Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.
Shortly after Obama’s Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich’s arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor’s support.
Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama’s replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he’s never lost to a Republican.
Blagojevich, who has sole authority to name a replacement senator, scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference at his downtown Chicago office.
Of course, Harry Reid is having none of it, at all
The Senate will not seat Roland Burris if Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich attempts to appoint him, a Democratic leadership aide said.
Majority Leader Harry Reid views Burris as "unacceptable," the aide said.
Oy. I bet that presser is going to be, um, Interesting. Allah Pundit calls it a "Total Clusterfark." Indeed. However, one could argue that this election cycle was a "cluster fark" from the word go. Especially the stuff with Hillary. She was like the child that just would not take no for an answer, funny thing is, she going to be the Secretary of State. Retreads Change you can appoint?
The neat part about all this, that it puts Reid in a spot. If he does not accept the appointment it could be, but most likely won’t be; viewed as racist by some. Which I think was quite the slick move by the Governor.
However, I most likely will not be around to see the whole thing go down. My Dad and I are supposed to go shopping. So, my blogging for the remainder of the day will be scattered. Lovely. 🙄
Have I ever mentioned how much I despise shopping? Especially with my dad? Oy. I’d rather be water boarded. (Well, Sorta…)
For some reason or another, I just don’t believe it at all.
The full report is over at Politico, if you care to read such stuff. Patterico also has a good take on it as well.
Quotable Quotes:
“Parties become much more pragmatic when they’ve won,” says Joe Trippi, who heads the media firm Trippi Multimedia, and who managed Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign and advised John Edwards in 2008.
“At least in the initial stages, they’re going to try to work together [with Obama] to see what parts of their agenda they can get through,” he says. And they recognize, he adds, that they will get more of their agenda passed if they don’t start trouble when they don’t need to.
[….]
For his part, Pariser says he will do what his members want, no matter which way it takes the organization or what the implications are for its future. “I believe the fact that we hear something from all over the place at the same time means it probably is what we should do with the country,” he says. “I maybe drank the Kool Aid in civics class a little too much, but I think if you put your faith in that, you really don’t go wrong. People gravitate very quickly to the big things that are at the core of their problems.”
“It also makes our jobs easier,” he adds, “because we just do what we’re told.”
Okay, here’s why I don’t buy this line of bunk for one minute. Because I know how Liberals think. President-Elect Obama is not in office yet, nobody, not even me; knows how he is going to Govern. The so-called experts say he will run from the Middle; and based upon his cabinet picks, this might be true. To me, however, it looks more like a Clinton retread White House. So much for the “Hope & Change” mantra throughout the campaign.
Anyhow, however; you let Barack Obama let one of his big campaign promises slip, like Nationalized Health care. The very minute that Barack Obama begins to make noises like he is not going to be able to pass Nationalized Health Care, and MoveOn and DailyKos will turn on Obama on a fucking dime. I know how Liberals are, They lack something that is pretty much a norm in the Conservative circles; and that’s Loyalty. Loyalty to Party, Loyalty to principles; this past election being a perfect example of that, and loyalty to a leader. Oh, they’ll be loyal to him, as long as Obama performs for them, and carries out their agenda. But the very minute he strays; it’s over man. The far left will turn on a dime and it will be Bush Derangement on the other foot in full force. Sorry Trippi, I don’t buy the B.S. line of Liberals being Pragmatic. If 1968 was proof of anything, it was proof that the far left or the rank and file within the Democratic Party is nowhere near Pragmatic.
So, to sum it up; while this might sound nice and pretty and all. It is nothing more than some sort of a “Dog and Pony Show” to appease those within the Democratic Leadership that might worried that groups like this may try an turn popular opinion against Obama. While the mindless sheep might buy it, I do not; because I know the mindset, I know how they act. Loyal, until you slip up and then BAM! It’s over.
Nice try guys, but we’re just a bit more smarter than that.
