Joined: Sat May 29, 2004 11:46 pm
Posts: 14428
Location: NC
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ARE ALL OF YOU AS SICK OF ROLAND BURRIS AS I AM? WHY IS EUGENE ROBINSON CONTINUING TO WRITE ABOUT BURRIS AND BLAGO? BURRIS WILL PROBABLY STAY IN THE SENATE UNTIL 2010 WHEN HE'LL BE REPLACED, MOST LIKELY, BY A REPUBLICAN. ONCE MORE, THE DEMS DEMONSTRATE THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAINTAIN THEIR WIN.  Stop Explaining, Start PackingBY EUGENE ROBINSON This may be stating the obvious, but Roland Burris needs to stop explaining and start packing. The woefully forgetful Illinois senator should go home and stay there, and I’d advise taking a vow of silence as well.
He probably won’t, unfortunately—not of his own volition, at least. In the tradition of the man who appointed him to fill Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Burris seems determined to tough it out. Someone should remind him that this strategy didn’t work out terribly well for Blagojevich, except to show television executives his tremendous potential as a talk-show host—assuming the former governor doesn’t make a forced detour to federal prison.
Burris is probably in no great legal danger. Unlike Blagojevich, he has an admirable, decades-long history as a public servant and an African-American pioneer. He has already tarnished that legacy and is well on his way toward obliterating it. When he jumped at the chance to cap his career with two years—maybe more—in the Senate, I doubt he looked forward to being remembered for taking absurd liberties with the truth.
In January, testifying under oath before Illinois state legislators, Burris acknowledged only one conversation with an official in Blagojevich’s office about the possible Senate appointment. He denied having spoken to other members of Blagojevich’s staff and denied having offered the governor anything in return—a key point, given the allegations that got the governor booted from his job.
Blagojevich has been charged in a federal affidavit with, among other alleged offenses, trying to “sell” the Senate seat to the highest bidder in exchange for a future job, campaign contributions or some other consideration. He denied any wrongdoing but was expelled from office by unanimous vote of the Illinois state Senate, as legislators chose to put their faith in lengthy transcripts of conversations involving the governor that were secretly recorded by FBI investigators.
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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."
Honore de Balzac
"Democrats work to help people who need help.
That other party, they work for people who don't need help.
That's all there is to it."
~Harry S. Truman
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