Jan 08 2009
Not Seating Burris and Franken: Who does it serve?
Alright. For once, I am going to be very principled and very non-pragmatic about politics here. Although something funny is obviously going on in both Illinois and Minnesota, whose fault is it? And aren’t we living in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty?
And, even if there was some conscious effort at voter fraud in Minnesota, and even if Burris was involved in the Blago issue, and did buy his seat, let’s forget for a moment about their rights. Let’s look at the rights that we, as American citizens have. One of those rights is to be represented by not one, but two representatives from our State in the Senate at any given time.
Let the Courts figure out whether these Senators are legally entitled to sit there. Or let the Senate impeach them (or whatever that process is called). But let them sit and serve their constituencies until the problems are resolved. Right now, the only people suffering are the people of the fine states of Illinois and Minnesota.
You’ve been nominated for my Lemonade Award! Great blog!
Thanks for the award. Don’t take it personally, but I already posted one award, and am not going to repost it, but thanks!
If the democratic party doesn’t shape up soon they’ll learn a lesson real quick about taking America’s trust for granted… Starting with losing those majorities in the senate and house.
skwguitar- I entirely agree. I also think that between the high expectations he set for himself, and his being a Chicago politician, Obama will contribute to that lesson. I really don’t think he’s corrupt, but if all of these connections are already out (none improper), just wait until he’s been i office and the rest of the pundits get a chance to dig a bit. Pair that with the likely failure of at least one area that he emphasized during his campaign, and you have a recipe for disappointment.
The Dems and the Democratic machine should be moving out of “historic moment” mode and into damage control and spin mode. I think Obama will be a good President, but not as good as all of his cult think he will be.