PrairiePundit

Washington Times: Senate Democrats are angling to end the military's decades-old ban on allowing abortions in overseas military hospitals, thus thrusting the culture wars back onto the front burner after months of being drowned out by the nation's economic woes. Sen. Roland W. Burris ushered the proposal through the Senate Armed Services Committee in May, tacking it onto the Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is slated to consider Tuesday. ... The Democrats are playing fast and loose with national security putting controversial items like this abortion authorization and allowing illegal immigrant children to get citizenship. They know the voters do not want these provisions so they are willing to hold the troops hostage to them. They seem desperate to get this done before they lose their majority in November.

Mark Brown: With any luck, Sen. Roland Burris will see such vindication in a Downstate prosecutor's decision not to charge him with perjury that he'll try to use it as a basis to run in 2010. That would give Illinois voters the chance to let him know exactly what they think of his act -- and render a more meaningful verdict on his honesty than could have been expected from any jury of his peers in Sangamon County. If Burris has any sense, on the other hand, he'll continue to blame all his credibility troubles on the media and announce right now that he's calling it a career as soon as his term ends. ... It's still plain as day Burris intentionally misled everyone about his dalliances with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in pursuit of the Senate seat until the job was safely his. It's just not nearly so clear that he committed the very specific act of knowingly making a false statement while being questioned under oath. Schmidt, a Republican, sa...

Chicago Sun-Times: U.S. Sen. Roland Burris had more contacts with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s chief of staff before being appointed to his Senate seat than he disclosed in his most recent affidavit, phone records and interviews show. One of the calls to John Harris came Nov. 13, the day Burris discussed the possibility of raising money for the governor with Blagojevich’s brother Robert, according to phone records obtained by the Sun-Times and sources. That call was likely caught on an FBI wiretap. All told, Burris called Harris, who resigned after he was criminally charged Dec. 9, four times in the weeks following the Nov. 4 election and appears to have spoken to Harris on Nov. 26, phone records show. In the Feb. 4 affidavit, which has set off a political wildfire because it dramatically altered earlier sworn statements, Burris acknowledged only reaching out to Harris once last October and getting a return phone call three weeks later. Burris depicted his discussion with Harris as ...

CNN: The Washington Post added its voice Wednesday to a growing chorus of demands for the resignation of Sen. Roland Burris two days after he detailed conversations with impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother that he failed to mention under oath. Burris, appointed by a scandal-wracked Blagojevich to fill President Obama's vacant Senate seat, told reporters Monday night in Peoria, Illinois, that he had three conversations with the governor's brother, Robert Blagojevich. In them, the Democratic senator said he discussed possibly raising money for the governor before ultimately declining to do so. Burris said he had talked to some people about holding a fundraiser but told the governor's brother shortly after Obama's election that no one was willing to donate. In a third conversation, he finally said it would be inappropriate to raise money because he was interested in the Senate appointment. "This latest revelation makes a mockery of his professio...

Politico: Embattled Sen. Roland W. Burris' legal and political problems deepened Tuesday as Democrats in Washington and Illinois signaled that they would support an investigation into whether the senator lied under oath about his appointment to the Illinois Senate seat. Illinois Democrats are now backing GOP calls for a perjury investigation, while the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Committee suggested that the panel would open a preliminary inquiry, which could ultimately lead to Burris’ expulsion from the full Senate. "Whenever allegations of improper conduct are brought to the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee, we open a preliminary inquiry," said Natalie Ravitz, spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the panel. After saying he never raised funds for Blagojevich, Burris admitted to reporters Monday night that he did in fact try to raise funds after a solicitation request was made by the former governor's brother, Rob. And wh...

