Senate appointee Roland Burris, In or Out

[smahoo]

After being appointed as the Senate successor to President-Elect Obama by tainted Gov. Blago, Roland Burris faces an uphill climb to be seated as the Jr. Senator from Illinois.

The Illinois Sec. of State has refused to put his signature on the certification documents to complete the legal process of appointment to the seat.

Should Burris be in or out???

[Deadhead Derek]

out. the checks and balances of the Ill. sec state not signing worked. given the status of the Gov, there should be an election.

[Mustard]

As much as I loathe Blagojavich and all of his pay to play politiking, it still doesn't detract from the fact that the asshat still has the Constitutionally protected right to appoint Burris to the US Senate. I know the whole thing reeks of corruption and rightly so, but really there isn't much the Senate can lawfully do to keep him from taking Obama's former seat.

I like the third option on this poll the best, but that is a call that Burris would have to make on his own, and it wouldn't be fair to him to make him not seek reelection if he turns up to be innocent, (after all, innocent before proven guilty, and not the other way around). That is why I have to go with the first option here, let him take the seat, and let the law settle itself out in the long run. Blago is going to get away with his choice of Burris, but I hope they both burn if they are guilty.

[heelsguy]

As much as I loathe Blagojavich and all of his pay to play politiking, it still doesn't detract from the fact that the asshat still has the Constitutionally protected right to appoint Burris to the US Senate. I know the whole thing reeks of corruption and rightly so, but really there isn't much the Senate can lawfully do to keep him from taking Obama's former seat.

I like the third option on this poll the best, but that is a call that Burris would have to make on his own, and it wouldn't be fair to him to make him not seek reelection if he turns up to be innocent, (after all, innocent before proven guilty, and not the other way around). That is why I have to go with the first option here, let him take the seat, and let the law settle itself out in the long run. Blago is going to get away with his choice of Burris, but I hope they both burn if they are guilty.

....this Burris cat is one arrogant mo-fo. did you see the piece Jon Stewart did on him last night? holy shitballs

[Hanover Fist]

He should absolutely be seated, Harry Reid is way over his head and this situation will end up kicking his ass. Burris is the legally appointed and completely qualified senator. Blagojevich has made a few other appointments and signed a bunch of legislation since he was arrested and none of that has been stopped, why would his power to appoint a Senator be his only power affected by the situation.
As long as he is in office, which he is, then he retains 100% of the powers of that office, not 98.6% of those powers.

[freegood]

Yeah. Unless there's any direct evidence that the appointment is tainted, Blago still has the authority to appoint Obama's replacement.

[Stax]

Seat him, but the Senate should definitely make it clear they will remove him (as is THEIR power) if they find any shady business.

[Morfin]

The Senate is acting appropriately in that their rules state that they will not sit anyone until the appointment is signed and sealed by the state's Secretary of State.

The hold-up is the Illinois Secretary of State, who is refusing to do what the law requires him to do -- validate the governor's signature and appointment.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says he's being unfairly blamed by members of the U.S. Senate for not seating Roland Burris.

Burris was barred from taking President-elect Barack Obama's vacant seat Tuesday because officials refused to accept a certification of his appointment signed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Senate officials say one of the reasons is the certification also needs White's signature. White says he won't sign any appointment made by Blagojevich, who's facing federal corruption charges.

But White says Burris could have been seated without his signature, which he calls "mostly ceremonial."

Blagojevich faces federal charges for allegedly trying to trade Obama's former seat for money or favors, among other wrongdoing.Link (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-senate-burris-whi,0,7156280.story)

White, the SoS, should be blamed for this as he is not doing his duty, which is merely to certify that that is Blago's signature. That is why I believe that Burris should press the issue and file a suit forcing the SoS to act.

Of course, the Chicago Tribune now reports that the Illinois legislature may get the impeachment ball rolling by this weekend, so Burris may be running out of time. But even if Blago is impeached, Burris still has a right to the Senate seat as he was appointed by the then-legal governor.

[redsox39]

well, at least the Senate can brush off the race card on someone else now! And a guy named WHITE of all people! lol

[Hanover Fist]

Apparently the SOS of Illinois didn't appreciate Reid passing the buck to him and said that his signature is merely a formality and is not legally required to seat Burris in the Senate.
The only thing keeping Burris from taking his legally appointed seat is in fact Sen. Harry Reid, the Senator that makes a practice of being on the wrong side of virtually every argument or situation. At least Feinstein bitch slapped him.

[Claydon]

Usually I cannot stand Feinstein (my senator) but I have to say I am quite pleased with her on this, and calling obama out on the appointment of pinetta (sp?) as head of the cia.

[Whiffleball]

I don't have a lot of sympathy for Harry Reid, but he does come off looking like a helpless parent warning a petulant child not to do something when his threats are idle. He tried to pass the buck in order to block Burris because, legally, he doesn't have the means to stop the appointment.

That aside, having a Democratic senator who will always be under the Blago taint is not at all desirable because Burris is set for a fall come re-election. If Blago and Burris had given any thought to the good of their party or just decency in general, Blago wouldn't have gone ahead with the appointment anyway.

So he's "in"... for now.

[ADD]

He should be in. The call was made by the Governor, who as of now, still has the power. He should also be able to run again in 2010, he won't win as it is. Let him enjoy his time. He's not the bad guy here.

On a side note, Blaggo is a fucking smug genius. He took the heat off himself in the press by doing this by asking the one guy he knew wouldn't say no.

[Whiffleball]

He's in like taters seeing a thread even vaguely relating to race relations (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6631014&page=1)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009—

Roland Burris will be seated this week as a U.S. senator, taking over the position vacated by President-elect Barack Obama and capping a bizarre, weeks-long saga surrounding the legality of his appointment (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6593101&page=1).

Senate leaders first rejected Burris (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6585203&page=1) and turned him away from the Senate before finally accepting his appointment by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested in December for allegedly trying to sell the very same Senate seat.

The move reverses an unlikely standoff between Burris, a former Illinois attorney general (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/President44/story?id=6549766&page=1) who has not held elective office in more than a decade, and the powerful Democratic lawmakers who control Congress. The Democratic leaders had wanted to avoid accepting an appointment made by Blagojevich, because of the charges against him.

Blagojevich was impeached Friday (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6611186&page=1) by the Illinois House of Representatives, but as a sitting governor he still has the legal authority to make appointments.

A breakthrough was reached for Burris when Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who had pledged not to sign the document by which Blagojevich officially appointed Burris, signed a separate sheet, acknowledging Burris. While unconventional, Blagojevich's appointment and White's separate certification of that appointment satisfied the Senate parliamentarian when Burris' attorney and Blagojevich's chief of staff presented the credentials today.

"The secretary of the Senate has determined that the new credentials presented today on behalf of Mr. Burris now satisfy Senate Rules and validate his appointment to the vacant Illinois Senate seat," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in a joint statement announcing they would accept Burris. "In addition, as we requested, Mr. Burris has provided sworn testimony before the Illinois House Committee on Impeachment regarding the circumstances of his appointment."