The Other Illinois Senator
The Bear on Jan 14 2009 at 3:56 am | Filed under: Politics
Senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin the Democratic one-two punch in the Senate that ranks at the very top of the scale for ineptness have released the following statement:
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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…
Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week…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.
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“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety…Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic caucus.” (Associated Press, Defiant Ill Governor names Obama replacement, December 31, 2008)
January 7, 2009: Durbin softens his stance and says they will seat Burris once he gets his paperwork in order:
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“We are hoping at the end of the day if there is a court order and a mandamus the Secretary of State would certify the signature of Governor Blagojevich and then comply completely with Senate rules.” (Press Conference, January 7, 2009)
January 9, 2009: Durbin reverses course, now he will not consider seating Burris until Blagojevich is removed and Pat Quinn is Governor:
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“I think it’s best to suspend activities in the filling of that vacancy until this impeachment trial in the Illinois State Senate is concluded. If it results in the impeachment of Governor Blagojevich, it will mean the succession to office of Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn. He will then have the authority to make this appointment in a clean, legal, respectable way.” (Press Conference, January 9, 2009)
January 11, 2009: Face the Nation, Durbin reverses course yet again, again says he will seat Burris once his paperwork is sorted out:
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“I talked to Roland yesterday. He’s been my friend for a long time. We’ve been on the Illinois political scene together. We have to look at the new documents that have been filed by the secretary of state–they are different than those filed earlier–and see if they comply with Senate rules. Then we’re going to have to take a look at his testimony before the impeachment committee. It could take some period of time. But I want to do this in a fair and quick way, so that Roland knows his fate. And I hope we can have–I can have another colleague in the Senate.” CBS, Face the Nation, January 11, 2009)
SideBear: Roland Burris will fit in perfectly with the Illinois’ BOZO, afterall what is one more clown in the Senate going to matter.
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