The Blagojevich Soap Opera
This whole episode seems to be a comedy of (apparent) errors. The problems all stem from the Federal prosecutor, Fitzgerald. His news conference and revelation of taping phone conversations and accusations against the Illinois governor put many folks in a box, right off the bat. The Illinois legislative leaders made it clear that they would seek to remove Blagojevich from office. The Illinois Secretary of State, a Democrat, also stated that he would not sign any papers giving certification to a senate appointee made by Blagojevich. Democrats in the U.S. Senate, led by Harry Reid, issued statements that they would NOT seat ANY appointee made by Blagojevich. With all of these "absolutes" made, it now seems that there were some major misjudgments made.
Recently, the Federal prosecution has asked for an extension in filing an indictment against the Illinois governor. It seems that his original accusations put the cart before the horse. The political system moved against Blagojevich because of Fitzgerald's announcement, but now Fitzgerald has put off an indictment. This all gave Blagojevich the chance to appoint a new senator for Illinois, a power given Illinois governors by state law. He made the absolutely "perfect" political choice to give the finger to Harry Reid and company, as well as everyone else involved in this case, as he chose a former Illinois official, Roland Burris, who was essentially retired, and who happens to be black. This threw the whole situation back at pretty much everyone lined up against Blagojevich. This immediately brought the race issue to the forefront, and Blagojevich quickly offered comments that Harry Reid had called him about the appointment of a new senator awhile back. According to Blagojevich, Reid found several prospective candidates basically unacceptable, because of his feeling that they would not be able to win election in their own right in 2010. Two of those candidates were black congressmen.
Appointee Burris emphatically said that he had every intention of taking his seat in the Senate, and indeed, he went to Washington for the opening of the Senate on January 6. His certification papers lacked the signature of the Illinois Secretary of State, and this was the reason given for turning him away. The Democratic Senate leaders have been in a pickle since Blagojevich announced the appointment of Burris, but this bought them a little time to think things through. They now "seem" reconciled to seating Burris, if he gets the signature of the Illinois Secretary of State. Senate leaders will not need eggs for breakfast for quite some time, although a face cloth would be handy.
The Senate leaders have been claiming that they have a right to refuse to seat Burris, because any appointment made by Blagojevich is "tainted." The problem is, Illinois law gives the governor the right to appoint new senators to fill vacancies. The last I checked, Blagojevich is still the governor. Any law passed by the Illinois legislature will need his signature, so why is this appointment somehow different? The people involved here really got into a mess and Blagojevich took advantage of it. To me, the prosecutor needed to stay out of this whole thing, unless he was ready to bring an immediate indictment. By making public statements, this has thrown this whole thing up in the air, as politicians "thought" they were doing right, because of the prosecutor's statements. Fitzgerald seems to have tried to avert a potential "sale" of the Illinois senate seat, but I'm not sure this was the right thing to do. Democracy can be messy, but that's what it is. If Blagojevich had been able to "sell" the seat to the highest bidder, and all of the evidence ducks were in a row, then there are procedures for the Senate to handle such matters. Further, there are legal procedures that would have dealt with Blagojevich, and those procedures may yet come into play against him, whenever Fitzgerald actually gets an indictment. At a time when the country faces a severe recession, we didn't need this soap opera on the news every day, but stay tuned, because who knows what's next?
Word History:
Air-It "seems" to go back to Indo European "awer," which had a notion of "raise, rise." This gave Ancient Greek "aer" (meaning, "air, clouds, atmosphere"). The Greek term passed into Latin and thus into Old French as "air." During the 1300s it gradually replaced the original Germanic word in English for "gases of the atmosphere," which was "lyft, luft," and I'm sure most of you know that German still has "Luft" to mean "air." (Most would probably be more familiar with the military term "Luftwaffe," for the German air force, which by the way literally means "air weapon," and yes, "Waffe" is related to English "weapon.") Also, "lyft, luft" didn't really disappear, but their replacement by "air" gave them leeway to develop in a little different way, and they eventually became "lift" and "loft" in modern English. Again, you see the notion of "raise" with "lift," and "be raised up above the ground floor," with "loft."
