If we knew Blago's pick wasn't corrupt, should he still be blocked?

[babylonsister]

http://www.jedreport.com/2009/01/if-we-knew-blagos-pick-wasnt-c.html

If we knew Blago's pick wasn't corrupt, should he still be blocked?


Perhaps the most important part of the Amar and Chafetz argument is that even if we knew for certain that there had been no quid pro quo between Burris and Blago, there would still be very good reason to keep Burris out of the Senate.

To be sure, there is no evidence Burris bribed the governor to get this seat. But imagine if Burris had won election only because other candidates were wrongly and corruptly kept off the ballot. Surely the Senate could properly deem this an invalid election. Similarly, it now seems apparent that there were candidates that Blagojevich refused to consider for improper reasons--because one refused to "pay to play" early on, or because another is at the center of the impending criminal case against the governor.

The key point here is that there are at least two ways in which Blago's appointment could be improper. (1) There could be a deal with Burris. (2) Candidates who refused to bribe Blago could be excluded from consideration.

We can be almost certain that (2) has taken place. We don't know about (1), though most suspect that it hasn't. But that doesn't matter. The appointment process has still been corrupted.

The bottom-line is that when you have a Governor who was trying to sell a Senate seat, there is virtually no way for him (or her) to make an appointment that isn't tainted by his (or her) corruption.

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http://www.slate.com/id/2207754/pagenum/all/

How the Senate Can Stop Blagojevich
It easily has the power to block the governor's appointment of Roland Burris.
By Akhil Reed Amar and Josh Chafetz

[NOW tense]

1. Yes

[Saturday]

2. So we've had the Grand Jury and the trial?

Blago is guilty? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

[WeDidIt]

5. Blago is guilty of a lot mroe than trying to sell the Senate seat

but yeah, Blago is also guilty of trying to sell a Senate seat.

He'll be impeached, which is all I care about.

[Peregrine Took]

3. He tried to do a lot of good for the people of Illinois but the old time power

hogs in the state legislature hated and feared his becoming too popular.

[WeDidIt]

4. Bingo!

And the simple act of accepting such a tainted appointment taints Roland Burris.

[DCKit]

6. The question is moot.

1) He pressed to prevent an appeal after someone else had confessed to the murder (1992). I'm thinking there were some "irregularities" in the conduct of the trial.
2) The man has built a monument of a headstone detailing his accomplishments - with enough room left over to detail his stunning senate career. We don't need any more with that personality type in Congress.