Feinstein: Burris should be seated

Having just thoroughly dissed Dianne Feinstein over the "Panetta peeve," I reluctantly agree with Josh Marshall: she's right in concluding that Blagojevich's appointment of Burris is legal and there's no really good reason not to seat him. I've changed my mind on this issue. Burris is a fool to have accepted this nomination, because he will never be free of the taint of Blagojevich. And Blagojevich is a sociopath and a thoroughly destructive agent in the whole affair, who obviously made this appointment out of spite. But the fact remains that he is governor, he had the right to do it, the secretary of state has no valid reason to withold certification, and the Senate has, never mind the right, no good reason not to seat him.

Burriss should step aside

I have no particular animus towards Roland Burriss. I think he was a fool to accept a nomination from Blagojevich, since it (predictably) probably will effectively end his political career instead of propelling him into the Senate, but that doesn't reflect on him much beyond that he was a bit blinded by ambition; hardly unusual in a politician.

To add to that, however, I have to say that this story, showing his gigantic pre-need memorial monument, is indicative of a genuinely narcissitic personality. We've got enough of those types in the Senate already.

As I understand it, it's an open question whether the Senate's constitutional power to determine the "qualifications" of its members, and the validity of their election (as opposed to appointment), gives the body the power to do anything other than seat Mr. Burriss. But since there is pretty solid opposition to accepting any appointment made by Blagojevich, I join Democrats all over the nation in calling on him to step aside for the good of the Republic, to allow an orderly process of selection (no doubt of someone else)-- free of the taint of Gov. Blagojevich.

TPM reader: Blago, deadly combination: ignorance and arrogance

Talkingpointsmemo quotes this, from a reader:

Simply put, Blagojevich is that deadly combination of ignorance and arrogance. One or the other is survivable, but the two, combined,
are not. I know from speaking with many of my friends who have worked with him over the years (including on his campaigns) that he is as dumb as a box of rocks. (The campaign folks would never let him talk to the press, unscripted, à la Palin.) He also thought he was God's gift to the planet.

In recent years, his circle of advisers has shrunk to a miniscule three or four who make Bush's "yes men" crew look like a debate society. As a friend in state government told me recently, "Everyday Blagojevich gets up and says 'What can we do today?'" The point being, there is (and has been) no rhyme or reason for his governance. Fundamentally, the guy is an idiot, as the taped conversations prove. He is simply a jackass.

Seems quite credible to me. A key point here is that Blago surrounded himself with a very small number of cronies who were privy to his dumb, arrogant shenanigans. If that's true, he may go down without too much fuss or too many repercussions, especially for the new administration.

A Major Distraction for the Obama Administration

Although there is as yet no indication at all of any involvement on the part of President-elect Obama or anyone in his transition team with the debased shenanigans of Governor Blagojevich ("Blago," as he's becoming known), it is impossible to see these events as anything other than an extremely unwelcome distraction for the Obama transition and the commencement of his presidency. As a senator from Illiniois, there have to be normal contacts between the governor and his staff and Obama and his aides, and inevitably the prosecution and investigators will want to talk to people close to Obama to find out what they know.

The best outcome would be if it were to trun out that Blago was pretty much a loose cannon and rogue element, and the investigation turns up an open and shut case against him and one or two close aides, and that's it. The second best would probably be that for whatever reason the whole thing is delayed and slow to develop, so that whatever interviewing of Obama's aides and contacts takes place will not come until after the "hundred days" or whatever you want to call the critical first few months of the administration. The hope that there will be no serious distraction from what must be the greatest need for focus on issues a new administration has had to face in many decades is, unfortunately, forlorn.