Question of the Week
The story so far…
Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested last month by the FBI on corruption charges. He was acccused of attempting to trying to sell (or, at the very least, barter) the United States Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, which it is his right and duty to fill. To date, Blagojevich remains defiant. He has not resigned, nor has he been impeached.
In fact, he went ahead and made an appointment to the seat anyway, former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris. Democrats have stated that they will refuse to seat any candidate appointed by Blagojevich. Republicans have called for a special election to fill the seat, but Democrats are unlikely to go along with such a plan, since it would potentially open up the seat to a Republican.
Senators on both sides of the aisle agree that Blagojevich has no moral authority to fill the seat, and that any candidate sent by Blagojevich will be tainted. On the other hand, it seems that Blagojevich has the legal authority to do so, and that any federal attempt to block his candidate could be viewed as a violation of states’ rights. However, Jesse White, the Illinois Secretary of State, has said that he would refuse to certify any Blagojevich appointment, so that might give the Senate some legal and political cover.
As far as I know, nobody has expressed any concern about Burris himself in terms of qualifications or suitability for the job, and nobody has accused him of gaining the appointment improperly.
Burris is headed to Washington today to start his new job. So I guess the Question of the Week is this:
Should Roland Burris be seated in the United States Senate?
January 5th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I know the right answer is no because it sets a bad precedent and reinforces Blago’s insane narcissism that has led him to be so “brazen”…but there doesn’t seem to be a better solution at the moment. No one else can name the seat and the impromptu election will be an expensive disaster that would waste already tight government funds.
If Blagojevich had any respect for the community, he’s step down and let his Lt. governor name Danny Davis (who was offered the seat and turned Blago down) to the position.
Even if he wasn’t guilty of the crimes he’s accused of (which I highly doubt), Blagojevich is proving that he is serving himself more than the public. The government in Illinois has basically come to a standstill because he refuses to step down. In the midst of this recession, that is the last thing any of use need. He’s making all Chicago and IL residents awfully proud.