January 6, 2009
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Jesus made me do it.
Roland Burris is going to Washington today. Sure, neither Jessie White (Illinois Secretary of State) nor Nancy Erickson (Secretary of Senate) ever confirmed the appointment, but why should that stop Burris? He believes that he’s been divinely appointed. That’s right. His appointment has nothing to do with the $15,296 he’s given to the Blagojevich machine since 2002; his appointment has nothing to do with obvious racial politicking. Burris will be a senator because God wants him to be.
As frightening as I find people (politicians especially) who claim that God tells them what to do, it’s not just Burris’ ego mania that makes this whole situation infuriating. (Did you know he’s named both of his children after himself? Rolanda and Roland II. He also likes to refer to himself in the third person.) What makes this truly horrifying is that Blago has created a situation in which a black man will be barred from the glaringly white senate today. Blagojevich has made this situation into a racial one to take himself out of the spotlight. Like we’ll all somehow forget that he tried to sell Barack’s senate seat. Like we’re all somehow so stupid that we won’t notice that this is nothing more than an insulting minstrel show. (Dance, Jim Crow, dance!) Blago is using Burris. Worse, he’s almost exclusively using his skin.
I loathe the fact that the senate is 99% white, but this is not the way to make things better. There are plenty of people deserving of that senate seat, people of all colors and people who are able to acheive it legitimatly. And that legitimacy is everything.
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Ever met an ego maniac?EDIT: I just wanted to mention that this reminds me of the introduction of Sarah Palin once Hillary Clinton’s candidacy had waned. It’s that hideous notion that one vagina can replace another, just like one black man can replace another. We’re all the same when we’re getting used by The Man.
Comments (3)
No doubt! I know only what I have seen of this guy in the press and he seems very much like the guy who appointed him in his ego.The only other Burris I have ever heard of is Burris Ewell from To Kill A Mockingbird. He was in the first grade with Scout and he had the cooties. Little Chuck Little told him once that “I’d kill you soon as look at you, Burris.” And for first graders that made me laugh. Of course it is off point but I cannot help the name connection.I’ve met a few with the problem of thinking that admitting error or bad plans was a no-no. I think they must have taught that in leadership classes somewhere because old school administrative types tend to all do that to a degree. Kind of nuts. Still, politicians are rare breed. I do not think I have ever met someone as crazy as these types appear in the press.
I was busy most of the day today so I missed a lot of the Burris stuff. The whole thing smacks of ridiculous, though. Nobody (at least in my area) is giving Blago much credit for anything, and the nomination sort of looks like one more ridiculous thing. hrumpf.
What kind of monster would name a poor child “Rolanda?”Roland Burris.Gotta admit though that he’s spunky. LOL. Sigh…what is our political system coming to?