Well, Senate Democrats are blocking Roland Burris from sitting in the U.S. Senate. They claim Burris' appointment needs to be signed off by both the Governor and the Secretary of State. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is refusing to certify Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Burris, the onetime Illinois State Comptroller and Attorney General.
Yet Senate Democrats like Chuck Schumer can't wait to seat Al Franken who was today declared the winner of the Minnesota's Senate race by the Minnesota Canvassing Board. But neither Governor Tim Pawlenty nor Secretary of State Mark Ritchie have certified Franken's election. Republican Norm Coleman has seven days to file a lawsuit to contest the ruling and there's every reason to expect he will.
Senate Democrats can't pick and choose when they follow the Constitution. If they seat Franken while refusing to seat Burris they will create a constitutional crisis.
Oddly enough the person who comes off smelling roses here is Barack Obama. The only connection he has to all of this is that he happened to have vacated one of the two seats in question. Subsequent events have tainted the Office of the Governor of Illinois and may soon taint the United States Senate. But it won't taint the incoming President of the United States who wears a suit of teflon.
Monday, January 5, 2009
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