Jay Bookman

By lwwmm7

December 30, 2008 7:23 PM | Link to this

What a master stroke of political maneuvering on the part of Count Blago. Chicago politics is almost as much fun to watch as New Awlans. Just remember, folks, we have the best Congress money can buy.

By getalife

December 30, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this

It was a highly entertaining circus but he is going against the spineless dems and they always cave.

Blago is showing Reid what spine looks like so maybe he will learn from him.

If they have a special election, the dems will lose and there will be no AA’s in the Senate.

By NotSurprised

December 30, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this

Figures a racist would play the race card. Bobby Rush is a stain on the institution for which he was elected to represent the people of his district. That might say something about the people in his district too. I don’t know anything about Burris, but the Democrats already said they would not seat any Blagojevich appointment. They didn’t qualify it with ‘unless he appoints a black man’. I rarely agree with Reid, but he is right in this case to bar any Blagojevich appointment. It’s not about race. It’s about Blagojevich and corruption of the institutions of this great country. Blagojevich and Rush want to tear down the institutions.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 30, 2008 7:55 PM | Link to this

karnival dude.

But there are questions as to how and whether that power can be put into play.

And he’s got his own court jesters too.

Haha.

ew

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 8:05 PM | Link to this

All of this could have been avoided if the wires had stayed up and the deal had gone through !!!!!!!!!

He would have had to resign in disgrace. Now, as it is, he has a 50/50 chance of beating any conspiracy charges in front of a who knows what kind of a jury.

But we know why …………. don’t we?

By Taxpayer

December 30, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

No AAs in the Senate! Who’s gonna pass down the twelve steps to recovery and all that stuff. A Senate without AAs is like a Johnny without a Walker or Mezcal without its worm. Why, that’s enough to make John McCain’s pappy sink his own battleship. This is an outrage. I’m writing my Senators. What’s his name and that other one too.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this

We should change the Constitution and go back to having our senators elected by the state legislators.

Every country in the world has an ambassador in D.C. to look out after their interests but the states have no one.

The House should look after the interests of the people and the Senate should look after the interests of the states.

That might solve a lot of our problems and provide some balance.

Remember, this is the United States of America - not the United People of America. Never has been and never will be.

By viva castro

December 30, 2008 8:21 PM | Link to this

PULLED.

By getalife

December 30, 2008 8:29 PM | Link to this

You know, it is disappointing Blago did not appoint himself.

You know he would fit right in with the rest of our Senators.

You know, Caroline is no Hillary.

Don’t ya know?

By catlady

December 30, 2008 8:48 PM | Link to this

And people thought Blago was dumb! Looks and actions are really deceiving.

By david wayne osedach, san diego/ U.S.A.

December 30, 2008 8:48 PM | Link to this

We have enough problems in this country. We don’t need a grandstanding idiot. Put Blago in jail. Please…

By RW-(the original)

December 30, 2008 8:52 PM | Link to this

Let me preface this by saying that I’m fully aware that the rule of law nor any state or federal constitution has ever been a barrier to Democrats doing whatever they want. See the New Jersey Senate race a few years back if you don’t believe me, but the laws of both the United States and the state of Illinois, along with a Supreme Court decision from the 1960’s seem to put the law squarely in the court of Blago and Burris. Reid and now even Obama himself have come down on the side of ignoring the law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court.

Hopeandchange!

By Ray

December 30, 2008 8:55 PM | Link to this

Talk about a grandstanding idiot….. McKinney wins the gold star. Of course, she has always placed herself a little above the fray. She and Blago have a lot in common. The Jews are not impressed, Cynthia. Go peddle your love for Hamas someplace else. Next time, they will probably sink the boat. Good riddance.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 30, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this

viva castrated: You’re gonna wind up being gimped ifin the blog god doesn’t issue a clarification on personal attacks real soon like.

Feel lucky you ain’t me, running your mouth like that would have got me scolded.

I’m winding up though, taking aim, I got you in my sights, now if I don’t see a warming emerge from above………

You could be be singing falsetto real soon, sweetheart.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this

To AJC/DNC

Heck - stuff like that got me deleted once.

All I did was make some posts with a lisp !

By @@

December 30, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this

Lotta one-man carnivals goin’ on, jay.

Reid is one of ‘em. His threats have no legal teeth.

Powell vs McCormack 1969.

Article 5, Section 1 of the Constitution. Congress can rule on qualifications such as age and citizenship requirements and can judge elections but cannot prevent a member from being seated because of ethical concerns.

My understanding is he can be booted after being seated, but Burris hasn’t done anything to deserve the boot.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 9:37 PM | Link to this

To @@

They don’t have to put him on any committees do they ?

