Politiks As Usual: In The News 2/16/09

Illinois Republicans Want Perjury Probe On Roland Burris

MSNBC Is In Big Trouble Without Bush To Bash

Socialist Hugo Chavez Wins Referendum To Eliminate Term Limits In Venezuela

Young Woman Booted From Basketball Team For Being Straight

Lincoln In Lavender: CBS Runs One-Sided Gay Myth About 16th President

Lawsuit Filed After Professor Calls Student 'Fascist Bastard' For Expressing Christian Beliefs

13-Year-Old Boy Demands DNA Test After Two Other Boys Claim Paternity

Obama Ready To Lift Ban On Stem-Cell Research

Kirk Cameron's Christian Movie Continues To Be A Big Indie Hit

'Climate Scientist' Ratches Up Global Warming Alarmism In Face Of Record Cold Weather

Roland Burris Sworn In As Senator

Boston.com:

Roland Burris was just sworn into the US Senate by Vice President Dick Cheney, a moment greeted by sustained applause rather than the brickbats during a long-running controversy.

Fellow Democrats initially balked at Burris, because he was appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, who faces federal corruption charges that include trying to sell the seat -- once occupied by President-elect Barack Obama -- that Burris now holds.

Burris, the only African American in the Senate, says that the economic recovery is his top priority. Within hours, he'll get a vote on a key measure to release the second half of the $700 financial bailout. Obama is asking Congress for the money, but the rescue package is deeply unpopular with the public.

This is a victory for Rod Blagojevich who stood up to the incompetent Harry Reid and his cronies in the Senate and made them look even dumber than usual. Congratulations to Senator Roland Burris.

Illinois Supreme Court Rules Roland Burris Doesn't Need Sec. of State Signature

It's a done deal, Roland Burris is in as Senator:

Roland Burris moved a significant step closer to replacing President-elect Barack Obama in the US Senate when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the state secretary of state's signature isn't required on his appointment document after all.

It is one of the legal hurdles that leaders of the Senate set before they would seat Burris. The other appeared to be met on Thursday when Burris testified before a special committee that later recommended the impeachment of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich that there was no hanky-panky in his appointment by the governor.

After initially flatly refusing to seat Burris, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders opened the door this week to Burris taking the spot.

Deal With It, Roland Burris Is A Senator

Roland S. Martin is so on point here, it makes the Roland Burris naysayers look dumber by the minute:

It is total hypocrisy for the naysayers of embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to assert that he didn't have the legal right to appoint Roland Burris to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

According to the Illinois Constitution, the governor of the state has the sole responsibility for appointing the replacement. Did Blagojevich resign, or has he been impeached? Nope. If you call Springfield, Illinois, and ask for the governor's office, they'll tell you that Blagojevich's name is still on the door.

It seems a lot of folks are excited and happy that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White took a stand by refusing to sign the paperwork certifying Burris as the Senate appointee.

Yet what these same folks somehow refuse to recognize is that Blagojevich isn't some guy sitting around in his office, twiddling his fingers, flipping through the cable channels with a remote and waiting to get impeached. He is still carrying out his duties as governor.

Did you know that since his arrest in December, Blagojevich has pardoned 22 people? I haven't heard a huge outcry over this tainted governor setting folks free.

Did you know that Blagojevich continues to sign bills that were passed by the General Assembly? U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald cited a pending bill on the governor's desk related to horse racing as a reason for arresting him, but Blagojevich can still sign any bill he so chooses.

Did you know that two days ago, Blagojevich, as determined by state law, set March 3 as the primary and April 7 as the general election to fill the congressional seat of Rahm Emanuel, who resigned after agreeing to become Obama's chief of staff? By the way, guess who signed the certification of that election? Jesse White.

The law says the governor can set a special election to fill a congressional seat, so doesn't the same law state that he can fill a Senate seat?

