[Excerpted from "Dissenting Justice," which I author.]
Darren Hutchinson, Patrick Buchanan Shows Greater Commitment to Liberal Values Than Senate Democrats, Defends Roland Burris
The Senate Democrats' position on Roland Burris is so anti-liberal, that it falls to the right Patrick Buchanan's perspective on the subject. Buchanan, a popular conservative commentator, recently entered the fray surrounding Governor Rod Blagojevich's selection of Burris to fill President-elect Obama's vacant Senate seat.
Although Illinois law authorizes the governor alone to fill Senate vacancies, Democrats vow to block (using armed force, if necessary) Burris or any other candidate that Blagojevich chooses because a federal prosecutor alleges that he unlawfully tried to sell the seat.
In a series of posts, I have criticized the Democrats' position for lacking a sufficient constitutional basis, abandoning liberal concepts, and wasting political and intellectual resources needed to address more pressing concerns. But in order to advance their goal of disempowering Blagojevich, Democrats have discarded important liberal values to such a large extent that Buchanan has become a greater champion for fairness than top leaders within the party of "change."
Taint versus Presumption of Innocence
The willingness of Democrats to find Blagjevich and Burris "guilty" (or "tainted") has been one of the disturbing aspects of this controversy. The prosecutor's "complaint" is merely a collection of allegations, not facts, and the released recordings, though salacious, are selectively extracted from the larger set of materials and taken out of their orignal context. Moreover, these items do not present any defense or conflicting evidence from Blagojevich.
Consequently, the Democrats cannot know, based on the proceedings thus far, whether Blagojevich has committed a crime or even engaged in misconduct. And even if Blagojevich were in fact culpable or tainted, no rational basis exists for imputing guilt to Burris and excluding him from office.
Although Democrats fail to admit that their position prematurely treats Blagojevich and, more importantly, Burris as criminals, Buchanan's sharp analysis gets to the heart of the matter:
There is not the slightest hint Burris did anything unethical or illegal to win this appointment. Nor is there any doubt as to Gov. Blagojevich's right to make the appointment. He is still governor of Illinois. He has not been convicted of anything. And he not only has the right but an obligation to carry out his duties, one of which is to appoint candidates to fill empty seats in the U.S. Senate. . . .
[H]ere in America, even a governor is innocent until proven guilty. And what exactly do those tapes [offered as evidence of a conspiracy] show, other than that Blago and his chief of staff engaged in crude and corrupt talk about getting rewarded with campaign contributions or high office for Blago in return for giving someone the Senate appointment?
Using vile language and ruminating on selling a Senate seat may be sins, but they are not necessarily crimes.
[Editor's Note: The excerpt ends here (in the interest of space), but feel free to read the rest in your spare time. I am dismayed that Buchanan has defended liberal values more strongly than some Democrats. I believe this is the first time I have ever agreed with Buchanan on any subject.]