By @@

December 30, 2008 9:43 PM | Link to this

Corporal:

Nope! As is the usual case, Burris (AA) will end up being a pawn in the party of (D)s.

Disgusting!

Just disgusting….

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 9:46 PM | Link to this

To @@

No committee(s) Worst office No locker in the Senate gym No invite to the Christmas Party

There - that should do it ………..

By Chad Harris

December 30, 2008 9:48 PM | Link to this

I would respectfully correct Jay. There is no precedent for the Senate doing what Harry Reid says it can do. I’ll explain. There is a case where the Senate kept someone from being seated based on their qualifications.

Mr. Burris is not unqualified, and he’s a lot more forthright with the press and better at answering questions than the Kennedy lady who rode Macaroni the pony.

The precedent then, for blocking the seating of someone who is qualified goes against the Senate being able to do this.

During the Civil war, the Senate tried to block someone based on qualifications and they failed in fact. There has not been another case as to this minute.

The House tried to block Adam Clayton Powell and failed.

AJC Management Chick Fill-A Whatevah has indulged in a lot of fantasy here. I wonder if he’s written any fiction. He’s short on any facts with his JJJ Million dollar hyperbole—LOL like he knows any facts that took place in Illinois.

Back in the real world, legally…

There is a considerable question as to whether the Senate can legally block Blago’s appointment of Buriss.

There’s no precedent for it, but there is a legal precedent where the Court decided that the House couldn’t block Adam Clayton Powell.

Although Harry Reid and Dick Durbin invoked Article I, Section 5 there is no clear precedent for invoking it.

Maybe the Ivy league law grads and Northwestern law grads in their offices should bone up on S. Ct. case law.

And if Burris wants to tie this up for a couple years percolating his battle to the S. Ct. he can do just that but it will be expensive in dollars unless he has some backers with deep pockets.

There are law profs. who would take the case though because it is a constitutional question in the limelight.

Supreme Court precedent suggests “no”: The Court held in Powell v. McCormack 395 U.S. 486 (1969), that “in judging the qualifications of its members Congress is limited to the standing qualifications prescribed in the Constitution,” such as age and citizenship. Now perhaps the Senators are right and the Court was wrong, and perhaps today’s Court would overrule Powell. But at least at this point, Powell seems to make clear that under Article I, Section 5 the Senate may determine whether the Senator should be seated solely based on the objective qualifications that the Constitution prescribes, and not based on its judgment whether Gov. Blagojevich ought to be entitled to make the appointment.

The case is here. When you’re not reveling in the fantasy world of AJC “Management” (I sure as hell hope not for Cox’s sake but who knows) you might read this case:

http://supreme.justia.com/us/395/486/case.html

Further, historically the Senate also took up qualifications of someone to sit, but Mr. Burris having been AG and Comptroller of Illinois over 20 years and turning in a capable performance doesn’t seem to parallel that situation.

Shortly after the Civil War, when Hiram Revels was elected as a Republican Senator from Mississippi, his qualifications were challenged in the Senate. It is true that that challenge was based upon his alleged lack of Constitutional qualifications; as a native-born African American (though a free black prior to the Civil War - he attended Knox College, a hotbed of abolitionism that had the temerity to admit blacks prior to the Civil War without regard to their race), the argument was made that, under the Dred Scott decision, he was not a Citizen prior to the ratification of the 13th Amendment, and thus had not been a citizen for the required 9 years. After a lengthy and acrimonious fight, Revels was seated as a U.S. Senator.

By @@

December 30, 2008 9:54 PM | Link to this

Chad:

I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your l-e-n-g-t-h-y posts.

See my 9:31.

Short, sweet and to the point.

By Harry Carey

December 30, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this

As a long time Chicagoan, let me say politics there are only slightly less crooked than Baton Rouge. That said, Mr. Blago(I can’t spell his name!) has only been arrested and charged, not convicted of any crime. The charges, whilst reprehensible, are just that..charges. As the governor, he has every right to proceed on with the duties of his office until he is impeached and/or removed from office for a felony conviction. Doesn’t anyone wonder why it is taking so long to get him impeached? Hmmmm..could be they have no evidence of malfeasance? What I heard on those recordings does not rise to the level of asking for money for the appointment. If money had actually changed hands or he had said, “Counselor so and so, I will appoint you for $25,000”..that would be evidence. To say, “This appointment is worth something” doesn’t cut it. Are you kidding me? Politicos make appointments like this all the time with implied favors or influence returned in kind at a later date. A President-elect; you think all these folks he is appointing are just good friends? These folks have done something for him with a big favor expected in return. All the Illinois legislators are saying they won’t support his appointee because they are afraid of being splashed with his mud. No other reason. To me it’s a heck of a coincidence the new President-elect’s own seat is the center of scandal like this, right after a decisive election. One might check Carl Rove’s phone call records to the Chicago area just after the election. Spare me all the Constitutional know-it-alls on the board; this guy will walk unless some true evidence comes to light.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this

Chad

I’m not sure that’s a good example.

