Burris - the truth starts to emerge.
...the former Illinois attorney general who has been appointed by Blagojevich to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat -- held a 2006 fundraiser for the governor at his home.
Burris and his lobbying firm also donated $22,295 to Blagojevich's campaign, according to MyFOXChicago.com.
Over the past four years, Burris' lobbying firm reportedly won $705,435 in state contracts.
And Burris' longtime lobbying partner Fred Lebed is a board member of the Christian Industrial League -- the same group that hired Blagojevich's wife Patricia.
Gotta love Chicago politics .... and democrats who will support any stupid thing as long is it opposes Harry Reid. I guess now we know what sort of person Feinstein likes in the senate. Honestly, some days it seems democrats would deserve this assclown.
But don't worry, surely this means nothing ... Burris' lobbying partner assures us:
Lovely. If the democrats seat this guy they will be faced with scandal after scandal."There's absolutely, unequivocally, no conflict of interest whatsoever," he said.
I don't think many people at all are defending Burris as a "decent and honest" guy, or even a smart or capable one.
The issue is that, in terms of the law, his appointment was legal.
January 7, 2009 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not Burris we are questioning.
We are questioning the Executor of the Will.
As a party to the will (the Will of the People) we are saying the executor has breached his authority.
The executor does not have a vested power, he has a contingent power. Contingent on his obeyance to the oath.
January 7, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
From I've read so far I'd have to say, here's a seldom expressed take on Burris debacle:
This is like one of those Interstate highway accidents where one driver loses it and starts a chain reaction featuring increasingly spectacular crack-ups. Who was the guy who went off the tracks first? Pat Fitzgerald, otherwise thought of as Mr. Clean and Competant. He called the press conference that alleged Blago was selling the seat. Blago is a major horse's ass, and likely he was trying to do just that.
But, "likely" doesn't make it. Without the evidence to go forward with his case, and in a reasonably short period of time, Fitz should have kept quiet.
When you mess up the recipe this badly at the start, its pretty had to get a decent cake from the oven.
January 7, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah..but from what I heard, Fitz wanted to wait but the Trib was not going to sit on the story any longer. So it was either Fitz give a presser or let the trib do it. Much better for the prosecutor to get the story out there than the trib (who was involved with Blago in this mess - apparently Rod was holding a possible loan over their heads).
Anyway, I am sure Fitz didn't want to come out the way it did. He really had no choice.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/12/14/the-real-story-behind-the-rushed-blagojevich-bust-how-the-feds-are-frustrated-by-losing-maybe-half-of-their-case/
January 7, 2009 7:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I respectfully disagree with your analogy.
Pat Fitzgerald witnessed a crime and sure, he could have turned a blind eye, but he didn't.
Pat Fitzgerald, saw that the citizens of Illinois were going to be victims. (Corruption is not a victimless crime)
Reminding me of the horror stories we've all heard, about some citizens who when they heard the victims outside the apartments, shut their windows and doors, ignoring the screams or event. When the police arrived and came to investigate the crime, tenants claimed they didn't want to get involved.
Pat Fitzgerald did the right thing.......
January 7, 2009 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm getting a bad feeling about Burris. If he get the seat, which the news is now saying he will, the rest of the story will emerge and tarnish Chicago, and thus putting mud on Obama's face. A trojan horse has entered the Senate.
As for Reid, he can say he tried to stop him,. but I suspect Burris may become a tool of Reid in keeping Obama in line. I'm not seing much good coming out of this. Burris is going to owe Reid a favor, not Obama.
January 7, 2009 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink