Burris backers help sell out state's voters
Senate, Obama also to blame after losing their backbones
Congratulations to everyone who stood up for the right of our crooked governor to pick the person who will represent the people of Illinois in the U.S. Senate.
It appears they will be victorious and that Roland Burris in short order will realize his long held dream to join the exclusive club of 100.
The other members of the club have lost their backbone and are preparing to sell the voters of this state down the Illinois River. They seem to have come to the conclusion that this whole stinky business --much like the polluted waterway -- is a mess of our own making.
They may have a point, gutless as they are for abandoning us in our hour of need, the president-elect included.
Still, what a grand triumph for democracy and the rule of law.
It's not every day that a man facing federal criminal charges of attempting to sell a Senate seat -- and any other decision that would fetch a big campaign donation -- is allowed the opportunity to make the appointment anyhow.
No, Gov. Blagojevich hasn't been convicted, or even formally indicted, but he will be. And won't that be a proud day for Burris, who owes his great opportunity solely to this one corrupt individual.
I've never denied the governor is within his legal rights to make his pick. Unfortunately, there may be no legal way to stop him, short of impeachment, which takes time.
I would again suggest, however, that no person of integrity would have accepted the appointment from Blagojevich under these circumstances, and we're well within our rights to pressure anyone who would.
The honorable course for Burris would have been to turn down Blagojevich, just as Rep. Danny Davis says he did, although I'm still fuzzy on how Davis squares this profile in courage with his later decision to back Burris for the job.
Contrary to the yes men chirping in Burris' ear, the people of Illinois aren't begging him to come to our rescue. Simply put, we don't want nobody that Blagojevich sent.
I'd be saying the same if his pick had been Lisa Madigan, Dawn Clark Netsch, Dan Hynes or Jesse White, not that I put Burris in their league.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says the governor tried to sell us out. The governor says he didn't.
Which of those two has earned the better reputation here for truth and honesty?
A person doesn't have to wait for a Blagojevich conviction to make a personal judgment about how to deal with him.
The best solution here would have been a special election, but Democrats were too busy trying to ensure their hold on the Senate seat, which as we know is a bleeping valuable thing. They couldn't just give it away for nothing.
One of the last roadblocks for Burris is a trip before the House impeachment committee Thursday to explain how it was the governor came to pick him. The former attorney general was still a little hazy on that topic when our Lynn Sweet questioned him Wednesday during a Washington press conference.
But Burris assured us "there was certainly no pay to play involved because I don't have no money."
Poor Roland Burris. Turned away (so far) by the Senate, picked on by the press and no money to boot. It's good that being a U.S. senator pays a salary of $169,300.
Of course, when he becomes a senator, Burris will have to give up the $70,000 in compensation he's been taking home every year just for serving on the board of directors of Inland Real Estate Corp.
Then again, he will continue to collect his $118,000 annual pension from the State of Illinois. That's right, 118,000 smackers, more than he made as attorney general, thanks to the state's taxpayer-supported pension plan.
I'm afraid he'll have to give up whatever six-figure retainer he's been collecting as a lawyer with the Milwaukee law firm of Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, which has enjoyed a big bump in its Illinois bond counsel work since Burris came aboard in 2007 as a rainmaker for government business. But surely this will create more opportunities than ever for his son, Roland II, as is traditional for U.S. senators.
At least Burris won't have to hustle any more business for his lobbying firm, Burris & Lebed Consulting, which a few years back was even trying to help the Ho-Chunk Nation slip a casino into Hoffman Estates.
Poor Roland Burris. I'll bet he'll miss that money, too.
Don't worry about any harsh treatment, though, when Burris goes before the impeachment committee. The Springfield crowd will treat him with kid gloves.
He's already a member of that club.