The Constitution was disregarded many times during and after the War Between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.

Does that mean it is o.k. to disregard it now based on Unconstitutional precedent?

By @@

December 30, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this

Corporal:

Personally, I suspect the democratic party of racists WILL offer Burris his own personal washroom, and very possibly his own reserved seat at the cafeteria’s lunch counter.

Racist jerks!

By AJC/DNC Management

December 30, 2008 10:05 PM | Link to this

I honestly have new found respect for Cynthia “j-e-w-s” McKinney, it takes some guts to set sail into a battlefield occupied by the IDF, they don’t mess around, as she most certainly found out.

And for that, we salute her!

(Guess which flag I’m flying now.)

By jon

December 30, 2008 10:06 PM | Link to this

Blago will beat this rap and be the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in 2016 (unless Obama gets the Constitution amended so that he can rule for life.) Sorry Hillary.

He has this going for him:

Dems love scoundrels (see Bill Clinton) Obama has always supported him. He has nice hair.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 10:09 PM | Link to this

To @@

Now @@, as you know I like and agree with most of your posts.

However, I also pride myself on being fair and holding to the same standard for all.

Are you sure you don’t want to replace the word racist with bigoted or prejudiced or even insensitive?

By Chad Harris

December 30, 2008 10:12 PM | Link to this

Jon—amusing. What would you call over 100 literal people on their way to the Bureau of Prison from the Bush adminsitration—scondrels are just unlucky SOBs in the wrong place at the wrong time? This is better than any of hte late night monologues between comments like that and ole AJC “Management.”

You must have suffered from that neurological syndrome called 8 year Altzheimers good ole 8YA.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 30, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this

Chad Harris: As I blow by your long winded dissertations and by sheer luck happen to notice my nickname buried within, it still doesn’t compel me to spend half of my evening trying to figure out what you are babbling about.

For this slight, I offer my sincerest apologies.

But don’t despair, I have promised to myself that maybe someday I will take the time to read back through your sonorous, long winded manifestos and compose a response to each, as etiquette requires.

Someday.

I promise.

By @@

December 30, 2008 10:14 PM | Link to this

Corporal:

I’m sure.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this

To @@

O.K. ……… sigh …….

By AJC/DNC Management

December 30, 2008 10:28 PM | Link to this

Meanwhile, thousands of Israel Defense Forces ground troops, backed by tanks and artillery, massed along the Gaza border and waited for a signal to attack.

I hear the drive by media talking a bunch of smack, they are doing their best to pump up Hamas into this sneaky little powerhouse that will rise up a strike down the hated Jew, and I must say, thank you drive bys, for if Hamas believes that BS, they are fixing to get slaughtered.

Wholesale.

Nothing better than a blowed up terrorist.

And we appreciate the help, honestly.

By getalife

December 30, 2008 10:29 PM | Link to this

I think, without a shadow of doubt, that our next broken Congress will once again prove to be a circus of epic outrages.

Perhaps after they can’t fix anything but throw away trillions again, America will finally shut it down and start over.

Should be one heck of a year, 2009.

Happy New Year comrades!

By Chad Harris

December 30, 2008 10:35 PM | Link to this

Corporal you’re misunderstanding me. We don’t have any wartime reason to disregard the Constitution in the narrow issue of the Senate seating a Senator from Illinois so whatever you’re nebulously invoking without specifics does not fit this situation.

The Senate has no precedent here for suspending the Constitution in regards to seating the Senator from Illinois that someone who has not been indicted but has been crucified by the press and by the US Attorney in rule breaking mouthing off as Fitz has done has appointed.

And in the case of the African American during the civil war the Senate did seat him after delay. Hiram Rodes Revels was the first African American elected to the Senate, as well as the first African American elected to Congress. He is also one of five African Americans as of this moment to have served in the US Senate which is pathetic but a discussion for another time. Revels was delayed for about 2 months.

