Roland Burris, Senator, MAYBE – 2009-01-12

It is interesting, if not ironic, to see the US Senate has, at least for the moment, refused to allow Roland Burris to take the seat of the junior senator from the state of Illinois.

If this isn’t a case of the "pot calling the kettle black".

Mr. Burris, you will remember, was appointed to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat by allegedly corrupt Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich .

Not only are the honorable members who are refusing to seat Mr. Burris renown for their infamous "ear marks" and "pork barrel spending" but over the years many have had a less than stellar reputations when it comes to honesty and moral turpitude.

Wasn’t it only a few months ago that the Senate gave fellow long-time Senator Ted Stevens,---- freshly convicted of seven felony counts,---- a standing ovation at the conclusion of his farewell speech before likely going off to serve a prison sentence?

And let’s not forget the sexual scandal involving underage Congressional Pages or Representative Barney Frank, the outspoken Massachusetts Democrat who hired a male prostitute who then ran a prostitution service from Frank’s residence in the 1980s. And how about Chapaquidik? Well, that was a long time ago, but you get the idea.

I have to admit that the term "honest politician" is in my view, an oxymoron.

Mr. Burris himself, at least to our knowledge, has been a good public servant, serving in the past as the Attorney General for the state of Illinois. Is he qualified to sit as a Senator? Well if Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken is qualified, then Mr. Burris likely is. I appreciate that Franken was elected (well maybe) and Burris was appointed, but I am speaking of qualifications.

But that is not the issue. The real issues are FIRSTLY that Congress has bigger problems to be spending their time on than who takes Mr. Obama’s senate seat; and SECONDLY, to quote someone who never ran for public office "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."