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November 16, 2009 FOX News
Congressman Kirk on GITMO detainees potentially being moved to a supermax prison in Illinois

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We knew this was coming:

SPRINGFIELD---In a historic vote, the Illinois House has impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, directing the Senate to put the state’s 40th chief executive on trial with the goal of removing him from office.

The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state's 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois' longstanding reputation for political corruption.

Meanwhile, it appears that Roland Burris may have been less than forthcoming about his contacts with Blago:

For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich's former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September.

"If you're close to the governor, you know, let him know I'm certainly interested in the seat," Burris said he told Monk.

That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no "representatives" of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26.

What else would you expect from a guy who would take this appointment under these circumstances anyway?

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In today's episode of As The Stomach Turns, Harry Reid signaled at this morning's presser that he's leaving open a door for Roland Burris to walk through.

After a 45-minute meeting this morning between Burris, Reid and his lieutenant, Sen.Dick Durbin, Reid said Senate Democrats would wait to see if the Illinois Supreme Court would order Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to sign Burris' appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

I think we can probably count on the Illinois Supreme Court informing Jesse White he has to sign the appointment. Which leaves Harry Reid holding a nice stinky bag of crap.

If it's any consolation, the public agrees with Reid that Burris' appointment is tainted and he shouldn't be seated. That will make it tougher for Burris to win the seat in two years, but that's the price Rod Blagojevich is making us all pay. Including Harry Reid.

Meanwhile, Reid is saying he expects to keep leading the Senate for a good long time. All he's really doing is making an argument against seniority and incumbency, because he has done nothing to demonstrate he's worthy of leading the Senate. Especially not recently. As Jane says, I'd sure like to play poker with Reid -- and I usually make a habit of never playing against guys from Nevada.

Roland Martin thinks Democrats just need to suck it up and accept that Burris is the selection. I suspect he's right.

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MSNBC analyst Jim Warren, discussing the Rod Blagojevich-Roland Burris mess, sounded a deeply cynical note yesterday on Hardball with Chris Matthews and Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. Cynical, but probably right:

Warren: And one vision you didn't -- along with, you know, Lynn's vision of what might happen tomorrow, one we should have that would make us slightly dyspeptic, is that of Rod Blagojevich back there grinning like a Cheshire Cat, because -- the Saturday Night Live caricature aside, the bipartisan animus toward him aside, the likelihood that he will be indicted aside -- he has every legal right to do this. And I think he has pulled one over on Harry Reid and Dick Durbin. And Harry Reid is left looking like some parent huffing and puffing and warning his kid that there's gonna be big punishment unless he does what he says, and then the kid doesn't stop doing it, and then Harry Reid doesn't have anything left to go to, unless what? He's going to send it to the Rules Committee? And Chuck Schumer, head of the Rules Committee? Who wants Al Franken seated ASAP because Minnesota's gotta have two senators on that floor as quickly as possible. Boy, I think Blagojevich has really played this in the most cynical but adroit of ways.

Sweet goes on to suggest that Reid may cave if Burris agrees not to run in two years, but then Warren appropriately notes that Burris doesn't believe he has anything to negotiate.

I'm not sure why Burris needs it explained to him that Blagejovich himself tainted the process of selecting this Senate seat by his own actions and words, and that anyone he chose would be similarly tainted. It's kind of sad, really.

Let's just say that this is not an auspicious start to a Senate career, much less a Democratic defense of that seat. A better man would not have let himself be so tainted. Hell, even Danny Davis -- who hasn't enough sense not to take part in coronation ceremonies for Rev. Moon -- thought better of this.

Roland Burris may believe he has the legal right to this seat. But politically, it's another story. The voters of Illinois have no reason whatsoever to believe that he was chosen with their best interests in mind, because they have very good reason to believe Blago was only looking out for himself. They have no reason to believe otherwise now. This selection was Blago's, and because of that, it will always be about Blago.

Burris may force himself upon the Senate, but he may want to savor his two years while they last.

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We all kind of watched agape yesterday as Rod Blagojevich plowed ahead with his selection of Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat yesterday, assuming that better sense would prevail eventually.

But perhaps not, according to Sam Stein:

Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant Senate seat, even as the governor faces intense criminal scrutiny, is being treated as a crazy political power grab. It also seems very likely to be permanent.

A legal scholar writes in to say that precedent surrounding the Senate's right to not seat certain members seems very likely to fall in Burris' favor.

"My reading of Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, is that the Senate probably can NOT constitutionally block Burris from being seated," writes the constitutional law professor. "Art. I, sec. 5 gives each House the power to judge the qualifications of its own members. Powell holds (inter alia) that the qualifications to be judged are those stated in the Constitution (see Art. I, sec. 3, cl. 3 and the 17th Amendment)."

"Burris has met all of those qualifications: he's over 30, been a US citizen for 9 years, he's an Illinois resident; he was appointed by the executive authority of the state to fill a vacancy, pursuant to Illinois law."

