Roland Burris: Nothing illegal about his appointment to U.S. Senate

I talked with Roland Burris today on The Tom Joyner Morning Show regarding his controversial appointment by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Comments

[will]

No no.....Nothing illegal at all, just like my cleaning lady is also constitutionally qualified to fill Hillary's vacant seat. Leave it to Roland to entirely miss the point, on purpose of course. Touch is right, enough tokenism. Or does Burris fear rejection once again if he ran in a legitimate election? Methinks Roland doth protest waaayyyy too much.

[Bonita]

My objection to his appointment is that Blago made the appointment. Why would you want to accept a position like this under a cloud of suspicion and corruption? I would think he would want to wait until the dust settles and an election is conducted apart from Blagojevich.

[Ryan Field]

As far as I know, Burris is a good, decent man who has done nothing wrong.

As far as I know, Blagojevich hasn't been proven guilty of anything.

I think there's more to come.

[Wills of rights]

We are all in awe for what has been done. I can't wait to see how this situation turns out. It is legal and the governor played a race card no matter the appointee or anyone else see it. The bottom line is the governor has pulled a fast one and is getting away with it.

Wills of rights

[Bonita]

I do think it is unfair for Burris. I understand he has a good track record. I know Blago did this appointment on purpose. He knew it would cause more conflict.

[will]

According to your post Bonita the question remains if Burris is truly the most naive man in the world or the most ambitious. Can't say voters should be comfortable with either.

[Nola]

Roland, I have always enjoyed and agreed with your comments on political topics, however, on this issue I think that you have allowed your personal feels to take over your ability to look at this issue logically. The Governor is playing a very dangerous racial game. He using Mr. Burris to deflect the medias attention from him and his issues- and get the people of color in Il upset and the folks in DC would over look the bigger problem. He knew about Mr. Burris ego and that he would do anything to achieve this objective. If Mr. Burris was to run for the position would he win? He has tried for Governor an lost, he has also ran for this position and has lost. The question is can he win the senate sit in 2010?

While I agree that the Senate should have some people of color - but I don't agree that Mr.Burris should be given the sit became of his race. I think that effective now that African Americans from each of the fifty states start running for the position of senate from his or her state.

[RolandMartin]

Nola,

I have no personal feelings. I'm stating facts, pure and simple. The Democrats put themselves in this position, and I think Burris will win if they go to the Supreme Court.

This is a LEGAL issue.

Did Blagojevich have the legal authority to appoint Burris? Yes.

Has Blagojevich been indicted? No.

Has Blagojevich been tried? No.

Has Blagojevich been convicted? No.

Does the law allow for innocent until proven guilty? Yes.

And of the two charges leveled by the U.S. attorney, did either of him have to do with selling the U.S. Senate seat? No.

Again, I'm looking at the legal issue. Blagojevich has the guys and they know it. And they are ticked that he outsmarted them.

All they had to do was approve a special election. They didn't. This one is on them.

[Nola]

Roland, Thanks for you position - but you did not answer whether Mr. Burris can win in a state wide election in 2010. I agree that Blagojevich is playing a low down dirty game and that all the other parties were not smart enough to observe his game. I am more upset that he Blagojevich is using/playing the African American like pawns on a chess board for his advantage. Do you believe that if Blagojevich did not have any legal issues he would have selected Mr. Burris? I don't think that he would have.

Thanks for replying to my remarks

[Who Cares]

There is not a law on the books that states that the governor had to pick someone who would win in 20010. He just had to pick someone to be a voice for the people in the US Senate in his state. He did his job. Why are people upset? I do not know? Burris was a good choice and this shows me that the governor is smarter then we think.

[CA]

Mr. Burris has allowed himself to be placed into a heated situation. He knew that this was probably his last chance to get into the Senate and did not care how it looked. I could agree with that, do what you have to do. Now the problem that I have is don't make this a race issue, because it is not. Blagojevich and Burris are using one another to get what they want. It has nothing to do with race as to why Mr. Burris was not allowed on the floor today. He went to DC knowing this; whether he was black or white, he was not going to be allowed. Whether or not Blagojevich is or has done what I am sure other politicians have done, but was dumb or arrogant enough (however you see it)to publicly display it, is up to the courts. Mr. Burris placed himself into this situation, fully knowing what could and did happen, now be a man enough to deal with it and don't use the race card as your token.

[cecillia]

Who do they want in the senate seat if not Mr. Burris?

[Marlin]

I understand how some can say that Burris has willingly allowed himself to become embroiled in the mess. I also believe that thinking in this manner is one of projected perception. I think the dems screwed up and the Gov played his hand as he is legally obiligated to do. The Illinois & US Constitution supports Burris position. In addition, on Monday (1/5) Burris filed a writ of mandamus to force the Ill Sec of State to affix the signaiture and state seal to all of Burris's paper work. By law the Sec of State is bound to do this or be held in contempt. Why doesn't Lisa Madigan, Ill Attorney General, recognize and/or support law? Does politics trump the Law? At present, the Gov is innocent until proven guilty. Is this why state continues to allow him to sign bills into law. Since they say the the Gov. shouldn't appoint a pick, why not also say that he should not be signing bills into laws? At present, we only know that words were exchanged. At present we know that the US Attorney General in charge of this case has asked for a 60 day extention. Why? What really troubles me is that by default race, sexism, classism, etc are factors in this debate. Simply denying them won't make them go away. Rather the question that should pressed is why does the US Senate lack diversity?

[T Freeman]

The US Attorney should get his act together, proceed with an indictment instead of waiting 90 more days. How long should this foolishness continue? I agree with Roland the Illonois congress should have gotten off their rusty dustys and proceeded with haste on the special election. By not doing so they gave Blago the option to exercise his legal right. They all said he was a nut job and sure acts crazy as a fox. They should not have underestimated Blago's ego. There's an old saying, "It ain't right but it's legal." It fits here.

[Fransay]

Blah, Blah, Blah...Mr. Burris is well qualified for the senate seat position, period!, he deserve an opportunity to make a positive change for good as an individual. Blagojevich's character and questionable unethical dealings are separate issues, the bottom line, If Blagojevich's appointment of Burris is wrong, while he's still holding the Governor seat, then-if that's the case, all the other people he hired while in office is questionable as well, I refuse to believe that Blagojevich's character changed overnight. Let's Congratulate Mr. Burris and stop the hate already.