"Joker Plays Race Card". Read More Below.
I have been asked what I think of Blago's appointment of Roland Burris as POTUS Barack Obama's senate replacement and I have suggested that his association with the Governor "Political Thug" makes him suspect -- pun not necessarily intended.
Rather than going beyond that, since I do NOT know much about Mr. Burris or Chicago politics, I give you this article below that should answer a lot of your questions.
Enjoy your reading:
Joker Plays Race Card
Will it win? Don't Rush to conclusions.
By JAMES TARANTO
Did we mention that Roland Burris, the man Gov. Rod Blagojevich has tapped to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, is black? No, we didn't. Others, however, have noticed--including Rep. Bobby Rush, a onetime Black Panther who now prowls Chicago's South Side.
Dennis Byrne of the Chicago Tribune explains Rush's effort to use racial blackmail in an effort to seat Burris:
Rush aptly demonstrated the cynicism of Blagojevich's action by brandishing the blunt weapon of racism. Rush, an African American, warned that a senate that refused to seat Burris, an African American, would be engaging in a "hanging" and "lynching." Even by Chicago political standards, the deployment of those inflammatory words was an extraordinarily slimy racist play.
But that's Chicago for you. By appointing a black man, Blagojevich figured that he would put Reid in the hot seat by forcing him to shut out the only African American in the Senate.
Carol Marin of the Chicago Sun-Times adds:
Who dares, asked Rep. Bobby Rush, . . . to deny a qualified (and, important to note in Illinois, never indicted) appointee as the lone black to replace the lone black in the nearly lily-white U.S. Senate?
Illinois politicians, few of them profiles in courage, better tread carefully with their African-American constituency.
That might include President-elect Obama, who has endorsed his fair share of regular Chicago Democrats.
And yet, as the Associated Press reports, Democratic senators and the president-elect are not impressed:
Rep. Bobby Rush says he doesn't think any U.S. senator would be caught turning a black man away from serving alongside them.
He thought wrong.
No Senate Democrats responded to his racial challenge. And they got support from President-elect Barack Obama, who will be the first African-American in the White House. . . .
Obama was having none of it, siding with Senate Democrats who vowed to turn Burris away should he show up in Washington to be sworn in.
"They cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat," Obama said in a statement. "I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it."
The Senate may eventually be forced to seat Burris, but if that happens it will be because the law is on his side, not because of racial intimidation.
To be sure, Harry Reid and his colleagues would be in a more difficult position without the support of a black president-elect. (Obama and Rush are longtime rivals, the latter having easily defeated the former's primary challenge in 2000.) But our guess is that in the long run, Obama's election will have permanently rendered this sort of racial politics far less effective. Now that a black man has been elected president, who can keep a straight face when a Bobby Rush asserts that blacks are being kept out of the Senate?
Rol of a Lifetime
If there is to be a Sen. Burris, a Sun-Times profile suggests that he will be entertaining, for his ego is big even by Senate standards:
The 71-year-old Burris--who often refers to himself in the third person--has never been shy about broadcasting his ambitions and loudly celebrating his achievements.
"I am a visionary," he declared in a 2002 interview with the Sun-Times when he was running for governor, his third unsuccessful try at the job.
In a 1994 interview with the paper, during his first effort at capturing the governor's office, Burris said his past success--he had been elected comptroller and attorney general--was "divine providence" that began at age 15 when he decided to become a lawyer and officeholder.
"People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter," he said. "I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model."
Or at least a "Rol" model: Blogger Mark Kleiman reports that Burris has two children, son Roland II and daughter Rolanda. And if you think Burris is about to Rol over and play dead, well . . . you're right! Politico reports:
Burris has already charted his esteemed career path on the walls of his future grave in Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery. Beneath a seal of the state of Illinois, Burris lists his accomplishments to date, and there seems to be plenty of room above the bench to mention his career in the Senate--if he has one.
Click here for a closer view of the tomb-to-be.
Laugh below:
Rather than going beyond that, since I do NOT know much about Mr. Burris or Chicago politics, I give you this article below that should answer a lot of your questions.
Enjoy your reading:
Joker Plays Race Card
Will it win? Don't Rush to conclusions.
By JAMES TARANTO
Did we mention that Roland Burris, the man Gov. Rod Blagojevich has tapped to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, is black? No, we didn't. Others, however, have noticed--including Rep. Bobby Rush, a onetime Black Panther who now prowls Chicago's South Side.
Dennis Byrne of the Chicago Tribune explains Rush's effort to use racial blackmail in an effort to seat Burris:
Rush aptly demonstrated the cynicism of Blagojevich's action by brandishing the blunt weapon of racism. Rush, an African American, warned that a senate that refused to seat Burris, an African American, would be engaging in a "hanging" and "lynching." Even by Chicago political standards, the deployment of those inflammatory words was an extraordinarily slimy racist play.
But that's Chicago for you. By appointing a black man, Blagojevich figured that he would put Reid in the hot seat by forcing him to shut out the only African American in the Senate.