When president-elect Barack Obama chose evangelical leader Rick Warren to lead a prayer at his inauguration the cultural Left threw the predictable fits. Said Kathryn Kolbert, president of People for the American Way, “this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans,” referring to the recently passed anti-gay marriage referendum, Proposition 8 in California. Said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, “by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table.” Added Democratic political consultant Chad Griffith “Rick Warren needs to realize that he is further dividing us at a time when the country needs to come together.”
In light of the Rick Warren controversy, such “coming together” rhetoric, so often mouthed by champions of “diversity” has one again proven to be a farce. For a true “coming together” of any sort on social issues, one might expect political opponents to either agree-to-disagree, yet still join and work together where they can, or for both sides to at least concede some principles as a compromise. In this case, as in most cases, the champions of diversity simply do not want an evangelical of Warren’s stripe to even be allowed a seat at the table. And while Warren hasn’t budged from his stance on gay marriage, neither will the Left anytime soon. It seems that the oft-desired “coming together” means not any new, warm embrace, but unconditional surrender, where only conservatives are always expected to wave the white flag.
The rise of social issues in American politics has as much to do with campaign strategies as the issues themselves. Gay marriage has become for the Democrats what abortion has long been for Republicans – issues that are better left unresolved because they are too useful in controlling certain voters. Any liberal or moderate Republican worried about shoring up his evangelical base can do so by mouthing just the right amount of pro-life rhetoric during his campaign, knowing full-well he has no intention of seriously revisiting the subject after the election. Just ask John McCain. To woo the cultural Left, the tiniest illustration by Democrats that they are at least favorable to gay-marriage is enough to garner those votes, even if it’s practically invisible on their actual agenda. Just ask Barack Obama.
Social issues like gay marriage and abortion remain trivialities not because they aren’t important – but because neither are likely to be solved precisely because neither party benefits from doing so. Why do mainstream Republicans or Democrats not demand states’ rights solutions, where individual states would be free to legalize or outlaw gay marriage or abortion according to the popular will? Because neither party really wants any real solutions. The purpose of a Republican supporting something like the Defense of Marriage Act is not to protect marriage per se, but to protect your office by signaling to voters that you stand on the right side of an issue that you and your successors hope never goes away. Likewise, in standing against the Defense of Marriage Act, Democrats benefit for the exact opposite reason.
Rick Warren’s invocation at Obama’s inauguration will not be a brighter, sadder or even different new day in the culture wars – but a symbolic gesture by the president-elect whose very rise to power has been more symbolic than substantive. Leftists who believe Warren’s mere presence at the inauguration represents anything tragic are as naïve as those on the Right who might believe it represents promise. And in both satisfying and enraging both sides of the social issues fence by inviting Warren to his swearing-in, the president-elect may indeed be introducing a new symbolic style, if only to cover-up the same old lack of substance.
When president-elect Barack Obama chose evangelical leader Rick Warren to lead a prayer at his inauguration the cultural Left threw the predictable fits. Said Kathryn Kolbert, president of People for the American Way, “this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans,” referring to the recently passed anti-gay marriage referendum, Proposition 8 in California. Said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, “by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table.” Added Democratic political consultant Chad Griffith “Rick Warren needs to realize that he is further dividing us at a time when the country needs to come together.”
In light of the Rick Warren controversy, such “coming together” rhetoric, so often mouthed by champions of “diversity” has one again proven to be a farce. For a true “coming together” of any sort on social issues, one might expect political opponents to either agree-to-disagree, yet still join and work together where they can, or for both sides to at least concede some principles as a compromise. In this case, as in most cases, the champions of diversity simply do not want an evangelical of Warren’s stripe to even be allowed a seat at the table. And while Warren hasn’t budged from his stance on gay marriage, neither will the Left anytime soon. It seems that the oft-desired “coming together” means not any new, warm embrace, but unconditional surrender, where only conservatives are always expected to wave the white flag.
The rise of social issues in American politics has as much to do with campaign strategies as the issues themselves. Gay marriage has become for the Democrats what abortion has long been for Republicans – issues that are better left unresolved because they are too useful in controlling certain voters. Any liberal or moderate Republican worried about shoring up his evangelical base can do so by mouthing just the right amount of pro-life rhetoric during his campaign, knowing full-well he has no intention of seriously revisiting the subject after the election. Just ask John McCain. To woo the cultural Left, the tiniest illustration by Democrats that they are at least favorable to gay-marriage is enough to garner those votes, even if it’s practically invisible on their actual agenda. Just ask Barack Obama.
