LOL: Blago to Appoint Fmr. AG to Senate Seat

[DownWithTheLeft]

Yup, he did.  According to MSNBC, the embattled IL Gov will appoint Fmr. AG Burris to the seat

[GMantis]

Yup, he did.  According to MSNBC, the embattled IL Gov will appoint Fmr. AG Burris to the seat

Link?

[minionofmidas]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/blagojevich-to-name-burris-to-senate.html

[DownWithTheLeft]

Yup, he did.  According to MSNBC, the embattled IL Gov will appoint Fmr. AG Burris to the seat

Link?

Sorry there was not one at the time, just a headline at the top.  That's why I didn't even know his first name

[Lunar]

He was that generic AA who said he would retire in two years

[Brittain33]

From the headline, I was half suspecting he'd named Ramsey Clark as the ultimate f.u. to the Senate.

[Lunar]

This is a great political move for Blago.

Burris is a clean slate, announced his candidacy after the scandal broke as is promising to be a seatwarmer.  So now Reid or Jesse White have to decide whether they will turn down the perfect candidate

[emailking]

Constituion: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business..."

There are no elections or returns to judge. Qualifications, by precedent, are limited to age, residency, & citizenship. 

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/senate-might-not-have-authority-to.html

[Brittain33]

Constituion: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business..."

There are no elections or returns to judge. Qualifications, by precedent, are limited to age, residency, & citizenship. 

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/senate-might-not-have-authority-to.html

Does anyone think the Senate wouldn't get its way on this? The Supreme Court won't touch it.

[emailking]

They may either realize they really don't have the authority to reject and reluctantly accept the appointment, or it may not have to go to the Supreme Court for a court to rule against the Senate.

[bullmoose88]

Key words in the quoted portion...by precedent.

The senate is free, probably with good reason, to say we're going to make the circumstances regarding the appointment a qualification.

[minionofmidas]

Constituion: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business..."

There are no elections or returns to judge. Qualifications, by precedent, are limited to age, residency, & citizenship. 

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/senate-might-not-have-authority-to.html

Does anyone think the Senate wouldn't get its way on this? The Supreme Court won't touch it.

Why not? They had as little authority in Bush vs Gore.

[Brittain33]

Constituion: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business..."

There are no elections or returns to judge. Qualifications, by precedent, are limited to age, residency, & citizenship. 

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/senate-might-not-have-authority-to.html

Does anyone think the Senate wouldn't get its way on this? The Supreme Court won't touch it.

Why not? They had as little authority in Bush vs Gore.

It's fundamentally a political question and the stakes are so much lower here that I doubt the Court would try to ram through a Burris appointment. The Senate would function better with one vacancy than the White House would.

I do think the most likely outcome is that Reid will seat him, though.

[emailking]

Key words in the quoted portion...by precedent.

It's a court precedent, not a Congressional Precedent.

The Supreme Court ruled the House couldn't refuse an appointment if age, residency, and citizenship were met. The same clause gives the Senate its power to judge its members.

Sure the Senate could say eff that, but they're violating a ruling by the SCOTUS.

[minionofmidas]

The Senate would function better with one vacancy than the White House would.

One would think the White House would have functioned better with a vacancy than with what we actually got.

Anyways the issue would, at most, have been 25 vacancies in the Electoral College.

[Sam Spade]

This is a great political move for Blago.

Burris is a clean slate, announced his candidacy after the scandal broke as is promising to be a seatwarmer.  So now Reid or Jesse White have to decide whether they will turn down the perfect candidate

He's black.  Reid has to seat him.

[Lunar]

This is a great political move for Blago.

Burris is a clean slate, announced his candidacy after the scandal broke as is promising to be a seatwarmer.  So now Reid or Jesse White have to decide whether they will turn down the perfect candidate

He's black.  Reid has to seat him.

Wrong.

"The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as “unacceptable,” the aide said."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Senate_Leadership_Burris_unacceptable.html

[Wiz in Wis]

Everyone break out the Dramamine, this is going to be a bumpy ride!!!

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

"The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as “unacceptable,” the aide said."

Racist.

[minionofmidas]

He's black.  Reid has to seat him.

Racist.



(Though you may well end up to be right. And if so, there'll be no way to prove that other factors played a major role as well...)

[Sam Spade]

This is a great political move for Blago.

Burris is a clean slate, announced his candidacy after the scandal broke as is promising to be a seatwarmer.  So now Reid or Jesse White have to decide whether they will turn down the perfect candidate

He's black.  Reid has to seat him.

Wrong.

"The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as “unacceptable,” the aide said."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Senate_Leadership_Burris_unacceptable.html

Interesting...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That wording is kind of odd, there's a big difference between saying "Burris is unacceptable" and "Any appointment made by Blagojevich is unacceptable"

[Lunar]

"The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.

Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as “unacceptable,” the aide said."

Racist.

Well, Reid won't have to do this because the Secretary of State, Jesse White, has refused to certify the results.  And he's black

[Boris]

I'm not sure I understand what incentive Blago has to do this, but ok. Could it be that he just has a sense of humor and is fucking with everyone?

[The Man From G.O.P.]

This press conference is great, I'm sooooooooo rooting for Blago. This guy is great.