Recently, the Federal prosecution has asked for an extension in filing an indictment against the Illinois governor. It seems that his original accusations put the cart before the horse. The political system moved against Blagojevich because of Fitzgerald's announcement, but now Fitzgerald has put off an indictment. This all gave Blagojevich the chance to appoint a new senator for Illinois, a power given Illinois governors by state law. He made the absolutely "perfect" political choice to give the finger to Harry Reid and company, as well as everyone else involved in this case, as he chose a former Illinois official, Roland Burris, who was essentially retired, and who happens to be black. This threw the whole situation back at pretty much everyone lined up against Blagojevich. This immediately brought the race issue to the forefront, and Blagojevich quickly offered comments that Harry Reid had called him about the appointment of a new senator awhile back. According to Blagojevich, Reid found several prospective candidates basically unacceptable, because of his feeling that they would not be able to win election in their own right in 2010. Two of those candidates were black congressmen.
Appointee Burris emphatically said that he had every intention of taking his seat in the Senate, and indeed, he went to Washington for the opening of the Senate on January 6. His certification papers lacked the signature of the Illinois Secretary of State, and this was the reason given for turning him away. The Democratic Senate leaders have been in a pickle since Blagojevich announced the appointment of Burris, but this bought them a little time to think things through. They now "seem" reconciled to seating Burris, if he gets the signature of the Illinois Secretary of State. Senate leaders will not need eggs for breakfast for quite some time, although a face cloth would be handy.
The Senate leaders have been claiming that they have a right to refuse to seat Burris, because any appointment made by Blagojevich is "tainted." The problem is, Illinois law gives the governor the right to appoint new senators to fill vacancies. The last I checked, Blagojevich is still the governor. Any law passed by the Illinois legislature will need his signature, so why is this appointment somehow different? The people involved here really got into a mess and Blagojevich took advantage of it. To me, the prosecutor needed to stay out of this whole thing, unless he was ready to bring an immediate indictment. By making public statements, this has thrown this whole thing up in the air, as politicians "thought" they were doing right, because of the prosecutor's statements. Fitzgerald seems to have tried to avert a potential "sale" of the Illinois senate seat, but I'm not sure this was the right thing to do. Democracy can be messy, but that's what it is. If Blagojevich had been able to "sell" the seat to the highest bidder, and all of the evidence ducks were in a row, then there are procedures for the Senate to handle such matters. Further, there are legal procedures that would have dealt with Blagojevich, and those procedures may yet come into play against him, whenever Fitzgerald actually gets an indictment. At a time when the country faces a severe recession, we didn't need this soap opera on the news every day, but stay tuned, because who knows what's next?
Word History:
Air-It "seems" to go back to Indo European "awer," which had a notion of "raise, rise." This gave Ancient Greek "aer" (meaning, "air, clouds, atmosphere"). The Greek term passed into Latin and thus into Old French as "air." During the 1300s it gradually replaced the original Germanic word in English for "gases of the atmosphere," which was "lyft, luft," and I'm sure most of you know that German still has "Luft" to mean "air." (Most would probably be more familiar with the military term "Luftwaffe," for the German air force, which by the way literally means "air weapon," and yes, "Waffe" is related to English "weapon.") Also, "lyft, luft" didn't really disappear, but their replacement by "air" gave them leeway to develop in a little different way, and they eventually became "lift" and "loft" in modern English. Again, you see the notion of "raise" with "lift," and "be raised up above the ground floor," with "loft."
Labels: Anglo-Saxon, English, etymology, French, German, Greek, Harry Reid, Latin, politics, Rod Blagojevich, Roland Burris
posted by Randy at 3:13 PM
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