Senate Turns Down Roland Burris

Blagojevich's Appointee Says He Is Looking At Options For Getting Seat After Rejection On Capitol Hill

(CBS/AP)  Roland Burris announced Tuesday he was rejected for Barack Obama's Senate seat, in a bizarre rainy-day scene on the Capitol grounds as lawmakers awaited the gaveling of the 111th Congress into session.

Standing amid a huge throng of reporters and television cameras in a cold and steady rain, Burris, 71, declared that he had been informed that "my credentials are not in order and will not be accepted."

The former Illinois attorney general said he was "not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat that he was appointed to by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Burris also said he was looking at options for taking the seat.

"Mr. Burris is not in possession of the necessary credentials from the state of Illinois," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada later said in his speech opening the new session of Congress.

It was a spectacular demonstration of political gridlock at a time when the Democratic-controlled Congress has been eagerly awaiting Mr. Obama's inauguration while nervously anticipating tense work on a much-discussed stimulus program to steady the faltering economy.

An attorney for Burris, Timothy W. Wright III, said that "our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record books. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land. We will consider our options and we will certainly let you know what our decisions will be soon thereafter."

Asked what his options were, Wright said there possibly could be a court challenge and he said that Burris also would continue to talk to the Senate leadership.

There had been earlier indications that the Senate would disallow Burris to take his seat, at least in part because his letter of appointment from Blagojevich was not co-signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

Some of Burris' supporters have bemoaned the fact that Democrats would stand in the way of the Senate gaining its only black member. Burris himself downplayed the issue of race, telling reporters: "I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race."

Earlier Tuesday, Burris had tense negotiations with Terrence Gainer, the Senate's sergeant at arms.

On CBS' The Early Show this morning, Burris dismissed his critics, saying his appointment by the scandal-plagued governor is valid.

"They're causing the drama, my appointment is legal. Are you saying there is something wrong with me? I'm qualified," Burris, who was the first African-American elected to statewide office and was the former Illinois attorney general, said. (Watch the video)

"There's nothing wrong with Roland Burris and there's nothing wrong with the appointment," Burris said.

In his defense, Burris, 71, pointed to Blagojevich's decision Monday to hold an election for a successor to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's chief of staff. Burris said it proves the embattled governor still has legal authority to carry out his duties.

"As I read the U.S. Constitution," Burris said, it says the "governor shall fill a vacancy, and as a former attorney general of my state, I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday that Burris cannot take his seat because he "has not been certified by the state of Illinois." Additionally, Senate Democrats say Burris' appointment is tainted because of the charges Blagojevich faces.

Burris has threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they do not swear him in as the chamber's only black member.

[remrafbn]

Hey txgrouch...look what I found about Texas Schools.

"All districts have full-time staff dedicated to reviewing and selecting applicants, Texas schools admit only those candidates considered "highly qualified" and fully certified per No Child Left Behind federal guidelines."

An average of 6.1% teachers statewide are interns."

That is way too high according to NCLB but much lower than your 80 to 90% fallacy. You are not a teacher. You are just a LIAR!~ "LOL"

[chitownfire1]

Obese Black voters vote just as racist as West Virginia obese White rednecks. If he''''''''s Black, that gives u a reason to vote for him, just like Appalachian Whites voted for Bush because he''''''''s White and of the Protestant faith.
Posted by dan_8951

Its funny to read the post of ignorant racists such as yourself complaining about blacks voting for other blacks. Perhaps you arent aware that blacks usually vote for the Democratic ticket. Furthermore, there have been several black candidates in the past who ran for president, but most didnt earn the support of the overwhelming black community, in most cases the majority of blacks voted for the white candidate in those races. Lastly, where was your outrage when Clinton, Kerry and Gore received the majority of the black vote? Are you only outraged when blacks dont vote for the white guy????

[libsnemesis]

The Democrat nobles "installed" Obama as President, and they are furious that Blago would appoint a replacement senator without their direct approval! Soon Pelosi, Reid, and Soros will spank Obama and command, "You will do OUR bidding, because WE installed you as president! You are NOTHING without US!!!"

