The Honest Truth

I fail at a lot of things


But I mean everything I say and everything I do


And someday, you will be proud of me


It's my destiny

Secy of State Clinton

Watching Secretary of State-Designate Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate and



VERY impressed.


Her view of the middle east is a sharp break from the foolishness we have witnessed under the former (it feels nice to say that) Republican administration.

Combating Hamas with diplomatic aid is a concept that will work. If we eliminate the need for Hamas, they will lose legitimacy and power.

She'll do just great.

Roland Burris and his uphill battle

I understand that pretty much all of America is completely against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and that there will always a hurricane sized cloud of suspicion over everything he does. However, I still feel as if it is illegal to not seat his Senate appointment. After all, like it or not, Blagojevich is still the legal governor of Illinois.

Every top Democrat has publicly spoken out against Gov. Blagojevich, and has said that any pick that he makes will not be seated. All the world now views Roland Burris, who is officially Gov. Blagojevich's appointment to President Obama's vacant Senate seat, as connected to the scandal as well.

I understand the ethical dilemma and the illegitimate view that Roland Burris receives because of the governor, but he is none the less the official and legal appointment.
I also understand the absolute knee-jerk reaction that every politician has to distance his or herself from the governor of Illinois, especially since it concerns a brand new and hugely popular incoming president's former seat.

The Secy of State for Illinois has refused to sign off on the appointment, and because of that, the Secretary of the Senate refused to accept it. Even Majority Leader Reid stated that he would not seat Burris today.


Now, this is all within the realm of a political battle, and a over exaggerated effort of top Democratic leaders to distant themselves from a embattled and corrupt looking governor, but I can not ignore the fact that neglecting and denying Burris his rightful and legal Senate seat is a great violation of the law.

Now, I am no constitutional lawyer (yet) but this seems to me to be a very winnable case.
The Secretary of State for Illinois should have signed it, because it was the legal and right thing to do, no matter how scandal ridden the appointee is.


The quick fix, which by the way will not happen anytime soon, would be for Gov. Blagojevich to step down, and for the Lieutenant Governor (Pat Quinn) to immediately appoint Burris.
However that will not happen because Blagojevich has not been convicted of anything, and really hasn't done anything wrong yet (that we can clearly see).

So then what?

Burris is going to meet with Majority Leader Reid and Senator Durbin on Wednesday, and hopefully they can come to a decision to sit this 100% legal appointment for the Senate seat of Illinois. If he wants to keep the seat, he will have to run for it in 2010 anyway, and the people of Illinois deserve proper representation as soon as possible.

UPDATE (1:30 a.m.): Just let me be clear, even though I recognize the politics surrounding the accusations against Gov. Blagojevich, it still bothers me that the clear law of the land is being violated. There is corruption within American politics, but the aversion of the law and the disregard of American tradition is far more bothersome.