A newly released transcript shows the President's Senate replacement craven but just short of corrupt in his slavering for the appointment by the former Gov. Rod Blagojevich--more "pray" than "pay to play."
"In the call," the New York Times reports, "he seemed almost in a crass negotiation with Mr. Blagojevich’s brother--also his chief fund-raiser--over how he could help the governor, win the appointment and not run into trouble over negative connotations that he might be trying to buy an appointment by fund-raising for him."
Burris, an embarrassment to the President and his party who may well escape the grasp of prosecutors and serve out the term, is a bookend to Obama in exemplifying the range of American politics from superb to sleaze.
In his phone call to the governor's brother soon after the seat opened up, Burris shows an exquisite sensitivity to the line between being crooked and appearing crooked by trading fund-raising for the position:
“If I do that, I guarantee you that that will get out, and people said, ‘Oh, Burris is doing a fund-raiser,’ and, and then Rod and I both going to catch hell...God knows, No. 1, I want to help Rod. No. 2, I also want to, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment.”
Now, everybody knows and the bottom line, whatever the outcome of the probe by the Senate Ethics Committee, is that Roland Burris, whatever he chisels on his headstone, is no Barack Obama.
Showing posts with label Roland Burris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roland Burris. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Senate Follies of 2009
The nation's newest senators or near-senators are making news: Everybody is telling Roland Burris to leave, Kirsten Gilibrand has moved the guns she keeps under her bed and Al Franken is rehearsing his role back in Minnesota while the recount court fight goes on.
*After what is described as the fifth version of his contacts with associates of Rod Blagojevich and first admission of trying to raise money for the former governor, editorial calls for Burris to resign his seat are coming from the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post and elsewhere. (He may soon have an asterisk to add to the newest title chiseled into granite in the Chicago cemetery that lists his firsts as a "Trail Blazer.")
*New York's new Senator Gilibrand, appointed to replace Hillary Clinton, told a reporter about two guns under her bed last week and, after a publicity firestorm, has decided to relocate them.
"Given that the location of the guns has been disclosed," her spokesman explains, "they have been moved for security reasons."
*Al Franken, with a 225-vote recount lead over Norm Coleman, has met with Minnesota mayors to discuss the national economic crisis and "learn what Minnesota's cities need most from Washington." At the rate the November results are being adjudicated, Franken may still be rehearsing for the part during the Senate's Easter break.
Nobody said 2009 would be dull.
*After what is described as the fifth version of his contacts with associates of Rod Blagojevich and first admission of trying to raise money for the former governor, editorial calls for Burris to resign his seat are coming from the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post and elsewhere. (He may soon have an asterisk to add to the newest title chiseled into granite in the Chicago cemetery that lists his firsts as a "Trail Blazer.")
*New York's new Senator Gilibrand, appointed to replace Hillary Clinton, told a reporter about two guns under her bed last week and, after a publicity firestorm, has decided to relocate them.
"Given that the location of the guns has been disclosed," her spokesman explains, "they have been moved for security reasons."
*Al Franken, with a 225-vote recount lead over Norm Coleman, has met with Minnesota mayors to discuss the national economic crisis and "learn what Minnesota's cities need most from Washington." At the rate the November results are being adjudicated, Franken may still be rehearsing for the part during the Senate's Easter break.
Nobody said 2009 would be dull.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hillibrand and Burris, Hillary and Obama
A year ago, Americans were excited by the breakthrough of electing a woman or an African-American for president. Now, after the euphoria of Obama's inauguration, we have the sad spectacle of selecting a woman and an African-American senator for all the wrong reasons.
Turning back the demographic clock, here is the peerless Rod Blagojevich in the media spotlight, after choosing Roland Burris for racial reasons alone, bragging that he had considered Oprah for the spot.
And here we have Kirsten Hillibrand, with all of two years in Washington, chosen by Governor David Paterson for being a woman and living in upstate New York, lunching at the Waldorf with Hillary Clinton and burbling, “It’s thrilling. You will see me everywhere in the state. You will see me wherever you want to see me.”
In November 2010, voters in Illinois and New York will pick the person to represent them in the US Senate (and govern their states as well). Until then, they will have to live with the choices of a future felon and an accidental chief executive who got his job because a predecessor failed to keep his fly zipped.
Is this a great country or what?
Turning back the demographic clock, here is the peerless Rod Blagojevich in the media spotlight, after choosing Roland Burris for racial reasons alone, bragging that he had considered Oprah for the spot.
And here we have Kirsten Hillibrand, with all of two years in Washington, chosen by Governor David Paterson for being a woman and living in upstate New York, lunching at the Waldorf with Hillary Clinton and burbling, “It’s thrilling. You will see me everywhere in the state. You will see me wherever you want to see me.”
