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Still-Governor Rod Blagojevich(D-Loose Cannonville) has appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the senate seat of President-Elect Barack Obama.

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

Here's the problem: It would be a difficult constitutional question to answer whether or not the senate could vote down a gubernatorial appointment, it may not even be legal. Here is the language of the constitution with regards to the matter from Article I Section 4:

Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members...

Problem: Ronald Burris was not elected, thus there were no returns, and he is certainly qualified as laid out in Article I Section 3:

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.

What would likely have to happen would be that the senate would be required to seat Mr. Burris, swear him in, and then vote on expulsion as provided in Article I Section 5:

Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

That may not go over so well...there are certain to be some Republicans who would like to keep the man appointed by the least popular governor in the country around as a punching bag as long as possible. This may be indicted congressman Bill Jefferson's replacement in Congress.

What is fairly clear is that, as the above letter states, Burris will not under any circumstances be seated in the Democratic caucus. That in and of itself is significant. It means that Burris will be Bill Jefferson in another sense: he won't have a single committee assignment(unless the Republicans let him into their caucus...then again, given the fact that they didn't even threw out Ted Stevens, a convicted felon, from their ranks, they might be willing to welcome him in...

In reality, Burris will only be able to cast floor votes, and will have very little influence on real policy. He will be a lame duck unable to run for election come time for such a special election. Illinois will not be properly represented until someone other than Rod Blagojevich(be it the Lieutenant Governor or preferably the people of Illinois) sends someone to the Senate.

Finally: here's an interesting question: What if you make an appointment to the U.S. Senate, but your Secretary of State refuses to certify said appointment? Here's my guess: you get a court order(Writ of Mandamus) forcing the Secretary of State to certify the appointment, pursuant to 15 ILCS 305/5:

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State...To make a register of all appointments by the Governor, specifying the person appointed, the office conferred, the date of the appointment, the date when bond or oath is taken and the date filed. If Senate confirmation is required, the date of the confirmation shall be included in the register.

This will only stall the inevitable. Although by dragging his feet the Secretary of State may be able to give the legislature time to impeach the Governor in time for the Lieutenant to withdraw the appointment prior to its certification and make his own appointment. It also would give the legislature time to repeal the Governor's ability to appoint the next U.S. Senator. That would be difficult, and would be a legal battle that would head to the U.S Supreme Court...Ex-Post-Facto laws and such...dates...etc...

Truth said:

...
Once again the Dems play the race card by the statement from Rep Rush daring the Senate to not seat an Africian American. But is this was a Rep who made that statement, the liberals and members of the hate filled left would be all over him asking him to resign. Why aren't liberals and the hate filled left members calling for his resignation and/or an apology. Hypocricsy is what it is.

Dems like to act like they are the compassionate/caring/all inclusive party so they look the other way when one of their own does something that they would be criticizing the Reps for.

December 30, 2008, 08:11 PM
Votes: +1

What the Heck said:

...
I suppose innocent until proven guilty should apply here, but from everything I've been listening to on the news, including those who know the prosecutor, Blago is toast. The guy practically oozes slime. The fact he would go ahead with an appointment and flaunt his arrogance is just disgusting. Completely self-serving.

I don't agree the Republicans necessarily want Burris around for a punching bag. Burris may be a fine choice, doesn't matter though. What should happen is the appointment go forward since it's already in the works, and in the event Blago is found guilty of a crime, the Senate expel Burris as an illegitimate appointment made by a criminal. Given how slowly the wheels of justice turn, I suppose Blago won't go to trial for many many months. Look how long he's been under investigation.

December 30, 2008, 08:35 PM
Votes: +0

Chet said:

Blago/Burris
I don't much care about Blago's innocence or guilt. It's a horrible move for him to appoint anybody to the Senate right now. It smells on so many levels.

I'm guessing it would be possible for Blago to step down, citing the criminal investigation as an incapacitating distraction. He wouldn't have to admit guilt or anything. Just note that it's become such a major distraction that it's become impossible for him to fulfill his duties as Governor "at this time." The Lt. Gov. could have appointed a Senator -- maybe even Burris -- to fill Obama's Senate seat.

Instead, what we have is Burris on Rachel Maddow's show last night saying ridiculous things like "I do not condone any of Governor Blagojevich's actions" in the same discussion where he says "There's nothing wrong with Governor Blagojevich's appointment of me." And his soft-shoe about whether and how much money he's contributed to Blago's campaigns is ridiculous. The whole thing is absurd. It's embarrassing. It only makes sense if you look at it as a last-ditch effort by Blago to "force" Obama to try to come to his aid.

I think this summary, from DailyKos, pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole situation, too:

In the coming days, the lawyers will argue over exactly what Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution means, Roland Burris will be put under a microscope, the Republicans will milk the story for all it's worth, and we'll be left to speculate on Rod Blagojevich's motives for taking this course of action.

Is he an innocent man, who simply fulfilled his duty as Governor? Was it a cheap ploy to take the heat off of him and put it on the Democratic leadership? Could it be that he was "crazy like a fox, playing to future black jurors"? Or did he think "it buys him time in office"? Personally, I think he did it because he's an asshole who's lost everything, and he wants to trash the joint before he's impeached. What do you think?

DailyKos

December 31, 2008, 09:42 AM
Votes: +0

Adam said:

From Harry Reid's Lawyer:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/...ml?showall

In response to those who are asking how this is different from Powell v. McCormack, in which supreme court said House could not refuse to seat a member based on his alleged corruption and said only qualifications to be considered are those listed in the Constitution:

[W]e are not making a judgment about qualifications of appointee, but about whether appointment itself is tainted by fraud, which we believe we are entitled to do under Art. 1 s. 5.

