Jesse White: I've been made the fall guy

[goodhue]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Jesse White: I've been made the fall guy

January 7, 2009 6:52 AM | No Comments |

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said this morning he has been made "the fall guy" by the U.S. Senate, which he said is using him as an excuse to not seat Roland Burris.

"They could have seated him without my signature; my signature is not required," he told WGN-AM 720's John Williams.

The Senate barrred Burris Tuesday, saying he lacked proper credentials because his appointment was not signed by White.

But White said today, "My signature is mostly ceremonial, rather than a point of law."

"They played a little bit of a game with yesterday," he added.

Asked by Williams if he had been made "the fall guy," White said, "You're absolutely correct."

* * *

Read more: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/jesse-white-ive-been-made-the-fall-guy.html

[Crowman1979]

1. Well Blagovich's indictment was all over the news!

Jesse White should have known better than to trip on that huge crack in the sidewalk. Next time, wait until after the governor's impeachment to place your resume to fill a US senate vancancy.

[goodhue]

2. Jesse White tripped in a crack?

He followed the lead of the Reid/Durbin and refused to sign certificate of appointment.

[Chisox08]

3. Jesse White is the Sec. of State

Who refused to sign the paper work confirmig Roland Burris appointment to the US Senate. He was saying that the US Senate was using him not signing the papers as an excuse for Burris not being seated.

[struggle4progress]

21. Um ... Blagojevich hasn't been indicted yet. eom

[Fire1]

4. He made himself the 'fall guy.' This could have all been avoided.

[goodhue]

5. So if White had merely signed the certificate, Burris would have been seated yesterday?

I'm not so sure.

[Wizard777]

6. If they would have done it yesterday. Burris could have easily gotten lost in the crowd.

But the delays are just ensuring a spotlight on his swearing in.

[goodhue]

7. Indeed, they should have seated Burris yesterday

But they claimed his paperwork was not in order due to absence of White's signature.
White himself, on the other hand, says they could have seated Burris nonetheless.
Who's zooming who?

[Fire1]

8. According to Reid in this mornings press conference, Yes, b/c

that was the major obstacle in this process. Had White signed the certificate, all of his credentials would have been in order, as far as the state of Illinois would be concerned and there would be no need for a senatorial 'meeting' to ask questions about his appointment from the Gov.

[goodhue]

9. Indeed, that is what Reid now says

White one the other suggests that his lack of signature was of no real legal consequence, as it is mostly ceremonial and not a point of law.

[Fire1]

11. White is 'full of it.' He knows that apparently, 'tradition' trumps

the law. He could've stopped this whole thing. Period.

[ShortnFiery]

17. If only "give em hell Harry" Reid would have put half as much passion to upholding FISA and

filibustering the right wing nut job's Alito confirmation, I JUST MIGHT empathize with his dilemma.

But NAH! :evilgrin:

[elmerdem]

10. Fuck Harry Reid!

He has constantly said they wouldn't seat him. Hell, so did Obama, remember 'tainted'. With the wind blowing, 9 times out of ten Harry Reid will piss in the wrong direction. For him to say that about White's signature is just a chickenshit way of giving himself more time to fuck things up. If this is the leadership that were going to have with Dems in charge we're fucked.

[Piewhacket]

12. Oh my, (chuckling)

Spin spin spin.

What I think is the Senate is without right to choose the State representative, that
is for the State to do, but the Senate does have the right to refuse to seat the
representative selected by the state. That's the nutshell. Everything else
is confabulation, smoke, mirrors, and posturing.

Specifically,

1. Without SoS certification Burris is NOT the Senate appointee of his state,
and the Senate is PROPERLY within its rights to, and should, and did,
refuse to seat Burris on that basis.

A lawsuit to command the seating of Burris without certification
would fail. Formalities have consequences (see eg marbury v, madison).

2. The senate MIGHT attempt to waive the certification and seat Burris
anyway, but that and could generate its own legal challenge, although
a Senator might have to bring the suit and that would be a damn mess.
Better to simply fillibuster such an attempt. Bad Karma. Discussions
of seating Burris without certification under any terms are gravely misguided.

3. Burris can, and did, sue to compel the SoS to certify the appointment. I
imagine that will succeed, but not willing to predict the outcome, for I also
see some nasty difficulties. We will see how it goes.
:popcorn:

4. Even if Burris is certified, the Senate MIGHT (and probably does) have the
(Art I, US Const) right to refuse to seat Burris. That action would probably go
to the Supreme Court. I have no idea what they will say.
:popcorn:

[KamaAina]

13. Someone made Jesse White into Lee Majors?

:shrug:

[PSPS]

15. I thought they meant "the" Jesse White

You know, this guy:

[KamaAina]

16. Or these guys, who are actually from Chicago:

(the Jesse White Tumblers, who, it turns out, actually are the Jesse White's tumblers!)

