Burris in the President's Side

I tend to agree that Roland Burris is a lying sack of crap whose time in the Senate should be over. I'm not sure exactly the legal means to make that happen, however. As I understand it, the reason he was allowed to be sworn in was basically because nobody had the power to stop him. The sole appointment power was in the Governor's hands, even though he was on the way out. Without getting too much into the constitutional thicket, I think the only power the Senate has to keep an appointed senator from being seated relates to his qualifications for the job in the sense that, if the person is 35 years old and a resident of the state he wants to represent, the senate has no way to say no to him. On the other hand, I know there are more ways to kick a senator out once he's in. I don't know what the standard is, but I think that the senate can effectively kick their own members out due to moral turpitude. The simplest way for all this to get done would be for the Illinois legislature, or whoever is responsible for such things under IL state law, to impeach Burris. Impeach everybody!

As for making public service no longer amenable to corruption, that's a pretty tall order. Unlike some, I tend to think that most politicians act in good faith on the basis of what they think either their constituents would want them to do, what they think is the best thing to do for their state or the country, or some combination of the two. For the others, I'm not sure there's any recourse except elections and the occasional (or not so occasional) impeachment.

Roland, Roland, Roland Down the River

Roland Burris' brief stint in the Senate has already been too long. It's time for him to go. I was a more than a little confused by Congress' willingness to swear him in in the first place. Although he asserted the legality of his claim to the seat, I never understood what leg he had to stand on.

Now my doubts are being proven legitimate. In grand political fashion, he's already been exposed as a liar after dodging questions about campaign fundraising. Are the American people so stupid as to believe that his indiscretions end there?

Well, ok...they are, but still- we need to stop this nonsense. I'm tired of scandals being sniffed out, uncovered, and resolved on a case-by-case basis. How are these swindlers even able to rise to level of power that they enjoy? In Burris' case, it was obvious that something was seriously amiss, and yet nothing was done.

Again, I put it to President Obama. Although this issue falls farther from his purview than even the vetting of certain tax evading cabinet members, he's the one who promised change. Nothing that's happened so far has lived up to that promise. Burris is only the latest failure.

I know it's not the President's fault or responsibility, but it does indicate that it's business as usual in D.C.

In any event, step one is to eject Burris should he refuse to resign. Step 2 is to proverbially burn Illinois politics to the ground and start over. Step 3- and perhaps most important- is to implement a SYSTEM that will prevent things like this from happening. Public service should not be a route to success via corruption any more.

My Scathing Rebukes Are Bi-Partisan

With regard to the appointment of Michael Steele as RNC chair, I say this:

Are you guys **** serious?

The former Lt. Governor may be highly qualified. But I find hard to believe that you would have appointed him had we not just elected a Democrat as the first African-American POTUS.

Honestly, I just about fell off my chair laughing when the announcement was made.

Now, in the interests of equal opportunity, I will lambaste the Dems.

Mr. President, you know you were my guy throughout the campaign. I'm not a Dem, but I rallied behind you and your various messages and platforms from the get-go. I was especially supportive of your promises of transparency and change. Heck, I was even ok with Hillary Beelzebub Clinton as SoS.

But again, I am forced to say:

Are you guys **** serious?

Let's start with Timothy Geithner, the new Secretary of the Treasury. This guy is now the top financial officer in all the land. The same guy who just had his dirty laundry aired.

Among other indiscretions, he failed to pay his taxes properly. When asked about the error, he said:

"These were careless mistakes, they were avoidable mistakes but they were unintentional. I should have been more careful."

Um...really? You were the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and that lame-ass pseudo apology is the best you can do?

I'm just a regular workaday schlub who has to pay his taxes or get in big trouble. I'm not an accountant, or a financial expert, or a bank officer, or a tax attorney, and yet somehow I've managed to avoid mistakes on my taxes.

But let's say I did make an error. Call me crazy, but in my opinion that would go a long way toward disqualifying me from ever holding an office such as Sec'y of the freaking Treasury.

Now we find out that DHHS appointee Tom Daschle also made "unintentional" mistakes by forgetting to properly pay HIS taxes. The prototypical Democrat has tax dollars running through his veins in lieu of blood, and you two really expect the American people to believe your excuses?

Even if we were to believe them, accepting that there may be reasons for your idiocy doesn't mean you should be absolved of any responsibility. Nor does it mean that such behavior shouldn't have consequences.

Governor Bill Richardson steps down from a potential appointment because of a semi-legitimate investigation that has produced no accusations and no proof of wrongdoing. And President Obama, you supported (if not required) his withdrawal.

However, two TOP officials admit to failing to pay taxes, and you're cool with that? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

And so Mr. President I would like an honest, TRANSPARENT answer: How you can allow the confirmation of Timothy Geithner and Tom Daschle? Because from where I'm sitting, this does NOT represent CHANGE. This smacks of the same cronyism and lying that we've be subjected to for years.

**EDITOR'S NOTE: Immediately following this post, it was brought to my attention that Daschle withdrew from consideration. I respect that, though he's still a tax cheat. I hope he can manage to feed his family on his existing fat, fat perk-laden government salary.***