Social issues like gay marriage and abortion remain trivialities not because they aren’t important – but because neither are likely to be solved precisely because neither party benefits from doing so. Why do mainstream Republicans or Democrats not demand states’ rights solutions, where individual states would be free to legalize or outlaw gay marriage or abortion according to the popular will? Because neither party really wants any real solutions. The purpose of a Republican supporting something like the Defense of Marriage Act is not to protect marriage per se, but to protect your office by signaling to voters that you stand on the right side of an issue that you and your successors hope never goes away. Likewise, in standing against the Defense of Marriage Act, Democrats benefit for the exact opposite reason.
Rick Warren’s invocation at Obama’s inauguration will not be a brighter, sadder or even different new day in the culture wars – but a symbolic gesture by the president-elect whose very rise to power has been more symbolic than substantive. Leftists who believe Warren’s mere presence at the inauguration represents anything tragic are as naïve as those on the Right who might believe it represents promise. And in both satisfying and enraging both sides of the social issues fence by inviting Warren to his swearing-in, the president-elect may indeed be introducing a new symbolic style, if only to cover-up the same old lack of substance.
President-elect Obama stopped by the Marine Corps base in Hawaii Kaneche Bay where servicemen and -women were eating Christmas dinner in Kailua Thursday evening.
“Just wanted to say hi, hey guys,” Obama said as he walked into the Anderson dining hall which was decked out in Christmas decorations.
The diners represented seven military units — Marine and Navy — some of whom were joined by their families for Christmas dinner.
As Obama entered the room, it was absent of the regular fanfare of cheering and clapping. The diners were polite, staying seated at their respective tables and waited for the president-elect to come to them to stand up.
Obama, dressed casually in a blue polo shirt and dark khaki trousers, worked his way around the room — table by table — and took pictures with the service members. He slapped them on the back at times, shook hands, and signed some autographs.
“Hey guys, Merry Christmas,” The president-elect said as he walked from table to table.
The servicemen and -women were already seated at their holiday dinner when the president-elect made his impromptu visit. They were dining on salad, candied sweet potato with marshmallow topping, cream of mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, beef, ham, turkey, broccoli and corn.
The president-elect spent about an hour with the troops. Obama transition aides say that Obama did not eat with the uniformed men and women — he ate at his beach home with his family and friends Christmas night.
I think it goes without saying, that Obama was not among friends.
Neoconservatism, he announced, was a victim of its success. It no longer represented anything unique because the GOP had so thoroughly assimilated its doctrines. In 2004, a variety of commentators scrambled to pronounce a fresh obituary for neoconservatism. The disastrous course of the Iraq War, Foreign Policy editor Moisés Naím said, showed that the neoconservative dream had expired in the sands of Araby.
Jackie and Dunlap talk to the corruptest, bribe-takin’est governor in all of America– Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Find out how much it’ll cost to find out Obama’s involvement!
(CONTENT WARNING NSFW!)
Exit Comment: This video solves the riddle of how many times you can put the f-bomb in a video. WOW! 😮
Seriously. That was the first thing out of my mouth.
Already?
In other parts of the country one would say, “That Quick?”
Seems that way, because Richard Cohen has basically said of Obama, that the Party; with him and his lesbian sister, was over.
Quotable Quotes:
Not that he was planning to attend, but Barack Obama should know that my sister’s inauguration night party — the one for which she was preparing Obama Punch — has been canceled. The notice went out over the weekend, by e-mail and word of mouth, that Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation had simply ruined the party. Warren is anti-gay, and my sister, not to put too fine a point on it, is not. She’s gay.
She is — or was — a committed Obama supporter. On the weekend before the presidential election, my sister and my mother drove from the Boston area, where they both live, to Obama’s New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester. There my mother made 76 phone calls for Obama, which is not bad for someone who is 96, and gives you an idea of the level of commitment to Obama in certain precincts of my family.
