It's plain as day: Burris misled intentionally
He won't face trial, but voters can give him their verdict if he runs
With any luck, Sen. Roland Burris will see such vindication in a Downstate prosecutor's decision not to charge him with perjury that he'll try to use it as a basis to run in 2010.
That would give Illinois voters the chance to let him know exactly what they think of his act -- and render a more meaningful verdict on his honesty than could have been expected from any jury of his peers in Sangamon County.
If Burris has any sense, on the other hand, he'll continue to blame all his credibility troubles on the media and announce right now that he's calling it a career as soon as his term ends.
Don't count me among those disappointed by Friday's very reasonable -- and well-reasoned -- finding by Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt that there was "insufficient evidence" to indict Burris for committing perjury during his January testimony before the Illinois House impeachment committee.
I've said all along that just because Burris is a lying little sneak, that doesn't make him guilty of perjury.
Schmidt appears to have been thorough and fair, just as Burris says, but the Chicago Democrat overclaims when he says Schmidt's decision confirms he got his Senate seat "in an honest and legal way." Legal, maybe. Honest, no way.
It's still plain as day Burris intentionally misled everyone about his dalliances with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in pursuit of the Senate seat until the job was safely his. It's just not nearly so clear that he committed the very specific act of knowingly making a false statement while being questioned under oath.
Schmidt, a Republican, said Burris' incomplete answers to the broad questions asked of him by legislators didn't amount to perjury, explaining that the burden was on them to pin him down. They'll know better next time.
It's better this way anyhow.
The last thing the people of this state needed right now was a sensational but marginal prosecution of a public official who has already shown his willingness to turn his tribulations into a racial cause.
While I can appreciate the anguish over the lack of a mechanism to hold Burris immediately accountable for his deceptions, that's part of the price we have to pay for our past carelessness in the voting booth.
If Burris chooses to expose himself to the verdict of that voting booth again, however, Democratic primary voters will have ample opportunity to atone. Republicans, alas, won't get that chance because he won't make it to the general election.
It's still possible Burris will be cited in some manner by the Senate ethics committee, which will be judging his actions by a different standard than this state's perjury statute. But I still say the ethics investigation won't -- and shouldn't -- result in his expulsion, unless the panel comes up with something beyond the known facts.
Many have argued that Burris should resign right now, and while I can appreciate the sentiment, that has always struck me as a waste of energy. He wasn't going anywhere before this, and he's sure not going to quit now.
Before anyone speaks harshly of the Republican legislators whose inexact questioning of Burris let him off the hook, just remember that the Democrats at the hearing didn't ask any tough questions at all. They were all in the posture of protecting Burris.
And the Republicans certainly asked good enough questions that Burris had every opportunity to tell the whole truth, if that had been his intention.
Keep in mind, too, that Burris' lies of omission extended to what he told reporters before and afterward in interviews and press conferences, which is why it's always worth keeping in mind there's no law against lying to reporters -- or to the public, for that matter.
Don't forget what Burris told the governor's brother when they were squeezing him for campaign donations.
"God knows No. 1, I, I wanna help Rod," our former state attorney general said. "No. 2, I also wanna, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment. ... And however that goes, ah, it would dictate, ah, you know how the press treats it."
Then there's what Burris said Friday:
"The truth has prevailed."
Not quite yet, but it will.