Editor’s note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of “Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith” and “Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America.” Visit his Web site for more information.
Roland S. Martin says Gov. Rod Blagojevich had every right to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat.
(CNN) — It is total hypocrisy for the naysayers of embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to assert that he didn’t have the legal right to appoint Roland Burris to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
According to the Illinois Constitution, the governor of the state has the sole responsibility for appointing the replacement. Did Blagojevich resign, or has he been impeached? Nope. If you call Springfield, Illinois, and ask for the governor’s office, they’ll tell you that Blagojevich’s name is still on the door.
It seems a lot of folks are excited and happy that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White took a stand by refusing to sign the paperwork certifying Burris as the Senate appointee.
Yet what these same folks somehow refuse to recognize is that Blagojevich isn’t some guy sitting around in his office, twiddling his fingers, flipping through the cable channels with a remote and waiting to get impeached. He is still carrying out his duties as governor.
Did you know that since his arrest in December, Blagojevich has pardoned 22 people? I haven’t heard a huge outcry over this tainted governor setting folks free.
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