Tombstone Burris: A Local View
The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass on who to blame for Roland Burris (H/T: Backyard Conservative):
But who is responsible for Illinois being represented by a lying weasel in the U.S. Senate?Though Blagojevich appointed Burris, that was just the beginning of our descent into madness. Like I said, there are two others who deserve credit.
Obama could have demanded a special election to fill his own vacated Senate seat, the one that Blagojevich allegedly tried to sell to the highest bidder. Obama also pressured Senate leaders to seat Burris, in the hopes of ending the fiasco before his inauguration.And, after Burris tried to fix the lie he told to Durkin in the impeachment hearing—that he had no contact about fundraising with Blagojevich people other than one aide named Lon Monk—Burris sent an affidavit to a Madigan flunky, state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Madigan), dated Feb. 4.
Currie held that affidavit in her desk, conveniently, until after Burris voted last week for the near trillion-dollar Obama pork/stimulus package. Now Madigan is demanding an investigation of possible perjury and has sent the documents to a Springfield prosecutor.
Yet the deed has been done. Obama’s porkulus was passed. Obama got Burris’ vote, and Madigan has an excuse to attack Burris because he doesn’t want Burris leading the 2010 Illinois Democratic ticket when Madigan’s daughter runs for governor.
See how it works? They get what they want. And we get Tombstone Burris.
I said early on Burris was a gift to avoid a special election. And that he was the deciding vote on the pork-u-lus, well that is just red eye gravy on top!
Sent to the prosecutor?
Don’t expect a real prosecution. If Burris goes down he might name names. Too embarassing. Fitzgerald will not be allowed anywhere near this and he is probably too compromised anyway to go after Burris like he did after Scooter.
By the way, Chicago papers are also calling for Burris to step down. Senator Burris, your Obama team bus is waiting, get under it!
Give him a cabinet post, that should save everyone face – and bring this sad (and rather funny) saga to an end.
The Chicago Way!
As my new spiritual drill instructor Father Seamus recently warned me: The ends don’t justify the means. Wrong is wrong. If such things were wrong for President Bush and the Republicans, why is it not wrong for President Obama and the Democrats?
Joe, it’s because the Chicago Way is that the ends do justify the means, and however bad the Democrats get, the Republicans are even worse — or they were complicit.
Besides, Democrats don’t stand for integrity, every knows — especially their supporters — that they’re lying when they claim to stand for integrity. Whereas Republicans really do stand for integrity, so when they fall, it’s not the sin that gets them, it’s the hypocrisy.