There were no cell phone cameras, still cameras, TV cameras allowed when Burris went to be seated. He was turned away because Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature was not on the Certificate of Appointment. Presser about to start. Will update.

Statement:

Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior Senator from the state of Illinois. I presented my credentials to the Secretary of the Senate and advised that, uh, my credentials were not in order and I would not be accepted and I would not be seated and I would not be permitted on the floor and therefore, uh, I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation. I will now consult with my attorneys and we will determine what our next step will be. Thank you all very much  and God bless each and every one of you. Thank you. My, my attorneys will speak to you.

Lots more at The Capitol Fax Blog.

Thanks, Roland, for giving me an earwig… Heart’s song Magic Man…

When asked in a presser today how he can be on Capitol Hill and at impeachment hearings in Springfield on Wednesday, Burris said:

Well I am, I am the magic man.

When asked about his supporters pulling the race card he said:

I have never in my life and all of my years I’ve been elected to office thought anything about race. I’ve been elected four times in the state of Illinois and the great people of Illinois have seen the qualifications and the commitment Roland Burris has and race has never been a concern of mine.

When one looks at his Tomb in Chicago’s Oak Woods Cemetery, we see an entire section as follows:

Trail Blazer

First African-American in Illinois to become:

Illinois Attorney General 1991-95

Illinois State Comptroller 1979-91

Vice-President of Continental Illinois
National Bank 1964-73

National Bank Examiner U.S. Treasury Dept
(First Black in the Nation) 1963-64

President of the National Association of
State Comptrollers 1981-82

President of the National Association of
State Auditors, Comptrollers and
Treasurers 1985-86

S.I.U. Exchange Student to University of
Hamburg, Germany 1959-60

Photo Credit Politico.com Click for original

He’s never thought anything about race in all his life?

That’s the Seal of the State of Illinois above the Trail Blazer on the tomb by the way.

Update: Eric Zorn reprints his March, 2 1998 column regarding Burris’ “white boy” comment made about his Democratic Gubenatorial Primary rivals…

Burris: I look forward to serving our 13 million people with all of the crises that we have in this state and in this nation. And Illinois is need to have a full complement of representation and that’s what I’m seeking to do.

Q: What do you expect to happen upon your arrival in DC?

Burris: Well, I’m hoping and praying that I will be seated.

Q: Have you had any contact with the Obama Administration?

Burris: No I’ve not. None whatsoever. My people tried to reach out to reach out for them and, uh, {unintelligible. - Burris was turning around and looking at people behind him at the airport}

Q: How do you feel about your supporters bringing race into this issue here?

Burris: You know, I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life and all of my years I’ve been elected to office thought anything about race. I’ve been elected four times in the state of Illinois and the great people of Illinois have seen the qualifications and the commitment Roland Burris has and race has never been a concern of mine. Certainly as a matter of fact, {interrupted to get closer to the microphones: Q: Sir? B: Oh, is there a problem? I have, um. I’m trying to talk to the young lady.} As a matter of fact I have looked upon the state of Illinois as the only state in the nation, think about this, that has elected four blacks statewide. Two United States Senators and two constitutional officers and now they have an appointed individual who is also black as United States Senator.

Q: Mr. Burris. Who do you plan to meet with and to do what you call these negotiations in Washington?

Burris: Well, I will be in touch with our senior senator, Dick Durbin, and hopefully he will have things outlined for me and set up there and we will proceed from there. I understand that he has a schedule for me from Harry Reid the majority leader and we will see what takes place there.

Q: Are you scheduled for Wednesday?

Burris: Wednesday, that’s correct.

Q: You’ve been subpoenaed to appear before the House Impeachment committee.

Burris: We’re handling that as well.

Q: How are you going to do that?

Burris: Well, I am, I am the Magic Man.

(more…)

Please go visit Take Back Our Seat.

The US Senate seat from Illinois belongs to the people and is not for sale.

I have an appointment I have to go to and will come back later with video and a transcript.

I am looking for other contributors from both sides of the aisle. And you don’t have to be from Illinois. New York’s Junior Senate seat should be filled by the people as well.

#dontgo has a petition up to send to Congress to protest bailing out US automakers.

You can go here to sign it.

CW has it that American car makers don’t make cars that people want to buy. I don’t think that’s the real reason. People want the cars that Detroit builds, otherwise they wouldn’t buy those cars at all. I see so many pickups and SUVs around, especially here in northern Illinois. Often times, the only way to get out of the driveway after the snowplow goes by is with a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

The reason is that people don’t want to spend that $5K-$10K premium per vehicle that is added to the price of the vehicle to cover the unsustainable labor contracts that the Big Three are currently burdened with.

Smaller, more fuel efficient, more eco-friendly vehicles are all well and good, but a Smart car, adorable as it is, can’t carry my family. A Smart car won’t get over the plow sh*t at the end of my driveway. And that’s the stuff that’s the hardest to remove… Icy, watery, heavy crap that the plow leaves along the side of the road. Depending on the accumulation, those piles can be more than a foot high. Easy to traverse with a four wheel drive SUV, impossible with a smaller car.

People also don’t want to pay a premium in the thousands for eco-friendliness (e.g. 2009 Saturn Vue FWD base price $23,745 eMPG 19City/23Hwy vs Hybrid Saturn Vue $28,625 eMPG 25City/32Hwy - a $4,880 difference.) We have one vehicle, an SUV. It handily accommodates our entire family. A sedan could accommodate the three kids and two adults too, but that’s all. We couldn’t take Grandma or a friend, or my sister, her husband, and her daughter with us as we can with our 8 seat vehicle.

And don’t even try a run to Costco or Sam’s Club with family in a small sedan. We once had a 1982 Toyota Corolla Tercel and only two kids at the time. You should have seen it. We had to pack it like a clown car with all the stuff and try not to suffocate two children while doing it.

Since we just have the one vehicle, I have to walk to the elementary school to pick up The Little Guy. It’s a mile there and back. I wear a leg brace and use a cane too. One of those Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) or a Smart Car could work for that, and for the small amount of close-in travel to the Post Office, Dunkin Donuts, the grocery store, etc that I might do during the day, but these little, tiny, eco-friendly vehicles cost about the same as a larger compact car does. And the gas powered car goes much further than the 40 mile range of a plug in electric.

Let’s not bail out the US automakers. Let’s allow them to declare bankruptcy and shed the unsustainable labor contracts. Let’s give the US automakers the same advantages that the foreign automakers here in the US currently enjoy.