Loose Ends... Vol. XXIV

Earlier this week, Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, proved that he truly is his own man and lived up to his vow to "fight, ... fight, ... fight" by nominating Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama as the junior Senator from Illinois. While most of media seems quite keen to vilify Blago before all of the facts are out there, I can't help but hope that this guy comes out on top. There's just something about him I like. He is no doubt sleazy, dirty and corrupt - a public servant to act as such disgusts me. But, the way he just goes out there and delivers the middle-finger... well, it's kind of... refreshing.

Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) is vowing to block the nomination by refusing to seat Burris. Reid was on Meet the Press this morning (I missed it, but got the scoop from my lovely wife) and stated that "there's clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do." Wow! This should be fun. Reid is referencing Article I, Section V of the Constitution which gives the Senate authority to judge the "elections, returns, and qualifications" of its members. From my humble perspective (not having a Juris Doctor in Constitutional Law), Reid has no leg to stand on. Burris is qualified. Blagojevich is still the governor and has the authority (responsibility?) to nominate someone.

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It's getting late, and I have to get back to work tomorrow. A couple other quick things to be aware of... Bill Richardson (governor of New Mexico) has removed himself from consideration as Obama's appointee for Commerce Secretary. There has been an on-going "pay-to-play" scandal surrounding him in New Mexico which is not going to wrap as conveniently as desired.

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Finally, I have to at least mention the recent increase in hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This is far too big to get into now. But, this could get ugly. Obama made it clear that he was going to be an advocate for Israel with his speech before AIPAC in the spring. We'll see if he will try to beat George W. Bush at the game of appeasing the Israeli lobby.