Friday, June 19, 2009

No Perjury Charges Against Burris; Now He's That Much Harder to Dislodge

Today the Sangamon County State's Attorney stated that Senator Roland Burris will not be charged with perjury in regard to any of the statements he made during questioning or by affidavit during the General Assembly's impeachment proceedings against former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

What few people seem to be talking about so far, though, are the implications for the Dem senate primary, with an assumedly newly-invigorated Burris and his supporters making it a lot tougher to dislodge him from the seat.

You can tell Burris is already feeling his oats in the wake of the decision, as reported by Politico:

"I am obviously very pleased with today's decision by State's Attorney John Schmidt. His investigation was both thorough and fair, and I am glad that the truth has prevailed," Burris said in a statement emailed to my colleague Manu Raju. "This matter has now been fully investigated; I cooperated at every phase of the process, and as I have said from the beginning, I have never engaged in any pay-to-play, never perjured myself, and came to this seat in an honest and legal way. Today's announcement confirms all that," he said.

h/t Capitol Fax Blog

A messy multi-candidate primary with Alexi, Lisa and Chris Kennedy all fighting for votes against Burris might give Burris an actual chance (if he can raise some money, finally). Too bad Jan Schakowsky didn't stay in the race, too.

Wonder what Mark Kirk thinks about all this...?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

If mckenna had put together a party over the last 4 years instead of eating foie gras and watching his cubs stink it up in october Mark would be cruising to d.c. or springfield and obama would be embarassed. Instead we are stuck with a load of bull. It's also probably truth that his top people-McGovern, From, ect are the same folks that have been crushed by blago, foster and others in REPUBLICAN areas showing that their skills are up to what an axelrod would have going for him.

It's going to be a MAJOR uphill slog. Remember Mark was held at bay for 4 years by an unemployed political neophyte and his merry band of anti-israel ellens, despite working harder than 99.99 percent of congressmen.

We'll see. I still say in the end he stays put, takes ranking member job on foreign ops and waits for skies to clear. If he loses that's the end of his political career and it's more fun being congressman than it is International VP of Boeing or sitting on the board of the national endowment for democracy listening to someone lecture on the recent elections in some bumblef--k mid size african nation.

FOKLAES

Anonymous said...

It's Illinois, Foklaes, what other verdict would one expect? I hope that Mr. Kirk stays in the US House at this time. IL is mired in sewage, raw and otherwise, but damn hard to beat at this moment in time. As for Burris, he remains the joke, a bitter one at that, but don't you think it's fun watching the Democrats scramble around trying to out do each other right now? Let's enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Of course, it would have helped if the Republicans on the impeachment committee followed-up on their question(s) of Burris, where there would either have been stronger grounds for a perjury charge and some actual muscle behind the excessive GOP banter or a chance to see what Burris had to say, possibly - though I doubt it - vindicating himself.

Team America said...

Of course, it also would have helped if those Republicans hadn't been under pressure from Lang and the rest of the Dems to cut their questions short.

Anonymous said...

Is Alan Keyes in the on-deck circle or Jack Ryan? Maybe Jeri Ryan will run! If he's through being professor of Asiatic diplomacy, maybe Mr. Kirk will run after-all.
Steve Greenberg? Dr. Sauerberg?
Al Salvi?
How about Cynthina or Craig Thompson from Nevada? If that occurred, I would suggest not going with a family values platform(Keyes didn't live here either).

Am I getting warmer?

If the people of Illinois had true electoral choice, those on blogs like this may have more of a leg to stand on when complaining on the untoward behavior of politicians.

The same is true for the born-again fiscal conservatives that ok'd funding for clinics in Iraq, emergency supplementals as the sole budgetary vehicle to fund the wars, and that approved the donut hole-afflicted Medicare Reform Act which banned volume drug pricing, who are now complaining about funding for roads, funding for youth jobs programs, and funding for pandemic prevention and response.

Are said fiscal conservatives against spending or are they against spending domestically on people who are below a certain tax bracket?

Also, keep in mind that while $1 - $1.5 Trillion on healthcare reform may seem expensive, it is over 10 years, it is almost equal what was spent on the 'brief, urgently necessary, and self-sustaining wars, and will pale in comparison to what will be spent in the next 10 years if nothing is done (glossy, solutionless brochures not-withstanding).

Anonymous said...

Bush is over, ryan the jack never existed. Elections are about the present and presently your government thinks 610,000 jobs lost a month is good. Bush you'll recall had 48 months of uninterrupted job growth if the talking points hastert's office used to circulate on the hill were right.

clock is tickin on 2010, best get an excuse for the worst job creation record in america, tax hikes and that whole BLAGO thing that's going to nagasaki the heck out of your little failed govmnt in 2010.

Only question left is will ellen need institutional help when the Tim's, and Keith Gray's and TA's get elected to springfield in 2010?



