LOL: Blago to Appoint Fmr. AG to Senate Seat

[Brittain33]

I'm not sure I understand what incentive Blago has to do this, but ok. Could it be that he just has a sense of humor and is fucking with everyone?

It reminds me of Tim McVeigh reading "Invictus" before his execution.

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
      I am the captain of my soul.

This is the only act of defiance he has to show he has power.

[Lunar]

I'm not sure I understand what incentive Blago has to do this, but ok. Could it be that he just has a sense of humor and is fucking with everyone?

He's trying to act like someone who has done nothing wrong and forcefully trying to do things a governor would be doing naturally right now -- it's an argument against his impeachment as well.  If he's signing bills into law and appointing senators just like any other governor would, it's harder to argue he's unfit for office or whatever.

[muon2]

This is not so surprising. He promised before the arrest to fill the seat by Christmas, and he's only a few days late. I think that White and Reid have little choice but to object, and let the courts force them aside.

[Keystone Phil]

Oh. My. God. So predictable. There's obviously no reason for Bobby Rush to be up there right now except to rally blacks around this idea and around Blagojevich. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

[WalterMitty]

From the headline, I was half suspecting he'd named Ramsey Clark as the ultimate f.u. to the Senate.

clark is working on the legal defense team of indicted boston city councilman chuck  turner.

anyway blago needs a full mental health evaluation.

[Keystone Phil]

This race baiting is so disgusting yet pretty expected.

[Lunar]

This is not so surprising. He promised before the arrest to fill the seat by Christmas, and he's only a few days late. I think that White and Reid have little choice but to object, and let the courts force them aside.

Indeed, White and Reid will be shoved aside by the courts if Blago and Roland truly wish it (I suspect Burris would step aside and let Quinn appoint him perhaps rather than go to the Senate and be shunned/denied committee slots).  The Senate does have the nuclear option after Burris is forcibly seated however - a 2/3rds vote to expel him.

[Boris]

This is not so surprising. He promised before the arrest to fill the seat by Christmas, and he's only a few days late. I think that White and Reid have little choice but to object, and let the courts force them aside.

Indeed, White and Reid will be shoved aside by the courts if Blago and Roland truly wish it (I suspect Burris would step aside and let Quinn appoint him perhaps rather than go to the Senate and be shunned/denied committee slots).  The Senate does have the nuclear option after Burris is forcibly seated however - a 2/3rds vote to expel him.

How many votes does it take to stop a senator from taking his/her seat?

[muon2]

This is not so surprising. He promised before the arrest to fill the seat by Christmas, and he's only a few days late. I think that White and Reid have little choice but to object, and let the courts force them aside.

Indeed, White and Reid will be shoved aside by the courts if Blago and Roland truly wish it (I suspect Burris would step aside and let Quinn appoint him perhaps rather than go to the Senate and be shunned/denied committee slots).  The Senate does have the nuclear option after Burris is forcibly seated however - a 2/3rds vote to expel him.

The key is that the courts give political cover to deal with a situation that White and Reid can't afford to touch. The special election bill that was blocked by state Dems now may be back in play - it had a provision to replace a gubernatorial appointment if it occurred.

[Lunar]

This is not so surprising. He promised before the arrest to fill the seat by Christmas, and he's only a few days late. I think that White and Reid have little choice but to object, and let the courts force them aside.

Indeed, White and Reid will be shoved aside by the courts if Blago and Roland truly wish it (I suspect Burris would step aside and let Quinn appoint him perhaps rather than go to the Senate and be shunned/denied committee slots).  The Senate does have the nuclear option after Burris is forcibly seated however - a 2/3rds vote to expel him.

How many votes does it take to stop a senator from taking his/her seat?

Um, I assume 51 if he's unqualified.  But if he meets the age requirements and stuff, no amount of senators can stop him from taking his seat.  They could vote to expel him almost immediately, however.

[Boris]

So I guess my question is why would Burris accept Blago's offer to be appointed a senator he's going to have to go through [winnable] legal challenges only to be shunned by fellow senators and possibly expelled? Seems an awful lot of trouble to go through for merely being a seatwarmer....

[Stranger in a strange land]

This is a great political move for Blago.