I should say right off that my mother feels less strongly about Warren than my sister does. But I should add immediately that my sister feels very strongly, indeed. She’s been in a relationship with another woman, the quite wonderful Nancy, for 19 years, and she resents the fact that Warren has likened same-sex marriage to incest, pederasty and polygamy.
Let me just say right here. What you are seeing, is a major let down by the far left. Many on the far left saw Barack Obama is some sort of Liberal Messiah that would make the world all better again, if he were elected. It had to do with much of his election stump speech, which was filled with bombast and platitudes. In reality, Barack Obama is nothing more than just another Chicago liberal politician who will say and do almost anything to get elected to the office in which he is running for.
Of Obama’s Preacher Problems, Cohen Adds:
The conventional thing to say is that Obama has a preacher problem — first the volcanic Jeremiah Wright and now the transparently anti-gay Warren. But the real problem has nothing to do with ministers and everything to do with Obama’s inability or unwillingness to be a moral leader. Sooner or later, he just might have to stand for something.
This was apparent to me almost a year ago when I reported that Obama’s church, the Trinity United Church of Christ, had given a major award to Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam. The award was presented in Wright’s name and featured in a cover story in the church’s magazine, Trumpet. When I asked the Obama campaign about this, I was told that Obama himself did not agree with Farrakhan. What a relief!
And what a joke. I never for a moment thought Obama viewed Farrakhan any differently from the way I do. But I also thought that as a U.S. senator, as a presidential candidate or even as a mere citizen, he had an obligation to denounce the award — maybe quit the church. Do something! He did nothing.
Wow! Isn’t that what Republicans and Independent Conservatives were saying, um, for the last 2 years about Obama, but were derided as racists? Man, talking about turning on your own! 😮
I knew this was coming, I just knew it. The Democratic Party elected someone based upon popularity and it is now coming back to haunt them. I said this way back in the primary, when I was still running this blog over on the old site on Blogger, that Obama was being set up as some sort of “Perfect Liberal” and that the Democrats were setting themselves up for a let down.
Somewhere today, John Edwards and the rest of the Democrats are smiling. Because they are seeing what I am seeing and thinking, “That’s what those assholes get for electing him!” Anytime you elected someone based upon popularity or in Bambi’s case, skin color; it almost always comes back to haunt you, and right now it is.
Something tells me, that this is going to be an interesting four years to come. I predict that by the time Obama’s four years are up, he will be the most hated President among the far left, ever.
I am in the process of reading the book that I got for Christmas. So, I will be presenting all the top stories in short take form today.
Reports say that Obama’s top chief of staff is in trouble, despite reports that he only talked to the Illinois Governor once.
The Bush E-mails may remain a secret a bit longer, meanwhile a Bush-connected I.T. guy dies in a plane crash, and of course the speculation on that little accident is out in force.
In other news, The New York Timesspins the housing crisis, and I mean spins it hard! Fails to place blame on Bill Clinton’s pressure on lending companies, to give loans to high risk persons. So typical.
Vice President Elect Joe Biden to chair task force to help the middle class. Now that is a hoot. An Elitist Limousine liberal is going to help the middle class, this I have to see.
The Editor of the Moderate Voice bemoans the beginnings of the "so called" Professional Obama Haters. Haters? I’m no hater, I don’t agree with his politics, but I’m not a hater. Sound like ol’ Joe is trying to say that if you disagree with Obambi’s Politics that you’re a racist. Which is, in this writers opinion, first class bullshit. (Update: I’m agreeing with Neo-Cons… I must go shower….)
….and finally, Idiot faux Pastor Ricky Warren likens Gay people to Pizza, all the while playing with his pepperoni. ()
That’s it for today, I’ll be off reading, so, unless a major story hits, I’m off for the rest of the day.
See Ya!
-Pat
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However, one could argue that this election cycle was a "cluster fark" from the word go. Especially the stuff with Hillary. She was like the child that just would not take no for an answer, funny thing is, she going to be the Secretary of State. Retreads Change you can appoint?
that I got for Christmas. So, I will be presenting all the top stories in short take form today.
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