Brit Hume on Roland Burris: 'Why is it that he's thought to be under a taint?'
Conservatives have a gift for pretending the obvious isn't there. Take Brit Hume yesterday for example. He gets all worked up -- even angry-seeming -- over the terrible injustice being done to Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris.
Why? Because the prosecutor is Patrick Fitzgerald. Seems Hume harbors a grudge from one of Fitzgerald's previous prosecutions ...
It's all wrapped up in defense of Blago's selection of Burris to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat:
Hume: Why is it that he's thought to be under a taint? He's thought to be under a taint because an accusation has been made against him, not yet an indictment, by a prosecutor --
[Crosstalk]
Hume: -- Against Blagojevich, not against him -- by a prosecutor who for all of his success in court, has a propensity, as we saw in the Scooter Libby case, to say things in news conferences that he ultimately chooses or is unable to prove in court. That is all we have. We have his say-so.
Someone was saying on the air the other day, 'Well, we have the tapes.' No, we don't have the tapes. All we have is quotations from the tapes by the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, and it's not at all clear when we'll see them, what they'll show, what the context was or anything. This man is innocent until proven guilty.
That's all a stirring and noble defense of Blago, but Hume doesn't seem to realize that the breadth and depth of the case against the Illinois governor involves a great deal more than just those tapes and just the Obama Senate seat matter. And really, do we need to spell out that any selection in which there is an appearance of impropriety in the process is tainted, especially when it involves the sale of the selection?
But I gather that if you live in RightWingLand, it's difficult to imagine why anyone would consider the selection of Roland Burris tainted. After all, criminal complaints laying out a politician's desire to corruptly sell off federal appointments -- hey, that's ordinary. Routine! Everyone does that!
Is it something in the water that conservatives drink, or what?
Taint so.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I do so only partly. Burris should be able to at least be able to go through the confirmations in Senate. If there is something that would cause the Senate to refuse to confirm him, so be it. Blago is a different story.
So if Blago gave himself a pay raise, you'd agree with that, also? I mean, he's the governor, right? Nothing wrong with the governor giving himself a pay raise when he's there, working hard every day ...
Hume's probably hoping the Democrats slam the door in Burris' face so FOX can trot out accusations of racism and/or justify McCain/Palin's Obama-bashing.
Either way this asshole would have had something to criticize the Democrats for. Blago and Hume are hiding behind the law...and race.
Hume is the ultimate concern troll.
I said Blago is a different story.
Also I don't think that the Senate "confirms" this pick. Its not like a cabinet appointment. When all is said and done the Senate may not be able to do anything about this appointment not withstanding anything that Reid has to say.
How can I trust a senator who nonetheless owes his position to a man accused of corruption and influence peddling?
Burris is a little quick to sing the 'innocent till proven guilty' song and insist that it's all nice and legal. It's as if he's hoping that even if Blago were indicted/convicted, nobody would look to remove him if he gets in the door.
It's a case of 'how bad do you want it' - and Burris has shown himself willing to look the other way to get the appointment.
You lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.
trust? a senator? don't be silly.
the blago case is ugly. but our entire political system is based on corruption, pay-for-play, quid pro quo and palm-greasing.
blago is not a stand-out.
But this time, I do too.
We are still a nation of INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!....right?
That being said, I too think Burris deserves a chance to be confirmed, as long as no laws were broken in his nomination procedure.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I want to know what the difference is from a politician taking money
from other politicians and taking money from lobbyists.
If a lobbyist is handing out checks on the floor of the Senate it's OK.
I don't condone bribery, even the legal kind.
brit hume is not being honest in this debate (shock!).
he only argues this point of view hoping that the blago appointment goes through, then he can attack the burris appt for the exact same reasons he now defends it.
i call this 'pat buchananism'.
Dems should use the confirmation process to ask Burris a few questions that he will be inclined to have no answer to. Ask him what Blagosonofabitch originally quoted to him as the price for his Senate appointment ? He will get a case of Gonzales memory in a big hurry.
This is nothing but a game of racial chicken anyways. You can hear the pre scripted pin head talking points already.
yes, I agree always ask questions that make you look guilty. Always, never be fair.
Jeebus, Sh*t Fume is taking longer to retire than Cher did...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezfWXkEJj_Q
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Just for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARsd5lwyQ8
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
That is funny but I was more or less thinking the same thing.
So that makes it less funny?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Is the post tainted now? I suppose I should have said "and" instead of but. Sorry. Or better yet I should have put a period after the word funny and started a new sentence with the word I. Yeah, that would have been better. I'll try to not be such an idiot the next time. I'll watch 5 minutes of Hannity for penance tonight.