Burris is a clean slate, announced his candidacy after the scandal broke as is promising to be a seatwarmer.  So now Reid or Jesse White have to decide whether they will turn down the perfect candidate

He's black.  Reid has to seat him.

no he doesn't, though that's probably Blago's line of thinking. As we saw in the Louisiana special election, now that Obama is in, black people care a lot less about having one more black congressman or senator.

[Lunar]

Stranger, have you even been listening to Bobby Rush?  He's all like "Thank God" for this pick and “He’s an esteemed member of this state and of this community… My prayers have been answered.”

So I guess my question is why would Burris accept Blago's offer to be appointed a senator he's going to have to go through [winnable] legal challenges only to be shunned by fellow senators and possibly expelled? Seems an awful lot of trouble to go through for merely being a seatwarmer....

Well, there would be some thought that as a Black (not only that, but the first black elected statewide in Illinois), esteemed statewide politician, who promises to only hold the seat for two years, he might be allowed into the Senate -- especially if Reid needs that 59th vote starting January 2nd.

[muon2]

So I guess my question is why would Burris accept Blago's offer to be appointed a senator he's going to have to go through [winnable] legal challenges only to be shunned by fellow senators and possibly expelled? Seems an awful lot of trouble to go through for merely being a seatwarmer....

I don't think Burris would be shy to take on the potential legal and political challenges. He publicly volunteered to take the seat after the arrest, he is a former AG, and he's run three times since being AG losing in primaries for Gov in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

[© tweed]

Harry Reid needs to chill and put on some magic underwear.

[Sam Spade]

Congressman Bobby Rush:

"This is a matter of national importance. There are no African Americans in the Senate, and I don't think that anyone, any U.S. senator who's sitting in the Senate right now, wanna go on record to deny one African American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don't think they want to go on record doing that..."

[emailking]

I don;t have a problem with what Bobby Rush said. It's pretty sad that out of 100 Senators minus Obama, none is/was black. There's a 0.0001% chance of that happening just randomly.

[Lunar]

Well, there are prominent black candidates for both Colorado and New York.  Can Ritter PLEASE announce today or tomorrow that he's picking Groff to shut Bobby up?

 

Congressman Bobby Rush:

"This is a matter of national importance. There are no African Americans in the Senate, and I don't think that anyone, any U.S. senator who's sitting in the Senate right now, wanna go on record to deny one African American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don't think they want to go on record doing that..."

You missed all of the "thank the heavens" stuff, but still great wrist-twisting.

It doesn't matter how awful of a senator they may be, as long as they're black they're in!

[J. J.]

This is the "change?"

[Lunar]

Rush: don't "hang or lynch the appointee"
Blago: “Feel free to castigate the appointor but don’t lynch the appointor,”

[© tweed]

This is the "change?"

you're a joke

[Mr.Phips]

This is the "change?"

What the hell does this have to do with Obama?  This is not Obama's choice and he has nothing to do with it. 

[Lunar]

Roland's two kids are named Roland II and Rolanda

omfg

truth

[J. J.]

This is the "change?"

What the hell does this have to do with Obama?  This is not Obama's choice and he has nothing to do with it. 

Did I mention Obama?  No.  Interesting how you assumed it.

That was the point.  Supposedly attitudes were changed with the election of a non-white president.  Here we see an example of race baiting.

Obama had the good sense to just come out against it.

[Jeff from NC]

Key words in the quoted portion...by precedent.

The senate is free, probably with good reason, to say we're going to make the circumstances regarding the appointment a qualification.

Constituion: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business..."

There are no elections or returns to judge. Qualifications, by precedent, are limited to age, residency, & citizenship. 

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/senate-might-not-have-authority-to.html

Does anyone think the Senate wouldn't get its way on this? The Supreme Court won't touch it.

Why not? They had as little authority in Bush vs Gore.

It's fundamentally a political question and the stakes are so much lower here that I doubt the Court would try to ram through a Burris appointment. The Senate would function better with one vacancy than the White House would.

I do think the most likely outcome is that Reid will seat him, though.

In Powell v. McCormack the Court ordered the House of Representatives to seat Rep. Powell, who was in all sorts of hot water over corruption and what not.  They ruled that you could not add additional qualifications to the three stated in the Constitution.  Reid can squirm, but if taken to court, he won't prevail.