Carol Marin of the Chicago Sun-Times adds:
Who dares, asked Rep. Bobby Rush, . . . to deny a qualified (and, important to note in Illinois, never indicted) appointee as the lone black to replace the lone black in the nearly lily-white U.S. Senate?
Illinois politicians, few of them profiles in courage, better tread carefully with their African-American constituency.
That might include President-elect Obama, who has endorsed his fair share of regular Chicago Democrats.
And yet, as the Associated Press reports, Democratic senators and the president-elect are not impressed:
Rep. Bobby Rush says he doesn't think any U.S. senator would be caught turning a black man away from serving alongside them.
He thought wrong.
No Senate Democrats responded to his racial challenge. And they got support from President-elect Barack Obama, who will be the first African-American in the White House. . . .
Obama was having none of it, siding with Senate Democrats who vowed to turn Burris away should he show up in Washington to be sworn in.
"They cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat," Obama said in a statement. "I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it."
The Senate may eventually be forced to seat Burris, but if that happens it will be because the law is on his side, not because of racial intimidation.
To be sure, Harry Reid and his colleagues would be in a more difficult position without the support of a black president-elect. (Obama and Rush are longtime rivals, the latter having easily defeated the former's primary challenge in 2000.) But our guess is that in the long run, Obama's election will have permanently rendered this sort of racial politics far less effective. Now that a black man has been elected president, who can keep a straight face when a Bobby Rush asserts that blacks are being kept out of the Senate?
Rol of a Lifetime
If there is to be a Sen. Burris, a Sun-Times profile suggests that he will be entertaining, for his ego is big even by Senate standards:
The 71-year-old Burris--who often refers to himself in the third person--has never been shy about broadcasting his ambitions and loudly celebrating his achievements.
"I am a visionary," he declared in a 2002 interview with the Sun-Times when he was running for governor, his third unsuccessful try at the job.
In a 1994 interview with the paper, during his first effort at capturing the governor's office, Burris said his past success--he had been elected comptroller and attorney general--was "divine providence" that began at age 15 when he decided to become a lawyer and officeholder.
"People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter," he said. "I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model."
Or at least a "Rol" model: Blogger Mark Kleiman reports that Burris has two children, son Roland II and daughter Rolanda. And if you think Burris is about to Rol over and play dead, well . . . you're right! Politico reports:
Burris has already charted his esteemed career path on the walls of his future grave in Chicago's Oak Woods Cemetery. Beneath a seal of the state of Illinois, Burris lists his accomplishments to date, and there seems to be plenty of room above the bench to mention his career in the Senate--if he has one.
Click here for a closer view of the tomb-to-be.
Laugh below:
Labels: Corruption, Crime, Democracy for sale, Punishment
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 3:32 PM
2 Comments:
There's a lot more to Burris than that Blago appointed him.
-- Born in Centralia, Illinois, Roland Burris received his bachelor's degree in political science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1959.
-- He then studied at the University of Hamburg, Germany, for a year before entering law school at Howard University.
-- He began his career in 1963 as a national bank examiner for the U.S. Treasury Department. Burris was the first African-American National Bank Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for the U.S. Treasury Department.
-- From 1964 to 1973, Burris served as vice president of Continental Illinois National Bank.
-- Burris began his government career in 1973. He was appointed by the Governor of Illinois as Director of the Department of Central Management Services from 1973 to 1977.
-- In 1978, with his election to the first of three terms as state comptroller, he made history as the first African-American elected to state office.
-- On November 6, 1990, he was elected attorney general for the state of Illinois. He served as Illinois attorney general from 1991 to 1995.
-- Burris was defeated by Paul Simon when running for the U.S. Senate in 1984.
-- He ran for governor in 2004.
-- He is currently Senior Counsel to Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan (an Illinois law firm) and a principal in Burris & Lebed Consulting.
-- He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Public Administration Program at Southern Illinois University.
-- He has also served as Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1985 to 1989.
-- Burris has served as President of the National Association of Comptroller and of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers.
-- He was also a Trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation Board and served three years on the Executive Board as a Trustee of the Government Finance Office Association of the United States and Canada.
-- He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Inland Real Estate Corporation as an independent director and is Chairman of Governance and Nominating Committee.
-- He has previously served on the Boards of the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority, Law Enforcement Foundation of Illinois, Illinois Supreme Court Committee for Civil Jury Instructions, Chair of the Illinois State Justice Commission, and the Chicago Area Boy Scouts of Americas Board.
-- He has also served as Director of the following non-profit corporations: National Center for Responsible Gaming, Auditorium Theatre of Chicago, and the National Conference for Community and Justice.
-- His citations include Whos Who in America; Whos Who in Government; and Whos Who in Law.
-- He has been recognized annually for 16 years by Ebony Magazine as one of The 100 Most Influential Black Americans.
-- Crain's Chicago Small Business Magazine named Burris as one of the three Outstanding Financial Officers in The United States in 1986.
--Perhaps Burris should be given some credit for being a reputable and upstanding individual, one who has a record of public service qualifying him for the job.
Your perhaps would work if not for the fact that Illinois' political punk made the choice.
Would you buy a used car from BLAGO?
Post a Comment
<< Home