The election of Revels was met with opposition from Southern conservative Democrats who cited the Dred Scott Decision which was considered by many to have been a central cause of the American Civil War. They argued that no black man was a citizen before the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Because election to the Senate required nine years’ prior citizenship, opponents of Revels claimed he could not be seated, having been a citizen by law for only two years. Supporters of Revels countered by stating that the Dred Scott decision applied only to those blacks who were of pure African blood. Revels was of mixed black and white ancestry, and therefore exempt, they said, and had been a citizen all his life. This argument prevailed, and on February 25, 1870, Revels, by a vote of 48 to 8, became the first black man to be seated in the United States Senate.

I can guarantee you you’re not going to see the Senate “suspend the Constitution.” That’s not how this will go down. When the Constitution has been suspended there have been emergency contingencies, and in some cases there have been apologies 50 years later as in the case of the Japanese interment.

We don’t have this kind of emergency with Buriss. If Buriss wants to litigate this, he certainly will be able to do so and it will play out in the Courts whatever Harry Reid, Durbin and any others try to do.

Adam Clayton Powell’s case is very on point in fact, and it is of great value for Buriss should he fight the Senate in an attempt to block him.

There might be a distinction between Powell and this case in that Powell was elected by the voters and Buriss was appointed by Blago.

I am sure that lawyers for the Senate in that hypothetical case would argue the distinction between appointment and election as to Powell.

And keep in mind that this appointment is legal. Blago is still governor. Nothing changes that at all at this moment. He hasn’t been removed, and he hasn’t even been indicted and although I thought Fitz had 20 days since Dec. 9 to indict or face a probable cause hearing, some in the media are quoting 30 days and although I haven’t looked it up, as a matter of a FRCrP or USC 30 sounds more likely than 20.

Election is listed in the Constitutional clause and apointment is not.

There have been other battles, but I won’t dwell on them here. There was one in Massachusetts. There was one in 1918 in the House over Vincent Berger who was indicted and acquitted on federal espionage charges. Berger went on to get elected and serve 3 straight terms after his acquittal.

The 17th amendment states that:

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

That makes this appointment valid per the Constitution.

By tcoach

December 30, 2008 10:46 PM | Link to this

Chad, How long are your post on average per word, do you think?

Are you one of those people who love hearing their own voice, so they talk and talk about the same point just in different ways, and fancy language?

Because you sure are that type of blogger.

By @@

December 30, 2008 10:48 PM | Link to this

How many more of those rockets like the two that hit Beer Sheva does Hamas have?

Can’t the Israelis pinpoint the location from where they’re being launched?

By getalife

December 30, 2008 10:58 PM | Link to this

Our friends and new ally weighs in:

“Just as they did during Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah, Iraq’s leaders are now showing where their true sympathies lie. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Da’wa Party “issued a statement condemning the attacks and calling on Islamic countries to cut relations with Israel and end all ‘secret and public talks’ with it.”

United with Iran again.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 11:02 PM | Link to this

To Chad

I hear you but a little to verbose this late at night.

And …. it wasn’t a civil war !

By Chad Harris

December 30, 2008 11:03 PM | Link to this

Coach—

I’m one of these people who writes to make a point and you’re one of these people who wouldn’t understand most of it, and as far as I can tell are contributing nothing to the conversation except your petty commemnt.

Do you have thoughts on any issue?

That’s what I thought. I saw them. Nothing.

By Midori

December 30, 2008 11:09 PM | Link to this

Chad,

I love your posts.

So well thought out and they flow.

You connect the dots and construct the links.

I think the “haters” are jealous of your talents.

I can well understand why.

All one gets out of their posts is fire, brimstone and hypocrisy.

By Midori

December 30, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this

this may interest you guys. as corporal says “off topic”

By Chad Harris

December 30, 2008 11:16 PM | Link to this

Midori thanks.

You’ll notice that most of the Palin voters here have limited educations, and the “coach” is one of them. He could have chosen to ignore comments by me. No one had a gun at his mouth to read them.

The Coach wouldn’t know the 17th Amendment from a nickle package. It’s typical of “University of Jaw Jaw Monarch Outline Frat parties booze and wtf readin’ no fun.”

Whatever the Coach does, he wouldn’t begin to understand the Constitutional issues or give a flying f*ck. He’s typical of Jawjaw male no read, and I see Coaches all the time.

Thanks.

By @@

December 30, 2008 11:17 PM | Link to this

Getalife:

I read a couple of articles yesterday that said Arab countries are saying one thing for public consumption and something entirely different behind closed doors.

They’re secretly hoping Hamas falls.

I just dropped in on a site sympathetic to Hamas’ Palestinian cause, and they’re saying the same thing — that Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others are working with Israel and the U.S. to assist in the destruction of, or, at the very least, force Hamas into yet another truce.

