Tom Geoghegan takes on Roland Burris
By David Neiwert Sunday Mar 01, 2009 4:00pm
Tom Geoghegan was on Fox News with Greg Jarrett yesterday, talking about the lawsuit he's filed to force a special election to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat and force Roland Burris to stand aside:
If the General Assembly or the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee isn’t prepared to unseat Sen. Roland Burris, labor lawyer and 5th Congressional District candidate Tom Geoghegan is ready to take on the fight.
At a press conference at the Dirksen Federal Building this morning, Geoghegan -- along with co-counsels Scott Frankel, Rob Cohen, and former alderman Marty Oberman -- announced that he has filed a suit in federal court against the state of Illinois and Gov. Pat Quinn seeking a special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.
The plaintiffs claim that neither former Gov. Rod Blagojevich nor Quinn issued a “writ of elections to fill senate vacancies” as required by the 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Currently, Illinois follows a legal proviso in the amendment that allows the governor to “make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislatures may direct.” Geogeghan and his colleagues are not suggesting that Burris’ appointment was illegal—rather, it represents a temporary placeholder until the state could marshal the resources to hold a statewide election. (Geogeghan first laid out this argument in a New York Times op-ed published a few days after Burris’ appointment in January.)
Speaking to a large assembling of reporters, Geoghegan outlined three purposes for the suit: to “end the embarrassing stalemate” that is the Blagojevich-Burris charade, to establish rules so the people can vote for their elected officials, and to assure that the government is conducted by the rule of law. “This is why I went to law school” he said. “And the Constitution exists to make sure the democratic rights of the people are secured.”
Jarrett worries that whatever publicity gains Geoghegan might be making with this suit may well be offset by more mundane considerations:
Jarrett: Let me get one more in here because we're running out of time. There's a group of African American aldermen, they're vowing to help black voters punish any politician who seeks to remove Burris. That would include you. Does that strike you as a racially motivated threat?
Geoghegan: Greg, I am a labor lawyer, and I also bring civil-rights cases. I'm a civil-rights lawyer. My view is that both white and black and all citizens of the state of Illinois want to stop political corruption. That's the issue here. It's not a matter of race, it's a matter of enforcing the people's right to vote.
You know, if we want the right to recall elected officials, we at least ought to have the right to elect our senators directly.
Jarrett: Well, Tom, these black aldermen are going to come after you. You know that, because you're trying to get rid of Roland Burris, albeit in a very, very legal way. And they're going to come after you.
This seems overheated to me, but then, I'm not from Chicago. In the meantime, it never hurts to go help out progressive heroes like Geoghegan.
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Fox. Come the time it's irrelevant I fear you'll have to be restrained during withdrawal.
They need to shed the image of Latte and White Wine drinkers driving BMW's. Maybe try some bib coveralls from time to time.
who's who in that clip pic? I can't tell the difference except for hairstyles.
the lacquer head is the Fox guy.
I never thought I'd live to see the day where I actually agree with Glen Beck on something. But, here it is.
Their global "solutions" scare the shit outta me too, I can't lie.
(On the coming world government)
and shed your paranoid delusions (as does Glenn Beck).
if you're outside illinois, you may not understand just how sick we are of this crap. governor ryan, governor blagojevich, now roland burris.
there was a recent online poll at the chicago tribune, and 95% want burris out.
clarence page, a top tribune editor, who is black, has written two editorials asking burris to step down.
dick durbin and governor pat quinn have both asked burris to step down.
burris won't go; he's every bit the egotistical fool blagojevich is.
he's been caught lying about trying to "pay to play", but he's wanted this position of power so badly his entire life, he refuses to step down.
now, black alderman and south side ministers are rallying around him, trying to play the race card, but that dog won't hunt.
ROLAND BURRIS HAS TO GO.
Because if deflectors are up we might forget how weak Burris is in 2010 and how easy it will be for a piece of shit rethug to knock him off his fraudulent little perch.
THAT's what this is about. Race has absolutely no relevance.
It's also about the fact there isn't a Thug who can stand against a strong candidate on their own merit. THAT'S what this is about.
i hope jesse jackson, jr. gets the seat.
Burris has to get shoved out of the senate seat soon, ideally in the next month or two to let another nominee to gain traction in time for 2010.
Either get rid of this ridiculous man Burris through a fair special election or who cares how.
Jesse Jackson Jr. has earned a place.
...after these eight years? Besides Jackson's name, he's got nothing. Get someone completely unconnected with this bullshit...Jackson's hands are dirty.
but do you have anything to back that up with? or is it merely speculation?
