Bobby Rush: Don't "Hang Or Lynch" Burris Because Of Blagojevich

In a wild press conference where Gov. Rod Blagojevich introduced Roland Burris as the Senate-appointee to replace Barack Obama, congressman Bobby Rush came to the lectern and firmly offered a racial basis for seeing through the appointment.

Noting that without Obama there would be no African-American members of the Senate, Rush, a former Black Panther, warned the press not to "hang or lynch" Burris by associating him with the ethics scandals plaguing the governor.

"I would ask you the not hang or lynch the appointee as you castigate the appointer and separate the appointee from the appointer," said Rush. "Roland Burris is worthy and he is the only one who can stand in the gap during this time and gather the confidence, re-establishing confidence of the people of the state of Illinois."

Rush went on to essentially challenge the United State Senate to not seat Burris -- a course of action that the Democratic Caucus has said it will pursue.

"There are no African-Americans in the Senate, and I don't think that anyone, any U.S. Senator who is sitting right now would want to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don't think they want to go on record doing that.

Rush promised to take his case to the Congressional Black Caucus, and he said he intended to lobby Senators as well -- including his Illinois colleague, Dick Durbin.

"Let me remind you that the state of Illinois and the people of the state of Illinois in their collective wisdom have sent two African-Americans to the U.S. Senate," Rush said. "That makes a difference. This is not just a state of Illinois matter ... but indeed, by this decision, it has tremendous national importance."

The remarks capped an incredibly dramatic press conference in which Burris and Blagojevich struck a tone of defiance, insisting that the Senate seat should be awarded to the former Illinois Attorney General despite charges that Blagojevich was trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder. The legal dynamics of the affair were already highly charged. A firm dose of racial politics injected into the proceedings seems likely to make the situtation even more contentious.

Comments

[Carrie9501]

07:51 PM on 12/31/2008

As an African American I must tell you I am with Rep. Rush's antics and inserting race into a situation where it was not warranted. His comments sets us back in so many ways. As for Mr. Burris I am sure he is a good man but it is hard to see that right now because of the glare of his obvious ambition. And now we hear that Rep. Davis chose principal over ambition and declined the Governor's offer. Too bad Mr. Burris did not display the same good judgment. I would urge Mr. Burris to rethink his acceptance of this appointment otherwise he will go down in history but not for the reasons he would want.

[george venny]

10:43 AM on 12/31/2008

As a black man I feel it disgraceful how flippantly he just used the term lynch/hang! Those words should not be used so casually or without merit.

Tainted appointment = tainted appointment, leave historical references to oppression and murder out of it!

[rudyinbama]

10:10 PM on 01/01/2009

Who'd have thought former Black Panther Bobby Rush would end up quoting from the Clarence Thomas playbook!
Remember the "High Tech Lynching?"

[dollars2donuts]

09:34 AM on 12/31/2008

As a black woman, I can say that Burris and especially Rush are setting blacks back decades with their thoughtless decisions...to accept appointment, and to attach inflammatory and completely irrelevant statements about lynching to it on top of everything. Nice job, morons! :(
The bottom line is they both should damn well know, because senate dems made it very clear, that NO ONE appointed by Blago was going to be accepted by them, and to force Burris onto the people of Illinois will only leave a bad taste in the electorate's mouth and make it much harder for the next actually honest and intelligent black candidate for office, coming after the stupid antics of Jesse Jackson Jr. and Burris.

[rollingdivision]

09:16 AM on 12/31/2008

Ain't this post-racial period great? Here we have one of the more famous members of the Black Congressional Caucus accusing Senate Democrats of threatening to act like Orville Faubus, George Wallace and perhaps the most iconic of segregationists, Bull Connor.

Bobby Rush, the former Black Panther who is now a congressman from Chicago, levelled his accusation on the CBS Early Show this morning in reaction to the letter signed by all 50 Senate Democrats declaring that they would not seat Roland Burris, the African-American that Gov. Rod Blagojevich yesterday named to take Barack Obama's Senate seat.

But it ain't all race in Democrat senate seat deal making! There's you know, the ongoing Kennedy coronation in NY. You know she's just like a princess, you know? In Delaware it turns out that Joe Biden's kid is the single most qualified person in the whole of Delaware to take over Joe's old seat, it's just like royalty! So Dems are setting up for nepotism with Biden's kid getting Joe's old senate seat. And the nepotism train keeps rolling on in Colorado where it's also all in the family with Salazar's brother being the most qualified Democrat in all of Colorado just like Biden's kid.