[mitchum]

23. I did too

debased minds think alike

[Critters2]

14. Then sign the damn thing! nt

[ShortnFiery]

18. But J. White is correct, it is NOT mandatory on "the State Level" for his signature to VALIDATE

an *APPOINTMENT.*

There's the rub, it's necessary for the SOS signature to be present in order to validate "an election" but not an "appointment."

Don the pink tutus on Harry Reid (and Dick Durbin) for getting "all Diva" prematurely ... and over the INANE when he folds on issue of dire national importance. :thumbsdown: WHAT A MAROON! :P

[goodhue]

19. Illinois Attorney General Madigan says Jesse White signature not needed to seat Burris . . .

http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-2937-burris-court-motion-.html

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Burris court motion gets response from White

by Wendell Hutson

While U.S. Senator-designee Roland Burris was hoping for a quick response to the Dec. 31 motion he filed with the Illinois Supreme Court to force the Illinois Secretary of State to certify his nomination, the response he received today is not what he had hoped for.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan, acting on behalf of Secretary of State Jesse White, filed a motion with the state Supreme Court that not only said White still would not sign a certification form, as required by the U.S. Senate Rules Committee, but that there is no legal basis to force him to do so.

“On December 31, 2008 – the same day Gov. Blagojevich submitted the U.S. Senate’s recommended appointment form to the U.S. Senate – Secretary White registered Burris’ appointment pursuant to the Secretary’s only legal duty regarding appointments,” Madigan said in her court filing. “Instead, what is at issue here is a form that is not required by law but is merely ‘recommended’ by a rule of the U.S. Senate. Moreover, a U.S. Senate rule cannot impose a legal obligation on the Illinois Secretary of State.”

And according to the state constitution, there is no law requiring the Secretary of State to sign a “recommended” form of the U.S. Senate, Madigan explained.

Madigan added that the decision to treat the U.S. Senate’s recommended form as a legal requirement is a decision of the U.S. Senate. It remains up to the U.S. Senate to seat Burris.

* * *

http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-2937-burris-court-motion-.html

[nickgutierrez]

20. This is going to turn out just fine.

It was probably a smart move to pick such a small issue to question Burris's credentials. This way, one of two things will end up happening.

1. They hammer out a quick agreement wherein the Senate agrees to seat Burris in exchange for his promise that he won't seek reelection in 2010, or
2. It goes to court, shoots up the system quickly, and has the Supreme Court rule for Burris, which is almost certainly how they will decide.

Either way, Burris gets his seat in the Senate, Senate Democrats show a consistent disdain for corruption regardless of which party it comes from, and Illinois gets two votes in the Senate just like everybody else. It works for everybody.

[KamaAina]

22. Well, he is the founder of a well-known tumbling team

so it's not like he's never been the "fall guy" before. :-)

No, really:

http://www.jessewhitetumblingteam.com/about_jessewhite.php

Jesse White is the Illinois Secretary of State. He was elected to the post on November 3, 1998 by a margin of over 450,000 votes and is the first African-American to serve as Illinois Secretary of State. He was sworn into office on January 11, 1999. He was re-elected to this position in 2002 when he gained majority support from all 102 counties in the state of Illinois....

In 1959, White founded the internationally known Jesse White Tumbling Team to serve as a positive alternative for the children residing in Chicago's Cabrini-Green and Henry Horner public housing communities. Since the team's inception, over 8,500 young men and women have performed with the team. White has worked for over 45 years as a volunteer with the team to help kids stay away from gangs, drugs, alcohol and smoking, and to help set at-risk youth on the path to success.

[goodhue]

24. IL Supremes agree with White that his signature is not needed . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/09/burris.senate/

[No Elephants]

25. White is the one who played the game by not signing, but why did the Senate

not research this before denying Burris the seat? They are lawmakers for pity sakes. Most of them are lawyers. They have staffs. Couldn't someone have figured out that White's signature was not a legal requirement? This is such political kabuki theater bs.

[Bucky]

26. I feel for White. The world wanted Blago's head on a pike & he was point man

If he'd signed off on the appointment as he was supposed to do, he'd have eated twice as much shit as he's getting now. At least now he can say he made a statement against Blagojevich, even if he didn't quite fully comply with the law.

This is politics, after all. Sometimes it's better to politicize your office by taking a moral stand than to simply walk through the motions and thus give the false appearance of politicizing your office.