In November 2010, voters in Illinois and New York will pick the person to represent them in the US Senate (and govern their states as well). Until then, they will have to live with the choices of a future felon and an accidental chief executive who got his job because a predecessor failed to keep his fly zipped.
Is this a great country or what?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Kennedy, Burris and Identity Politics
The withdrawal of JFK's daughter as a replacement for Hillary Clinton leads to questions about gender and race in national politics in what we all celebrated as the Age of Obama this week.
In Illinois, the future felon Rod Blagojevich appoints Roland Burris amid calls to retain the President's seat for an African-American and now, with Caroline Kennedy gone, New York's governor speaks publicly and privately about "the importance of selecting a woman to replace Mrs. Clinton."
With the critical questions facing the Senate, when and how did substantive qualifications fall behind demographics in making choices for such high office?
Blagojevich was trying to save his skin in the face of impeachment and/or indictment. Now David Paterson, an accidental governor who came to office less than a year ago when Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sexual scandal, seems to be calculating his chances for election in 2010.
Elective politics can be messy, but calculated, self-interested appointments to represent two of the largest states in the Union are clearly worse.
Roland Burris will be a caretaker choice for the next two years, and Governor Paterson would be well-advised to do the same for New York, albeit for more honorable reasons.
At the risk of being repetitive, there is an appointee who could bring wisdom and experience to the Senate until voters make their choice in 2010. His name is Mario Cuomo, and it would reflect well on New York's governor if he could rise above identity politics and name him to Hillary Clinton's seat.
In Illinois, the future felon Rod Blagojevich appoints Roland Burris amid calls to retain the President's seat for an African-American and now, with Caroline Kennedy gone, New York's governor speaks publicly and privately about "the importance of selecting a woman to replace Mrs. Clinton."
With the critical questions facing the Senate, when and how did substantive qualifications fall behind demographics in making choices for such high office?
Blagojevich was trying to save his skin in the face of impeachment and/or indictment. Now David Paterson, an accidental governor who came to office less than a year ago when Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sexual scandal, seems to be calculating his chances for election in 2010.
Elective politics can be messy, but calculated, self-interested appointments to represent two of the largest states in the Union are clearly worse.
Roland Burris will be a caretaker choice for the next two years, and Governor Paterson would be well-advised to do the same for New York, albeit for more honorable reasons.
At the risk of being repetitive, there is an appointee who could bring wisdom and experience to the Senate until voters make their choice in 2010. His name is Mario Cuomo, and it would reflect well on New York's governor if he could rise above identity politics and name him to Hillary Clinton's seat.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Hamas and Blagojevich
The headlines about Gaza and the US Senate keep recalling the folk wisdom about never getting into pissing contests with skunks, as Hamas and Rod Bagojevich wreak havoc with efforts of those who oppose them to act rationally.
In Gaza, innocent people keep dying at their hands as Israelis solemnly tell us they are only doing what they have to do and, in Washington, American legislators tie themselves into legal knots to keep an implacable crook from naming a new member to their body.
In between are women and children on both sides of the border in the Middle East and Americans who urgently need the president and Congress they have just elected to get moving to save their economy.
Illinois' governor has lobbed Roland Burris at the US Senate with the same intention as Hamas' rockets--to pressure and intimidate their opposition into making concessions--and the responses are, perhaps unavoidably, ugly.
As Barack Obama prepares to move into the White House promising to bring people together in civilized responses to problem-solving, we keep being reminded that the world doesn't usually work that way.
In Gaza, innocent people keep dying at their hands as Israelis solemnly tell us they are only doing what they have to do and, in Washington, American legislators tie themselves into legal knots to keep an implacable crook from naming a new member to their body.
In between are women and children on both sides of the border in the Middle East and Americans who urgently need the president and Congress they have just elected to get moving to save their economy.
Illinois' governor has lobbed Roland Burris at the US Senate with the same intention as Hamas' rockets--to pressure and intimidate their opposition into making concessions--and the responses are, perhaps unavoidably, ugly.
As Barack Obama prepares to move into the White House promising to bring people together in civilized responses to problem-solving, we keep being reminded that the world doesn't usually work that way.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
"American Idol" Finals for the Senate
The Washington talent show heads for a climax this week with the leading contenders a stand-up comic from Minnesota, a woman from New York doing an Eleanor Roosevelt impersonation and an Illinois ventriloquist act. Is this any way to run a country?
Al Franken, Caroline Kennedy and Roland Burris could very well turn out to be fine US senators but, in the shenanigans surrounding their possible entry, will any or all of them be up to speed for casting votes on the huge, intricate and critical stimulus bill for the economy and the other legislation to follow?
As the media and bloggers feast on all the details of the contests, it's unnerving to think about the people who may be helping to decide America's economic future coming into the debate after weeks of being immersed in a vote recount, a Sarah Palinish campaign to project political gravitas and the maneuvering by a governor facing impeachment and/or indictment.