FOKLAES

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:23, your partisan foolish rantings are almost funny. Almost, but not really. Get over it. And stop trashing Mark Kirk. If that's your bent, troll over to your favorite fellow traveler, Ms. Gill, and post your crap over there. You are out of touch with what Americans are now beginning to understand about the healthcare ideas coming from your fellow Dems who want to spend into oblivion and still not insure the majority of Americans. This idea of hurry up and get it done without careful and thoughtful planning will end up in the trash. And for the record, Bush is NOT running for anything so try to move forward. What we're facing is all going to be part of YOUR legacy, so get used to it. 2010 is fast approaching. How come the jobless rate is going UP? Your hero in the White House said that unemployment would hold at 8.5%. Oh well. It's all in your lap now, buddy, so get ready with your rebuttal, but not right now.

Anonymous said...

"Bush is in the past" but Clinton was blamed for things years after his Presidency. (Gingrich being kicked out of Congress by the GOP was also in the past, but, unfortunately, he's baaack!)

OUR government knows that 610,000 jobs being lost is not good, though has noted that it is better than previous months.
Most of us also know that the events of the current year may have begun last year and that it is not time for a 5 week vacation like the previous President took during what should have been a busy period.
Also, our government knows that regarding healthcare, the economy, and foreign affairs, doing something is required. Doing nothing is unacceptable.
Doing nothing includes excessive 'no' votes, press conferences, and glossy printed materials that lack numbers, ideas, revenue streams, etc. - more wasted resources!

Our current government also knows that the 'rational, self-adjusting, self-policing market' does not exist. Greenspan said so and he would never be considered a Dem.

The government that you and Rush hope fails is also -your- government, your children's government, and their children's government; who's funds W. was spending before the November election. This met with your approval?!

Wasn't there a time that if one did not agree with, pray for, and respect the President, this was unpatriotic? My, how you guys are shifty!

Keith Gray, who ran on a singular platform of I'm not Terry Link, is someone I should look forward to leading? Will he be 'diplomatic' like Kirk, a good vetter of appointees like Ms. Schmidt, or a less than effective public official like Waller (3 trials come to mind where re-trials were required, the maximum sentence was not pursued, and governmental mis-conduct were ignored and a few situations come to mind where his office was used to intimidate those that didn't toe a certain line).

Was the Nagasaki reference homage to McCain's bomb, bomb, bomb diplomacy?


Also, the current President does not own 5 or 6 or 7 homes, he knows how much a gallon of gas costs, and doesn't joke about not finding WMD's, including being honest with the people.


Sara Palin - not too long ago - and first dude were not people many voters - even among the GOP would vote for.
Newt Gingrich is not someone the GOP found favor with. That they do now could be an indication of no one else on the bench or desperation.
Michael Steele may actually believe in avoiding debates over abortion rights, depending on which part of the sentence you believe.

The Dem's aren't perfect, but we cannot be considered in the same category as Ms. Coulter, Mr. Limbaugh, and Mr. Hannity - thank goodness.
We also do not believe that one person's religious beliefs should be the sole basis for local, state, and federal legislation.

A little more work on who represents you - David Vitter and Ensign? - electoral choice, and an open tent instead of becoming more circumscribed of an organization may be things y'all would want to consider before pointing a finger.

Nice pictures of Sheriff Curran on the website who ran against GOP'er Del Re due to - in Curran's words - Del Re's mismanagement.

We'll just sit back and watch your leaders self-destruct in 15 seconds

Anonymous said...

Dan Seals is still unemployed

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:35, when WAS he holding down a real job? In what year was that? Oh yes, and where? Nice gig, Dan.

Anonymous said...

1034, the histirionics are highly unnecessary. we on this blog are guilty of many things. Too many trips to the deerfields bakery-their frosting is the best ever. Too much champagne the night beat dan again, I was wasted, too many shots at Ellen. Too many blog writings when we should be studying for law exams or prepping for hearings. We are NOT rush dittoheads. In fact in my 17 years in 10th republican politics, going back to the williamson for senate campaign and days of phil torf who ran against porter I have never outside of john cox in 2000 and he called himself a progressive republican, encountered a nut bag in the 10th GOP establishment. People that eat nuts, but no nuts.

We are sane and quaint folk that don't appreciate the spoiled baloney we are being fed by our dear leaders in springfield and cook county.

Not once in x years of reading this blog have I ever seen TA read off of some conservative groups talking points like ellen, seen him conceive some dubious plot, go after a candidates wife, go after a candidates sexuality or all the other below the belt israel/man/america/freedom hating things they do over there.

Also unlike ellen we have never gone after honorable hard working public servants like caryn garber the way her blog did. Caryn was a fine young :) woman who worked her heart out for the district with porter and then kirk on israel, medicaid, social security all sort s of stuff. Then thanks to nimrods like ellen and that bitter nearly divorced failed candidate and aging soccer mommy lauren beth gash was verbally abused in her synagogue.

We are clean and honest it's the 10th dems record that is dirty.

Also according to linkedin.com, bond has hired a fundraising staffer from D.C., Catherine Slaughter. Will pass along details soon.

Thanks

FOKLAES