Obama says Burris choice is “disappointing”

Pass the popcorn.

Roland Burris  is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat,” he said. “I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it.”

There are tons of questions here.

For starters, if Barack Obama respects Roland Burris this much, why would he agree that he can’t be his replacement? Now I know Barack Obama endorsed Burris when he gave Blagojevich a primary. And I know that Bobby Rush beat the pants off of Obama when he ran for office the first time.  But hey, bygones are bygones, right? Right? Who cares who appoints the guy so long as it’s legal.

Blagojevich isn’t the one who is getting screwed here by fighting this. Burris is the one getting screwed. And Roland Burris sure has a lot more qualifications on paper than, say,  Caroline Kennedy. My cat has more creds than she has.  Yet, I don’t see anybody objecting to her bid for an appointment. Of course, Burris “disobeyed” the party by accepting this appointment, so I don’t imagine ole Roland has gotten any congratulatory phone calls—-although I sure he got phone calls…

Then there’s Harry Reid. He’s looking a little foolish here. I wasn’t aware the the Senate has to approve an appointment to a vacant Senate seat, except in the case of competence of the appointee.  The senate does have the right to question an appointee on the appointee’s merits though. But if the problem isn’t with Burris, like everyone is saying, then you can see where this is going.

Since when does the Senate pick or have to approve anySenator? New  senators show up in their rarefied air space in one of two ways: Via an election or via a Governor appointment. We are talking about a State right here not a Harry Reid right.

The thing is, the Senate screwed the pooch by not passing a special election bill when they had the chance. They didn’t want to do that because they were afraid a Republican might win. So they lost the only control they could have had over this situation. I guess they didn’t think they could conjure up enough dead people and cartoon characters to vote for their candidate in such a short window of  time.

Then there’s the Secretary of State saying he won’t sign off on Blago’s appointment of anyone to Barack Obama’s open Senate seat.  Does the Secretary of State even come into play here? Does a Governor need a Secretary of State to approve his appointment?

Does it matter of Barack Obama approves of his replacement? Let’s face it, until Blagojevich leaves his office, he’s the Governor. A fitting situation for Illinois politics. They all deserve to be naked before America for the filthy way they run their state.

There’s another big question: How will Bobby Rush, Roland Burris and the African American community take Barack Obama’s statement???

“I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place. While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy,” he said.

Which lawful process, Barack? Senators get seated one of two ways. And election or a Governor appointment. Blago is still Governor. Nobody can UnGovernor him unless he leaves or is impeached. Neither of those two things has happened. So, isn’t this process lawful?  As for “taint and controversy,”  when did this start to be a problem in Illinois politics? It’s not like “taint and controversy” is rare there. Just saying.

And finally, do you get the distinct feeling that Harry and Barack have decided who they want to be Barack’s replacement—and are steamrolling Illinois’ state rights?

Anybody seen Jesse Junior? Why do I get the feeling he’s in this someplace?

I think that this appointment can’t be stopped in any legal way. None of this is technically the Senate or Barack Obama’s business. That means it’s time for some strong-arming, threats, bribes, blackmail and good ole Chicago coercion.

This is a mess.  That’s why I know Blagojevich is having a good day. Hemay be a thieving turkey, but he’s a clever theiving turkey. I bet Harry still has the dry heaves from yesterday. The Other Useless Party must be enjoying this a lot.

Oh and one more thing: Anybody heard from Mayor Daley? I know. He’s just a Mayor. And the knife ran away with the spoon.

So gang, how do you think this will play out? Remember, now, it’s Illinois, so don’t  let things like the constitution or law or The Right Thing figure into your analysis. Anything goes.