Bringing the current total of African-Americans in the Senate to...1.
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4 comments:
I'm in such disbelief about this appointment only considering what was initially happening with this seat. However, as I read in other articles about what was said about this situation, I do believe that Burris shouldn't necessarily be blamed for Gov. Blagojevich's wrongdoings. He should not be castigated for someone else's actions. For now, I guess that we'll just have to see what he can do and if he really deserves this new position. Hopefully, he really has nothing to do with Blagojevich's underhanded actions and hopefully he can help the politics of Illinois.
Two things about this Roland Burris situation really surprise me: that the Senate actually decided to seat Roland Burris and that Illinois didn't want a special election after the whole Rod Blagojevich bribery thing happened. While there is no actual proof that Blagojevich actually took bribes, I still think that the decision to let him pick Burris wasn't thought out well enough. In my opinion, the outcome of this situation reflects badly on Illinois and, as a result, the United States government as a whole.
After the bribery rumors started, I don't think Illinois should have honored Blagojevich's power to fill the Senate seat. Illinois is well known for having a long history of corruption, and whoever made the decision NOT to have a special election seems to be upholding Illinois's bad reputation and contributing to the corruption. Whether or not there was actually any bribery, as soon as it looked like there MIGHT have been something weird going on, they should have taken action to prevent it. I understand that the Senate sort of had an obligation to recognize the appointment, because otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to Burris. On the other hand, I wish there was more they could do to block the appointment, although I feel sorry for Burris. Another thing I thought made the government look incompetent was the mess with Burris's credentials. It just looked like the Democrats were desperately trying to block the appointment, even though there wasn't much they could do, and it looked kind of ridiculous.
I have absolutely nothing against Burris, and I'm sure he's a good person and will be a decent senator. However, I feel that Blagojevich shouldn't have been allowed to pick him. I would feel a lot better about this appointment if he had been picked by a special election. Oh well. Congratulations, Burris.
I was slightly surprised to hear that the Senate is going to swear in Roland Burris because a lot of Democrats and members of the Senate wanted to refuse any appointee chosen by Governor Blagojevich. Even though there isn't any proof that Blagojevich asked Mr. Burris for anything in return for the Senate seat, I don't think he should be sworn in. The Blagojevich case isn't completely settled and he shouldn't be allowed to appoint someone to the seat after being accused of trying to sell it. I was also surprised that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White signed a separate letter validating the appointment because I read in the NY Times while doing the media watcher logs that Jesse White said he would refuse to sign anything approving of anyone Blagojevich appoints. In another article it said that Mr. Burris would possibly not be refused because race was involved, and I think that may have played a part in the approval.
I still find it interesting that Burris is being seated after everyone initially refused him. Although people still connect him to the Blagojevich scandal, I do not think there is proof that Burris was involved in it. Maybe this is why he came across as being defensive when he was first denied the seat. I thought it was slightly unprofessional of Burris when he played the race card and accused Congress of being racist. He brought up one of the common beliefs about government and the Senate- that it is an elitist organization. Although, I thought Burris went a little too far by saying that they were racist for denying him, because they did not want to admit another African-American, supposedly. Considering Illinois's reputation for corrupted politics, it is not surprising to me that there is all this hype about politicians from this state.
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