If I were Burris, I would tell those WHITE DEMOCRAT POWER BROKERS to back off - or feel THE WRATH OF THE BLACK VOTERS OF ILLINOIS!

Everyone knows those Democrat honkeys just want a black or a woman who will step-and-fetch for them!

[remrafbn]

txgrouch said "I''''m not surprised.

He has lieberal written all over him."

How come you can''t find any data to support your LIES? Because they are LIES. At best, you were an intern in a Texas school who was terminated for incompetent and now you are trying to prove to yourself that all teachers who send students to the office are fired. "LOL" Who besides you make those claims? It got to be some sort of exposure if so many teachers are fired for sending students to the office. Something from the teacher''s union that has done nothing to stop it. A complain from parents that from 80 to 90% of all teachers are interns. Any district like that would be taken over by the state or the US Department of Education if the problem in statewide. If nothing like that is going on then you are LYING!~ Nothing like that is going on so you are indeed LYING!~

[erasmus606]

txgrouch said "I''''''''m not a woman."

You are not a man either!~ A hermaprodite maybe?

Posted by remrafbn at 10:00 PM : Jan 06, 2009

HAHAHAHAHA!

:( Sorry, grouchie.:)

[erasmus606]

She is a LIAR!~
Posted by remrafbn at 08:59 PM : Jan 06, 2009

I''''m not a woman.

And you are the liar.

You know nothing about modern teaching in Texas.

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 09:26 PM : Jan 06, 2009

So what? You both think each other is a woman?

[remrafbn]

txgrouch said "I''''m not a woman."

You are not a man either!~ A hermaprodite maybe?

Then he said "And you are the liar."

I am not the one who said that the chronic shortage of teachers was caused by Principals firing teachers for sending students to "her" office. I did not claim either that the average length of service of most teachers is less than 2 years. All your claims about education have been proven wrong!~

Then she said "You know nothing about modern teaching in Texas."

I know the use the same definition of highly qualified teacher than the other 49 states. States can''t make their own definitions under NCLB. They have to go by the definitions on the act Pinocchio!~ You can''t prove that 80 to 90% of all teachers in Texas are interns. That will be a huge violation of the NCLB Act. You have never been a teacher. You are a LIAR!~

[remrafbn]

Finally, I took the National Teachers Examination. It is also called The General Knowledge Test. It consist of five parts:Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Arts. The hardest part for me was art. That part had 30 questions to be answered in 25 minutes. That is less than one minute per question. I had to look at one painting and decide what era was the painting from, what style, what country, and who painted it in less than 60 seconds. In that same part I had to read a poem with a few words in italic font. Those words meant something when those poems were written but something else now. I had to infer meaning by reading the poem. A poem written in the 1500s. Do not believe anything txgrouch says. She is a LIAR!~

[remrafbn]

Then txgrouch claimed that from 80 to 90% of all teachers are interns. Interns are student/teachers learning to be teachers. That is impossible under No Child Left Behind. That act requires all teachers to be "highly qualified". Interns are not highly qualified. I posted data from a lawsuit in which parents brough the California State Department of Education to court for having less than 10% interns in their Oakland schools. I also posted data proving that California has just 3.7% of interns. I picked California because they have the most school districts in the nation so they are more likely than others to have interns. We do not have any. Most states have very few. But txgrouch not only claims Texas has from 80 to 90% interns she also claims is mandated under NCLB. I posted the definition of "highly qualified teacher" from Texas and it says teacher must be fully certified to be highly qualified. In other words, her claim to be a teacher is a lie and it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

[remrafbn]

txgrouch said "When I was preparing to be a teacher, I had to take a test to see if I could READ A SIMPLE SENTENCE and UNDERSTAND IT. Reading comprehension.