Mark Brown: I'll leave it to the proper investigative bodies to decide whether Roland Burris committed perjury last month in testimony before the Illinois House impeachment committee. From a strict legal perspective, maybe he didn't. But I'll tell you straight up, our new U.S. senator proved himself to be a lying little sneak. The word preposterous comes to my mind to describe Burris' explanation -- and accompanying performance Sunday -- in which he basically says his previous failure to disclose relevant contacts with Rod Blagojevich's inner circle about the Senate vacancy was simply a matter of everyone else's failure to ask him the right questions or give him time to answer. I was at that hearing, and I have reviewed the transcript. Burris had plenty of opportunity to tell the whole truth and, for whatever reason, failed to do so. The senator now wants us to believe he never knew we might find it relevant that the governor's brother Rob was putting ...

Politico: ... Burris told reporters that he had spoken with six Blagojevich associates about the Senate seat, but insisted that this was in no way inconsistent with a voluntary affidavit he submitted to the committee on Jan. 5, in which he said “there was not any contact” between him or the governor's associates about the Senate seat. As reporters repeatedly interrupted his attempts to reconcile the statements, he doggedly stressed that "I have been consistent," and tried to make a distinction between the general interest in the Senate seat he now says he expressed to several close associates of Blagojevich and conversations specifically about the appointment. ... In law school that is called a distinction without a difference. It is certainly unpersuasive. I think Burris would have been better off not taking questions on that subject.

Chicago Tribune: U.S. Sen. Roland Burris has changed his story again about what happened before ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed him to the Senate, and state Republican leaders said Saturday they want an investigation into whether he perjured himself. Burris gradually has acknowledged deeper contacts with Blagojevich allies after initially portraying himself as a surprise pick for the controversial seat the former governor is accused of trying to sell. But Illinois House Republican leaders said they now wonder if Burris purposely deceived the public while under oath last month by not telling a special House impeachment panel that Blagojevich's brother asked for fundraising help before the now-disgraced ex-governor appointed him. State Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said he would ask the now-dormant impeachment committee to refer the matter to Sangamon County State's Atty. John Schmidt, a Republican, after learning of the revelations by Burris, who is a Democrat. Burris ac...

Clarence Page: Roland Burris, who is known to have an inflated view of his own wonderfulness, has said he believes "divine providence" destined him for high office. I'm beginning to wonder. Seldom in political history has anyone risen so quickly from golden insider to political outcast -- and back again. For years he was known for being a notable "first black." As Illinois comptroller from 1979 to 1991, he was the state's first black official to be elected statewide. But, after four years as the state's first black attorney general, he since tried to be senator, governor (three times) and Chicago mayor without winning even a nomination. He is notable for having managed to commit few political sins, except maybe aggravated narcissism. The names of Burris' two children, Roland and Rolanda, are now nationally famous. So is his lavish mausoleum, with his resume etched in stone under the headline "Trailblazer" and with just enough space left...

Chicago Sun-Times: ... For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich's former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September. "If you're close to the governor, you know, let him know I'm certainly interested in the seat," Burris said he told Monk. That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no "representatives" of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26. Federal prosecutors, who identified Monk as "Lobbyist 1" in their criminal complaint against Blagojevich, indicated they tapped Monk's phone in November as Blagojevich moved to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat. Whether the new Monk detail poses any threat to Burris' efforts to persuade Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to allow him to be seated isn't clear...

Mark Brown: It's time for President-elect Barack Obama to get off the sidelines and try to talk some sense to Roland Burris -- or if that's beneath him at this point, find somebody else who can. The citizens of Obama's home state, the ones who launched his political career and proudly backed his ascendance to the nation's highest office, need his help. Despite Burris being turned away Tuesday in his attempt to claim the seat vacated by Obama, the momentum is clearly building in Washington for Senate Democrats to give up and let Rod Blagojevich have his way. And unfortunately, I can't think of anybody short of the future president of the United States who could bring to bear the kind of public and private pressure that's going to be necessary at this point to get Burris to back down. ... The reason for this desperation goes beyond letting Blagojevich get away with making an appointment. I think Dick Durban and the Chicago machine told the other candidates vyin...