Burris Goes Blago

Now that Fitz's office has released the audio from a wire-tapped Nov 13, 2008 conversation between (now) Illinois Sen. Roland Burris and Robert Blagojevich, brother of impeached/removed/indicted/ former Gov Rod, it's become quite clear that Burris was indeed offering to pay in exchange for some play. At one point The Headless One mentioned the possibility of raising some funds for Blago via his law partner Tim Wright. "I might be able to do it that way."....or some such shit. You can read/hear the tapes anywhere now, I won't bother quoting the crook nor linking.

Roland's story has gone from "I didn't talk to nobody 'bout nothin' remotely related to buying Obama's US Senate seat." back in February to "The impeachment panel didn't ask me the right questions." here in late May.

On tape, Burris discussed raising money for Blago, getting it done before the end of December, perhaps funneling the money through his law partner to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and repeatedly emphasized that he was very, very, very interested in obtaining the appointment to Obama's vacated seat (and therefore insulting furniture everywhere.)

No involvement? What are we fuckin' stupid? Apparently, yes.

When asked about the apparent discrepancy between versions of his involvement with Blago, Burris urged reporters to "read the affidavit, have you read the affidavit?....please just read the affidavit."

I have.

If one reads the affidavit, one is immediately struck with the impression that Burris and then Gov Rod Blagojevich were discussing pay-to-play by proxy (Rob Blago.)

When pressed harder on the obvious line of bullshit, Roland has now claimed he was "placating" Blago, with no real intention of actually piping some geld to Springfield. Shucks, back in late '08, everybody was calling the offices of Friends of Blagojevich expressing interest in Obama's empty seat.

Problem is, FOB called Roland Burris, not the other way around. That is very curious indeed.

And now, Roland Burris is underscoring his innocence!!!... has clearly proven that he was telling the truth, by claiming that he was lying to placating Rob Blago, ...by reminding everbody that he never actually GAVE Rod Blago a penny.

I'd be slightly tempted to believe Roland but for the time line. Rod got the big cufflinks on 12/11/08 which is well before the end of December. Dozens of Blago fund raisers were cancelled within hours of him being Fitzed, which makes it entirely reasonable to believe that Burris planned on getting Blago some cash during that holiday fund raising period, and like many others backed away.

The tapes prove that. He knew he had to get Blago the cash by the end of '08, he knew that he had to keep it on the QT, and he not only badly wanted, but ultimately accepted Obama's seat. Now he's busted, and he's claiming to be completely free of any guilt.

He's gone Blago, and his sincerity is fucking Blago-like. He can't believe that we even doubt his story. He's gone from claiming no involvement at all, to now pleading his case by claiming he was telling the truth when he said he was lying. This is the former Attorney General for the State of Illinois. Now a US Senator. Emphasis on the word now. This guy's toast.

Franken in, Roland out?

Now that's what I call a great link!

Evolution deniers have been blathering on about a so-called "missing link" since Darwin's brilliant insights began gaining wide acceptance as scientific facts, which they are. Creationists mainly, those who are mortified at the idea of Genesis being proven to be utter crapola, have hung their denial of the truth on an "argument" that says without an unbroken chain of fossil evidence linking early primates to modern humans, evolution can be nothing more than a "theory." Many suggest evolution should be taught side-by-side with intelligent design in our science classrooms, which is sort of like teaching astronomy alongside astrology.

With a mountain of fossil evidence already pointing clearly to evolution as the most obvious explanation for the rise of the human species, the idea of a "missing link" always struck me as a last gasp of the desperate. Not coincidentally, those who insist that an unbroke fossil chain must be found to validate evolution as legitimate science, are the same people who overlook the utter lack of any evidence at all in their own position on the subject. Is there any evidence AT ALL that the tale told in Genesis is anything more than a fable? No. None. Not a shred of evidence to suggest the earth, the stars, and the animals and plants existing on our planet are the end result of a six day creationgasm that took place about 6000 years ago.

Quite the contrary. ALL evidence gathered by scientists over the past, ohhhhh 700 years or so, has suggested strongly that the story told in Genesis is patently false, and in the last 150 years or so ALL evidence has pointed to Darwin's theory as correct.

And yet, those who cling to the bible's infallibility dismiss the science as "theoretical" and ask for even more evidence, apparently ignorant of the concept that says the longer a theory goes without being disproven, the stronger the theory becomes. Some very fine scientists, shown by their impartiality to be in search of truth, have tried to disprove Darwin, and failed. Honest scientists embark on such a quest not hoping to find Darwin right or wrong, but rather hoping to put stress on his theory in ways untried before. And the more they stress tested Darwin, the stronger Charlie's theory became. Simply put, Darwin's theory has withstood the test of time, and the challenges of its doubters. But still, creationists have held on to the slender thread. By insisting there is a link missing in the fossil record, they've been able to convince themselves that without said link, the entire theory of evolution is in doubt.

Well, now we have Ida.

Ida is a near perfectly preserved primate fossil found in the Messel Pit in Germany. Ida's fossil has been dated to roughly 47 million years ago, and scientists are calling Ida a transitional species showing showing some characteristics of the non-human evolutionary line (prosimians, like lemurs), but is more related to the human evolutionary line (anthropoids, like apes monkeys, and humans.) Opposable big toes and nails indicate she was a primate, and the presence of a talus bone in her foot indicate she is at or near the root of the tree of human evolution.

In this morning's press release, entitled simply "The Link", scientists are calling Ida one of the most important fossil discoveries of all time.

Philip Gingerich, Paleontologist from the University of Michigan is comparing Ida to the Rosetta Stone.

Dr. Jorn Hurum, from the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo has been secretly studying Ida's fossil for 2 years, and is of the opinion that Ida's picture will be in science textbooks for the next 100 years.

Dr. Jens Lorenz Franzen, from the Senckenberg Research Institute says that when their complete findings are published, it will be like an asteroid hitting the earth.

I never thought there really was much of a debate, but it seems like Ida's fossil should be able to snip the creationists' slender thread once and for all.

Some scientists are actually calling Ida....the Missing Link.

Mikey

Stopped by the news stand earlier today. I love talking to Mikey the Cardinals fan. He was wearing the blue Cardinals cap today. We got chatting, and he asked me why I walked up today, rather than yapping from my car.

I told him it was for two reasons.....

First I wanted to know what he thought of the Cardinals hot 17-7 start.

"Oh it's good, but I just don't think they have the horses. The Cubs are gonna catch 'em."

And the second reason I parked my car and walked over to Mikey's corner of the world, ...was to take this picture.

(click on the pic to enlarge Mikey, he'd appreciate that)