Most applicants failed it. Most teachers remember it as a "really hard" test."

txgrouch has no credibility. Her claim to be a teacher is false. How do I know that? Because she accused Principals of teaching bad things to kids. I told her they are not teachers. They are administrators. Then she changed her claim to "Principals discipline". Although they do that that is not what their main responsibility is. Most schools with an enrollment larger than 300 or 400 students have vice-principals to deal with discipline. Principals report directly to the Superintendent in matters of budget, staff, test scores, etc. She also claimed that principals fire all teachers who send students to the office. I told her if that was true we won''t have that many teachers. She claimed that was the real reason behind the "chronic teacher shortage". I told her the US Department of Education cites "cost of degree, salary, class size, and number of teachers retiring" as reasons but nothing about Principal firing teachers for sending students to the office.

[remrafbn]

Then txgrouch said "They DON''''T WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW how many INTERNS are teaching in public schools, because NOBODY WANTS TO TEACH THERE."

There is something called the Freedom of Information Act that would have that information out faster than one of your speeding lies. Who besides you is making that claim? Go ahead...make my day!~

[remrafbn]

yxgrouch said "Guess what - TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE BREAKING THE LAW. They DON''''T use that definition."

Yes, they do. I took that definition from THEIR WEBSITE Pinocchio!~

Then she said "That''s what I was trying to tell you. Public school principals are criminals."

And I am trying to tell you you can''t prove your claims with more than you saying so!~

Then she said "Call any Texas public school. Ask how many "highly qualified" teachers they have. They''''ll say "All of them.""

They all have to be highly qualified but you have to do better than just saying so. All the documents and certifications proving they are highly qualified under NCLB must be in your file folder. Otherwise, you are in violation of the NCLB Act. Those files are audited by the state or the US DoE regularly.

Then she said "Then ask how many are "fully certified." They won''''t tell you."

They might not tell me but they have to prove it to the US DoE.

Then she said "Or by now, they''re probably lying and saying "All of them." Then ask how many INTERNS they have."

How come you can''t prove your claim that their teachers are from 80 to 90% of them interns? That should not be that hard to prove...if it was TRUE Pinocchio!~

[erasmus606]

And as you can see, now I have ANOTHER "educator" telling me to bite her.

Are you talking about "remrafbn"?

I think he''s a "guy". I could be misaken though.

And he ain''t a "gun lover" either.:)

[remrafbn]

txgrouch said "BWAHAHAHAHA! You''''re cross posting HERE?!?!?"

I told you I chase LIARS for a hobby!~

Then she said "You really got your nose out of joint on that other discussion, didn''''t you!"

If one gets his nose out of joint by proving your claims wrong then you are right!~ "LOL"

Then she said "You''''re really BENT OUT OF SHAPE!!!!!"

Your claims are BENT OUT OF SHAPE!~ They were all proven WRONG by yours truly. You are welcome!~ "LOL"

[erasmus606]

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 07:40 PM : Jan 06, 2009

Hahahaha

I saw this last night and I cross posted it to another site.

How could a teacher get most of these wrong?
Anyone with half a brain knows the answer is #3.:)

(just kidding)

[erasmus606]

Now I KNOW you''''re kidding.

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 07:41 PM : Jan 06, 2009

Nope.

[cattiej]

I would like to nominate our Illinois Secretary of State, Jessie White for U.S. Senator.
I would also like to nominate Illinois State University President Al Bowman for U.S. Senator
I would like to nominate Attorney General Lisa Madigan for U.S. Senator.
I would also like to nominate Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald for U. S. Senator.
I could go on and on with this list but you all get my drift.. there are many other people who would make a better U.S. Senator than Roland Burris. he and his lawyers want you to think there is no one else qualified...everyone of the above are better qualified than Burris. Harry Reid, keep you nose out of our Illinois politics, you have enough corrupt politicans in Nevada, you don''t need to mess with ours.

[erasmus606]

How much fur did she lose that time?

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 07:36 PM : Jan 06, 2009

None. There was no fighting.

[erasmus606]

She''''s fascinated with me, too.

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 07:35 PM : Jan 06, 2009

You are so full of yourself, it''s actually quite pitiful.

[erasmus606]

I KNEW as soon as Rowdy left, you''''d appear shortly.

Posted by txgrouch2008 at 07:33 PM : Jan 06, 2009

That isn''t true. I was on here yesterday when she was on.