Monday, January 05, 2009

Bye-Bye Burris...

You'd think, living in Illinois, we'd kind of be used to our "dirty politics" and it wouldn't bother us to be the butt of nation-wide jokes. But you know, there's Barack Obama, who was supposed to make it all shiny and new again. Then, Rod had to go muck it up as if someone stuck a knife in his hairspray bottle. It's all sticky, nasty and just plain icky. Roland? Oy, don't get me started. First off, who in God's name calls their children by their own first name? Who's got a "compensating issue" with a monument as big as a Sherman tank? And who couldn't, on national TV tonight, pronounce "senator" correctly? Roland, please do us the favor that our governor refuses to do. Bow out gracefully. Re-think. Consider "spending more time with the family" and consider the fact that your partner in all of this is making a shameful display of his own bigotry. Bobby Rush, somehow strangled with his own importance, is calling the Senate's rebuff of Burris "plantation politics." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. This man apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word irony though his own comments are dripping with it. He wouldn't support Obama; going instead for the rich white guy. Then, he hopped aboard the Obama train. Now, though, he seems to see some opportunity lurking somewhere. I can't see it myself, but Illinois politicians don't support someone just because they're altruists. They support the other guy because it's wired in their DNA. Pay-to-play is a concept but it's also an intrinsic part of Illinois politics. Once you have that part figured out, you can almost see where the next step will be. However, in Rush's case, I'm not sure what Burris has to offer. Burris is a joke. He can't make elected office on his own; he has to rely on a has-been governor, who hasn't got the sense God gave a goose, to appoint him to a position for which he may meet the bare qualifications (age, residence in the state), but for which he is in no way capable to handle the job (he's just not smart enough). This is one of those times when I shake my head. And I'm grateful that nobody in my family is in politics. We can just sit and watch the sideshow.