Blagojevich: The Other OTHER Enterprise

 

Life imitates art once again.

Stoutcat

Alas, Poor Roland

 

At what point does it cease being at least amusing and become instead, pathetic? When do we start asking–no, demanding–accountability from our public officials? Whatever happened to the concept of “Caesar’s wife?”

Case in point: poor wretched Roland Burris. This man, with his grandiose monument to himself for the hereafter, the would-be Senator from Illinois, may now be in even deeper trouble; he was questioned by federal authorities for several hours on Saturday about his conversations with the brother of disgraced IL ex-governor Rod Blagojevich.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The questioning, first reported online Saturday by the Sun-Times and NBC/5, went on for several hours. It likely dealt in part with conversations between Burris and Robert Blagojevich. At least one of those conversations was caught on tape.

So the questions are still out there, and they’re not just about Burris–he’s just a visible symbol of what’s wrong. Where has Rahm Emanuel been lately? Is anyone still incensed about the Geithner appointment? Which other shady, corrupt, tax-cheating cronies will Obama try to pack his cabinet with? And beneath all this exists the roiling and simmering resentment about the Stimulus bill that was literally forced down our throats.

Many Americans are finally getting tired of the rot that killing the best form of government the world has seen, the latest manifestations of which are the shady connections of ”The Most Transparent Presidential Administration Ever” and the corruption of the “Most Ethical Congress Ever.”

Roland Burris is is not part of the problem — he’s a symptom of the disease.

H/T: HotAir

Stoutcat

Keep Burris and Reinstate Blago… It Makes Sense!

 

Speaking as a conservative, I say that we keep Burris, and put Blago back in office, too. I say that we keep them as a reminder of what our government has become. I say that we keep them as a reflection of our selfish, narcissistic, petty, entitled, ignorant selves.

Blago said:

“You guys are in politics. You know what we have to do to go out and run elections”

Hey, at least he spoke the truth.

This is what we get when we can’t even perform simple math and apply common sense: We just spent $787,000,000,000.00 to “create or keep” 3,500,000 jobs. Do the math… That costs $224,857.14 per job creation/stabilization. That’s roughly 20 times the amount commercial America spends… That’s simply crazy, and it’s only the beginning. Duh! But Hey! at least we’re getting a $13 tax break.

The most popular TV program? Something on the Science Channel? No. Nat Geo? No. PBS? No. One of the myriad of news programs? No.  The most popular TV program in America is “American Idol“. How appropriate.

Russia is a power rising… Damn their economy… Full speed ahead! (Charles Krauthammer writes brilliantly about Russia flexing its muscles, and the Obama administration’s flaccid response.)

Our national debt isn’t $11 trillion as the “experts” would tell you… It’s $53 trillion. That’s four times the GDP.

If things don’t change, and change in a big way ASAP, it looks like this country won’t end with a bang or a whimper, but rather with the sound of an ill-conceived, obscene joke… Perhaps the sound of a Blago, Burris, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Frank, or a mall rat sitting on a whoopee cushion.

So sure… Let’s keep Burris, and reinstate Blagojevich. Given the nature of the world, our politicians, and our culture, it just makes sense.

Alan Speakman

Burrris: A Measure of America’s Intelligence and Character

It’s pretty cut and dried. What follows are the words of Burris under oath…

Jan. 8/09

Durkin: “At any time were you directly or indirectly aware of a quid pro quo with the governor for the appointment of this vacant Senate seat?

Burris: No sir.”

Now it comes out that Burris admitted that Blago’s brother Rob asked him for help for “fundraising” back in October and November.

If you or I were to testify as such under oath, we’d be heading for the “gray bar hotel” for perjury. Period.

Look, Burris is no big deal. No doubt, compared with some of the Washington weasels he’s probably “Mr. Goody Two-Shoes”. But the question really isn’t whether Burris is guilty or not, but whether America has the smarts, character, and objectivity to admit that Burris perjured himself.

After Wright, Ayers, ACORN, Rezko, ad nauseum… I ain’t gonna hold my breath.

Alan Speakman

Blago Speaks Volumes

 

In a voice that with a little tweaking would sound like the Simpsons’ Mayor Quimby, and a hairdo reminiscent of Elvis, Blago let loose and finally spoke the truth that we all know, and no one wants to face in our heart of hearts – on a frighteningly large scale, American politics are dirtier than a brothel bathroom.

