Don't blame Burris for Blagojevich's actions
SENATORS take themselves very seriously. They have their own quirky customs and traditions. They are laws unto themselves. Senates have their own rules about who may, or may not, join them. They can be quick to show their displeasure.
Consider Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, war hero and reformer, who displeased the Patricians in the Senate of Rome by trying to make things better for the Plebes. In 133 BC, Gracchus nominated himself to run for office, which displeased the Senate very much. On election day he arrived with an armed guard, dressed in mourning - an indication that he expected not to be received by the senators gladly. He wasn't.
He was beaten to death by senators wielding Senate chamber chairs, and his body was thrown into the Tiber. Plutarch, the father of history, says his death was mercifully "short and quick." Serious riots spread throughout the capital.
Clearly the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has displeased the United States Senate very much. Perhaps they might stop short of beating him to death with their chairs, but he certainly deserves to be thrown into the Potomac. It's pretty clear that he wanted to sell Barack Obama's old Senate seat, but there is no evidence that he actually did. Obama, along with almost everyone else, has called for his resignation.
Had Blagojevich nominated himself for Obama's old Senate seat, he might quite rightly have been refused membership into that august body. But the man whom Blagojevich did name, Roland Burris, is the one asking to be seated, not Blagojevich. Burris points out with quiet dignity that Blagojevich is still governor of Illinois. And as such, it is his right - indeed his constitutional duty - to name a new senator to the position vacated by the incoming president. Blagojevich has not been convicted of any crime. He has not been impeached.
It may be unseemly, but Blagojevich had every right to name Burris to the Senate. And while senators may find it annoying that Burris would accept his appointment from the likes of Blagojevich, none can say that Burris is unqualified, having been a state attorney general. He hasn't upset the Patricians on behalf of the Plebes.
The Patricians may get one of their own, Caroline Kennedy, although she is much less qualified than Burris.
Senators are right to keep any hint of impropriety away from their chambers. Of course, no one would believe that helping secure federal aid for an upstate New York developer, who just happened to donate $100,000 to Bill Clinton's foundation, could represent anything other than Senator Hillary Clinton's "unwavering commitment to improving upstate New York's struggling economy," just as her spokesman said.
Yet the Democratic senators say they will bar the chamber doors against Roland Burris.
The Democratic senators may have their own rules and quirky practices, but they stand on shaky legal ground. They might be righteously cross with the nominator, but why take it out on the nominee? If there were the slightest hint that Burris had bought the seat from the outrageous Blagojevich, that would be another matter. But no allegations have been made.
What a sad way to begin the work of the new Congress. What a sad way for Obama to start out with his old Senate seat in such contention.
The times are too dangerous, both at home and abroad, for the Senate not to get down to business right away. The people of Illinois deserve full representation. The Democrats are not going to agree to a special election, which might be a way out of this impasse, because they are afraid that a Republican might win it. So instead, the nation might be drawn through an unedifying spectacle of taking the sins of Rod Blagojevich out on Roland Burris.
Don't throw Burris into the Tiber. Washington may not erupt in riots, but his political demise will not be short and quick. Better the courts not get involved. Let him take his seat, senators, and let's get on with the business of running the country in these downtrodden times.
H.D.S. Greenway's column appears regularly in the Globe. 