I believe .....

[Stinky The Clown]

..... Roland Burris is the legally appointed junior Senator from Illinois.

..... he should be seated.

[NNN0LHI]

1. No doubt kiddo

[liberalmuse]

2. Absolutely.

I do have to agree.

[malaise]

3. You are correct

What bothers me most is the precedent being set by Reid et al.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. I kind of wondered what basis in legality Harry's blustering had.

[Sebass1271]

5. Yep. He is and he should be seated. Reid should STFU..

[Warpy]

6. I think so, too, but knees are jerking madly

GOPs are grandstanding and Democrats are terrified to be seen as enabling a crooked governor.

Burris is legally appointed at this point. He should be seated. If anything untoward comes out as Blagojevich is prosecuted, then he can be expelled from the Senate.

Illinois will probably join the growing list of states that mandate special elections to fill vacant seats. However, they're not there, yet, and the Burris appointment is so far a legal one in the absence of evidence that a bribe was paid to get it.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. And there's no reason to think he paid any sort of bribe at all .......

Of all the names in this sordid tale, his seems to be the most pure and upright.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. He was a good and popular comptroller

I lived in Illinois when he held this office, and was dabbling in politics, helping elect state officials. Never heard a bad word said about the man.

[NNN0LHI]

12. One of the few Illinois politicians who hasn't spent their retirement in the slammer

He has that going for him.

Don

[Joe Fields]

14. It is both legal and illegal...

The governor has the right to appoint Burris. But the senate cannot legally swear him in as a senator until his appointment is signed off on by the Illinois Secretary of State. Jesse White (SOS) refuses to sign off, therefore legally, Burris cannot be sworn in as a new member of the Senate.

What I want to know is what type of action can be taken against the Secretary of State for refusing to sign off on a sitting governor's appointment, when the governor hasn't even begun to have his due process through the legal system?

[boobooday]

8. I agree. There is no objection that has anything to do with him n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. Yep

Rule of law says innocent until proven guilty. Which means Blago can legally appoint a Senator.

Only way Burris could not be seated is if it were proven he bribed Blago for the seat, which is not the case.

[zagging]

11. I believe

you'd crank your unit on the church steeple if you thought someone would respond.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I believe .....

.... never mind.