550 Senator Tsuris

550  Senator Tsuris

"Well the south side of Chicago, is the baddest part of town.

And if you go down there, you better just beware of a man named Leroy Brown."

--Jim Croce

If you go down there, you also will find the Oak Woods Cemetery, where Bad Bad Roland Burris expects to be buried some day -- sooner rather than later in the thoughts of some of his fellow United States Senators.  Rollo has built himself a mausoleum at Oak Woods, a big imposing stone thing on which are engraved his accomplishments to date.  First African American to do this, that and the other thing.

There's more space on the stone face for future accomplishments, if any.  But one thing you won't find there is his stunning ability to un-pad his resume.  Yes, while many job seekers embellish their backgrounds and responsibilities, Ole Rol' seems to left a few things out.

The FBI tapes apparently showed that he made a thinly disguised effort to bribe his way into the senate, by telling the brother and campaign chairman of disgraced former Illinois Governor and soon to be jailbird Rod Blagojevich that he'd "do something" for the Gov. if were appointed to the seat vacated by President Obama.   Senator Burris had earlier denied making the offer.  So which Rollo do we believe, the one who testified before the Illinois legislators or the one on the phone tap?  He'd also denied at one point that he asked for the job, or that he talked about it with any of the governor's aids.   Um... left a few things off the resume?

A judge has ruled that the Senate Ethics Committee will get to hear the tapes.  Burris' lawyer says the Senator "...has been consistent all along in his answers."  Huh?

Burris says he "welcomes the opportunity" for "the truth to come out." Huh?  Which truth -- or whose?  And is Ole Rol' going to take some people down with him?

Can a guy like this land on his feet, again?  Or like Bad Bad Leroy Brown, will he finish "...like a jig saw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone."

Shrapnel:

--Let's see if we have this straight:  birds often get in the way of aircraft, including the one that landed on the Hudson River -- the one with two dead engines and jet-roasted goose for dinner.  Now, the city wants to build a garbage dump at the end of one of the LaGuardia  runways?  And what constantly circles garbage dumps (here's a hint:  feathers, beaks, honks, quacks, squawks, chirps, webbed or clawed feet.)

--Memorial Day and Mother's Day were pretty close on this year's calendar.  Maybe we should have combined them.  Mom-Morial day, anyone?

--Another reason to dislike Windows Vista.  The solitaire game is too fancy and way too easy to win.  A sop, no doubt, from a sympathetic subrosa micro-serf who feels sorry for all of us forced to use the system. 

I'm Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009