On Blago and Burris: The US Senate declined to seat Roland Burris today. I completely concur. For someone who is currently a state wide office holder, the man displays a lack of political judgment of chasmic dimensions.
Doofus move #1. In a fit of greedy, self serving ambition, Burris accepts Blago's appointment to the senate seat vacated by Obama, demonstrating that in the service of his own ends, he is absolutely prone to throw good sense out the window and let someone play him for their own political goals. Who wants that in a senator? He willingly allows Blago to put him in the middle of this mess, neatly diverting the conversation away from Blago's failings to an irrevelant conversation about the fairness or not of seating him. The cherry on top of that? The nauseating display of the man's malleable situational ethics. A few weeks ago, he was calling for Blago's head along with the rest. Now, he has no opinion on the governor's troubles. He's all "Whats your governor got to do with me? I'm not trying to hear that see". Outrageous.
Doofus move #2: Co-siging on the ridicoulous race card playing of former Black Panther, now politically senile grey panther Bobby Rush, Burris goes on the cable shows to insinuate that a refusal to seat him would be an example of racially unfair treatment. The insanely idiotic racial irony of this soap opera of petty politics has my blood at high boil. Obama just won the presidency running from the land of Lincoln with a campaign that tried its very best to talk to America beyond Obama's skin color. Now here comes Burris, monkey signifying bout how they better let him come sit in the big Senate house, blatantly insinuating racial animus where none, zero, zilch, de nada, exists if he is not seated. Here the whole country is on a racial harmony high having elected a black president and what is Burris doing? Blatantly playing the race card to serve his own personal lust for power, position and prestige. Its not subtle, its not smart, it lacks integrity and it spits all over the historicity of the illinois senate seat from which Obama has made history. Epic buzz kill.
Burris does not deserve to be seated because he's demonstrated that he's venal, possesses situational, two faced ethics, still works with a 2oth century racial politics toolbox that has outlived its utility and is stupid enough to tarnish his own reputation by helping an obviuosly corrupt governor lay down political cover fire to suppress the well deserved scrutiny coming his way. The people of Illinois don't want this zero for a senator I am quite sure.
On Obama and Panetta: Leon Panetta to head the CIA? Huh? Last I checked, Panetta was a competent enough manager, but no spook. Nothing wrong with being a career politician if you're any good at it, but I don't like the idea of a guy who's never been a spook a day in his life, with no professional national security street cred to speak of leading the CIA. It totally smacks of a pander to the left who didn't want any body who smelled of the Jack Bauer tactics of the current administration in the slightest. I don't like it. Obama was doing a good job ticking off the left, and I would have preferred his CIA pick be an appropriately effective spook pro. Panetta's choice feels like reflexive political pandering to the idea that we have to play nice on national security, even though we live in a world where no one else does. I assume the CIA's job is to do the nation's dirty work in the dark and you hope that there is some moral speed governor in place. I don't mind Obama placating the left, but I'd prefer he not do it by appointing a non spook to head CIA
