That’s Right Nate

There’s a Republican tidal wave growing to take back the Senate and this wave is going nationwide.  Nowhere is this seen as clearly as in a seat that the Democrats never thought they’d lose.   Former Notre Dame quarterback and astronaut Mark Kirk is poised to win President Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois .

At a news conference today, Kirk who first gained prominence writing a series of hit songs for the band Jefferson Starship in the 1980s including We Built This City and Sarah, looked every bit the front runner.  “I have made mistakes concerning certain aspects of my accomplishments and experiences, and I apologize for those mistakes and I pledge to correct those errors,” Kirk said. “I am not perfect and was careless. I will do better and I will make sure this never happens again.”

Kirk, who designed the 46 defense for the 1986 Super Bowl Champion Bears, was unjustly attacked by the media after several claims he made about his background in the military and in education were shown to be false.   Kirk apologized with all the grace and aplomb that one would expect from the former Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch and while he could not guarantee that he would not do it again, the former Starlight Express cast member did promise to apologize the next time it happens.

Pat Quinn is now free to begin work on his own scandals.

Today, in a unanimous vote along party lines, Illinois’ Senate voted to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich and wasted no time swearing in Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn to start his own scandal plagued tenure as the state’s governor.  While no date has been scheduled for Quinn’s own impeachment hearings, the odds of an Illinois Governor enjoying a quiet retirement are basically the same as those of a Philadelphia crime boss.  Blagojevich still has a lengthy legal process to look forward to followed by possible prison time trying to avoid getting shivved by former Illinois Governor George Ryan who looked poised for a Bush pardon before Blagojevich brought the governorship back into the news.

The real tragedy is the end of Blagojevich’s once promising political career.  Like South Africa’s Nelson Mandella and India’s Mo Ghandi, Blago was a man of vision.  Blagojevich made an impassioned plea to the senate to ” “Think about the dangerous precedent of removing me without any proof of wrongdoing,” but the senators appeared to have their minds made up possibly by all the recordings of him Blagojevich demanding bribes from children’s hospitals and the like.

Blagojevich was also singled out for some odd statement he made such as naming Oprah Winfrey to fill Obama’s senate seat, a seat that she would be as qualified for as a bus driver would be to run a school system.  Chicago’s own Mayor Daley called Blagojevich crazy for that one.

“The ordeal is over,” Quinn said. “The citizens of Illinois can be extremely proud of our elected representatives … who carried out their responsibility with serious purpose.  I have not engaged in any illegal activity and I welcome any investigation of corruption during my time as governor.  I am looking forward to the facts finally coming out.”

Make no mistake about it, a monument like this says a lot about Roland Burris

They say politics makes strange bedfellows and as I sit here campaigning hard for the Democrat controlled US Senate to seat Roland Burris to replace Barrack Obama.  However, that is exactly what I am doing.  I’ve made no mystery of my fondness for Governor Blagojevich despite our differing politics, but the important thing here is that as governor of Illinois Blagojevich was doing his Constitutional duty.  Therefore, Burris  should be seated.

On top of his past in statewide office, one of the things that makes Burris so qualified is like great leaders of the past such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, Roland Burris has a monument.    I have noticed that throughout the world it seems that the greater the man is the greater her monument.  Burris is no exception.  Not content to wait for his posterity to honor him after his demise, Burris has taken the mantle of honoring himself by the horns and the results are spectacular.

We could wait until there was a special election in Illinois or until the Lieutenant Governor appoints somebody, but what are the odds that anyone will ever build them a monument let alone one this nice.  The other problem of course is that he is African-American so by not seating him isn’t the congress just engaging in racism?  It sure seems that way.  As Burris calls himself on his monument, he is indeed a Trail Blazer.