[BlueKansas]

09:14 AM on 12/31/2008

I'm a native Chicagoan and I can tell you that Bobby Rush says something about this controversial every time he opens his mouth.

[pinseeker]

09:13 AM on 12/31/2008

If Burris is not on tape trying to buy the office then that shows he is not corrupt in this case. The reason he took the job is because it is his last chance at a big payday.

[Charmed]

09:08 AM on 12/31/2008

The democrats said weeks ago that "NOBODY" would be accepted that Blago appointed.

[kasukabe]

09:05 AM on 12/31/2008

I don't think anyone was talking about attacking Burris's character and I think this congressman has, for his own selfish reasons, brought the subject of race to no useful purpose.

Such emotive language as "Lynch" is obviously designed to be some kind of crude emotional blackmail that has no place in a country that has just turned a significant corner in race relations.

People like Congressman Rush are a fading thing of the past, clinging on to a discredited and outdated modus operandi that tries to inflame and divide rather than reconcile.

Blagojevich is also a complete bas*ard for making this ridiculous announcement in an effort to cling on to any vestige of authority he may have. All in all a sordid affair has just been made a little more sordid because of the actions of these two egomaniacs leaving an innocent man in their wake.

[BethA]

08:44 AM on 12/31/2008

I heard this guy being interviewed. All he kept saying is his outrage at not enough blacks in the Senate.
Geesh, THIS is not the way to get there. ANY appointment by Blago is tainted.
Do it like Obama did, get elected or get Blago out of there for an untainted appointment by his replacement. This older generation playing the race card inappropriately is just as bad as the south singing disgusting songs about Obama's race.

[ohiomark]

08:22 AM on 12/31/2008

Bobby Rush playing the race card for no reason.

I'm shocked!!!!!

End sarcasm.

Bobby Rush should be mad at Blago, because the Burress nomination is now tainted and he won't be a Senator.

[roundtheblock]

08:16 AM on 12/31/2008

Congressman Bobby Rush just got handed his race card back. I love it when a racist wears his uniform so proudly, makes it easier to spot him! I guess it is a hard card to play in our new "Yes we can!" world.

[CTDEE]

07:43 AM on 12/31/2008

I cannot believe that race is being inserted into this situation, and that seemingly intelligent men (Rush and Burris) would allow themselves to be used this way. America just proved that we want politicians who are competent and capable, regardless of their race. Appointing someone to the position in this way, and then crying racism if his appointment is rejected is a definite step in the wrong direction...

[canarypapers]

07:37 AM on 12/31/2008

A despicable ploy, tossing race into this unresolved basket of snakes -- as if the whole matter boils down to race, so that any opposiiton to Burris' appointment can be perverted into an act of racism.

No doubt, as Bobby Rush implored us to not "hang or lynch" the appointee, Blago breathed a long sigh of relief at the sound of a bigger and potentially hotter potato being tossed into his big game. Meanwhile, the Republicans (ever-gleeful at the prospect of the Obama Administration being incapacitated by sticky issues, the "racier" the better) licked their chops, hearing something more akin to, "Please don't throw me in the briar patch!"

[Pippen]

07:13 AM on 12/31/2008

Burris is an idiot and is salivating so bad for the position he looks like a pitbull before dinner. Who in their righteous mind would accept and announce and support this appointment ? I ask you, truthfully. Anything this guy Blagojavich does is stained and poisoned and if he appointed Mickey Mouse we'd distrust Mickey Mouse. This is doomed and someone is trying to sell roadkill as Parfet. Bon apetite.

[canarypapers]

06:48 AM on 12/31/2008

I'm sure that Bobby Rush's appearance and his "hang or lynch" statement at the press conference were just as *un*premeditated as Blagojevitch's appointment of a respectable (and African American, no less!) politician such as Roland Burris. Uh-huh.

I wonder how long this country will continue to be hijacked and driven by sleazy politicians (e.g. Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales, Blagojevitch, et al) so skilled at perverting the letter of the law, that they're legally able to evade, entirely, the spirit of the law.

And I wonder how long the so-called "good apples" among our lawmakers will continue to aid, abet and enable (through the same-old, same-old responses of complacency, spinelessness and/or sheer lack of a moral compass) the "bad apple" politicians to blatantly commit audacious crimes -- from war crimes, to murder, to treason, to embezzlement.