Innocent until proven guilty -- Part 1

Despite the self-serving pompous declarations of Secretary of State Jesse White, he was declared wrong.

Jesse White refused to sign the appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate seat made by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. White said the appointment was tainted.

Well, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Jesse White's signature is irrelevent.

The court's opinion states that "no further action is required by the Secretary of State or any other official to make the Governor's appointment of Roland Burris to the United States Senate valid under Illinois law."

It was a victory for Blagojevich and for Burris, and a defeat for Jesse White. White did get his publicity, playing to the lynch mob in the legislature's Kangaroo court.

The Illinois court also stated "no explanation has been given as to how any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of tradition, could supersede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on the states by the federal constitution."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, playing the role of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace standing at the entrance of the University of Alabama in the early 1960s to prevent two Black students from applying to the college, conceded Wednesday he will review the ruling of the state's highest court.

When it comes to the LAW, Blagojevich won the day.

When it comes to the lynch mob mentality and the political gamesmanship being played by some legislators and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn who wants his job for himself, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan who wants his daughter, the Illinois Attorney General to take Blagojevich's place, and leaders of the Democratic Party who are angry that Blagojevich chose to give the people of Illinois the healthcare they need instead of the politics the legislators demanded, they won the political day.

But the Law trumps the politics of the legislature.

Comptroller Dan Hynes also joined int he assertion that Blagojevich is guilty of trying to solicit money in exchange for his powers, forgetting that there is such a word called "ALLEGEDLY."

Blagojevich hasn't made Illinois the "laughing stock" of the nation. he merely has put the exclamation point at the end of that fact, as the monikor as the nation's laughing stock comes from the culture of corruption that many of the legislature's Democratic leaders and some Republicans have created.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com