Roland Burris should have done what Rep. Danny Davis did...say no to this corrupt Governor's bullshit game.
Once Burris chose to take fruit from the Governor's rotten tree, he was no longer an innocent party to this farce.
The fact that Burris trotted out the 'Guh-odd has ordained this!' happy horseshit shows it's about Burris getting a senate seat, and not about service.
"I'm not going to showboat," Burris claimed last week. He promptly then announced he was going to confront the Democrats, and then TOLD parishoners that he was Chosen.
Yeah, I was thinking that it probably would have been better if Jesse Jr. would have won the auction.
The whole mess is a great argument against anything but interim appointments by governors, pending special elections. The attempts to block seating Burris should be a fascinating constitutional law lesson. Fitzgerald does seem to love to make grandiose statements in advance of trial that are apt to taint jury pools, speaking of taint. And what was with the FBI guy spouting off about how Illinois was a top competitor for most corrupt state? Brief statements about facts and the case being brought are all I want to hear from law enforcement personnel.
Dear Lord, this is good. Jon Stewart must take action on that sound bite.
Hint: If you look upwards, and see a D!ck and then an @ssh0le, you are under a taint. Blago is certainly one of those things.
Referring to monkeys climbing a banana tree. The monkeys at the top look down and see nothing but smiling faces; the monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but a bunch of assholes.
Yeah, it's past time we got rid of that old "Innocent until proven guilty" chestnut. Life will be much better without that nonsense!
Seems the Republicans were quite happy to prosecute Bill Clinton without any thought to that notion.
And I'm sure you're going to want to give Shrubya the benefit of the doubt when his term is up.
Are you kidding me? "The Republicans ignored the rule of law, so now we should do it, too?"
I would love to see a vigorous investigation of the entire Bush administration and would quite frankly be freakin' delighted to see indictments of all sorts filed against various administration members from Bush on down. Until Blagojevich (or Bush, or Bill Richardson) is CONVICTED of a crime, though, they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
I think Burris should have turned the appointment down for the sake of his party, but as he did not ... I think he should be allowed to go through the process as the law allows. It is a fact that Blagojevich is not yet convicted of anything, and is in fact innocent until proven guilty. He (Blago) has the right under the law to appoint Obama's replacement. It is up to the LAW to enforce the appointment process to ensure it is proper. It is not up to each of us to point the finger of conviction towards the governor ... that is a juries job. Until the time Blago is convicted, we need a senator to fill Obama's vacancy, and I certainly do not want a run-off election to determine that appointment. I am too concerned that Illinois will elect a republican, and that is something I am unprepared to accept!
Burris is 71 and at a dead end on his political career. He has run for various offices here and lost the last 4 times he tried. Suffice it to say he hasn't much to lose by milking this for all it's worth, even though the right thing to do would have been to turn it down.
In a strict legal sense there is no issue with his appointment, but there certainly is from a political expediency point of view. Ultimately, it will be up to Harry Reid and the Senate how they choose to enforce their rules to seat him or not. And your point about the run off is also right, the Democrats figured out after the fact that they might have an exposure especially if somebody reasonably competent like Mark Kirk ran.
The good news is that the General Assembly is moving forward on the impeachment quickly and may have a vote on it by the end of the week. Then it will be in the hands of the Il Senate to conduct the trial, that may take some time. Pat Quinn thinks that Blago could be removed as soon as mid February. We shall see.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
The Illinois State Legislature is in session to determine whether or not Blagojevich should be impeached, and you actually buy that the Burris appointment has Nothing To Do With All That?
Burris, as a former state attorney general, should know full well the importance of tainted evidence and the legal questions of qui bono (who profits?). As such, any argument he presents as to the legality of it all is suspect, because he's the beneficiary.
The General Assembly has been in session for some time on this issue, they intentionally speeded up the process last week because of the Burris issue, so I am aware of the connection there.
The point you raise re Burris will need to be taken up by any attorneys connected to this issue. Blago does have the power to appoint him to the Senate until he is removed from office and Burris, being at a dead end in his career figured he has nothing to lose by pressing this issue. He may have been aware of potential legal ramifications connected with his appointment, however, I think his answer to that is pretty clear---he couldn't care less.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
I just can't get worked up over the appointment as there are, and certainly have been issues of more importance. Isn't Burris on the same team as Harry? It's like Harry finally managed to get possession of the ball, but is running in the wrong direction.
Isn’t it about time Hume dusts off the old ‘criminalization of politics’ meme, or is that reserved for republicans only?
