Skip to main content

Taint and the Man

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday that Burris would not be permitted to take his seat because Burris "has not been certified by the state of Illinois," a reference to incomplete paperwork that only touches on the dispute. Senate Democrats maintain that Burris' appointment is tainted because of the charges against Blagojevich.

"As I read the U.S. Constitution," he said on CBS's "The Early Show," it says the "governor shall fill a vacancy, and as a former attorney general of my state, I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties." – NPR

Americans, as a rule, are pretty fair minded, which is to say they are adept at assigning responsibilities. As a general rule, one is responsible for what one says or does. In the case of delegated responsibilities, one is responsible for what one has said or done as an intermediary.

It has been said, falsely and scurrilously, that Roland Burris, chosen by Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois to replace Barrack Obama in the US Senate has been tainted because, to put the matter briefly, Blagojevich is a disreputable politician under indictment for attempting to “sell” Obama’s seat for preferments.

Harry Reid, who believes Balgojevich’s choice has been tainted, has said he will refuse to seat Burris.

The question arises: Is Burris “tainted” because he was selected to fill the seat by the disreputable Blagojevich?

Any fair-minded moralist would answer “No.” Reid has not been called upon to seat a choice, but rather a man who, many will agree, is not tainted because Blagojevich had been practicing Tammany Hall politics as governor of Illinois. Bad men can make good appointments. When other good men confirm those appointments, they are nor affirming the bad behavior of those who have made the appointment. The senate, under the direction of Reid, has been called upon to seat a man who has been constitutionally appointed to a position that he either merits or does not merit.

That is what they should do – no more, no less.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Obamagod!

My guess is that Barack Obama is a bit too modest to consider himself a Christ figure , but artist will be artists. And over at “ To Wit ,” a blog run by professional blogger, journalist, radio commentator and ex-Hartford Courant religious writer Colin McEnroe, chocolateers will be chocolateers. Nice to have all this attention paid to Christ so near to Easter.

The Blumenthal Burisma Connection

Steve Hilton , a Fox News commentator who over the weekend had connected some Burisma corruption dots, had this to say about Connecticut U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal’s association with the tangled knot of corruption in Ukraine: “We cross-referenced the Senate co-sponsors of Ed Markey's Ukraine gas bill with the list of Democrats whom Burisma lobbyist, David Leiter, routinely gave money to and found another one -- one of the most sanctimonious of them all, actually -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal."

Did Chris Murphy Engage in Private Diplomacy?

Murphy after Zarif blowup -- Getty Images Connecticut U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, up for reelection this year, had “a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference” in February 2020, according to a posting written by Mollie Hemingway , the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. Was Murphy commissioned by proper authorities to participate in the meeting, or was he freelancing? If the former, there is no problem. If the latter, Murphy was courting political disaster. “Such a meeting,” Hemingway wrote at the time, “would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the U.S. government that he accused Trump officials of doing as they prepared for Trump’s administration. In February 2017, Murphy demanded investigations of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn because he had a phone call with his counterpart-to-be in Russia. “’Any effort to undermine our nation’s foreign policy – e