[Author’s note: Yesterday, after a number of people asked about my thoughts on the spectacle surrounding the appointment to fill Obama’s Senate seat, I gathered that many of you probably missed the second commentary I published on the afternoon of December 30. Therefore, especially given that Mr Burris comes to Washington today, I’ve decided to republish it below – followed by an update.]
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Defiant Blagojevich appoints IL AG Burris to Senate
In a move as socio-pathetic as it was politically strategic, beleaguered IL Gov Rod Blagojevich appointed former State Attorney General Roland Burris, 71, to fill Obama’s Senate seat.
This, despite assurances from his lawyer that he would heed admonitions by everyone from President-elect Barack Obama to the entire Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate that anyone he appoints would be tainted and thus unacceptable.
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. (Statement by Senate Democratic leaders)
But by announcing his choice, Blagojevich called their bluff:
I’m here to announce my intention to appoint an individual who has unquestioned integrity and is a wise and distinguished senior statesman in Illinois… Please don’t allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man.
Burris then deftly pleaded his own case by noting, correctly, that notwithstanding the FBI’s complaint, Blagojevich was still legally entitled to make this appointment and that, accordingly, he has every intention of serving out Obama’s term in the Senate.
And if that were not persuasive or intimidating enough, revered Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) immediately praised Blagojevich’s decision and played the race card. Specifically, he warned the all-white members of the Senate that the last thing they want to do is block the doors of the U.S. Senate to deny this black man from entering – the way George Wallace once blocked the doors of the University of Alabama to deny two black students from enrolling.
At any rate, legally speaking, Blagojevich’s move is unassailable; and politically, it is shrewd – if only for the vexing dilemma it presents to his detractors.
Therefore, I predict Burris will serve….
Moreover, even though he won this battle, Blagojevich will eventually be not only impeached but also convicted on a battery of corruption charges, which will land him in prison for the rest of his life.
NOTE: If the Illinois legislature had called a special election (as I suggested in my original commentary on this unfolding situation), instead of dithering and quibbling over funding, they, Obama and Democratic leaders in the Senate would have been spared this untenable spectacle.
UPDATE
Senate Democrats seeking compromise with Burris…?
January 6, 2008 at 5:22 am: Latest reports are that Democratic leaders are seeking a compromise with Burris. They are proposing to admit him to the Senate provided that he promises to serve only as a bench warmer for the remainder of Obama’s term (i.e., that he would not run to be elected for this seat in his own right when it expires in 2010). This of course betrays the fact that they now realise their opposition to his appointment is not only politically incorrect but also illegal.
Unfortunately, these (all-white) Democratic leaders seem oblivious to the fact that this proposed compromise smacks of the three-fifths compromise the founding fathers negotiated with slaveholding states. If you recall, the founding fathers admitted those states to the Union provided that they counted each black in their state as only three-fifths of a person.
Clearly, Burris would be a fool to accept this untenable compromise….
However, even if he is so desperate to be admitted that he accepts it, I have no doubt that his unbridled ambition would compel him to renege on his promise and run in 2010 – as he would be entitled to do.
Meanwhile, given Burris’ solicitous embrace of the media spotlight, I do not think Blagojevich could have chosen a crazier political fox – so much in his own image – even if his choice were ordained by God. Not to mention that Burris is already acting like a fox who has been invited into a henhouse….
NOTE: Given the president-elect’s mantra of no drama Obama, it’s rather ironic that an inconsequential governor and a washed-up politician from his own state have added such a farcical and dramatic dimension to his historic transition.
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