Blagojevich, Burris, reality

So, the Governor of the wonderful State of Illinois has appointed Roland Burris to fill the Senate seat previously held by President-elect Obama. Everybody is screaming and throwing a fit about not seating Mr. Burris because of Blagojevich, while at the same time praising the career of Mr. Burris. Let's look at some facts:

1. Blagojevich was duly elected by the People of Illinois as Governor.
2. The Governor's power to appoint is written in law, not the Illinois constitution.
3. The power of impeachment is in the Illinois Constitution.
4. The General Assembly did nothing to remove the Governor's power of appointment nor did they do anything on impeachment based on all the other things the Governor has been accused of doing.
5. The new Senate will be sworn in next Tuesday, January 6, 2009.
6. Regardless of Senator Reid's grandstanding there's really not much he can do either.
7. In our Justice System a man is innocent until proven guilty.

So, we have a sitting Governor, who is innocent until proven guilty. The law gives him the power to appoint replacements to the Senate in just this type of situation. The General Assembly, for all their protestations now, has been inept for years, spending their time wringing their hands instead of doing anything. I blame Madigan but that's the subject of another post.

The Governor did exactly what he should have done. And let's be honest, it's a safe pick. At the risk of being a racist, Mr. Burris is black, and would be the only black member of the Senate. After the election of Barak Obama will Democrats in the U.S. Senate refuse to seat a qualified black man? No. Will Jessie White refuse to certify Mr. Burris? Probably, but it's a meaningless protest as he admitted in a NPR interview just last night.

Mr. Burris is 71 years old. He'll serve out the remainder of Obama's term. Will he stand for re-election in 2010? Maybe, but it will likely be his only run and the Republicans in Illinois will lash him to Blagojevich for the whole campaign. Not to mention Blagojevich's trial will probably be in full hyperbolic news coverage by the time the 2010 campaign really gets going.

Now, let's talk about our Lt. Governor, Pat Quinn. He's made his career as an outsider screaming at the machine. When the Governor was arrested he almost immediately called for a special election. A few days later, after the Democrat brain-trust (and I use the word brain loosely) put their heads together they realized they'd lose a special election. Suddenly Mr. Quinn was preaching the gospel of impeachment and that the Governor should step down so he could make the appointment. He may not be a crooked Chicago politician, but he certainly has all the necessary skills to fit the roll.

Ms. Madigan, our Attorney General, is no better. She's the silver spoon daughter of the Illinois Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan. While she may be a fully qualified lawyer, she's the AG because of daddy and his connections. Her stunt of going to the Illinois Supreme Court to get the Governor removed, using a clause of the constitution clearly designed for things such as medical disabilities, was simply a stunt to start her run for Governor in 2010. I suspect she did it at daddy's urging as much as from original thought. Brovo to the Illinois Supreme Court for telling her to go away.

So, what's an Illinois resident to do. If you vote Democrat you're stuck with Chicago machine politicians picked by Daley, Madigan and the rest of the crew. If you vote Republican you get what, Jim Ryan and Alan Keyes? Nice. I'm moving to Iowa.