The Rule Of Law
I find myself again at odds with TalkLeft friend (and my friend) Jane Hamsher, who wrongfully accuses Harry Reid of ignoring the rule of law in the Blago Farce. Jane cites to Walter Dellinger to buttress her argument that Reid is ignoring the rule of law. Yet she fails to quote Dellinger's actual statement on the legal question at hand:
I do not mean to suggest that the constitutional question is an easy one to answer correctly. It isn’t. Under the Constitution, the Senate is “the judge of elections, returns and qualifications of its own members." . . . There is a possible argument for rejection. Even assuming selection of Burris himself was free from any allegations of bribes sought or offered, it might nonetheless be viewed as the culmination of process that was illegitimate from start to finish. That is, suppose Blagojevich appointed Burris not because of any bribe, but as part of an effort to ‘cover up,” defend against, or deflect attention from a bribery scheme. Suppose, to put it differently, the Senate concludes that, but for the bribery scheme, and Blagojevich's personal need to cabin the fallout from that scheme, he would never have appointed Burris.
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