This is like judging the integrity of an election, free from fraud or corruption. It's the process that led to the [appointment], not the appointee's fitness.

That's a better argument than I've heard so far...

As to the matter of Congressman Rush(who's district I am residing in at the moment oddly enough), Truth, I can see your crocodile tears all the way over here in Illinois. I cocked my head when I heard him use the term "Lynch" to describe the Senate Dems attempting to hold Blago off by rejecting the appointment.

I don't think he needs to resign. I think Rush was speaking as an African American, not as a Democrat. In reality, if you think Rush needs to resign, fine. A Republican in Chicago is like an albino at the Apollo. He would be replaced by another(likely black) Democrat.

Rush knows as does everyone else on the planet that rejection of Burris has nothing to do with Burris. The Senate Dems told Blago they were going to reject any appointment and whaddaya know, they're rejecting a nominee.

As a note though, I have never called for anyone to resign based on a comment they made at a press conference. I have had harsh words for people that make dumb comments at press conferences and speeches, and that is what I have for Congressman Rush. He knows full well that the appointment has everything to do with Blagojevich and nothing to do with Burris. He should lay off and back down from this fight.

Relax, Truth, no conspiracy here. Just a congressman shooting his mouth off.

December 31, 2008, 11:37 AM | url
Votes: +0

40 Years in the DemNPL said:

	Harry Reid is always an idiot The Governor of Illinois, pursuant to his legal duties, has appointed a squeeky-clean, elderly, United States Senator. He is the perfect choice for the job. The US Senate has no reason not to seat him. It doesn't matter what Blago has done in the past - he's Governor and he made a good appointment. Reid depresses me more than Trent Lott ever did.
	report abuse vote down vote up

December 31, 2008, 12:29 PM
Votes: +1

40 Years in the DemNPL said:

	and another thing Actually, I am kind of surprised Blago didn't appoint himself. My attitude would be different about it then. I'd say the Senate should reject it - although they didn't reject Wendell Anderson when he appointed himself. Or any number of reasonably unqualified spouses of deceased Senators.
	report abuse vote down vote up

December 31, 2008, 12:35 PM
Votes: +0

Truth said:

...
Seems that Congressman Rush said at a press conference on Dec 9 of this year that the IL Gov should not appoint anyone and whoever the gov appoints would be tainted. Here is the story, http://www.foxnews.com/politic...s-appoint/

Could it be that Rush is playing politics with a racial twist? I think so, wonder what he would have said if the appointee had been white and why the change of heart in 3 weeks. H

December 31, 2008, 04:18 PM
Votes: +1

Adam said:

	... I have no doubt that Blagogevich orchestrated the whole thing. He's trying to be a bull in the china shop(like the one I just went to oddly enough), and he's being quite successful at it...
	report abuse vote down vote up

December 31, 2008, 04:22 PM | url
Votes: +0

Truth said:

...
Adam I do agree with you that Blagogevich seems to not care who he drags down with himself or what affect it has on his party. Seems that politicians do that all the time, they get in trouble and when their party doesn't fully support them, they try to make it difficult for their party. But I do believe that Rush played the race card and is somewhat complicit in this ordeal, either that or he can't think for himself and has no backbone or maybe Blago has something on him, either way I would question his agenda.

Doesn't do any good except give ammo to the other party. Happy New Year.

December 31, 2008, 06:27 PM
Votes: +1

Big Jake said:

...
40 years is right on. We may all hold the Gov. in contempt--albeit we seem to forget the in the USA, the presumption of innocence is a pretty imprortant legal principle. The State if Illinois has a vacant senate seat and the legal mechanism to fill that seat. The Gov. has an obligation to do so. The U.S. Senate is out of line in the bluster about not seating the appointee----sound in legal terms to be arbitrary and capricious. Approval of the Gov. is certainly not relevant to what his duties and responsibilities are. HE may prove to be a real rat and is certainly appears that he is but his appointee appears to be competent and complies with the legal requirments of holding the office. The democrat party needs to shape up. This bluster in not appropriate at a time when we are in a crisis. They need to start filling the role of leading the country---not petty behaviour. In that regard, Obama should stay removed from that process as he is now moving into the executive branch---although privately, he should let the Senate know how he feels on this matter.

The Gov. is doing what he should do---whether it is for just politics or for any reason that we will not ever know----however, it is great theatre and gives us all some entertainment and the fun of speculating and arguing but the law controls or should control the actions of all concerned.

January 03, 2009, 03:26 PM | url
Votes: +1

Truth said:

Another Democrat Scandal - Mayor Sheila Dixon indicted
Hmmm, if this was a Republican, I'm sure it would be posted here. Here is the story on YET ANOTHER DEMOCRAT SCANDAL - funny the mainstream media or ADAM haven't reported on it yet (not saying that Adam is part of the mainstream media but he is part of the partisian left that I many times label as hate filled) - http://www.baltimoresun.com/ne...7190.story

January 09, 2009, 11:10 PM
Votes: +0

What the Heck said:

A whistleblower brought him down
Interesting story about the woman who contacted the FBI, launching the investigation leading to Blagoevich. She knew something was wrong and suspected it lead to the Governor's office. Good ole intuition and a sense of outrage brought him down. Watch out, corrupt officials. Not everyone runs away scared. Kudos to this woman.

(It's on Fox News). Some of you hate that network so I didn't post a link. Besides, Chet would have to fix the margins... smilies/cheesy.gif

January 09, 2009, 11:23 PM
Votes: +0