Too much information leaves me to wonder.

By getalife

December 30, 2008 11:22 PM | Link to this

@@,

That is called spin.

By @@

December 30, 2008 11:22 PM | Link to this

Midori:

It may have been off-topic, but I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that you won’t be able to watch “SpongeBob SquarePants” anymore.

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 11:25 PM | Link to this

Excuse me - “too” verbose.

By Midori

December 30, 2008 11:27 PM | Link to this

no prob Chad.

Anytime.

You make reading fun.

And with that, I’ll say good night.

By @@

December 30, 2008 11:34 PM | Link to this

Getalife:

That is called spin.

Which? Your source, my source, or both?

(ISH)

By The Corporal

December 30, 2008 11:37 PM | Link to this

Yawn

By RTW

December 31, 2008 1:13 AM | Link to this

Chad: “Mr. Rationality”. Cogency yet belittlement. Your comments would be refreshing if not tainted by your obovious distaste for disagreement. Practice your opines in the months to come. I have a feeling you’ll need them. Verbosity is your ally, rationalization is your weakness. Admittance is your fault. Try a response without bias.

By RTW

December 31, 2008 1:25 AM | Link to this

By the way, best AJC headline: Obama serious about his golf game”. I feel safer. This must be worth reading!

By RTW

December 31, 2008 1:30 AM | Link to this

“Terry Link, an Illinois state senator, recalled Obama’s acceptance of his own limitations during a round some years ago.

“His frustration at not being able to compete with me did not lead him to quit or throw his clubs in the water,” Link said. “I admire that and I will admire that in his presidency.”

WOW! I’m sold! This is just an example of the fawning we get to be exposed to for the next four years. Now if he could shoot in the 70’s, I’d really be impressed. Obama ‘12!

By RC

December 31, 2008 7:26 AM | Link to this

Typical Democrat!!

By DB, Gwinnettian

December 31, 2008 7:33 AM | Link to this

About the Blog-oy-vey-ovich thing, I’ll say more or less what I’ve been saying about Caroline Kennedy: It’s interesting political business, but it’s really down to the people of IL to decide what to do with the Gov. (via their representatives) and whether or not this Burris fellow becomes their Senator.

Shifting gears a bit since it’s slow in here…

Since I don’t think I ever posted a link to this bit of heady, late-August Republican prognosticating—herewith, some early morning larfs. - excerpted below.

============

Does Batman really care what others think of him? Does Rush? Did Reagan or Teddy Roosevelt? Are you kidding? In other words, every time the media thinks they are promoting Obama they are in fact doing him damage. Subtle, yet irreversible damage that will eventually begin to show itself in the polling numbers if it hasn’t already.

What will Americans be voting for in 2008? The same thing they have been voting for routinely in every election since the beginning of American presidential elections. They want action. A willingness to risk. They want someone who doesn’t give a damn what others think.

They want Batman. They want Rush.

So they will elect McCain.

By will

December 31, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this

Unfortunately Jay, it’s not at all a “one man show”, and even a rudimentary knowledge of Chicago politics would indicate otherwise. This guy is tied to the next President, and tightly. Let’s hope they get him to sing like a canary, and wipe away the patina of “hope, change” and all the rest of the hogwash.

By Mike

December 31, 2008 7:46 AM | Link to this

Hey who says that the liberal hacks at the AJC won’t be capable of covering Obama with any real scrutiny? Look at this “hard hitting” article about how Obama likes golf:

[Obama demonstrates respect for game of golf]http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/12/30/obama_golf.html)

Remember how Bush was constantly attacked by the media for “being on vacation”? Obama’s been stalking around Hawaii doing nothing and all the media can say is “nice pecks” and “gee, he like golf”.

This is no criticism of Obama. It’s not his fault that the partisan hacks in the media treat him as gently as Bush has been savaged.

By DB, Gwinnettian

December 31, 2008 7:47 AM | Link to this

“This guy is tied to the next President, and tightly.”

I was wondering who got @@’s morning shift. Hi, “will!”

By yankee

December 31, 2008 7:50 AM | Link to this

Can The AJC set up a blog for it’s readers, one where the 6-8 blowhards here are banned? Day after day of the same garbage doesn’t make a blog.

By downtown guy

December 31, 2008 7:57 AM | Link to this

Chad you’re absolutely right. The appointment of Roland Burris is not only constitutionally defensible, it’s political genius. He’s directly torpedoed the politcal ambitions of all of the Illinois Dems surrounding him currently salivating over the Senate seat.

The former Attorney General and Comptroller for the state of Illinois is the antithesis of Caroline Kennedy. It would be nearly impossible to oppose his appointment and support hers, even with Blagojevich’s current problems.

