Blagojevich to name Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Gov. Blagojevich: "Gov. Blagojevich today is expected to name former state Comptroller and Attorney General Roland Burris to Illinois' vacant U.S. Senate seat, a knowledgeable source said this morning."
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Burris is 71 years old, black, and a former state Attorney General and Comptroller. His political career was over until he (and probably Emil Jones) convinced Blagojevich to make him a Senator, because he has run unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago, Governor (twice), and Senator. That is the trifecta if you ask me. However, I suspect he would have been at least as good at those jobs as their current or previous occupants, and he is as qualified to be a US Senator as anybody, I suppose. I think that will become obvious as Burris defends his appointment in the media over the next few days.

With his crafty little mind, Blagojevich thinks this appointment will pit the leaders of the Democratic Party, who are white liberals, against black politicians and voters. He hopes the party will have a huge crisis because the Democrats will have to decide whether to reject on legitimacy grounds a respected black politician who is actually qualified to be a Senator--unlike the pathetic Caroline Kennedy, who can be rejected because she is, like, unqualified, you know?

And in the process, Blagojevich thinks he will gain some black popular and political support that will help insulate him against impeachment by the Democrats who run the state legislature. Burris is a buddy of Emil Jones, who as leader of the State Senate was the only major ally Blagojevich had. Jones' shenanigans in the Senate enabled Blagojevich to bring the state government to a standstill over capital spending, taxation, education funding reform, and everything else. Jones is a dunce, Blagojevich is a narcissistic fool, and now they have the Burris appointment to create more dysfunction with. Grandstanding and dysfunction are Blagojevich's hallmarks.