For the last 2 weeks I have been laughing at the very entertaining show that has been put on for our benefit.
The cast of this little play includes Rod Blagojevich, Barack Obama, Roland Burris, and of course Harry Reid.
The democrats knew from the beginning of the debacle in Illinois that they needed to replace outgoing president-elect Obama’s vacant seat in the Senate. They also knew that they could not risk having a special election in Illinois right now as there exists the possibility (if even remote) that there could be voter backlash against the incumbent and corrupt Democrat machine in Illinois.
So the Democrats were faced with the dilemma of needing to fill the Senate spot asap but having to feign outrage at the Democrat Governor’s attempt to sell the seat. What to do?
So they concocted this entire charade or rather Kabuki theater that passed for news and drama these past weeks.
The only way for the Democrats to to get their desired appointment rather than a special election without suffering the political fallout of obvious cooperation of future felon was to pretend that it was the last thing they wanted.
So the Democrats, notably Harry Reid, very publicly warned Blagojevich about making the appointment. What they were really doing is telling him to go right ahead. Blagojevich did just that in appointing Roland Burris.
Burris, of course is untainted by the Blagojevich pay to play scandal. His credentials impeccable. The Senate protested publicly and vowed not to seat Burris. They made a big scene on Capitol Hill in order to convince the gullible, with the aid of a compliant media, that the Democrats are very opposed to corruption.
Once that case was made, Burris goes back to Illinois, testifies that all is on the up and up, and bingo. Welcome to the Senate Mr Burris.
[NRO] “The Secretary of the Senate has determined that the new credentials presented today on behalf of Mr. Burris now satisfy Senate Rules and validate his appointment to the vacant Illinois Senate seat. In addition, as we requested, Mr. Burris has provided sworn testimony before the Illinois House Committee on Impeachment regarding the circumstances of his appointment.
“We have spoken to Mr. Burris to let him know that he is now the Senator-designate from Illinois and as such, will be accorded all the rights and privileges of a Senator-elect.
“Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week. We are working with him and the office of the Vice President to determine the date and time of the swearing-in.
“As we had outlined to Mr. Burris, a path needed to be followed that respects the rules of the Senate. We committed to Mr. Burris that once those requirements were satisfied, we would be able to proceed. We are pleased that everything is now in order, we congratulate Senator-designee Burris on his appointment and we look forward to working with him in the 111th Congress.”
And the Democrats get off scott-free.
Of course, anyone who was paying attention knew all along this would be the end result. The only thing I question is why all the theater? After all, the Republicans are way too inept to take advantage of the situation and does anybody really care about corruption anymore? The guys whose seat was vacated hung out with cop killers, turned a blind eye to ACORN, and was knee deep in election fraud by removing all restrictions or checking on donations. For his trouble he will be sworn in as president next week.
So in the future I hope the Democrat leadership spares me the dramatics. No one cares.
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