Smells like, well it just smells…

7. January 2009 by David A. Peterson.

The 111th Congress was sworn in yesterday. Normally this event just comes along every two years and nobody notices. Not this year we have three great Senatorial conflicts happening at the same time.

1st we have a new junior Senator from Illinois that isn’t allowed to take his appointed seat. The issue is well known. We have an Illinois Governor that should have resigned by now, but he decided to stick it to the citizens of his state and hang around for a few more months. While he is still there he just figured he might as well keep working and it was his job, his duty to make the Senatorial appointment.

Since the Illinois Governor’s issue is so well known the Democrats have stood up and united together on this 1st issue. They are refusing to allow Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to take his seat. As it turns out any of the current U.S. Senate members are allowed to object to a “tainted” individual from taking such an honorable position.

Personally I agree with the Democratic position on this topic. Even though Attorney General Burris is probably an honorable individual and he does appear to be qualified his appointment from a less than honorable Governor has cast a cloud of doubt.

The doubt leaves all Americans with the thought that the Senate itself is tainted. How can we trust our government when we can’t trust the ones doing the appointing?

What smells is not just the Illinois situation; the U.S. Senate has acted in this case, along with the Illinois government. There will be orderly outcome. Attorney General Burris may actually be seated in the Senate at the end of the day, but we need the day to be examined first.
 
What smells is the same Democratic leadership that is so quick to condemn the honorable Burris is completely silent on the 2nd Senatorial conflict. That is the Minnesota Senatorial election fiasco. Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and all of the Democratic leadership are united on the Burris conflict but we have not heard a word from them on the Minnesota conflict.

Is the Minnesota situation completely different? I agree it’s a little different we don’t have a Senate seat for sale but we do see a few more ballots being cast in heavily Democratic districts than we have voters. A few votes being counted twice, a few votes not being counted at all, oh and don’t forget about the votes found in the trunk.

What smells is that this really looks like an election that is being stolen. Why isn’t a Senate election that is being stolen not as important as a Senate election that is being sold to the highest bidder?

Where are President-elect Obama and Senate Majority Leader Reid on this conflict?

What Democrats don’t seem to understand is that you can’t be sort of trustworthy. Either your organization is trustworthy or it is not. There is no middle ground. If Burris is not honorable enough to serve then how in the world can Franken be allowed to serve?

President-elect Obama and Senator Reid need to rethink this issue. If they allow the comedian and talk show host Al Franken to take a seat in the next couple of weeks then they will immediately lose the little trust that they still have from the American public.

Again, even if Al Franken is the most honorable man in Minnesota you can’t seat him when the election outcome is so tainted. Your organization can’t be sort of trustworthy. It is or it is not, one or the other, never both. People either trust you or they don’t.

It just smells.

While I’m on my high horse would someone please, please tell Governor David Paterson of New York that Caroline Kennedy is not entitled to that Senate seat. This is the 3rd Senatorial conflict we are experiencing in the 111th Congress. The Kennedy family is trying to pass down another government post.

I’m sure she’s a great gal but a Senate seat is not a birthright. This just smells. Isn’t there anyone in New York that isn’t tainted? Where are President-elect Obama and Harry Reid on this appointment? You must be kidding. Don’t they both know just how bad this smells to the rest of us?

For government to work effectively it has to be trusted. The people are already reeling from Enron and Bernie Madoff. The people are reeling from the burst of the Internet bubble, and the burst of the housing bubble. Sub-prime lending and under-funded pension and health plans continue to fuel our fears.

Now on top of everything else the government trust bubble is about to burst. All of the Senatorial appointment situations just smell. You just have to wonder, we know about the Democratic problems with Burris, Franken, and Kennedy – what don’t we know?

President-elect Obama hasn’t even taken the oath of office and his party has some funky smell that is getting worse. I’m sure all of the Democratic leaders are very smart individuals. My question is why in the world would they wish this situation on themselves. They are literally trying to make it hard on themselves by not acting in a consistent honorable manner. 

At this rate, with this smell the 111th Congress may actually have a lower approval rating than the 110th – Unreal! Let me fix this problem for you… Do not seat Burris, Franken, and Kennedy in the Senate. Hold special elections in those states – the worst thing that can happen from these special elections is that the people will trust the Senate as an organization. Is that such a bad thing?

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