...more like something their Mothers drank while pregnant. And who can blame them?
Hume knows, it's crooks. He's an expert on that subject from carrying Bushie's bath water around. Crooks is crooks is crooks.
Brit Hume? I thought he was retired or dead or something.
"Retired" in newsland seems to mean you collect your pension, but you're still on TV. Me not understand.
Maybe it's his reputation that's retired or dead or something. Yeah, that's gotta be it.
In reality I think Hume is an android programmed by Rovian operatives since the malignant cancer of Neoconism destroyed any intelligent brain cells he may have had long ago. Let that be a lesson to his colleagues that they will meet a similar fate.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
"Innocent until proven guilty" but this appointment is as good as a poke in the back with a stick. They asked Blago to not appoint and he did anyway. Mr. Burris may be the second coming of RFK for all we know but under the circumstances, he should have not been appointed nor should he have accepted. Why is Blago still a Governor?
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
"Innocent until proven guilty" but this appointment is as good as a poke.... Sorry, he is and he is still Gov. I do not trust Fitz. He is a repub and he works for the government. It is a circus because the press doesn't do it job and the powerful in Illinois like pay to play. I am a far lefty on this matter. The ACLU will always tell you to rely on your rights not the heresy of a prosecutor.
I thought Human Shar Pei was retiring from FIXED Noise?
That's good, I hadn't heard it before.
Shar Peis are cute, though. Hume looks more like a Bloodhound. An old, worn out one.
Brit Hume's late son who tried to come out to his father.
Hume, a social and religious conservative, rejected his gay son and the kid committed suicide.
No Father of the Year Award for Human Shar Pei.
Today from Crain's Chicago Business:
www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32476
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
Anything to keep this whole embarrassing pain-in-the-ass mess rolling along huh Hume?CNN is also doing brisk business rooting through this muck like warthogs in heat.This is just a little taste of the next 4 years.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
it's not something in the water, it's
because the gop/reichwingnuttia suck at
the sanctuary of the bush/cheney ass.
they call it sweetbreads, we call it crap.
of the use of the race card. Some one further up the thread said this is a game of racial chicken. I couldn't agree more. There is nothing that will strike fear in the hearts of some people, especially government, more quickly. I know nothing of Mr. Burris. Up until now I have never even heard of him. No matter how squeaky clean his record maybe, the fact remains he was 'appointed' by a Governor who has been under investigation and arrested. What bothers me is why would a man whose record is so unblemished associate himself with Blagojevich in the first place and why is he being so persistent? I think it odd that he would want to be a member of body that has made it perfectly clear they don't want him. How could you effectively carry out the duties of a Senator if your colleagues, and your constituents for that matter, don't really trust you because you were appointed under questionable circumstances, by an even more questionable Governor? Just the fact Hume, of all people is defending him, and that Burris wants it so badly and appears to be playing the race card to get it, is enough for me not to trust him.
Government + the Federal Reserve = organized crime
Burris is 71 and at a dead end in his political career, having failed the last four times he ran. He is an opportunist who perceives he has nothing to lose by pressing this scenario and thus became a perfect tool for Blago. The ethics and efficacy of the situation are not important to Burris who feels he is in the right irregardless of the situation. In mid December he blasted Blago for his moral lapses and suddenly developed a new tune after the appointment. Burris is a decent person but not the best or strongest candidate by far---a fact that Harry Reid has to consider in the 2010 election. He would like nothing better than to punish Blago for his defiance and arrogance, and further the long term objectives of the party, but we'll see if he is able to pull it off or not.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
Blaggy STILL IS the Governor... and Burris IS DUELY APPOINTED.
Reid doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.
Agreed. More here.
We just lived through EIGHT FRIGGIN' YEARS of Republican lawlessness about which Reid did NOTHING! NOTHING.
Now, he suddenly decides to go after a Democrat, duly elected to become junior Senator from Ill. To say Reid has stepped in it is an understatement. He's making a total fool of himself, the Democrats and the system. This is just a TERRIBLE way to start a new administration.
I'm getting a headache already.
is this clown still on tee-vee?
Put a bag over Brit Hume's head if he is going to be forced on the public.
I don't know if anybody thought it was funny that Hume chose this word in partic. out of all possible ways to describe what he's talking about, seemingly unaware of the double entendre.
No. The only people remaining who still subscribe to conservative ideologies are all malignant sociopaths. Delusional dishonesty, that warps their thinking and perception of reality, is a salient feature of such sociopathy.
They don'need no stinkin' water...
Comments are closed on this entry