Senate Democratic leaders today cleared the way for Roland Burris to be seated as a senator from Illinois, after his appointment by the state’s now impeached governor had turned into a weeklong spectacle shifting between the nation’s capital and the corruption scandal back in Illinois.
Now, it’s likely that Mr. Burris, 71 and a former state attorney general, may be sworn in to the Senate as early as later this week in a ceremony presided over by Vice President Cheney. His seating will bring the Democratic Senate majority to 58, including two independents.
Shocking.
Other things that will probably come as a surprise to Harry Reid and the Democrats:
Pink Panther II will suck, and most likely worse than the first Steve Martin remake.
Republicans will call Democrats socialists for the next four years no matter what they do.
Arlen Specter will continue to be a hack.
Comrade Stuck
Forget it Cole, It’s Clowntown.
gbear
I’m sure the fine citizens of Illinois are deliriously happy. Rolando Cruz, probably not so much.
r€nato
aaagh! my eyes! Joe the Plumber on the left of your blog, it BURRRRNNNNNNSSSS
El Cid
Also coming up: the previous 8 years never happened.
The space time continuum will be ripped into unconnected bits:
(1) There will have been President Clinton, and then Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank took over the government, and our whole economy went to sh*t thanks to their leadership.
(2) In a separate time continuum, there was a constant worldwide terrorist war attacking us but the Republican Party kept us safe by not allowing Democrats to surrender to Saddam Hussein.
There was no Bush presidency. He made no decisions whatsoever. He floated freely in the hazy security land and invoked the spirit of Ronald Reagan to Keepusafe.
AkaDad
To those of us who are easily shocked, this was a slap in the face.
rikyrah
The Constitution is the law again of this land.
Good.
Nobody said that following the law of the land was pretty. But, it is the law.
If you don’t like it, change the Constitution.
And, if that seems impossible, become an early volunteer/fundraiser for the candidate challenging Burris in 2010 that you’d like to see win.
And a word to politicos out there everywhere:
1. When you’re trying to be SLICK (avoiding a Special Election, which would have been the democratic (small d) thing to do), like Harry Reid and Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan, you best make sure that ALLL your ducks are in a row.
2. Know your opponent. If your opponent is a STREET FIGHTER, what would make you think that he or she would even KNOW how to spell shame, let alone feel it?
bayville
Zoinks!
I thought Burris was suspended for shooting himself in the leg? But I’m glad to see Harry Reid lift the suspension.
kay
Harry Reid was caught "flat footed" because his whole stupid, ill-considered plan fell apart on December 30th, a (sort of) holiday, and he was home in Searchlight, and no one smart bothered to pick up on his emergency conference call, and tell him what to do.
Senate Democrats don’t respond to an emergency conference call from Reid? So they don’t respect him….either?
gbear
@AkaDad:
To those of us who
are easily shockedoften find ourselves under buses, this was a slap in the face.bayville
Pup-Tent Dem evidently thinks Pink Panther II will be a laugh riot:
Notorious P.A.T.
Wow, and to think that large sectors of the public think Democrats are weak and wishy-washy!
"Roland Burris will not be seated here! Well, okay, I guess he can."
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@rikyrah: The Constitution is the law again of this land.
Bush has another 8 days to go, still. After that, we’ll see what Obama does.
Punchy
Coleman gunna make Phrankin’ wait for months to get inta da Senate. Question–does Frankie get back-pay when Coles loses and Al gets seated in April?
I think Harold needs Burris’ vote with the Minny Sen AWOL, plus he knew legally he had no standing.
gbear
Not sure about that, but pretty sure that Coles goes to the poor farm if he loses this battle. He’s refinanced his house 12 times in the last 14 years. He desperately can’t afford to lose his senate seat.
TheAssInTheHatOnMyCat(Formerly Comrade Tax Analyst)
You know, he kinda looks like "The Amazing, Colossal Man"…from the 1957 Movie of the same name…except I think that when he got through mutating that dude was about 50 feet tall
A Squirrel
@gbear:
gbear,
You don’t think he’ll get some cushy lobbying job or other sinecure? Not sarcasm – I thought all these guys could fall into something fairly lucrative after "serving the country". He’s not a convicted felon or anything.
sus
I don’t like him. Mostly because of the Rolando Cruz case. He ran for governor. He didn’t win. I doubt he would have won for senate.
He isn’t about the people. Not if he kept that man in prison when it was clear that he was innocent. Another confessed to the crime. DNA cleared him. But still Cruz sat in jail.
But… his tomb is cool. He definitely IS a guy who prepares.
Zam
"Question—does Frankie get back-pay when Coles loses and Al gets seated in April?"
If he does I know what the next big scandal will be…
TheHatOnMyCat
This is a man feeds dog, man takes dog for walk, man picks up dog turd and puts it in baggie story.
Nothing to see.
TheHatOnMyCat
I’m worried. Do we think he might round up all the white people and put us on reservations?
Or make the morans wear a red R on their foreheads?
Okay, actually, I support the latter policy.
gbear
@A Squirrel:
The way he’s clawing to keep his seat, he’s turning himself into damaged goods. His name/brand may not be an asset to any corporation. He’s never been much of anything but a toady for the powers-that-be, never had a reputation as any kind of idea guy, and he just might be in the same boat as Ted Stevens before the year is over. We’ll see.
KRK
You mean getting standing ovations on the floor of the Senate?
Fritz
At least Mr. Burris can now add another line to his resume, er, I mean tombstone.
DanF
I say we make Sen. Burris the majority leader. He clearly out-witted Reid.