Blago Selecting Roland Burris to fill Obama's Senate Seat?

The word is that Rod Blagojevich is going to appoint Roland Burris to fill Obama's Senate Seat.

Who is Roland Burris?

He's the former Comptroller and former Attorney General of the State of Illinois.

Quite frankly, if White folks had been doing right, he'd be the Governor of Illinois.

For all the talk of the Bradley/Wilder effect, Burris is never mentioned, but should be.

Burris, an African-American, had held TWO statewide offices. He wasn't born in Chicago. He was born and raised in downstate Illinois, so it's not like the downstate folk didn't know him.

But, when push came to shove, they didn't vote for him in the Democratic Gubertorial Primary against the White nobody from Chicago with the odd name.

Burris is a standup man, and wouldn't be a bad caretaker for the Senate seat. He was the first African-American to win statewide office. Character-wise, he's sterling.

PS- I told you so - that Blago wouldn't resign...LOL

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UPDATE

From Politico--

Reid: Burris Won't Be Seated

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has issued a statement on the appointment of Roland Burris as the next senator from Illinois, saying he would not be seated next Congress. Here's the full statement:

“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’s ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

Read more here

But it's not really clear whether Reid has the authority to keep Burris out. Reid is making empty threats at this point. No backbone.... and probably no authority to make good on his earlier statements. Pathetic.

They would have to expel Burris. ....and this is why Blago is wanting to appoint him... to use race as a wedge for his own purposes.

Continued inaction from Illinois Dems helped lead to this fiasco... just as I have suggested.

And have we heard from Burris? Is it even confirmed that he has accepted? Because it would be so illogical for him to even accept and take part in this foolishness. Like I mentioned... it appears that Blago is just using Burris.

Blago is like a Cancer... he wants to damage his own Party as he goes down.

-- The Angry Independent


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UPDATE 2

Just as I expected, the Congressional Black Caucus's Bobby Rush is calling for the Senate to accept Burris. Apparently having a seat of power is more important to Rush and Burris than integrity. They don't mind being under the cloud. To me, this just shows the corrupt nature of many in the CBC. If I were a CBC member... I would want Burris appointed under better circumstances, where there were no clouds or questions hanging over the appointment. Most normal people would. And I knew that the CBC would quickly inject race....and apparently Blago knew too....and he was betting on it.

Mission Accomplished for Blago - Create a wedge and rift in the Congress and in the Country by sending someone to the Senate who would create an atmosphere of chaos. By sending someone who would be hard for the Senate to refuse....and who would create a battle within the Democratic Party. This will keep the narcissistic Blago on the front pages for weeks (probably his biggest goal in all this).

Blago may be a little crazy.... but he's a crude, conniving politician.

-- The Angry Independent


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UPDATE 3

Here is the video of the press conference.

I just watched the video. I thought it was pretty hilarious and straight up Chicago.

Let's get this clear, for all of Harry Reid's blustering, I don't know if they have the law on their side. The closest Supreme Court precedent is Adam Clayton Powell's case, and the House lost that one.

As for Jesse White (Secretary of State of Illinois) bullshitting that he won't certify it, let's just say he's old and Black folk aren't going to tolerate that BS from him. They won't be forgiving.

LMAO at Bobby Rush. Absolutely hilarious.
I guess I take a different view of this because this is local. But, politics in Chicago hasn't been this entertaining since the days of Council Wars.

-- Rikyrah


Blago: "I have enjoyed the limelight i've had over the past couple of weeks".

This says it all... it fits right into what I have been saying.


-- The Angry Independent

(rikyrah here) UPDATE: I was asked in the comments if I'm ok with this.

I am absolutely OK with this. I look at this through a local lens. Roland Burris is totally fine as a candidate. Black folk in Chicago want to put a Black person in the Senate. We see absolutely nothing wrong with Burris being the choice. Can he win in a Democratic Primary in 2010 - who knows. But, by 2010, Blago will probably be in an orange jumpsuit, and taken down several other folks with him. Burris will have the incumbency and his own voting record. At the very least, even if he doesn't run for election, you would have given another Black candidate, the chance to begin from the starting line just like anyone else. This is about local politics, and we wish the President-Elect the best, but we have to take care of local Black folks. And, like I said, I wanna see Harry Reid take this to court.

And, as I pointed out, Black folk are ' suspect' of the entire Blago takedown. Doesn't sound right to us. Plus, if you've lived under King Richard Daley II, who has had pretty much EVERYONE around him arrested, indicted and convicted - it will take a lot to convince Black folks that Blago is the worst person, or even the worst Illinois crook. Blago's only been around 7 years, and he's been fighting with all the folks that have made Black folks' lives miserable in Illinois for a long time before we heard his name. He probably is stupid. Crooked - yep. But, consider the crookdom that we've seen up close and personal, Blago just isn't this scary bogeyman national media wants to make him out to be.