. That much is pretty cut and dry. I suspect the Illinois Supreme Court will rule that the Secretary of State is required to make that certification, but until then Burris has not been legally appointed.

And even if he has, the US Senate STILL has the right to refuse his admittance. But that is getting ahead of ourselves. At the moment the question is whether he has been legally appointed or not. And the answer is a very easy, "no".

[ShortnFiery]

27. IMNSHO this is one STUPID battle as there are much more pressing tasks to follow.

The guy will do adequate and he is A DEMOCRAT that is not corrupt.

[ieoeja]

31. And two years later the Republicans will take this seat in a cakewalk. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

33. That does not mean that "the national Senate Dems" over-ride a SITTING State's Governor.

[ieoeja]

36. Last paragraph of the first post of this sub-thread.

"That is getting ahead of ourselves."

Burris is not yet the legally appointed Senator for Illinois. He has to be certified by the Illinois Secretary of State.

Burris claiming to be a Senator at this point is like you and I getting a marriage license then claiming to be married before getting it authorized, signed and filed.

[ShortnFiery]

37. The courts will ORDER the SOS to perform her Constitutional Duty.

I couldn't be more disappointed with the hypocritical behavior of Harry Reid. :thumbsdown:

[ieoeja]

41. I'm sure they will. But it buys us time.

The Democratic Attorney General lost the court case versus Blagojevich.

I expect the Democratic Secretary of State is about to do the same.

The one group of Democrats in Illinois that could actually do something about this is the legislature. After 6 years of non-stop battling this idiot, you would think they would be happy to cut him off at the knees.

The man's approval ratings are in SINGLE digits at this point. It's not like we are asking our legislatures to exhibit any political courage here or something. They would emerge twice as popular as ever if they would do something to stop this.

I don't think DUers outside of Illinois get this. Democrats in Illinois *hate* Blagojevich. We want him *gone*. And we want Burris stopped.

[ShortnFiery]

45. Why? Blago is still LEGALLY the *elected* Governor. "Innocent until proven guilty."

[ieoeja]

49. Incompetence and politics.

Incompetence

Since his re-election Blagojevich has been acting like a tin-pot dictator. The whole corruption issue aside, he has shown complete disregard for the people of this state. A year ago the most common quote you would hear from a Democrat in Chicago about Blagojevich was, "worst vote ever".

Example: every independant media source in the state called the budget he submitted last year horribly irresponsible. The state legislature agreed. So he shutdown portions of the state government for MONTHS refusing to give an inch on his budget. Early on the legislature agreed to 99% of the budget, but Blagojevich wanted 100% or nothing. Finally the legislature caves in and ... he vetos it! Because at the last minute he came up with a new idea he wanted to include in the budget.

Frankly, he ought to have been impeached right then and there.

Instead the legislature caved again (what is it about Democratic legislatures?). So seniors in Chicago get to ride public transportion free. Of course, Blagojevich refused to provide any funds for this program. Probably a good thing as all of his other projects have been funded by cutting pay and benefits to state employees. This one got funded by raising the price of public transportation, the vast bulk of which are the working poor.

You see, Blagojevich wants to run for the presidency some day (I kid you not) on the platform that he never once raised taxes. So he pushes for regressive fees on the working poor. The man makes your average Republican look like a bleeding heart liberal. In fact, Illinois Republicans actually *did* propose raising taxes to pay for some of his pet projects!


Politics

Seating Blagojevich's appointment means this will remain the #1 issue in the next election for this seat. Ignoring the fact that he opted for a 71 year old who won't be able to hold the seat long anyway, this would pretty much guarantee victory for the Republicans next year.

[Tatiana]

24. He should not be seated. As an Illinoisian, I do not want him representing me. n/t

[MadBadger]

28. Frankly, that isnt a good enough reason. I dont want Shrub representing me, but shit happens.

And it isnt your choice.

[ieoeja]

43. To date I have only found one Illini on DU who disagrees with you and I.

The Secretary of State bought the state legislature some time. Will they *please* take advantage of it to stop this tragedy.

Illinois Democrats, voters and elected officials alike, are almost unanimous in our opposition to Blagojevich/Burris.

[Rockholm]

29. He appears to be a wanna be.

I would say no to seating him. Blago is a crook and Burris is not only tainted by this, but his greed in wanting this seat is embarrassing.

[SoCalDem]

38. He's a ..p o l i t i c i a n ...n/t

[themaguffin]

46. unfortunately true and true on both counts