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The Hill
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Jan 13, 09 6:20 PM CST
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At least one aspect of the Rod Blagojevich soap opera will end Thursday: Roland Burris will be sworn into the Senate at 2pm EST, the Hill reports. Dick Cheney will do the honors in the Senate chamber, and a ceremonial re-enactment will follow elsewhere in the building for Burris' family (and the media). The development comes after Senate Democratic leaders dropped their objections yesterday.
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Politico
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Jan 12, 09 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) -
A ruling could come today on whether Roland Burris can take Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat, Politico reports, with his lawyers meeting with the Senate’s legal counsel to discuss various documents certifying him for the job. Illinois’ secretary of State didn’t sign papers from embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich, instead penning his own letter approving Burris. “The question is whether they are adequate,” Sen. Dick Durbin said yesterday.
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Washington Post
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Jan 11, 09 6:17 PM CST
(Newser) -
Calling all celebs on the red carpet tonight: No one cares about your work! In our society, it's all about the gawking, Robin Givhan writes in the Washington Post . Our cleavage and style-gaffe lust goes far beyond the Golden Globes, too. It's driven by YouTube, Facebook, paparazzi, and any sorry sucker—or skier—who gets snapped in an awkward pose. "We have all become celebrities of a sort," Givhan writes.
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Politico
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Jan 11, 09 11:46 AM CST
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Saying his administration will be “looking forward,” Barack Obama suggested he won’t pursue criminal charges against national security officials accused of committing crimes in President Bush’s war on terror. The president-elect also told ABC’s This Week that closing Guantanamo Bay—a key tenet of his campaign platform—is a “challenge” that’s “going to take some time.” In other corners:
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Huffington Post
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Jan 11, 09 11:14 AM CST
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Saturday Night Live doesn’t have Sarah Palin to ape anymore, so the cast started 2009 with new impressions of Rod Blagojevich, Roland Burris, and Rachel Maddow, the Huffington Post reports. Last night’s show began with Maddow (Amy Elliott) grilling wannabe-senator Burris (Keenan Thompson) and embattled Illinois governor Blagojevich (Jason Sudeikis, sporting a frightfully accurate wig).
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Reuters
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Jan 9, 09 4:18 PM CST
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The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that the secretary of state’s signature was not necessary on Roland Burris’ US Senate credentials, Reuters reports. The move effectively validates Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice to fill Barack Obama’s seat, and puts the issue back to the Senate. Lawmakers there said they would consider seating Burris if the question of the signature was decided.
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Chicago Tribune
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Jan 9, 09 3:09 PM CST
(Newser) -
The one nay vote in today’s Illinois House impeachment of Rod Blagojevich was from Chicago Democrat Milton Patterson, the Chicago Tribune reports. Patterson said he wasn’t defending the disgraced governor. “I went by my own gut feeling,” he said. The lone “present” vote belonged to Elga Jefferies, “torn between political and personal.” Neither is returning to the House in the new session, Talking Points Memo notes.
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Chicago Sun-Times
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Jan 9, 09 2:49 PM CST
(Newser) -
Rod Blagojevich says he's not surprised by today's vote to impeach him because the Illinois House has been out to get him for a year now, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "It happened kind of fast," said the Illinois governor, who called a defiant news conference to reassert his innocence. "But again, kind of expected. And part of the process that has been the dynamic in Illinois." He once again closed by quoting poetry, this time Tennyson.
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Chicago Tribune
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Jan 9, 09 10:57 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Illinois House wasted little time today in voting to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, with just one representative in the 115-member chamber voting against the measure. It’s the first time in Illinois history the governor has been impeached. A Blagojevich spokesman says the governor won’t resign, which means he faces a trial in the Senate next week, the Chicago Tribune reports.
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Bloomberg
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Jan 8, 09 5:43 PM CST
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Roland Burris told Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel today that no shady business was involved in his Senate appointment, Bloomberg reports. “I would never participate in anybody’s quid pro quo,” Burris told Illinois lawmakers. Hours after he testified, the 21-member panel voted unanimously to recommend impeachment, the Tribune notes. The full state House is expected to vote tomorrow.
