Just How Violent Was The Fourth?
Violent Weekend Concludes
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Farmer's Market Roundup - Summer Harvests
Painting by our own talented Lauri Apple
Well, here we were, putting together an extensive run-down on what's next in the Saga of The Lord's Senate Appointee™ and, lo and behold, Senate Democrats now say that they'll seat Roland Burris and it looks like a deal has not yet been reached. In the end, even after yesterday's choreographed rejection, the alleged seating would come as no surprise as opposition to Burris began weakening, specifically from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) who was worried about the precedent that would be set for future governor appointees, saying, "If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America...He is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled." Burris is meeting today with the Senate's top two Dems, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the senior senator of Illinois, Dick Durbin. Besides the precedent issue, the Senate knew it was in for a lengthy court battle as Burris and his attorney yesterday vowed to dig in his heels.
At a press conference that concluded a few minutes ago, President-Elect Barack Obama even seemed to weaken a bit on his stance, calling The Lord's Senator™ a "fine man" and promising to work with him (Chris Matthews called Obama "mellow"). Seating or no, criticism of Burris continues to flow. Today the Sun-Times has a piece on former assistant attorney general Mary Brigid Kenney, who resigned over then-attorney general Burris's zealous prosecution of Rolando Cruz, who was exonerated for the crime when another man confessed. NBC/Beachwood's Steve Rhodes takes a gander at a few other shady stories from Burris's past.
Update: We're awaiting a Press Conference by Sen. Harry Reid that will address the issue of what the blue hell is going on.
Update II: Sen. Reid set three conditions for Burris's seating that will occur over the next couple of days:
- The Illinois Supreme Court will have a hearing to decide whether or not Sec. of State. Jesse White's signature is necessary to seat Burris, i.e., does White have the right to reject Burris. They could force White to sign the appointment.
- Burris will testify before the state's impeachment committee about his "arrangement" with Gov. Blagojevich, i.e., whether there was a deal between the two in exchange for the seat.
- The entire U.S. Senate will vote on Burris's seating.
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I love the incorporation of his weird-ass sarcophogas.
Anyone who refers to themselves as a trailblazer, isn't.
Can Lauri start doing cartoons for Chicagoist instead of Tim Daly?
You read my mind.
OOOH!!! YES!! I would whole-heartedly support that!
Um ... I don't know if I hit the wrong reply or if you Gothamist techno types screwed me, but I actually meant for my enthusiastic support to go to xlprg's proposal above about Lauri being the official cartoonist. Though I do agree that everyone else is a politician.
Okay, now this is weird ... my comments, at least as viewed by me, keep jumping from thread to thread. This is where I meant to be all along.
I'm going to shut up and go away now.
Okay, this is weird. My comments keep jumping from thread to thread, at least as viewed by me. This is where I meant to be all along.
I'm going to shut up and go away now.
So in other words, our esteemed a**hole of a governor has pretty much guaranteed that Illinois will be losing one of its Senate seats to a Republican in two years.
Remember to send Governor Haircut a nice thank you note when they're swearing in Senator Oberweis in January 2011.
Heard Jesse White on WGN this morning (yeah yeah, old person radio) and he sounded at such pains about this nonsense. On the one hand, he's being blamed by the senate, who are too cowardly and afraid of being seen as "racist" to stand up and call bullshit on this. On the other hand, he's refusing to certify an appointment made by a governor who was, just a few weeks ago, placing the seat up for sale.
He's showing spine, integrity and a respect for both the letter and the spirit of the law. He's the only pol in this mess who doesn't deserve a slapping. And that includes Obama for not coming down hard and heavy.
FALSE. He is not showing integrity for the letter of the law because basically he is a CLERK whose job it is to rubber stamp the gov's decisions. End of story. What he is saying is that the Sec. of State should effectively have veto power over appointments made by the governor, which when you actually stop to think, would be an incredibly dangerous precedent.
Don't forget that everyone in this situation are politicians who stand to win/lose from this situation. Jesse White took an illegal, symbolic stand and now he is playing the victim quite well. Don't think what he did is any less theater than the Burris Show.
I'll take Jesse White's posturing over Blago/Burris posteuring any day. White has nothing to gain from not signing. The other two have had their hands out the whole time.
Rachel, I know you're a legal aid or paralegal or something, but you're forgetting that the law is not there to serve itself, but rather the people. Yes, White is in the wrong by the letter of the law. And yet he's in the absolute right in taking a stand against a governor who has completely betrayed the trust of the people. He's refusing to be party to the actions of a man indicted on a host of felonies. The law and justice need not always be at odds.
White himself has stated that the seal is more of an honorific than anything. This isn't so much a constitutional crisis as it is a game being played for time.
Blago knows the clock is ticking on his impeachment, appointing Burris is his way of lashing out at the party that has long since abandoned him. He knows Burris won't win if he runs in 2010, which he will since he's a completely self-interested fool.
While I agree that what Jesse White is trying to do could set a dangerous precedent and should therefore (unfortunately) not be allowed to stand, I do believe that he's pretty much the only one showing any integrity here.
He at least realizes that Blago's move was nothing more than political theater. The problem is, the General Assembly didn't move quickly enough to strip the Gov. of his Senate-appointment powers, and now we're stuck with Burris.
Of course, if Burris had any integrity, he would have declined the offer. But clearly he's either clueless or as big a phony as Blago. Either way, his reputation and legacy have just been shown the door.
@jenny:
"Jesse White took an illegal, symbolic stand and now he is playing the victim quite well."
His stand was no doubt symbolic, and may very well just be theater, but is what he did actually "illegal?" What crime did he commit by failing to sign? In other words, if my boss tells me to do something, or if something is expected of me in performing the duties of my position, I may be a bad employee and I may be subject to disciplinary action or termination, but I certainly have not committed a crime if I failed to do what is asked/required of me.
I'm not splitting hairs or trying to start anything, it's just that I've heard others say similar things (about the legality of White's refusal to sign), and I'm wondering if there's any legal basis for this, or if it's just hyperbole. Perhaps it's different for elected officials? Just wondering.
from the SOS Act:
Note the use of the word "shall" - White has no discretion on this matter. It is his legal duty to countersign the Burris appointment. So yeah - I guess you could call it illegal, but afaik, there are no criminal penalties for disobeying. The legislature, I suppose, could impeach White for failing his official duties, which would be amusing.
They should impeach him then. Let this all play out according to the letter of the law and let people see just how calcified and ridiculous the process has become.
Jefferson said we needed a revolution once a generation. We are fucking overdue.
Ahh... thanks so much lafav3! Citing the ILCS is certainly good enough for me!