Vacant Seat Filled By Empty Suit

Sen. Rolland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Governor Rod Unspellable to fill Obama's vacated seat, is making quite an impression:

By appointing Burris to inject racial politics into the battle to save his job, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) saddled Senate Democrats with one of the most dizzingly incoherent politicians in America, and threw the incredibly safe Illinois Senate seat open for a possible Republican takeover. Burris’s service in the Senate may one day be summed up by this accidental poem:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, this is — this is — I mean this is. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m done.

Stick a fork in him.

Comments

[Dave (in MA)]

Speaking of vacant seats and empty suits, Tina Fey can see the Middle East from Martha Coakley's sister's house. Coakley is considered the front-runner to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy.

[Jack is Back!]

Dave,

You know you should consider running. You could say that you are a poster on JOM and there are others there who have lived overseas. Then there is PeterUK. That association alone could get you a seat on the Foreign Relations Committee once elected.

On the other hand, I was surprised that Burris wasn't given the chairmanship of the Afghanistan subcommittee since he took over Obama's senate seat. Think about that anytime you don't think it can get worse over there.

[Thomas Collins]

It's worth reading all of the transcript of Burris's remarks, but I'll provide an excerpt.

"And I have so many thoughts just rolling through my head, I don’t even know where to start. I mean, this is — this is the meat that caused us political scientists to even exist, because you’re dealing with these major issues of the separation of powers and the creation of this country and whether or not you want your president to really have the powers that you granted it, and whether or not the Congress, which is on similar or equal footing, can then control or muscle in on those powers of the president."

I have a vision that a couple of thousand years from now, humankind will still have Aristotle's and Plato's meditations on political philosopjy from the Ancient Greek era, and all they'll have from our era are transcripts of Burris's and Teddy Kennedy's ruminations.

[Thomas Collins]

Of course, if I am going to poke fun at Burris and Teddy K., the least I could do is spell philosophy correctly! :-))

[Jack is Back!]

TC,

You spelled it exactly the way they would have - so what's the problem?

[clarice]

That is always a problem for me, too, TC.
Not that I can't spell/t's the typing and proofing that's the issue.
As for "one of the most dizzingly incoherent politicians in America",you think that's not a significant achievement? If so, you haven't really been paying attention.

[Extraneus]

You know how they give civics tests to high schoolers, and we're always shocked and appalled at the results? They should give that same test to the 535 in Congress, no staffers allowed, and let us see their scores.

[glenda waggoner]

them crazy political scientists!!

[Buford Gooch]

I lived most of my life in Illinois, and remember Burris as a clown from when he served statewide there. He has managed to further beclown himself on the national stage. No surprise.

[Janet]

Yes, great idea Extraneus. Let's also question them on AGW, carbon dioxide, medical procedures, and basic math.

[Janet]

This Marco Rubio video is great. LUN
Him, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Cheney,...I'd vote for Thomas Sowell if he would run. Anyway, it seems like we need a whole pack of strong conservatives to come in. The entrenched leftists are gonna make life miserable for just a single great conservative. Strength in numbers.

[narciso]

Speaking of empty suits, in the LUN

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

More on NY-23?

You know the Club for Growth poll showing Hoffman in the lead? It was questionable because CfG endorsed Hoffman and because it had a small sample size?

The poll was also practically deemed cooked by Nate Silver.

Well, Mark Blumenthal says http://www.pollster.com/blogs/ny23_watch_tuesday.php>not so fast

But the notion that this particular poll was cooked, that it used leading questions, an unorthodox frame and an implausible likely voter model is not supported by facts available. ...

Yes, caution is in order, but it's foolish to single out the Club for Growth/Basswood poll as somehow inherently implausible on such flimsy evidence.

So...

[Charlie (Colorado)]

with one of the most dizzingly incoherent politicians in America,

And they say Burris has achieved nothing.

[Porchlight]

Ooh, thanks for that Blumenthal link, hit. That clarifies the picture nicely.