Reid and Obama would have been better served by saying “Given the accusations surrounding the governor, it appears that he may have been pushed into doing the proper thing. We reserve judgement”

By downtown guy

December 31, 2008 7:59 AM | Link to this

Chad you’re absolutely right. The appointment of Roland Burris is not only constitutionally defensible, it’s political genius. He’s directly torpedoed the politcal ambitions of all of the Illinois Dems surrounding him currently salivating over the Senate seat.

The former Attorney General and Comptroller for the state of Illinois is the antithesis of Caroline Kennedy. It would be nearly impossible to oppose his appointment and support hers, even with Blagojevich’s current problems.

Reid and Obama would have been better served by saying “Given the accusations surrounding the governor, it appears that he may have been pushed into doing the proper thing. We reserve judgement”

By Mike

December 31, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this

Whoops:

Obama demonstrates respect for game of golf

Yankee: you are missing the point. Bookman and the AJC are interested in “clicks”, because that is the number that is presented to the poor saps who advertise on the AJC. Of course, no one tells the advertisers that all of the “clicks” are generated by the same 10 people, none of who are looking at ads. It is a complete scam by a major corporation, the kind of scam that Bookman would be railing about if he was not complicit.

By Dems are Dumb

December 31, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this

Here we go again with the dumba$$ democrats.

Democrats will excuse any behavior or illegal actions for their own members. All they can do is scream and blather their banter about how George Bush has ruined this country while we as law abiding, tax paying citizens have to endure this garbage.

Mark my words… Obama is up to his eyeballs in this scandal. the liberal media won’t talk about it because they’re in bed with the guy. All the press wants to do is give the public pictures of Obama without his shirt on. Wow… That sure is hard journalism at it’s finest.

Before year one is up both of these guys will either be indicted or on the way to impeachment.

Blowgo will probably skate… this moron, ex-black panther who’s been nominated will be seated no matter what that spineless Harry Reid wants. I hope they have a really good recipie for fried chicken and watermelon in the US Senate cafeteria.

By DeKlb Resident

December 31, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this

I just heard that Cynthia McKinney is going to attempt, onece again, to help smuggle arms into the Gaza strip. Hopefull the sharks will be feasting on cornrows in a few hours. I sure as hell hope Israrel kills her this time.

By making

December 31, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this

Burris is a clown for accepting the position…won’t be long before the carnival is a three ring circus!

By SaveOurRepublic

December 31, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this

Unfortunately, there are far too many crooked & corrupt “politicians” all over the nation. Blagogate isn’t some “rare occurrence” of corruption (he just got caught). Many cities & states have a history of dirty politics, so I wasn’t surprised. The “Kingmakers” often require some skeletons in the closet, as to retain a control card over their puppets. Term limits would be helpful, but not a cure-all. The problem is that these vermin are “politicians” instead of statesmen. The become engrossed in self-empowerment, self-importance & compromise what integrity they had. It’s (very) sad, but (disturbingly) all too true.

By MikeB

December 31, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

If anyone caught Frontline last night, then there is real reason to be concerned about our next President…….

Frontline covered:

The relationships between Pakistan and many Taliban tribal communities in the border area between AFG and Pakistan.

The jealousy that exists in Pakistan because of Indian influence in AFG (an area that was Pakistans area of influence until 2002)

The weakness of the Pakistani governement. A government that has Nuclear weapons……… That if toppled could fall into the Talibans/Al Qayda’s hands.

If people really think this is easy to deal with, I feel sorry for them. If people feel experience is something that does not really matter, all you have to do is watch this particular program after getting you head out of the sand, and you will know that this is a very unstable situation, that requires an experienced hand. I hope Obama has alot of help, and that he takes it. He’s gonna need it….So will we if he handles it wrong.

This Blago thing isno where near important as what is going on over there.

We know Chicago politicians are closet criminals of another kind………That how it works there.

Hope it works in D.C.

By swolf

December 31, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this

Mr Burris shot any claim he had to integrity all to peices when he accepted that nomination. Now he’s splattered with the slop out of the bucket it came from.

By CommunistAJC

December 31, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this

Bookman, Take it from a guy who lives in Cook County. It’s more than a one-man carnival act. EVERYONE, and I mean everyone is corrupt in this state. It’s just a matter of time before Obama has to answer some questions.

By Ayn Rand was Right

December 31, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this

I am please to see that the next few years will provide viewing pleasure for the intelligent. Whilst we lament our leaders are taking us down the path of the Roman and British Empires, the entertainment provided by the IL political circus coming to town featuring the clown car we call a Senate should make for some interesting fodder over the next 4 years. Thanks Democrats!

