Marathon Pundit: Chicago Tribune remembers Durbin's doubletalk

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Chicago Tribune remembers Durbin's doubletalk

Man oh man, I thought I was the only one who remembered that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)a called for a special election to choose Barack Obama's replacement in the US Senate. Instead we ended up with Roland Burris.

The Chicago Tribune remembers:

Then came the maneuvering we've characterized in headlines as "Profiles in cowardice" and "The silence of the Dems." Wow, if we schedule a special election, we could . . . lose it!

Illinois Dems didn't try to strip Blagojevich of his power to replace Obama. And they didn't try to slate a special election so the people of Illinois -- rather than Blagojevich -- could choose their own senator.

When Blagojevich picked Burris, (Harry) Reid and Durbin leaped about like crazed tadpoles: They wouldn't seat Burris or maybe they would but he really, really, really did have to tell the truth to an Illinois House impeachment committee. Then, after Burris flatly contradicted his Version 1 (I spoke with no Blagojevich cronies) by feeding the impeachment committee Version 2 (OK, I spoke with the guv's close pal Lon Monk), Reid and Durbin seated Burris anyway.

But wait! Justice still could prevail. On Feb. 18, three days after Burris admitted in Version 4 that in fact he had spoken with six top Blagojevich associates about snagging the seat, Durbin warned: "At this point, his future in the Senate seat is in question." Say, maybe the Senate Ethics Committee would take an interest in, um, Senate ethics.

And then there is this:

"(T)his is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus."

-- U.S. Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) Dec. 30, 2008.