[Porchlight]

From hit's link, Blumenthal quotes a Tweet from Chuck Todd:

Be very cautious of ALL NY 23 polling. Why? There's nothing driving turnout; figuring out WHO is going to vote is near impossible.

Nothing driving turnout? Really? This is a symbolic race with national attention. I could be wrong but I think conservatives will be very pumped to turn out for Hoffman and against Scozzafava.

[megapotamus]

Fork? Is he done or is he just getting started? I'm not sure what demonstrated level of lunacy, stupidity, criminality or vulgarity it takes for the good people of Illinois to actually vote otherwise than the Dem approved line but this doesn't seem to be a truly outstanding performance. Emptiness of suit is contributory I suppose but it is neither necessary nor sufficient. For a while there was repeated talk of Barack being an empty suit, of course W was tarred in the same fashion. But now nine months into the New Age we long for the steady sleeve of the Empty Suit but he has decamped long ago, as we now reckon time. For weeks we had the beneficent leadership and example of the Empty Dry Cleaner's Bag. He sheparded us through the bailouts and Stim The First but Empty Dry Cleaner's Bag also has left the building. We did not do too poorly with Empty Wire Hangar. As unemployment rose dramatically his enigmatic presence was soothing to the grateful nation but Empty Wire Hangar surrendered his office to Empty Coathook, who did not manage to do much but now, in our extremity, we are berefet. Empty Coathook has gone, we know not where. All that is left is a couple of holes in the drywall and the stewardship of Empty Suit seems like a childhood fantasy that we outgrew and quickly.

[clarice]

From VF no less--and now I'm kinda sorry they are going slowly out of business:
"E-Mail
Print
RSS
Share
Yahoo! BuzzOff the GridIs Obama a Sleaze?
by Michael WolffOctober 27, 2009, 1:42 PM

So it turns out there’s a reason the president hasn’t wrapped up health care or Iraq, figured out Afghanistan, closed Guantanamo, or found anybody a job. He’s been out raising money.

He’s been schmoozing, and golfing, and kissing ass.

The Wall Street Journal has outlined in quite excruciating detail just how the president has actually been spending a significant amount of his time and attention. In nine months he’s done 26 fundraisers. Three a month.

George Bush, by this point in his presidency, had, according to the Journal, only done six. The Journal says Obama’s hyper-fundraising is because of McCain-Feingold, which limits soft money contributions. Obama has got to do more to raise more. George Bush raised $48 million with his six fundraisers; Obama, so far, has only raised $21 million.

He’s not just been on his belly, but on his belly for a relative pittance."

[bad]

LOL

[narciso]

Todd, did start as a pollster and he can't figure this out.

[clarice]

Christie topping Corzine in polls--from Politico:
"Christie with a late surge
Two new polls out today suggest that Republican Chris Christie is holding the late momentum in the New Jersey gubernatorial race over Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.)

The latest Rasmussen survey shows Christie taking the lead over Corzine, 42 to 38 percent, with Independent Chris Daggett winning 14 percent of the vote. Last week, Corzine held a one-point lead over Christie, 37 to 36 percent in the initial ballot test.

When soft Daggett supporters were pushed to support either Corzine or Christie, Christie maintained a 46 to 43 percent lead, with Daggett at seven percent.

A separate poll from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling finds that late-deciding voters are lining up behind Christie. The poll shows Christie leading Corzine by four points, 42 to 38 percent with Daggett at 13 percent. Christie only led by one point over Corzine in the last PPP survey two weeks ago."

[Ann]

narciso:

You are going to love this:

Sarah Palin Strikes Back

[LTC John]

Not to worry, Senator Tombstone left room to carve "US Senator" on his memorial to his wonderful self.

Now that he has been one, could he go ahead and cease to disgrace the office any further? Of course, we have a leftie Governor, so any replacement would be no improvement....