Yes, Blagojevich's appointment of a U.S. Senate seat is easily seen as being tainted because of what has been described by federal law enforcement officials in their criminal complaint against him. But the reality is that Blagojevich hasn't been indicted, convicted or impeached. And whether we like it or not, no matter how smelly it looks, he still maintains the absolute right to do the job he was elected to do.

Rod Blagojevich has exposed the Democrat leadership for its sheer and utter incompetency. Roland Burris will rightfully gets seated in the Senate as Blago's shrewdness has exposed Harry Reid for the clown that he is because as Sen. Dianne Feinstein pointed out, he has no legal leg to stand on here. Ha!

Democrats Hold Off On Seating Al Franken

Reuters.com:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yielded to Republican threats and agreed on Monday not to immediately seat fellow Democrat Al Franken, whose razor-close victory in Minnesota faces legal challenges.

Senate Republicans had planned to disrupt the opening of the new Congress on Tuesday by blocking Franken's swearing-in.

And in another ugly fight, Senate Democrats vowed to block, at least for now, the seating of fellow party member Roland Burris whose appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich carries a whiff of political scandal.

The 57-year old Franken, who gained fame as a writer and performer on the satiric Saturday Night Live television show, on Monday officially was declared the victor by a 225-vote margin by Minnesota state officials from nearly 2.9 million votes cast.

But lawyers for incumbent Republican Norm Coleman complained the recount was conducted unfairly and promised a court challenge that could take weeks to resolve.

"Shortly after Election Day, Coleman criticized Mr. Franken for wanting a recount and wasting taxpayer money. Now that it is clear he lost, Coleman should follow his own advice and not subject the people of Minnesota to a costly legal battle," Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid of Nevada, said in a statement.

"However, there will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken tomorrow," Manley said.

If both Franken and Burris were sworn in, the Democrats' majority in the normally 100-member Senate would swell to 59 -- their biggest margin in 30 years and just one short of the needed 60 votes to end Republican procedural roadblocks.

Al Franken as Senator of any state is a joke, literally and figuratively, but then Minnesota is the same state that not too long ago elected a wrestler to be their governor. Judging from all the money Franken's rapid left-wing supporters have poured into this recount fiasco and all these court decisions that continue to go against Norm Coleman, something is obviously amiss here. Credibility alone says that this race shouldn't have even been close and thus, Norm Coleman needs to keep fighting, use all available legal options and take it up to SCOTUS if he has to, because there'll be too much at stake if he concedes this farce of an election to a sanctimonious blowhard like Franken.

Racist Harry Reid Doesn't Want Any Black Senators

Chicago Sun-Times.com:

Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn’t want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis — both democratic congressmen from Illinois — and against Jones — the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama — because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero confirmed that Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) — the new chief of the Senate Democratic political operation — each called Blagojevich’s campaign office separately Dec. 3. Sources believe that at least portions of the phone conversations are on tape.

Before their contacts, Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel called Blagojevich to tell him to expect to hear from Senate leadership because they were pushing against Jackson and others, according to statements the governor made to others.

Besides U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush courageously putting himself out there on behalf of Roland Burris in his bid to be seated tomorrow in the Senate, the restrained, almost muted response from the liberal, black community on this story has been startling to say the least. Roland Burris has every right to be seated tomorrow in the Senate. Burris has the credentials and the allegations against Gov. Rod Blagojevich should not be in play here if like 99.9% of most Americans you presume that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Harry Reid, who not too long ago made an ignorant comment on the unruly stench of D.C. tourists, presides over a Congress with zero members who are Black and has now made it publicly clear that he's very comfortable keeping it that way. Where's the outrage? Where's the support for Roland Burris, a Black man being railroaded because of the charges against a white Governor? Where's Sharpton? Jackson? The Congressional Black Caucus? Hell, even crazy Cynthia McKinney? Oh yeah, since this is a Democrat scandal, they're all silent on this one. The hypocrisy of Black libs never ceases to amaze me.