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Chicago Tribune
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Jan 8, 09 2:02 PM CST
(Newser) -
Barack Obama served Harry Reid up a Chicago-style, deep-dish slice of humble pie this week, telling the Senate majority leader to seat Roland “Tombstone” Burris, John Kass writes in the Chicago Tribune . Reid, for his part, “scarfed it down in front of reporters, without a fork, all but licking his fingers, that pie was so sweet and tasty. Mmm-mmm.”
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Chicago Tribune
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Jan 8, 09 12:44 PM CST
(Newser) -
Senate Democrats are lauding Roland Burris as a faithful public servant who happens to owe his appointment to a crooked governor, but the Illinois politician has some pretty close—perhaps suspect—ties to Blagojevich, the Chicago Tribune reports. Burris and affiliates in his lobbying firm contributed $20,000 to Blagojevich campaigns, he's hosted fundraisers, and the governor's wife was hired in September by a firm with close ties to Burris' lobbying partner, CNN adds.
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Chicago Tribune
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Jan 8, 09 11:41 AM CST
(Newser) -
The Illinois House panel investigating Rod Blagojevich today released a report recommending his impeachment, the Chicago Tribune reports. The 69-page draft includes a laundry list of offenses, including misuse of state funds, refusing to release federal subpoenas to the public, and the much-publicized pay-to-play allegation. The committee said the governor’s refusal to testify before them sealed his fate.
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Huffington Post
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Jan 7, 09 2:23 PM CST
(Newser) -
Barack Obama may have had something to do with the Senate’s apparent about-face on Roland Burris, a congressional aide tells the Huffington Post. Obama reps contacted senior Democrats before they began moving today towards accepting the Blagojevich appointee, despite the Illinois governor’s ongoing corruption case. After meeting with Burris, Majority Leader Harry Reid took pains to praise the veteran Chicago pol, as did Obama, who called him “a fine public servant” and expressed willingness to work with him.
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Associated Press
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Jan 7, 09 11:53 AM CST
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A far cry from the political shunning of just days ago, Majority Leader Harry Reid ushered would-be senator Roland Burris into his office this afternoon, and emerged saying that an Illinois court decision could go a long way toward seating the Blagojevich appointee. “We don't have a problem with him as an individual,” said Reid. But a court decision on Burris' lack of signature from his secretary of state is vital, as “everyone has to present certification by the secretary of state.”
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Politico
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Jan 7, 09 10:19 AM CST
(Newser) -
Deal or no deal? Democratic sources this morning told the AP that Senate leaders had reached a deal to seat Blagojevich appointee Roland Burris, who was turned away by the Senate secretary when he showed up, flanked by lawyers, yesterday. Two senior Democratic aides tell Politico that report is “wrong,” though Burris met for 45 minutes this morning with Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, and seating him seems to be gaining momentum.
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Los Angeles Times
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Jan 7, 09 9:28 AM CST
(Newser) -
Dianne Feinstein is breaking Democratic ranks on the issue of of seating Roland Burris as the replacement for Barack Obama, reports the LA Times. “If you don't seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America,” the California senator warned yesterday. Majority Leader Harry Reid wasn't buying, telling Politico, “That’s not valid, her statement. I told her that. OK?”
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Associated Press
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Jan 6, 09 10:38 AM CST
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Members of Rod Blagojevich's impeachment panel say they will move forward despite the possibility that they might not get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor's conversations with aides and others. "These tapes are relevant evidence, we'd like to have them," said a lawyer for the impeachment panel, but added that the panel could wrap up its work as early as this week. "We have already gathered a large volume of evidence."
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CNN
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Jan 6, 09 10:28 AM CST
(Newser) -
Roland Burris strode briskly past the cameras through the rain into the Capitol today, demanding to be seated as Illinois’ Senator but was denied entry, CNN reports. The secretary of the Senate rejected his credentials, preventing him from taking the floor or the oath of office. It was "improperly done," Burris' attorney told the crowd of reporters, "and it is against the law of this land."
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CNN
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Jan 5, 09 2:13 PM CST
(Newser) -
The secretary of the Senate blocked the appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama's former seat today on the grounds that Burris’ certificate of appointment lacked the signature of Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, CNN reports. White has refused to sign the certificate because of the controversy over Burris’ selection by Rod Blagojevich, the governor who faces corruption charges.
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