By CommunistAJC

December 31, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this

Poor, poor Obama. Boo Hoo. And whats with the journalists bad pun?

Obama: Between a Rod and a hard place.

By JONATHAN MARTIN & CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN The Politico

Barack Obama doesn’t need this, not right now.

Already, Obama’s Hawaiian vacation has been interrupted by news of an Israeli incursion into Gaza. He faces a mounting economic crisis even before he takes office.

And now, just as Obama was starting to distance himself from the machinations over filling his Senate seat, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s surprise pick is dragging him back in to the home-state mess – along with the kind of hard-edged racial politics Obama tries to avoid.

Blagojevich, who has been charged with attempting to sell the Senate seat, announced Tuesday he was tapping Roland Burris, the first African-American to win statewide election in Illinois and the closest thing in the state to a black elder statesman.

But Obama is backing efforts led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to block Burris, saying Blagojevich is too tainted by corruption charges to make the pick.

It’s not clear Reid can block Burris. But Obama’s bigger headache could come from a longtime South Side congressman and one-time rival – Rep. Bobby Rush – who is unmistakably daring officials not to block the ascension of an African-American to replace Obama.

“I would ask you to not hang or lynch the appointee while you castigate the appointer,” Rush said at Blagojevich’s news conference. “Let me just remind you that there presently is no African-American in the U.S. Senate.”

Until now, Obama and other Democrats have been able to isolate Blagojevich. But Rush’s blessing leaves Obama caught between the Senate leadership and two leading, old-guard African-Americans politicians in his home state.

Rush’s move isn’t the first time he’s made life difficult for Obama. The president-elect ran in a primary against the veteran congressman in 2000. Rush easily held his seat, winning 61-30 and temporarily sidetracking then state Sen. Obama’s ambitions.

In that campaign for a seat on Chicago’s heavily black South Side, Rush, a Baptist minister and former Black Panther, mixed a familiar message of race, class, and generation of the sort that is often used by older African-Americans against upstart primary rivals.

“Barack is a person who read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it,” Rush said to a Chicago paper at the time.

Democrats familiar with Obama’s thinking suggest that he’ll stay as quiet as possible about the matter. The president-elect believes the Senate is well within its bounds not to seat Burris that it would be difficult for him to work effectively under the cloud that would come with being appointed by a governor facing federal charges.

One thing could short-circuit the controversy - Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state, said he will not certify Burris as the replacement for Obama’s seat. White is an African-American.

For his part, Burris said it’s inconceivable that the state of Illinois should start the new Congress “shorthanded,” with just one senator.

Burris also said he has “no relationship” to charges that Blagojevich tried to sell Obama’s Senate seat for personal gain and said of the governor, “In this legal process, you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty.”

“I ask the people of Illinois to place the same faith and trust in me as they have in the past,” said Burris, 71, who has promised to serve the remaining two years of the Senate term and not run for reelection.

Burris was the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois, serving as comptroller from 1979 to 1991 and as attorney general from 1991 to 1995.

He also ran against Blagojevich for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002 – winning the support of much of Illinois African-American political establishment, including then-state senator Barack Obama, who attended Burris’s press conference announcing his bid.

Burris has given $4,500 to Blagojevich’s gubernatorial campaigns since 2004, according to Illinois state records.

“When Blagojevich beat me, I told Barack to get on board with him,” Burris said told the Washington Post earlier this month. “It was kind of like swallowing his pride a little bit, because he didn’t really see that they had anything in common.”

Another complication in the selection is that Burris is a registered lobbyist in Illinois and Washington, D.C. His Chicago-based firm, Burris & Lebed, is registered in Springfield to represent clients ranging from Comcast to the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. In 2007, the firm was also registered to represent the Illinois Association of Mortgage Bankers. The firm is registered in both Springfield and Washington to represent MicroSun Technologies LLC, an Illinois-based maker of battery and power supplies.

The firm also once represented the Ho-Chunk Nation, a Wisconsin-based Indian tribe. The Ho-Chunks, formerly known as the Winnebagos, operate numerous casinos in Wisconsin and hired Burris’s firm in 2003 to help them lobby to build one on property they purchased in suburban Chicago. The plan has became controversial, with local residents opposing the development. The matter now is in front of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Illinois state lobbying records show that Burris represented the tribe from 2003-2005.

In the same period, Burris also had another controversial client: the Richmond, Va.-based Council of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of America, otherwise known as “Small Tobacco.” CITMA is a trade association comprised of local tobacco makers.

