Burris apointment is spinning out of control, and could damage Demcrats

1 comment January 6th, 2009

The Roland Burris Senate appointment is spinning beyond the control of the Democratic Party. When Rod Blagojevich made the appointment, Senate majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said he’d refuse to seat him. Sec. of State Jesse White said he’d refuse to sign Burris’s certification papers.

Problem is, there’s no legal way to refuse Burris his seat.  Instead of just seating him and ending the controversy, Burris was denied his seat on Tuesday by Reid’s secretary of the Senate. So, Burris will go to court to be seated. This ensures that the mushrooming story will give conservative talk show hosts plenty to talk about as Inauguration Day approaches. Now, Burris’s champions include Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Pat Buchanan, who all weighed in on Burris’s behalf on Tuesday.

Blago, through surrogate Bobby Rush, the Black Panther revolutionary turned congressman. Rush, who is no friend of Barack Obama, stoked the racial firest over the Burris seating, saying that unless Burris takes his seat, the Senate will have no blacks.

Rush put on a church show for Burris, who declared that he’s been “annointed by the Lord” to be senator.Congressional Black Caucus members weighed in on behalf of Burris.

It was Obama who challenged Rush unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000. In 2004, Rush backed a white candidate, Blair Hull, over Obama in the Democratic senatorial primary.

This continuing controversy, as well as the never ending Senate election in Minnesota, will cast a pall over the Democratic Party at the very time the Dems should be celebrating Obama’s election.