By month's end, all three may be seated in the Senate and ready to go to work with the best of intentions, but it's hard not to think that even "American Idol" puts its aspirants through a more rigorous process of prepping for their performance.
Al Franken, Caroline Kennedy and Roland Burris could very well turn out to be fine US senators but, in the shenanigans surrounding their possible entry, will any or all of them be up to speed for casting votes on the huge, intricate and critical stimulus bill for the economy and the other legislation to follow?
As the media and bloggers feast on all the details of the contests, it's unnerving to think about the people who may be helping to decide America's economic future coming into the debate after weeks of being immersed in a vote recount, a Sarah Palinish campaign to project political gravitas and the maneuvering by a governor facing impeachment and/or indictment.
By month's end, all three may be seated in the Senate and ready to go to work with the best of intentions, but it's hard not to think that even "American Idol" puts its aspirants through a more rigorous process of prepping for their performance.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
For Harry Reid, a George Wallace Moment
Loathsome as he is, Rod Blagojevich, in his shrewd maneuvering to escape Patrick Fitzgerald's clutches, has put Harry Reid in a position reminiscent of the Alabama governor 45 years ago illegally standing in a doorway to block African-American students from entering.
When the Senate reconvenes Tuesday, if Blagojevich's appointee Roland Burris is there to claim his seat, the legal basis for denying him is shaky and the political consequences of a confrontation extremely unappealing in the new no-drama era of an Obama administration.
One possible scenario that could appeal to the Illinois governor and Fox News is to have Blagojevich himself accompany Burris into the building, just as federal officials brushed aside George Wallace to escort two African-American students into a University of Alabama building in 1963.
Blagojevich has been trying to blackmail national Democrats with the prospect of just such a symbolic confrontation by narrowing his choice to a black candidate, offering the position to Burris after being turned down by Rep. Danny K. Davis, as Lynn Sweet reports in the Chicago Sun-Times.
In a mausoleum of Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery, Burris, 71, under the seal of the state of Illinois and the words "Trail Blazer," has chiseled his many firsts in granite, including being the state's first African-American attorney general and the state's first African-American comptroller.
Whether or not he gets to add US Senator to the list is an open question, but meanwhile his sponsor is doing his best to bury Harry Reid and the Democratic Party in his name.
When the Senate reconvenes Tuesday, if Blagojevich's appointee Roland Burris is there to claim his seat, the legal basis for denying him is shaky and the political consequences of a confrontation extremely unappealing in the new no-drama era of an Obama administration.
One possible scenario that could appeal to the Illinois governor and Fox News is to have Blagojevich himself accompany Burris into the building, just as federal officials brushed aside George Wallace to escort two African-American students into a University of Alabama building in 1963.
Blagojevich has been trying to blackmail national Democrats with the prospect of just such a symbolic confrontation by narrowing his choice to a black candidate, offering the position to Burris after being turned down by Rep. Danny K. Davis, as Lynn Sweet reports in the Chicago Sun-Times.
In a mausoleum of Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery, Burris, 71, under the seal of the state of Illinois and the words "Trail Blazer," has chiseled his many firsts in granite, including being the state's first African-American attorney general and the state's first African-American comptroller.
Whether or not he gets to add US Senator to the list is an open question, but meanwhile his sponsor is doing his best to bury Harry Reid and the Democratic Party in his name.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Blagojevich's Human Shield
Taking a cue from Saddam Hussein who surrounded himself with innocent civilians when under attack, Rod Blagojevich has added a new touch, playing the race card by appointing an African-American to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat and daring Democrats to reject his pick and try to bomb him out of the governor's chair.
Blagojevich, who has a lock on the Shameless Person of the Year Award, is in Hall of Fame territory here by appointing Roland Burris, a 71-year-old non-Caucasian who has served as Illinois state comptroller and attorney general.
But as the Governor celebrates his new coup, someone should remind him that the tactic did not work out too well for Saddam (see Baghdad, fallen statue). Senate Democrats have made it clear they won't seat Blagojevich's choice, Patrick Fitzgerald is getting ready to release some of the juicier taped phone calls and the Illinois legislature is on track with impeachment proceedings.
Happy New Year, Governor, it's all downhill from here.
Blagojevich, who has a lock on the Shameless Person of the Year Award, is in Hall of Fame territory here by appointing Roland Burris, a 71-year-old non-Caucasian who has served as Illinois state comptroller and attorney general.
But as the Governor celebrates his new coup, someone should remind him that the tactic did not work out too well for Saddam (see Baghdad, fallen statue). Senate Democrats have made it clear they won't seat Blagojevich's choice, Patrick Fitzgerald is getting ready to release some of the juicier taped phone calls and the Illinois legislature is on track with impeachment proceedings.
Happy New Year, Governor, it's all downhill from here.
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