Blagojevich revisted

Words I never thought I’d write--I believe Blagojevich has right on his side.  While it is evident the federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald is convinced he has a winning hand against the Governor of Illinois, I believe Blago has played the hand better and is poking his finger in the eye of his enemies, democrats and Fitzgerald.

When Fitzgerald announced the “secret” tape recordings, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Blago would be forced to resign almost immediately.  The accusations were enough in the minds of most people, particularly those who do not want to embarrass the democrat party or Obama, to believe Blago would do the honorable thing and quit.  The concept of innocence until proven guilty didn’t seem to apply in this case.

Well old Blago fooled them and played the race card expertly.  Now the democrats are caught in a pickle and their mendacity is on display for the world to see.

In a nutshell, for those of you that haven’t been following this, Blago appointed Roland Burris, a career Illinois politician who seems to be a decent sort (certainly more qualified than Caroline Kennedy), to the Senate seat vacated by Obama; the Illinois constitution apparently requires the Governor to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment.  This came after the redoubtable Harry Reid said he would not seat anyone appointed by Blago; additionally, the Secretary of State of Illinois is refusing to certify the appointment.  Obama himself said he would support Reid in not seating anyone appointed by Blago.  Just three weeks ago, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Bobby Rush, said Blago had “no moral basis” to appoint anyone to fill the vacancy.  

Well Blago is not going quietly into the good night; he is raging against the forces.

Not only did he appoint someone, as the Constitution requires, it turns out that Burris is a black man; in fact, he is the first black man elected to state office in Illinois back in the 70s.  Two days ago, just over a fortnight following his “no moral basis” statement, Rush is suddenly is all in favor of the Burris appointment and warned everyone that we should not “lynch” Blago’s pick because he is black.  Wow.  Here I thought the election of Obama would solve at least some of the race baiting.

It is clearly obvious Rush changed his mind based solely on the particular color of Burris’ skin; a despicable sole reason to support (or not) someone.  There is no “black” Senate seat that is required from Illinois.  In fact there is no white or black Senate seat required from any state in the union.

While the racial nature of Blago’s appointment and Rush’s “change of heart” is totally deplorable, I find a few things humorous in this situation. 

I don’t believe there is a scintilla of legal basis to support Reid’s threat.  The US constitution says there are three qualifications to become a Senator; Burris clearly meets all three.  Because Blago is a jerk, perhaps even a criminal, does not give Reid any basis on which to oppose Burris.  For those of you who remember the 60s, the House refused to seat Adam Clayton Powell, also a black man, for a variety of reasons.  Powell sued and the Supreme Court ruled the House could not constitutionally refuse to seat a duly elected member.  While I’m not a lawyer, I suspect the same logic would apply to a “duly appointed” member.

The Secretary of State has even less of leg to stand on.  The Illinois Constitution says the Governor “must” appoint to fill a vacancy. 

The gutless Illinois Legislature had the chance to impeach Blago, but did not do so.  They have no complaint as their lack of action allowed the appointment.

Finally, Fitzgerald has asked for another 90 days to complete his investigation.  I would have thought the investigation was essentially complete as he very publicly arrested Blago to ensure the Senate appointment could not be made.  Something is badly wrong somewhere.

What a mess.  I still hope Obama is squeaky clean in this whole operation.  As far as I have been able to read, he is not involved, although his statement “I believe the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place" was a bit premature.

Good that the democrats are replacing the “corrupt” republicans in the near future so we won’t need any more Henry Waxman investigations in Congress.