Burris’ lobbying partner is Fred Lebed, a veteran Democratic political operative who once served as executive director of the Cook County party and has also held a number of state government posts.

Blagojevich has been under pressure to resign from office, or at least relinquish his gubernatorial authority to fill Senate vacancies. He has remained in office, however, as he fights a federal corruption investigation and a legislative effort to impeach him.

The two-term governor has denied any wrongdoing.

It’s unclear whether Reid has the power to block Burris’ appointment. Senate leaders discussed the impending announcement on a conference call Tuesday afternoon.

John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a Politico Ideas piece this month that the Senate doesn’t have the power to reject the appointment.

“The Senate would have little recourse but to seat Blagojevich, as he meets the minimum constitutional qualifications for office,” Fortier wrote of the possibility that the governor might appoint himself. “But after seating Blagojevich, the Senate could then expel him by a two-thirds vote. The seat would be vacant again, and the new governor could make an appointment. Or by then, the Legislature might have changed the law to do away with appointments, in which case the seat would sit vacant until a special election was held.

In announcing the appointment Tuesday, Blagojevich may have surprised even his lawyer, who had said earlier that the governor did not plan to defy the Senate leaders and impose an Obama successor on them.

Blagojevich’s lawyer, Ed Genson, had told a news conference Dec. 17 that the governor did not plan to try to make the appointment. “Harry Reid said that they’re not going to accept anybody, so why would he do that?” Genson said.

By Jake

December 31, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this

Just need Biden to get really sick or convicted then O can appoint Blago as VP, sounds like a dream team to me.

By GaLiberal

December 31, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

I have always been just a little specious of a Rethuglicon-controlled agency bringing charges against a Democrat governor. So far, they’ve released only carefully selected transcripts of taped conversations, but little in the way of concrete evidence. Still, he has been convicted in the court of public opinion which I guess was the objective of the FBI agent. Why bother with a show trial when you can just get all the Rethuglicon bootlickers to spread the lies. No need to worry about innocent until proven guilty. Typical Rethuglicon partisan politics. Typical Rethuglicon hypocrisy.

When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And posts by Ayn Rand was Right, CommunistAJC, and Dems are Dumb (just to mention a few) are living proof.

By MikeB

December 31, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this

GALiberal

Rethuglican????? How poorly you understand the process tht is under way.

The Feds are being very fair with Blago…

“carefully selected transcripts” you say?

What his recorded voice making a mockery of his offices is not enough in your eyes? Why do the Feds need to release everything there by sweeping the real important stuff under the rug with all the other stuff. Why not release just what is pertinent to get the indictment.

That is how its done in criminal cases my friend. Release just enough to get the indictment, but never show your full hand.

Its got nothing to do with Republican vs. Democrat as far as the prosecution is concerned. Its not political for them…… Its right and wrong. Blago is most certainly subject to this standard no matter what you think is going on.

By CommunistAJC

December 31, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this

GALiberal, Once again, your lack of an IQ is showing. I live in Chicago and I can easily tell you that the democrats completely control this state and city. There are no republicans in charge. What republican controlled agency are you talking about? The same prosecutor went after Karl Rove in the Valerie non-scandal. Your stupidity is just astounding. By the way, I vote based on my own interest so I really don’t understand that asinine comment. And, can you come up with something other than rethuglicon? That word doesnt even make sense but then again, neither do you.

By Ayn Rand was Right

December 31, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this

Don’t worry MikeB, GALiberal is a rock thrower. I enjoy it’s posts as much as any, for the name calling, conspiracy theories and complete blind eye to Dem doings. GALib, can call me a rethuglicon all it wants. Missing my party affiliation is one of the funniest parts of the posts.

Happy New Year!

By MikeB

December 31, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

Happy New Year to you as well Ayn Rand. :-)

GALiberal sure is passionate, what about? Name calling or important stuff….Me thinks GA is a misguided young person who does not have the benefit of experience to really understand the process, but wants to be heard just the same. Eventually GA will have to gain a greater understanding of the issues if GA wants to really be taken seriously.

By Ayn Rand was Right

December 31, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

When GAL actually ceases to get a tax rebate, things may change. I once thought it a good idea to save the world and share my assets. When I realized that no good would come of eliminating the value of the gift, then I began to attend the church of self reliance. Oh well, we should at least celebrate that GAL has passion. So many don’t.

Cheers!

By Hillbilly Deluxe

December 31, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this

So what happens if Gov. Blago beats the rap and isn’t convicted? Stranger things have happened. A wise old man once told me, “If you’re looking for justice, court is the last place you need to go”.