Even if he did nothing wrong, perhaps it would be prudent to search for someone who WASN'T mentioned in the Blagojevich complaint.
that obama made it through the system being relatively clean
chicago politics is rife with corruption
its like the wire come to life (maybe thats why its obama's fav show)
is it possible that we finally have a prez who cannot be corrupted?
and i dont live in illinois, so i wont tell you what to do
but isnt recall an option?
what i think is going to happen is that we're going to have a special election. the chicago tribune has been calling for it, governor quinn's in favor of it, and attorney general lisa madigan is in favor of it.
i was just watching a group of illinois republican congressman on our state equivalent of c-span, and they're all asking for a primary election in april, followed by a general election in may.
they're basically saying, they're willing to risk having this election, losing to a democrat, and not being able to run against the weak burris in 2010 -just to clean this mess up, because it's embarrassing to all of illinois.
and i agree with them, completely. i'm willing, as someone who leans left, to risk losing the seat to a republican, to get burris out.
may the best man or woman win.
... illinois is ready to have a special election to replace him, even though it's going to be costly, at a time when our state is broke.
we are SERIOUS about not putting up with this crap anymore. remember, blagojevich was impeached by a score of 114 to ZERO.
blagojevich HAD to go; so too must BURRIS.
this isn't about race, it's about breaching the public trust.
i would add that a senator who has been shown to have a tendency to reach into a cookie jar is a senator who will do it again; a senator who will easily be influenced by lobbyists; a senator who could probably be easily blackmailed.
burris is an opportunistic weasel -it was obviopus to everyone in illinois, when he jumped at the opportunity to take the seat from that scumbag, blagojevich.
doesn't guarantee a Dem as senator and they could lose an important vote in the senate. be careful of what you wish for.
this is a solidly blue state now; obama beat keyes like 71-29%, durbin won like 60-40%.
the republicans don't have anyone credible to run. the last remotely credible candidate they had was jack ryan, and we all remember how that turned out.
if there were a special election, it would probably go to jackson or attorney general lisa madigan. both remain popular.
but here in s.central and surrounds, it's solid red... i wouldn't count on a dem victory at all...
yes, everybody's sick of it, and ready for a repug...
not a lot of affection for chicago down here...
i love it, myself, but downstate seems to get lost in the shuffle...
durbin is from central part (decatur?) and is popular enough, but there are a lot of dittoheads who only want to throw them ALL out!
i think illinoisans should be able to pick their senator. the law is going to be rewritten anyway, so let's do it sooner than later.
i'm also not so much of a partisan hack that i think the dems should "cling" to burris -long range, that strategy will bite them in the @$$ even harder.
also, any republican that wins in illinois will have to be very moderate. our republicans are more left than texas democrats, i'll put it to you that way.
may the best man or woman win.
If Madigan would run, she wants Pat Quinn's job.
Thugs have big mouths and zero credibility. They won't win shit in Illinois which is why they want Burris to remain right where he is. Because they don't have a prayer otherwise. Dems can come up with dozens of viable candidates yet thugs are impoverished to the core of their sick souls (and you know it).
Like a kitty turd in a catbox you're trying to cover up the fact thugs can't win against a strong credible candidate. All they've got is fatpants Limpdick representing them with the shining accomplishment of overpowering children and raping them for a coupla bucks and a bitchin' monkey on his back.
At the end Burris kept warning him that a bunch of black guys were coming after him. WTF? Could they be anymore racist?
well, you call him a hero, so i should not be concerned... but, it's been mostly repugs who want a vote on this, hoping to get a repug elected...
i'm all for elections over appointments, but not in this case - you can't change the rules in mid-crisis to suit ulterior motives...
i dunno... but i'm ready for the drama to be over... fat chance, huh.
because EVERYONE i know here is sick of this crap.
see above... where is "here"?
every republican and democrat i know statewide is fed up with corruption. does that help?
What different standards there is when it comes to a democrat and a republican...
Ted Stevens was given a standing ovation by the republicans on the floor of the senate..
Craig was guided by republican senator Spector of PA to change his plead of guilty of the bathroon capber and other republicans back him.
The Msn news media including Rachel , Olbermann and Mathews push the charges against democrats ,,, Roland Burris ,, ex-governor Spitzer , Caroline Kennedy , Rod Blagojevich almost 24/7,,, although talking about the republicans like crimes of Stevens , Craig and others they never receive the 24/7 action of the democrats..
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