Rain on Burris's Circus Parade
Senator-designate Roland Burris (D-Blagojevich) was damp and displeased.
He had come to Washington to be sworn in as the junior senator from Illinois, but he was cast out by the Senate secretary and instead wound up, his overcoat soaked and his eyeglasses dripping, in a muddy patch of land across Constitution Avenue from the Capitol known as "The Swamp."
"I presented my credentials to the secretary of the Senate," the diminutive figure announced to reporters, and was "advised that my credentials were not in order and I would not be accepted." Still, he added, "I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation."
Of course not. He was seeking to have a circus -- and he succeeded.
Read the whole Sketch
By Dana Milbank |
January 7, 2009; 12:00 AM ET
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Posted by: bethechange1 | January 7, 2009 2:00 PM
You might call it a circus, however, I call it, vocalizing the values set forth by President-Elect Obama in removing the good ole boy network in Washington DC. I am a white democrat and am totally behind Senator-designate Burris.
The 17th Amendment of our Constitution was ratified for the very reason of what Senator Harry Reid and others have been doing. He has been engaging in the corropt activities of negotiations and making deals with Senator-Designate Burris in order to allow him to hold the seat. This makes him no better than Gov. Blagojevich, and he has only been accused. The 17th Amendment is very clear and simple. If you meet the qualifications set forth, you are in. If after you get in, they find a problem with you, then, and only then, can they move to expel him under Article 1 section 5. I believe it to be that Article.
I am so disgusted with the recent news conference of Senator Reid and Durbin. That is just wrong, wrong, wrong. How can we teach our children right from wrong when these senators are doing what they are? They talked about having a hearing and voting on it to allow him in. I have heard of no other hearings or votes for the new senators who were just seated. Did I miss it. Could you lead me to the official website that showed these hearings and votes cast?
This whole thing has got me so upset, that the only thing I can think to do is to begin a campaign to have the senators responsible for blocking this appointment expelled from the senate. It may take a while to convince 2/3 of the senate to vote on it, but with enough of us campaigning for this cause, it could happen.
Posted by: litlflea | January 7, 2009 2:38 PM
A charade from the start. Naive to think that sure seat would ever be put into play. But it sold papers for awhile.
Posted by: RNELSON4 | January 12, 2009 6:29 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
If Mr. Burris was going to accept this tainted appointment, clearly a political middle finger from his governor to Barack Obama and the country, then he could have at least had the class and dignity to stand back and let the process unfold without pre-emptively interjecting racism into the situation. I was so put off by that - it came across as intellectually dishonest, opportunistic, and lacking in any perspective on how his provocative accusations of racism would affect others' perception of him and the country, which does not need devisive political tactics at this sad and scary time. I doubt Mr. Burris will serve more than his 2 years in the Senate. He has soiled his image and reputation with his antics.