February 21, 2009
CFIF.org
Way back in prehistoric December 2008, the strangest prosecutor in America, one Patrick J. Fitzgerald, announced the arrest of then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The hurried pre-dawn arrest, complete with requisite press conference and wiretap transcripts, the U.S. Attorney said, was to stop the then-Governor from selling the government (for personal gain, of course, which is seemingly the only reason to be in government in the first place).
Then, the strangest prosecutor in America went back into his bat cave, emerging only to allow that he wouldn't be able to bring indictments until, say, April 2009. Well, okay, extensive, long-term wiretaps do tend to get flocks of birds singing, and it obviously takes some time to determine if there are actually any public officials in Illinois who shouldn't be indicted.
For his part, now-former Governor Blagojevich managed, ever so disruptively, to fulfill his constitutional duty to appoint a replacement to fill out the remainder of now-President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate term. Torrents of rhetoric, mostly self-serving, from prosecutors, politicians and pundits could not stop him.
Blagojevich chose former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, apparently the only Illinois politician who didn't say "don't choose me," largely in a collective no-brainer to avoid also being chosen by Prosecutor Fitzgerald.
Burris is a career political hack who has already built his own mausoleum, complete with chiseled accomplishments, because that's the way his ego rolls. If they don't change their names, his children - Roland II and Rolanda - will presumably carry out his self-proclaimed "trail blazing" legacy.
The hand-wringing, jaw-dropping, giggling fun of all that has played out as publicly as every talk show and YouTube clip can make it. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, never at a loss for bluster and the untoward remark, swore to seat no one appointed by Blagojevich. But that was before the race bombers took to the air, Burris being African-American, and Obama Himself provided a modicum of blessing.
Burris got hauled before a bunch of kangaroos needing to keep their pouches clean (by political standards), but he raised up his right hand and swore that he didn't give nothing to nobody, didn't promise nothing to nobody, didn't commit nothing to nobody, other than his continued commitment to selfless public service, to get the seat.
As the Chicago Tribune put it this week, "The benefit of the doubt had already been stretched thin and taut by the time Roland Burris offered his third version of the events leading to his appointment to the U.S. Senate. It finally snapped like a rubber band, popping him on that long Pinocchio nose of his, when he came out with version four.
"Let's see if we have it right: Burris had zero contact with any of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's cronies about his interest in the Senate seat...unless you count that conversation with former chief of staff Lon Monk, and, on further reflection, the ones with insiders John Harris, Doug Scofield and John Wyma and, oh yeah, the governor's brother and fundraising chief, Robert Blagojevich. But Burris didn't raise a single dollar for the now ex-governor as a result of those contacts because that could be construed as a quid pro quo and besides, everyone he asked refused to donate....
"Now, he has admitted that the governor's brother hit him up to raise campaign cash, and in at least one conversation, Burris raised his prospects for being appointed to the Senate."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown had more direct terms, "...I'll tell you straight up, our new U.S. Senator proved himself to be a lying little sneak."
So, as these things go, the Senator who had to be seated now has to go. At least four newspapers - the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post and The New York Times - have called for Burris to resign, although The Times merely wants him to "consider resigning," and the Sun-Times slyly suggests he needs a push from Senator Dick Durbin.
We, as many readers have come to expect, have a different view. Let the man stay. He lied for the seat with the best of them, and he was under a lot more scrutiny than most. Tax cheat Tim Geithner is staying as Secretary of the Treasury. Tax cheat Charles Rangel is staying as U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman. Others, facing a plethora of allegations, are staying.
Letting them all stay, for a while at least, will be a growing reminder to us of how corrupt our political system actually is. It will be a necessary reminder that the politicians aren't going to do anything to change that, beyond the token sacrifice, and there aren't enough prosecutors around to do it. Only when we, the citizens and voters who are being taken daily, have finally had enough and are willing to say so loudly and long, from our windows and from our streets, will there be meaningful cleansing of the political pig sty.
The ultimate fault lies with us. Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich and all their ilk are just symptoms. The ultimate solution lies with us. Where are the symptoms of that solution?
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Founded in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Center seeks to focus public, legislative and judicial attention on the rule of law as embodied in the federal and state constitutions. Those fundamental documents both express and safeguard societys commitment to individual freedom, not only through specific protections such as the Bill of Rights, but also through structural protections that constrain and disperse governmental authority.
