Race rears it's ugly head!

It looks like Burris might get his Senate seat and will effectively get one more notch onto his tomb. His tomb is already to go for him and his wife and already highlights the many achievements of his lifetime. Affixed on it is the seal of the State of Illinois.

Looking at his tomb some could conclude that this man has one of the biggest egos that can be found in anyone. Some might even point to the fact that his children are both named for him. Son and daughter as evidence of his big ego.

That's not why his appointment to the US Senate is troubling. It's more troubling that he was appointed by Rod Blagojevich, because the Governor was already arrested for selling the Senate seat that he's attempting to appoint Burris. What makes this issue worse is that the issue of race is being thrown in there.

At Burris press conference, Bobby Rush came in to discuss his support of Roland Burris' appointment to the Senate. Yesterday Jesse Jackson Jr. made a statement in support of Burri's appointment. Rush and Jackson themselves members of the US House or Representatives want to note that it's very important to have a black person in the US Senate. Keeping Burris out in spite of this cloud would be tantamount to a George Wallace keeping black students out of a state university in Alabama.

That would be unfortunate! I would dare say shortsighted that they would choose an appointment by a corrupt Governor to sound the alarm about a lack of minority (or black) representation in an august body as the US Senate. While I can agree there should be more blacks in the Senate, my answer would be to say I don't want it this way. Not a controversial appointment with the liberal use of this race card in order to have my way. It's almost like seeking crumbs at the table as opposed to earning a huge chunk of the pie.

I read a column by the Sun-Times' Mark Brown that suggested that Burris' attempts to get himself seated in the US Senate in spite of this cloud over who appointed him might make it difficult for another black to be elected to the US Senate. Indeed if Burris chose to run in 2010, and current indications are that he would because Brown says Burris' ego is that huge, that it would be very difficult for another black to make a run for the Senate in the next decade. This makes this whole struggle even more shortsighted. Almost like the old guard attempting to get one last hurrah.

Anyway today Blagojevich will get his senate appointment. He will get his publicity and he can turn around and say that he got a black man appointed to the Senate after a brief fight. Of course he'll neglect the fact that's he's very unpopular and the ethical cloud hanging over his own head. While he did say that Burris shouldn't be affected by the charges against the Governor, it's possible that the charges against the Governor will have nothing to do why the Governor made this appointment anyway.

All I can further say is that the door was left open. Instead of addressing the issue of this cloud, they left it hanging. And the Governor sort of broke his promise (well if I recall correctly his lawyer declared that he won't make an appointment although another lawyer said he didn't know if the Governor would make an appointment) and we're in a unfortunate situation now!

BTW, I still remember an appearance he made on Bruce Dumont's Beyond the Beltway radio show where he basically justified Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds by declaring that the Kurds were NOT his people. DuMont seemed to have had some disgust to that statement mouthing, "And that makes it OK." In other words, I don't have much faith in Burris' ability to debate issues regarding foreign affairs.

Related
Cartoon via State Journal Register
The Burris Circus and the Politics of Race - ABCNews
Burris Gains The Support Of Feinstein, Some Black Caucus Members - AllHeadlineNews
Blagojevich race card lands softly in Senate fight - AP
Daley: Burris has 'cloud over him' - Clout St.
Capitol Fax round up on Burris' admittance to the US Senate