Reid Spokesman: Burris-Seating Story Is Wrong
We just asked Harry Reid spokesman Jim Manley for comment on whether the story about Roland Burris being accepted as a Senator from Illinois was true.
"It is wrong," Manley replied via e-mail.
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can this story get any weirder?
January 7, 2009 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
In a subsequent clarification, Manley stated that what he'd intended to say was that the story about Harry Reid not being a whiny sniveling little bitch who likes it up the ass from any and all Republicans is wrong.
January 7, 2009 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, closet, you're on a tear today.
January 7, 2009 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just so sick of Reid and the (other?) Republicans playing nicey-nice while Rome burns.
We won, they lost, F(*&k 'em!
That and I have a deadline to make at work and I'm cracking under the pressure ;-) By "cracking under the pressure" of course I mean procrastinating. And by "procrastinating" I mean screwing around wasting taxpayer money reading TPM and making snarky comments :-)
January 7, 2009 11:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me too, sweetie, on everything!
Reid has it backwards: when you win, you get to a*s-f**k the losers; they don't get to a*s-f**k you.
January 7, 2009 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
"NO TV UNTIL AFTER DINNER!"
"Okay, you can watch just five minutes! Five minutes, tops!"
"It's been a half-an-hour, and that TV needs to be off now! Dinner's ready!"
"I said now!"
"Yes, you can eat it in there, but don't you DARE spill anything on the new carpet!"
"Goddammit! That's my new carpet! That's it! No more TV before dinner! New rule! I mean it!"
Harry Reid. Our nation's doormat parent.
January 7, 2009 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Much respect to TPM for actually checking with the horses mouth before running with the story. All of the other blogs and news agencies are reporting this as a done deal.
January 7, 2009 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Amen.
January 7, 2009 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mitch McConnell(R) needs to approve the move first.
January 7, 2009 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sen. Feinstein Proposes Burris for Head of CIA
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=5519
January 7, 2009 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
As much as they'd like this whole mess to go away, they've drawn a line in the sand and they can hardly backtrack now without looking like chumps. Their only out is to somehow get Quinn to endorse Burris. Then they can plausibly say that since Quinn would appoint Burris after Blago's impeachment anyway, they see no reason to deny Illinois Senate representation in the meantime.
January 7, 2009 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, when has Reid NOT drawn a line in the sand and subsequently given in?
I frankly don't understand why he does that. The man has lost all credibility. Any threat he issues can be safely ignored because he has a long track record of knuckling under.
January 7, 2009 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was actually pretty surprised that Burris wasn't seated yesterday. I mean, when Harry Reid says something absolutely will not happen, I usually just assume that it will.
January 7, 2009 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
She's my daughter . . .
She's my sister . . .
She's my daughter . . .
. . . sister
January 7, 2009 11:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
HA HA!
HUGE kudos to you for this.
I mean that. Best comment I've read in months.
January 7, 2009 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reid and the rest of the Senate dems fucked up major big time when they jumped on the Blago thing prematurely.
If they'd kept their mouths shut and just let Blago hang himself, they could have quietly rejected Burris, citing the unsettled impeachment process, and they wouldn't look like such asses now.
Plus, they'd be able to grab the high ground on Franken, which they can't do because they're going so low on Burris.
January 7, 2009 11:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reid about Burris: "He's such a nice boy... and honest!" and yet "No tickie, no laundry!"
We sure do want to seat him though!
Really, really!
Durbin about Burris: "Not so fast, son! (It's not about race though!)"
"Oh and by the way, IT'S NOT ABOUT RACE! It's just ya know history, tradition, ya know... (oh and you better not lie to us, boy). It's not about race though. Really."
January 7, 2009 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
GOP is going to run a powder-puff candidate against Reid in 2010 because they don't want to see him defeated. Given the old boys network in the Senate, Reid knows nobody is going to make a play for his leadership, so the only way he loses it is if he loses an election. Therefore he bends over for the GOP at every turn and they don't run anybody against him and as a result he has the Senate Leadershop spot as long as he wants it.
January 7, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The primary role of a Secretary of State in American states is to insure the integrity of election processes. It doesn't matter whether the election is by the voters or by the governor, the Secretary of State's responsibility is to refuse to certify any election in which there are substantial problems of propriety.
Given that Blago cleary was trying to sell the senate seat, there's a substantial problem of proprietary. The Secretary of State of Illinois would be failing his duty to the constitution of that state were he to sign the paper and signify that Burris was properly elected.
And the U.S. Senate would be failing in its responsibilities if it accepted as senator someone not cleared for the office by the home state's Secretary.
This isn't even grey area. Reid is squarely within the requirements of the federal and state constitutions.
January 7, 2009 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
The selection of Roland Burris was clearly tainted. When all of Illinois was running from Blago, Burris was running to Blago. Whatever we think about the process, the fact is Burris should be seated. The more this Blago-Burris circus continues the media will continue to drag Obama's name into it.
January 7, 2009 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
If the Dems seat Burris the GOP will raise a stink about the Dems embracing the corrupt Blagojevich and wondering aloud how much Burris paid for the seat.
This circus is ugly, but I think the Dems need to fight the good fight. If the law eventually says he has to be seated, then at least they have political cover.
Also by fighting Burris now, they're effectively separating themselves from the Blago mess. He might be a Dem, but he's being painted as a rogue nutter Dem. The candidate the Dems run for the seat in 2010 will not have the Blago stink on them, something the GOp would surely run on if they embraced Burris and he ran for the seat in 2010.
January 7, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sounds like a good plan to me.
January 7, 2009 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink