John Kass writes in today's Chicago Tribune that the political stink bomb that is Senator Roland Burris is partly the fault of President Obama. I will grant the fact that Kass is fervently anti-Obama, even more so than I am. I am perhaps too lazy to be fervent. Sometimes this kind of fervent dislike can keep a person from making sense.
However, Kass does have a point. When then Governor Blagojevich nominated Burris there was quite a flap about the whole affair. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had said that he would refuse to seat any Blagojevich choice for Obama's vacated senate seat. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin tried to stall the whole thing. Burris testified under oath before a special Illinois legislature committee that he was clean as a whistle. Obama, in hopes of having a splendid, controversy-free inauguration, quietly put the screws to Reid and Durbin, telling them to seat Burris so the whole mess could just go away.
Now, I can't say as I blame Obama. He justifiably wanted to bask in the warmth of his day in the sun. He wanted his inaugural day to go perfectly, without the scent of scandal in the air. And that's what happened. The stench of Illinois politics did not waft over the capitol that day. And of course, Obama may have actually thought Burris was clean. I mean, look at the guy. Burris appears pretty harmless.
The problem for Obama is that sooner or later the you-know-what floats to the top and starts to stink in the heat of those glaring lights from the media. Turns out Burris is quite possibly a liar, and not a good one either. And that indeed does reflect poorly for Obama. With the aid of hindsight, Obama should have a demanded a special election to fill his senate seat, so that the people of Illinois could have a say about who represents them. You know, something democratic. But to hope for such a thing was apparently too audacious.
What we are all stuck with now is another Illinois politician who simply won't, or is unable to, tell the truth. Burris so badly wanted to be senator, he may very possibly have lied under oath about raising money for Blagojevich at the same time he was asking the governor to appoint him to the Senate. Because of this Roland Burris should resign. It would be best for him, and best for the people of Illinois. But if Burris is anything like the disgraced governor who appointed him, someone who puts his own delusional, narcissistic needs before anything else, we will be stuck with Burris until he is either indicted for perjury or is voted out of office in 2010.
Roland Burris is a man obsessed with how he will be remembered. His already built tombstone, a massive monument to himself, lists every accomplishment, big and small and sometimes very small, that Burris has achieved in his life. He wanted more than anything to be able to list "US Senator" on that tombstone. Memo to Roland Burris: Even if you resign now, you can put US Senator on your tombstone. Nothing requires you to state just how long a time you were senator.
What will be really interesting to see is if President Obama, quietly or otherwise, puts the same kind of pressure on Burris to resign that he used on Reid and Durbin to get Burris seated in the Senate.
No comments:
Post a Comment