The Art of Knowing When to Step Down: Roland Burris and Levi Johnston

Front page news in Alaska, if you can believe it, is the story that Sarah Palin's future son-in-law, Levi Johnston, 18, has stepped down from his North Slope job as an oil field roustabout. The reason he is leaving the position he has held for four months? He does not yet have his high school diploma, a set-in-stone federal requirement. When a local anti-Palin columnist wrote an article that brought this fact to light, Johnston resigned. Give the kid credit, though, he has been working on his diploma through correspondence classes, instead of going for the faster and easier GED. The new young father will, surely, immediately find employment locally and will, undoubtedly, reapply at ASRC or another corporation when he has his diploma. Johnston and his father Keith, an ASRC construction engineer, knew the rules. The employer probably overlooked his lack of a diploma, as a favor to Levi's dad. Nepotism in highly-sought jobs like these is not unheard of. But the mistake is Levi's and the corporation's alone.

So what happens when a Senator-elect arrives in Washington, hoping to be sworn in on the opening day of Congress? Well, if he does not have the proper credentials, he is turned away. Kudos to the Senate for abiding by the rules on their end, and gently turning away the 71-year-old hopeful, so they could get down to business. Harry Reid was gracious in his statements on the floor. Unless and until Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White certifies the appointment, the piece of paper in Burris's brief case is not official. So why doesn't White want to sign the document? Maybe he personally knows something about the rumblings that are now surfacing about Burris's time as Illinois Attorney General. Reportedly, half of the outside legal contracts were awarded to campaign contributors. Sound familiar? Well, we are talking about Chicago Politics. In 2004, Governor Blagojevich awarded Burris's company a $150,000 state contract, to help companies learn how to win state contracts. (Maybe advice such as: "Be sure to make lucrative connections through political donations...") Even after the Tony Rezko conviction, which involved Governor Blagojevich, Burris continued to make contributions to Blago's campaign coffers and to attend his fundraisers.

Roland Burris is a man of immense ego. Although, I have to admit I find it kind of amusing that George Foreman's five sons are all named George; Roland Burris has two kids: Roland and Rolanda. He seems to be a man that is "above the law". When he sponsored a program to get guns off the streets in Chicago, he later admitted he kept his own. He was Chairman on the governor's State Pensions Commission, which was and is one of the worst in the nation. Do you think he took a cut in his retirement? If he gets into the Senate, his salary starts at around $170,000. Now, if he just serves out the term, I'm not sure what kind of pension he'll receive, but it's probably a nice little amount for the rest of his life. I've never known Congress to shortchange themselves.

Burris opposed the appointment of Clarence Thomas, because he thought it would be a detriment to black people. Well, just what in the hell does his camp think accusing the Senate of keeping him out "because of his race" is doing? Do they think there's a big party on Capitol Hill, because they finally managed to get Barack Obama out of the Senate? You've heard that Burris built a family crypt, with his life's accomplishments already carved into his stone. I will bet it doesn't include his unsuccessful bids for Mayor of Chicago, Illinois Governor (he lost 3 gubernatorial elections), and for the U.S. Senate. He couldn't get in through the front door, through the approval of his state's voters, so he's going to take this back-scratching favor from his good buddy Blago and go in through the back door.

I would have more respect for Burris if he had stepped down until the dust settled, like Bill Richardson; had waited until the Certification of Appointment was validated, like Al Franken; or had shown the maturity to return home after admitting his mistake, like young Levi Johnston. Instead, there is a lawsuit against Jesse White, and a Burris camp speculation that they may file a complaint in Federal District Court, if negotiations with the Senate leadership fall through, citing [historycentral.com] Marbury v. Madison, a case that challenged whether a federal law was Constitutional. If your teens have a government class paper due, here's a topic for them. I think we're all about to get a lesson or two.

Chicago Tribune link to Roland Burris Complaint for Mandamus - pdf

-Blackfoot