Friday, February 20, 2009
News / Clout City Don't Quit, Roland
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 02.20.09 at 01:02 PM
Well, now that everyone in Illinois--from Dan Hynes to Sara Feigenholtz--is suddenly a reformer and wants Senator Roland Burris to resign, I'll take the counter view.
Hang in there, big feller. Don't leave unless they drag you out!
And from a purely practical standpoint, why should he leave? His term is almost over. The 2010 primary is about a year away. The campaign will be gearing up in a matter of months. Unless Governor Quinn were to stun us all by appointing a Republican--or, God forbid, a Green--whoever replaces Burris will vote the same way on President Obama's legislation.
Yes, it's true, the longer Burris stays the more embarrassment it brings to our entire political system. But what's wrong with that? We deserve to be the butt of the jokes. In the long run, it may even help us by giving the International Olympic Committee pause before they shackle us with Mayor Daley's games.
Besides, what's really accomplished by driving Burris out? Will it make our state representatives bolder in their dealings with House speaker Madigan? Will it inspire aldermen to keep the mayor from selling off assets or squandering money on the Olympics? Will the Community Development Commission or the Chicago Plan Commission stop acting like rubber stamps on deals for insiders? I doubt it.
We're like the townspeople in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery." Every now and then we pillory a politician--George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich, Roland Burris. It makes us feel really good about ourselves. Then we look the other way while the rest of them rob us blind.
I'm starting to wish that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald hadn't even bothered to interrupt Blago's scheming back in December. If you recall, Fitzgerald said he arrested Blago to keep him from tainting the process of appointing a senator to fill Obama's vacant seat. In other words, Fitzgerald wanted to avoid exactly what we have.
I wish Fitzgerald had let it all play it out so we could see exactly how our pols behave when they think no one's listening. If nothing else, I'd love to see how that Tribune deal really was going to work.
Comments (32)
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it's really pathetic that so many citizens seem to think they have so much concern about honesty in government, yet so few appreciate the potential contained within our present circumstances for actually achieving the goal of electing substantially honest individuals. Before we, as responsible citizens, can achieve that goal, we must have honest individuals available to us to vote for. Before we can ever hope to have honest individuals on our election ballots to vote for, we must face the reality that most to all of those currently elected/reelected incumbents are not substantially honest individuals. Because, as long as we, the people, continue to accept those politically jaded individuals, who make up most of the upper echelons of both the Republican and Democratic political parties, as the only viable candidates available for both election and the operating of our three branches of government, the Legislative, the Judicial and the Executive, we will continue to be the willing victims of the consequences of applying the old adage 'better the devil you know, than the devil you don't know'. It's the jaded and apathetic electorate who are responsible for abandoning the true promises of a democracy, thus permitting those devoid of sincere and authentic respect for those whom they purport to be serving to run rampant. 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me' applies here. We should all be ashamed of how little value we have chosen to place on true honesty in our governments. HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT
RE: Lift the Rock Although I agree with some of your points here, your blame the victim stance is mostly wrong and naive. The electorate are constantly subjected to systematic efforts to render them jaded and apathetic, by the government, media, etc. I don't believe it is the public at large's fault that we have so little real opportunity to vote dishonest and corrupt incumbents out. RE: clout city blog Keep up the great work! Thank you.
Even as a child, if a man had come up to me and tried to stick his finger up my, telling me that I'd like it, I'd have bit his fucking nose off. We are victims of our own choices. Those who choose to surrender to the propagandas they are subjected to have no excuse, no honest reason and no ethical position to complain about the many fingers up their asses; either you choose to take it, whether you like it or not, or you bite their fucking noses off. Every citizen not registered to vote has chosen to take it. Every citizen registered to vote but who fails to vote has chosen to take it. Every citizen who chooses to reelect an incumbent office holder has, substantially, chosen to take it. Every citizen who chooses to create any of the myriad of rationalizations they regularly use to excuse themselves of their responsibilities as citizens and, by these creations, to convince themselves that their actions or inactions are not responsible for the fucked up mess our democracy is in, has chosen to take it. It's become just a question of whether they like it or not. Until we, as citizens, choose not to take it, those who dish it out, and up our asses, will continue to enjoy exploiting the opportunities that we allow them to. HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT
Has anyone actually tried directly contacting the International Olympic Committee regarding the resistance to Mayor Daley's games being staged here?
Selfish ignorant citizens elect selfish ignorant politicians. This city is a bunch of damn fools!
Why are Ben and Mick so dead set against an event that will provide an instant revenue stream for the city. Prez Obama state "Mayor Daley has improve the lives of millions of Citizens. Cut and paste man has no viable solutions. Most of our elected officials are up standing men and women of high moral fiber.
Revenue stream? Like Millinium Perk(yes i mean perk), Soldier Field, Miegs Field, O'Hare Expansion,.. Were still paying for the last revenue stream of events from the Daley Administration. $Millions and Millions$ of dollars of over budget projects! OLYMPICS 2016 will be the grand dad of them all!