Blago said a bunch of interesting stuff, but one thing leapt out…

“You guys are in politics. You know what we have to do to go out and run elections”

I’m not sad to see Blago go… He was an operator, but at least he was stubristic enough to utter that rare truth – that of so much of the filthy underside of politics. There must be something of value in there somewhere.

Alan Speakman

Blago Speaks

Coming to you live from Planet Blago, 20 minutes or so later than scheduled; apparently not being covered at all by the local Chicago press–interesting–they seem to realize that he’s trying to preach directly to a likely jury pool…

He’s eager to confront the charges against him and is determined to call witnesses to prove his innocence, despite some mistakes of judgement from time to time.

[He keeps harping on "mistakes of judgement", "getting things right most of the time"]

Complaining about Rule 15F, which prevents his calling of witnesses–Blago named specifically Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and Jesse Jackson, Jr. as possible witnesses to his “integrity”.

[Haven't these rules been in effect for a long time? Why have these rules gone unnoticed for all these years? If you're the governor, perhaps you should have looked at the rules before you started breaking them.]

Complaining about Rule 8B which states that charges that the House brings in a report cannont be challenged, contested, or refuted.

[See above--find out the consequences of breaking the law before you actually break the law.]

Violation of all the freedoms we hold dear, cowboy movies, stealing horses, hang the horse thief…

[This guy is really out there.]

“…trampling on constitutional rights…calling all newspapers across IL …Chicago Tribune building…Near vs MN…mobsters vs. freedom of the press…”

Taking questions now: blah blah, more of the same. The reporters try to ask questions about the case, Blago keeps harping on how much good he’s done for the state, it could be a conspiracy, he’s always done his best, made some mistakes, etc.

[I really think he's going for the insanity defense.]

He’s had enough, he abruptly leaves the podium, hugs a few people, shakes a few hands, and he’s gone.

[At least this time he didn't quote any poetry!]

Stoutcat

Blago Speech: Enhanced Video Discovered!

Breaking: A highly confidential source has provided Grand Rants with an annotated and enhanced video version of Friday’s speech given by disgraced, reviled, and impeached IL Governor Rod Blagojevich. Remember, folks, you saw it here first!

Stoutcat

THIS is Why I Don’t Want Universal Health Care

 

If you’ve been watching the ongoing “Benny Hill”/”Three Stooges” insanely tawdry Blago schtick, your stomach may be doing flip-flops. I know mine is.

The narcissim, selfishness, incompetence, and gross stubris of cheap IL government rings true relative to the drunken monkey show that is the Minnesota vote count. (These people can’t even count “1, 2, 3″… )

And this is the same government that’s going to manage national health care? Manage my health care?

I’d rather have Billy Mays before that!

Alan Speakman

IL Supreme Court Decision (Updated)

 

(Updates at end of post.)

Breaking: FoxNews is reporting that the IL Supreme Court ruled that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature is not required in order for the US senate to seat Roland Burris, appointed by impeached IL Governor Rod Blagojevich.

So! Harry Reid and his merry men no longer have that cover for refusing to seat Mr. Burris, therefore we should see some Senate action on that soon. It’ll be interesting to see how much foot-dragging there will be (and already isn’t) regarding the MN Senate race…

More to come.

UPDATE: 2:20 pm EST

The Senate continues to stonewall. Jim Angle Brian Wilson of FoxNews just reported that a “senior aide” at the US Senate is stating that the Senate will not seat Burris without a valid signature from the IL Secretary of State.

So to recap:

1. The US Senate currently will not seat Roland Burris without the IL SecState signature
2. Jesse White, the IL Secretary of State, refuses to sign the Senate appointment without being ordered to do so by the IL Supreme Court.
3. The IL Supreme Court has handed down the decision that White’s signature is not necessary in order to seat Burris. 
4. GOTO 1

 Stalemate, and more fuel for Bobby Rush

UPDATE 2: 3:339 pm EST

Wow, that was… strange. Shep adds snark, Blago quotes Tennyson, seems to be going for an insanity defense.

UPDATE 3: HotAir has the video. Don’t miss it.

Stoutcat

Blago Impeached, But Not Out… And Burris?

Yeah, Blago was dumped by the Ill. House 114 – 1. We all saw that coming some way some how. Thoughts…

• Who was the one who voted for Blagojevich? (I’ll have to look that up.)
• Just because “Mr. B.” is now “Mr. Impeached” doesn’t mean that he’ll actually have to step down. Consider “Mr. Bubba”
• Most importantly, what about Burris? (If this was a cheap shot to further taint Roland Burris’ congressional seating, that would be the cheapest shot of all.)

Alan Speakman