"The Democrats could mess up a one-car funeral."
As a child, I knew a mortician who was fond of saying this about anyone he deemed inept. It basically meant that the person in question could screw-up even the most simple task.
And watching the spectacle of the Democrats, at both the national and state level, in the wake of the jaw-dropping victory of Barack Obama as America's first Black President, I have new appreciation for the undertaker's sentiment.
What else can you say about a political party that could manage to make Obama's transition and the run-up to his historic inauguration a second-tier story? And, further, that would allow embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to make them look like contemporary, real life Keystone Cops?
And say what you will about Blago, his choice of Roland Burris to fill Obama's vacant U. S. Senate seat was, tactically, a master stroke. Sure, morally and ethically it may have been a questionable move. Still, he just out-and-out outsmarted the Democrats. Flat-out.
Mind you, this is a party that has not had much to celebrate for several election cycles, what with George W. Bush's eight-year train wreck of an administration, during much of which the Republicans controlled both houses of the Congress--and many state houses.
And now that they are poised to be in control of the White House (and did I mention the Democratic President-elect is Black), and they hold majorities in both Houses in Congress, what are they doing these days? Are they reveling in their magnificent, historic November victories or, better still, strategizing the great American Renaissance? Wouldn't that be nice?
Instead, they are trying to kill each other, figuratively of course.
On the first day of the 111th Congress, with 34 new and re-elected United States Senators being sworn in, and with Obama's inauguration in less than two weeks, what is the lead story? It is the sight of Roland Burris, a 71 year-old Black man, former Illinois Attorney General, no less--the first African American to hold that state-wide office-- and arguably the junior senator from Illinois, standing in the rain, conducting a press conference on Capitol Hill, announcing that his Senate "credentials are not in order and will not be accepted."
This after the Senate secretary and sergeant-at-arms informed Burris that he would be denied access to the Senate floor. Presently Burris, the esquire, is weighing his legal options.
Timothy W. Wright III, a Burris attorney, summarized it thus. "Our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record books. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land. We will consider our options and we will certainly let you know what our decisions will be soon thereafter."
Alas, Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, now finds himself--fairly or not--being likened to George Wallace and his infamous 1963 "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" when he attempted to keep two Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama, then segregated.
That's right.
The Democrats now find themselves in the historically untenable position of barring Roland Burris from the lily white U. S. Senate --in the face of what virtually every constitutional law expert maintains is a perfectly legal gubernatorial appointment to replace former Senator Barack Obama, who of course is now President-elect--Blago's alleged "pay-for-play" drama notwithstanding.
Keep in mind that Obama was only the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the Senate.
Speaking of which, remember Barack Obama? Remember when we were caught up in the rapture of his titanic victory on November 4? What about all the talk of "post-racial" America? Doesn't that all seem like a lifetime ago now?
But enough of the stroll down memory lane.
Back to Harry Reid--and George Wallace. If legal conventional wisdom prevails, Reid will ultimately be forced to, as the Congressional Black Caucus recommended on Tuesday, accept that Burris is indeed the duly appointed junior senator from Illinois--just as Wallace was forced to stand aside, after federal marshals, a deputy attorney general and the Alabama National Guard left him no other option.
The question, then, is this. Why even proceed with this circus, which would make even P. T. Barnum blush? And then there's the mad (and maddening) scramble in New York for Secretary of State designate Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat. But that's another story.
Meanwhile, the Republicans must be the luckiest losers in history. I mean, let's face it, the Democrats have been providing so much grist for the press' manic mill that the GOP's crushing defeat in November seems like ancient history. As is Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair hopeful Chip Saltzman's little "Barack the Magic Negro" Christmas offering to RNC members.
I have much to say about the little "Magic Negro" ditty, but now is not the time. Right now, I just want the Democrats to stop the madness. Put aside bruised egos. End this now.
Roland Burris may not be first, or even the best choice. But he is the choice of the sitting governor of the state of Illinois, and as such he should be seated. As Burris said, "there's nothing wrong with Roland Burris and there's nothing wrong with the appointment.
It's like this: Don't hate the player, hate the game. As it were, Burris appears to be holding all the right cards.
I say cut your losses--and move on with the business of pulling the American economy out of the ditch, fixing our substandard schools, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and...The list could go on ad infinitum. And that's just domestically.
Further, look to 2010, otherwise the Democratic majority could be fleeting. Perhaps most importantly, the Democrats should remember the undertaker's analogy, and not mess up, well, a two-house majority.
In the final analysis, as the newly minted leader of the Democratic Party, President-Elect Barack Obama needs to work some of the magic that has been ascribed to him, and urge Reid and the Senate leadership to move ahead with swearing in Burris, the self-proclaimed "Magic Man," as the newest member of the 111th Congress.
And Lord knows, after eight years of George W. Bush, this country could use a little magic.
Dr. Pamela D. Reed is a diversity consultant, cultural critic,
and assistant professor of English and African-American literature at
Virginia State University.
Comments