Burris appears to be outside the sphere of the seat-for-sale scandal, and he was among the legitimate candidates who were expected to contend for the seat before the scandal broke. He's a decent choice, and the Dems would do themselves a favor by seating him, thereby avoiding a prolonged process that promises to be just as much of a three-ring circus as the Blagojevich scandal itself.

Harry Reid can bloviate all he wants, but in the end, if he's really smart (which is debatable), he'll acquiesce to this selection and let the matter rest.

Honest Chicago style corruption you can trust beats this wishy washy Obama "i didn't know NOTHING" hogwash.

His hair looks better now too!

Blago in 12!

I have to admit getting a giggle out of the missing ~ in año in the article. In Spanish año is year while ano is anus, so the article has Blagojevich wishing the crowd a Prosperous Anus. ;-)

"Prosperous anus"?

I thought Blagojevich was a Democrat.

A quick exploration of wire tap recordings and whatever other materials the FBI has available should show whether Blago's appointee has any taint of this messy scandal attached to him. If nothing turns up, he should be seated no matter who appointed him.

I hope that Blago did not really wish people a "prospero ano," which means prosperous anus. What he should have said is the word with the tilde, i.e. "prospero año." Of course Blago himself does seem to be "el ano del año."

"My prayers have been answered...that the governor would appoint an African American to complete the term of President Obama."

Substitute the word "white man" for African American and the sky would fall. I always thought picking someone IN SPITE of their race was a good thing. Picking them BECAUSE of their race was racist. Have I had it wrong all this time?

You can't say no to an AA Senator. Sorry. Blago Wins. There will be no impeachment and the criminal trial, if there is one will end in deadlock and failure for Fitz. Blago might be a crook but he's not a dumb crook.

Saloniks are crying into their tofu smoothies now.

Blago has diminished himself to nothing more than a shit disturber and Bobby Rush has become his fool for supporting anyone that Blago would hoist up like a puppet. He (Rush) has played into Blago's hand like a virgin at a poker game. Rush would be better served if he represented the people of New Orleans where people from both sides of the aisle care more about the color of their representative's skin than their actual positions. While Blago may be just a piece of scum, Rush is setting the entire country back with his bullshit.

Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, was decided in 1969, not 1949.

of another scandal mill to tarnish the dems out of action. Government people sell favors every day of the week. But the fbi and media only find the man appointing Obama's replacement. Now that we're getting another smart guy in the Presidency, we need to be on the watch that the media doesn't try character assisnation again. If they do, the liberal blogosphere should go berserk, and we should be ready to finance alternate news to fight them. The stakes are too high now for us to allow them to do to Obamatron what they did to The Clintonater.

Yes, Kathy from WA, you are wrong. It is non-racist to pick someone regardless of their race, not in spite of it as if it were a problem to be overcome or ignored.

Blagojevich and Burris both know exactly what Obama is about.

Happy vacation Barack.

An Attorney General no less, what a thorn in Obama's side.

I bet he isn't bought and paid for.

You post something reasonable and intelligent?

What trickery is this?

You must be on of those Clever Satanic Jews of Hollywood.

I loved Airplane!

More, please.

Do you know Mel Brooks?

You post something reasonable and intelligent?

What trickery is this?

You must be one of those Clever Satanic Jews of Hollywood.

I loved Airplane!

More, please.

Do you know Mel Brooks?

He shouldn't be picking anybody under these circumstances. I can't read the pick as anything but a cynical attempt to get people off his back. It's too bad, Burris might be a good pick.

Kathy, you're wronger than you probably know. Do you realize how much you revealed in that letter?

I think it would be more accurate to say that Obama opposes Blago's decision to make any selection. There doesn't seem to be any indication that Obama opposes Burris per se.

that Burris has already run for senate (1984), and governor (1994, 1998, 2002), and mayor of Chicago (1995). And lost. The primaries.

It doesn't sound like he's what the people of Illinois want. (Though, at this point, they might be wanting "Anyone! Anyone who didn't offer cash!")

Bobby Rush didn't pick Burris. Where does that leave you?

and experience.

You guys are piling on her with vague comments like "I can't believe you said that" and "you just exposed too much." However, no one has bothered addressing what she said, which I think is a fair comment:

Substitute the word "white man" for African American and the sky would fall.

Does anyone contest that? Let's see how it would look, just for shits and giggles:

"My prayers have been answered...that the governor would appoint a white man to complete the term of President Obama."

Everyone would be cool with such a statement?

At the press conference where the governor announced the appointment of Mr. Burris, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush reportedly said:

. . . I applaud the governor for his decision. And I will ask you to not hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer. Separate, if you will, the appointee from the appointed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/us/politics/30text-blagojevich.html?pagewanted=3

Does anyone else regret the extent to which Clarence Toady, er, Thomas, devalued the word “lynching”?

sypage, Obama had already opposed Blago's right to appoint someone. Trust me, he opposed the Burris pick, and my already sky-high admiration for him climbed, because this could get ugly. But what Blago did was wrong. In Burris, he may well have found the one person with the political stature to maybe make Democrats think twice about Blago's move, who was nonetheless opportunistic (or forlorn) enough to say yes to such a cynical appointment.

Not good.