[Frau Schnitzel]

He’s not just been on his belly, but on his belly for a relative pittance."
clarice, he's been on his back for a long time.

[clarice]

HEH--Well, do you suppose, frau, that he's like a turtle--with such a hard rounded shell he can['t right himself?

[Gabriel Sutherland]

Blagojevich is a political genius.

We are so blessed that he's so corrupt.

[Annoying Old Guy]

I'm not sure what demonstrated level of lunacy, stupidity, criminality or vulgarity it takes for the good people of Illinois to actually vote otherwise than the Dem approved line

If "The Rod" Blagojevich didn't manage to cross that line, I don't know what would. Burris is just a piker in comparison. But let me clear — it's not the good people of Illinois, it's the good people of Chicago (and yes, as far as I am concerned Crook County is part of Chicago).

[daddy]

I think I should run for President of Red China.

I spend a lot of time over there and know how to order cold beer (pee Jo) in mandarin. Plus I got a Yo Yo Ma album.

[clarice]

I'll drink to that, daddy.

[Melinda Romanoff]

AOG-

Stroger runs the branch office in the County building. If you want to get a flavor of Chicago-style patronage, how many "food workers', per patient, are there at Stroger Hospital?

(A hint: the same number of halves in "one")

Just the proverbial tip....

[Neo]

Burris can't hold a candle to George W. Bush.

[daddy]

Excellent link Ann,

It fascinates me, what with the new numbers today showing the MSM in lap dog free fall mode, with CNN dissolving into irrelevancy, and with every paper in the country save the WSJ spiraling into the dirt, that our Republican Party Leadership would find itself trying to foist upon us another RINO candidate that is the preferred choice of all those mouthpiece organs I listed above that are self disintegrating.

[Carol]

dizzingly

This is an actual word?

[osıɔɹɐu]

Nothing really surprises me on that front, anymore,Daddy, I mean they couldn't find
anyone more willing to tick off the base

[clarice]

If the Reps win in NJ and Va and Hoffman wins the 23rd, the blue dogs will be heading for the hills and the rinos will start growing spinal cords.

These off elections are proving remarkably important.

[Frau Schnitzel]

Where do we contribute, daddy? Actually, the U.S. could use a pilot in the WH. It's a fact that any beer summit called by you would be a success. I see a Nobel Prize for Literature in your future!
AOG - I posted that very thought about Crook County and the rest of Illinois this a.m., but typepad ate the post. I'm glad you got through.
It takes two large CA cities to pull off what Chicago does on a regular basis.

[Frau Schnitzel]

The rinos will grow spinal cords when they stop believing that the Senate is a family.

[Extraneus]

And there isn't going to be another media-selected Republican presidential candidate next time, either.

[centralcal]

I agree, Extraneus - no media selected candidate. However, the primary system needs to be really cleaned up in many of those early states too, and I don't see evidence of any movement in that direction so far.

[clarice]

What I think about the Senate as family is this--Forty years ago it was a great deal more collegial even though there were substantial policy disagreements often by true legislative giants. Today the policy differences seem designed largely for the hometown crowd of these pygmies and there is in actuality much less professional collegiality. What motivates most of these prancers is (a) being re-elected and (b) not being attacked or forced to defend their positions. It's not "family". It's a mutual defense operation.

[daddy]

And if Newt and the brain-trust really do view a 3rd Party movement as the worst of all possible outcomes, could their enemies have devised a finer strategy to drive voters toward a 3rd Party Option than what Newt's currently doing promoting Scoffvaza?

I can't think of one.

[Extraneus]

Me neither, cc. Of all the things Steele should have penciled onto his todo list from the get-go, that should have been #1. If Obama runs without a challenge, all the Ds will be available to vote in R primaries. Hopefully they'll have to choose between Sarah and Fred after Super Tuesday.

Damn, palinthompson2012.com is already taken.

[daddy]

Frau,

You can contribute at the Moose's Tooth Brewery tip-jar.