Why was Fritchey so determined to defend Burris and cut off questions? What is Fritchey hiding, a new deal he cut with burris? What did Fritchey get out of it.
That is a joke, Frank Coconuts talking about municipal finance. This guy does not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of yet he has an opinion on billion dollar city projects that benefit the taxpayer ?
Thats right Orion imposter Patrick McDonough. Every taxpayer deserves a oppinion. Show some guts pat, put your name on something that needs thought. ---------------------------------- Fritchey? How about Sara Feigenholtz-- taking money from a corrupt Union that supported Gov. Blago and actually used all the money from laid off traffic aids and janitors or better yet how about Quigley running Todd Strogers campaign. Come on if your going to talk lets put it all on the table. Roland Burris may be a product of this Illinios System, but he sure is not the head of the monster. The monster is the Daley's and until we eliminate them, this state is nothing more than a money maker for the Rich!!!
This system should be changed for the future. I am not a big fan of Roland Burris, but on the other hand Burris will vote with Durbin and Obama on everything. The next election is right around the corner. IL has a $9 billion budget deficit. Elections are more democratic, but special elections are expensive. Where would the $$ come from to fund a special election? Remember, every decision has a price tag. We could hold our nose and live with Burris until the next election.
Senator Burris is better than having one of the kiddie corp. taking the seat. Madigan,Hynes,Jackson Jr, or some rich kid that doesn't know what a shovel or broom is... Roland Burris knows what it is to work. His crime is that he was black , if his name was Daley or Madigan, it would be a blip in the News. Mayor Daley and Mike Madigan are teflon Dons of the Irish Outfit because Fitzpussy works for THEM!The have both done allot worse than Blago, when it comes to violating ethics of the office. But when they do it,it's considered business.Leave burris alone Fitzpussy , unless you go after the real problems.
Move on Coco, your rants never end. You mean nothing to anyone in the political arena anymore. Enjoy your bigshot job in the burbs, move your family there and leave people alone. We wish you and yours the best, but shut up. You have nothing to add but HATE. SAD EVIL HATE. Bensenville is a nice place to live I heard, except the loud planes and rotten Mayor.
Coconate is our guy , back off him. He tells it like it really is. GO GET THEM ALL COCONATE!
Orion February 21st - 5:18 a.m. That is a joke, Frank Coconuts talking about municipal finance. This guy does not have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of yet he has an opinion on billion dollar city projects that benefit the taxpayer ? In the dark again February 21st - 6:17 p.m. Move on Coco, your rants never end. You mean nothing to anyone in the political arena anymore. Enjoy your bigshot job in the burbs, move your family there and leave people alone. We wish you and yours the best, but shut up. You have nothing to add but HATE. SAD EVIL HATE. Bensenville is a nice place to live I heard, except the loud planes and rotten Mayor. ----------------------------------- I hate Cocopuffs.
I would rather have Burris than Cheryl Jackson, who has no history of doing anything. She is in the race to take black votes from Roland Burris.
Frank Cocopuffs bitches off about city corruption, But if that ding dong d*ldo were in power, He'd shaft the average Joe & Say "Fu*k yo ALL!!!!, I'M KING of the Wild Frontier!!!!!". Time to give Cocopuffs shock treatment sans the mouthpiece tongue depressor.
Not Sonny The Cuckoobird, I'll be running it sooner than you think. I will be a friend to all working class people. My main goal will to be create J-O-B-S and not 9.00 an hour jobs, quality jobs so working families can take care of there kids. I will take from the rich and give to the poor.I will shove those cameras up daleys flat irish ass. I will repair the CTA , so its afforable for average people. I will roll that fuckin bean right on top of Park Grill, the symbol of the Daley abuse of our tax dollars. That will be just the beginning.... Vote for me and I'll set you free.....and the band plays on.....
"Time to give Cocopuffs shock treatment sans the mouthpiece tongue depressor." Why, did you like your treatments so much that you want to spread the joy around?
STFU, Mick Dumbfuckee & The Pro-East St. Louisization of Chicago. What a fuckin' depressing town this would be. More than 1/3 rd of the residents on welfare, How fuckin' depressing. Whilst assholes like Pat'e Philip would LAUGH & GLOAT at the city's demise. And Frank Cocopuffs living in LILYWHITE Lincolnshire being the coward he is.
PROBABLY the vandal of the Millenium Park bean, Or one of his loser friends probably was. Yes, The overdevelopment of many neighborhoods can be annoying, But YOU yourself & Your wife are owners of a condo, So I WOULDN'T TALK.........
Frankie will TAKE from the poor & Give to the rich, When he's in ABSOLUTE POWER. DON'T BELIEVE otherwise.......Certainly Daley won't probably take from the rich & Give to the poor, But Cocopuffs????????????, ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
