Burris...Moron? Political Genius?

It has been a strange year in politics, a strange year indeed. This year has been filled with many surprises: the election of the first Black President, the defeat of Clintonian dominance, the victory of a comedian to a senate seat, and the emergence of a comedic vice presidential candidate. All in all, it has been an exciting ride. One thing that hasn't been surprising is the exposure of continued corruption in the Chicago political machine. Yes of course I am talking about our favorite governor with the funny name. It seems that being caught on tape soliciting money and favors in exchange for a senate appointment is not a harsh enough offense to drive one from the national spotlight. This should surprise but now shock us; think of the Alaskan Senator caught soliciting sex in an airport bathroom who still refused to step down, or the one time Speaker of the House and author of the "Contract with America", the man who brought moral reform back to popularity and all but crucified Bill Clinton who then himself fell victim to an affair. Yes we tolerate a lot from our public figures, corruption, lies, distortion, and even hypocrisy. I point all of this out because in all honesty I have no bone to pick with Governor Blagojevich rather, if their is any indignation to be had we must direct our disdain towards the ever unpopular figure Roland Burris.

Now I must admit that when it was first announced that the good Governor had appointed someone to fill the vacated seat I naturally assumed that he nominated himself. I could think of no better way to strike back at the media, his constituents, and the rest of the country then by sticking his middle finger loudly into the air and taking the seat for himself. It seems like the kind of thing that an egomaniacal lunatic like Blagojevich would do. Plus I reasoned, no serious, qualified, self-respecting politician would be caught dead accepting such an appointment. Well, I was half right. I think that it speaks volumes about Roland Burris that he not only is the choice but seems to have accepted that role with enthusiasm and relish. Based on his behavior I can draw only one of two conclusions: either he is in fact a complete and utter moron, or he is very politically astute, and places a great deal of faith in the law and rules of our nation. Either way, he is a moron.

There is no doubt that Burris knew that Blagojevich was using him as a pawn to prove that not only could he beat the bad wrap, but that he was still in charge. The Governor appointed him because he was a qualified candidate, but more importantly he was a qualified African-American Candidate. In doing so he knew that it would be extremely difficult for Senate Democrats to refuse entry to a man who would now be the sole Black Senator in all the land. So I understand the Governor's motives, but what the hell is Burris thinking? As I said before he is either a complete moron who somehow despite his many accomplishments is not able to deduce what even an elementary student could, or he really is a political genius who understands that he has zero chance of ever actually being elected to the Senate, so he should simply take this opportunity that has so graciously fallen in his lap. If this is the case he must have a very strong belief in justice and the rule of law as he seems to genuinely expect to be seated.

Now, while I am not going to go so far as to say that Mr. Burris's trust has been misplaced, I must point out that he was not sworn in with the incoming class today on Capital Hill, and in fact was barred from entering the Senate Chambers. So what to do now? To me the answer is simple: you have to give Mr. Burris his seat. He was appointed lawfully, meets all qualifications to hold the seat, and seems to be an upstanding American. Yes it is unfortunate that he has been appointed by a Governor who will likely be impeached and possibly indicted, but none the less the seat is his. There is no legal argument that can possibly prevent him from entering the Senate should he continue to insist to do so. All that said it is worth noting that if the state legislature in Illinois would have simply voted a special election than none of this would have ever happened. However, the many chicken-shit Democrats in Illinois did not want to put the seat up for an open race and risk potentially loosing their party's stranglehold on the Senate. This again seems ridiculous to me being that a Black Man who's name rhymes with a well known terrorist won this seat four years ago and just won the Presidency in an election in which the Democratic Party dominated nationwide. In fact the Republican Party was not even able to come up with a serious candidate for this seat four years ago and instead had to resort to running the carpet-bagging, bible-thumping, holier-than-thou sellout Alan Keys. Why would Illinois Democrats not be confident that they could hold this seat in an open election in this political climate? Who knows, it seems to be just another mystery of Illinois politics.