But after thinking about it I may have to reconsider my campaign for Chinese President.

I would run on a campaign of aggressive Nuclear Energy Production, promoting traditional values, enhancing high technical manufacturing across the country, Schools and Universities majoring in the hard sciences with a mandatory curriculum of English for every student in the country, fully examining the ramifications of harmful Marxist versus positive Capitalist economic schemes in getting the country functioning, building and maintaining a stable currency, avoiding a National debt which would cripple future generations forever, enhancing the Military, improving the Nation's infrastructure, aggressively dealing with the threat of militant Islam, properly maintaining the countries borders, and completely ignoring the Copenhagen/Kyoto carbon-fraudsters.

But they're already doing that in China.

So maybe I ought to aim for some different country.

Hmmm...Think there's any chance my nutty campaign scheme would work in America?

[Gregory Koster]

Daddy, I'll only vote for you as Red China's prez, if you promise to write the speeches the Chinese UN Ambassador has to give, in the manner of your Narciso-via-Shake ode...

What's all the crabbing about Burris? You'd rather have an articulate Lefty in the manner of Feingold? No no, in the present climate, a dumb Lefty Senator is the best kind of Lefty Senator the nation is going to get...

Clarice, nope. I've read Bruce Allen Murphy's FORTAS which recounts the attempted confirmation of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice to succeed Earl Warren in 1968. Collegality? Closer to cannibalism. The bitterness leaked to Nixon's two failed attempts at Court nominees in 1970. To the extent there was more collegality in those days, it came from the South being a one party reactionary Democratic monolith. Never going to defeat the South's Senators, save with a casket. Hence they didn't have to be so nasty, save when their "peculiar institution" was perceived to be threatened. That's too high a price for collegality in my view. TM said of Burris, "Stick a fork in him." A century ago, he'd have said "Stick a pitchfork into him. The good old days were rotten.

Besides, I think collegality is overrated. When the bastards get together, you know who their victim is going to be, e.g. steel tariffs under Geo. W. and the 2008 bailout. For that matter see William Forschten's new Science Fiction novel: NEWT GINGRICH AND HIS AMAZING ARTIFICIAL CONSERVATIVE or THE COUNTERFEIT REPUBLICAN IN THE 23RD DISTRICT

[unɹ puɐ ʇıɥ]

For Charlie, who was asking...apparently Hoffman is on Hugh Hewitt's....I'm not listening but radioblogger (hugh's producer) tweets:

Hoffman, ny 23 conserv party cand. on. Promised if he wins, will run in '10 as gop, will caucus w/house repubs. works for me.

So he's got that going for him...

[Soylent Red]

So Burris is an emptier suit?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

So he's got that going for him...

Yup, and that's another good point. As I said recently, knowing he'd caucus with the GOP would be a big plus.

[Towering Barbarian]

"By appointing Burris to inject racial politics into the battle to save his job, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) saddled Senate Democrats with one of the most dizzingly incoherent politicians in America,..."

Hey, I'm not sure that's fair to Burris! Long before him Carol Mostly Brainless, *ahem*, I mean Mosley-Braun was cutting edge when it came to incoherency and I'm willing to bet that you could get some fine examples of incoherence out of Todd Stroger and Richard Daley on any given day as well. We grow our Democrats for stupidity as well as well as corruption here in Chicago and we take great pride in the work we do. Obama is our masterpiece with Burris as merely one of the herd and foisting them both on the rest of America is our way of showing them off! ^_~

(To prevent interference in this work we also breed Republicans who head the local GOP for spinelessness and Wendell Wilkie Syndrome but that's another and sadder story!

[Uncle Fester]

Tremedous, Towering. I live in Chi also.

[Louie723]

"And I have so many thoughts just rolling through my head, I don’t even know where to start. I mean, this is — this is the meat that caused us political scientists to even exist"

It's coming to me now...Yes 'Kingfish goes to Congress'