Even on the state level, Democrats seem fairly hamstrung when it comes to stopping Blagojevich. Secretary of State Jesse White's office has said it will not certify the Burris appointment. But, here again, the law may not be on their side.

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Wottamaroon:

Defying U.S. Senate leaders and his own state's lawmakers, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder, praised the 71-year-old Burris' integrity and asked that the corruption allegations not "taint this good and honest man."

Other than the surprise that Blagojevich is deluded enough to believe he can proceed with filling Barack Obama's Senate seate without permanently tainting anyone he names, the only real surprises in this press conference were Burris' surprise at finding out he'd given $14,000 or so to Blagojevich's re-election campaign, and Blago's screwed-up admonishment at the end:

Feel free to castigate the appointer, but don't lynch the appointor.

I think he meant "appointee." But even more noteworthy was his use of the word "lynch" to describe what refusal of Burris's seating in the Senate might mean in terms of the politics of this mess. Combined with Rep. Bobby Rush's threat at the conference to make it a racial issue if an African-American wasn't named to fill Obama's seat, I think it's clear that Team Blago intends to flourish the race card in this matter.

Now, it's already been pointed out that the Senate cannot refuse to seat a duly elected member on any grounds other than constitutional ones (that is, citizenship qualifications, etc.).

But just before the press conference, MSNBC read a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying that the Senate Democratic Caucus would refuse to seat any member appointed by Blagojevich. Moreover, the Illinois Secretary of State has also announced he will refuse to sign the papers certifying Burris as the nominee.

Worth noting: Only a couple of days ago, the lieutenant governor announced that Blago would be removed before mid-February.

Looks like Blago decided to have a last laugh at their expense. He's throwing a monkey wrench at them, mostly it appears, out of spite.

Now that's what I call chutzpah:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.

Shortly after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich's arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor's support.

Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama's replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he's never lost to a Republican.

All this shows what a complete screwhead Blagojevich is. Burris is an old-school Chicago politician who, within the Democratic Party in Illinois, is considered well on the other side of the aisle from Obama. Early word from the Senate indicates that Burris will not be considered acceptable -- especially if he has Blago's blessing.

What a mess.

Jason Rosenbaum at The Seminal:

Last night at the Midwest Academy Awards and 35th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown introduced Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky by saying, “We may have a special election in Illinois, and if Jan Schakowsky runs, I’ll support her.”

At the end of her speech, Schakowsky threw her hat in the ring, announcing that she was “passing around a clipboard” for people to sign up to be on an organizing committee for her “Senate race, and a basket for donations will follow right behind.” The audience cheered.

There's no guarantee that there will be a special election to fill Barack Obama's seat in the Senate, although it is one of the options being floated by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. If it does take place, the GOP will likely run Rep. Mark Kirk and given their penchant for smearing their opponents unfairly, it may be a difficult battle for Schakowsky, a favorite in the progressive blogosphere.

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Jesse Jackson Jr. was impassioned and emphatic in his press conference today responding to the news that he had been identified as "Senate Candidate No. 5", the figure in the Rod Blagejovich scandal whose emissary, according to Blago, had made a "pay to play" offer. (Blago also indicated on tape that Obama was opposed to this candidate's selection.)

Of course, not only is Blago clearly delusional (how else can you explain this kind of conduct when you're under investigation by the feds?), he's also clearly a liar of prodigious levels. So nothing he said should be taken at any kind of face value.

Nonetheless, the taint clearly threatened Jackson's political future, and coming out -- especially as convincingly as he did today -- was an essential first step in repairing the damage.

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Boy, this is just the kind of mess Obama doesn't need:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "staggering" level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.

Blagojevich is accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, including alleged attempts by the governor to try to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. Blagojevich also is accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning--one day shy of his 52nd birthday.

At today's press conference, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald observed:

The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.

When it came time to consider what Obama might want, apparently he couldn't be bothered. Fitzgerald quotes Blagejovich:

"They're not willing to give me anything but appreciation. [Bleep] them."

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Details of the criminal complaint.

Bet this puts a crimp in Danny Davis' hopes.

Crooks and Liars has two bloggers from Illinois on staff, who weigh in:

Driftglass [Chicago]:

So, after 30 years of Republican rule, Democrat Blagojevich slid into the office, where he immediately made clear the disdain for the actual business of state government which would mark his tenure as governor by rarely visiting the state capital in Springfield, and never even pretending to set up housekeeping in the Governor's official residence.

Understand that, in Illinois, Democrats now control the state House, state Senate, every state-wide constitutional office, the Mayoralty of Chicago, the city council of Chicago, the board controlling the second most populous county in the country (Cook), and almost the entire federal congressional delegation at a time when the DNC has been moved to Chicago, and an Illinois Senator is about to be sworn in as President.

So you'd think, hey, maybe now would not be the very best time to piss away a once-in-a-lifetime historic opportunity to consolidate Democratic gains by f-ing up the state budget and generally carrying on like poo-flinging howler monkeys.

But you would be wrong.

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