BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist

Congratulations to everyone who stood up for the right of our crooked governor to pick the person who will represent the people of Illinois in the U.S. Senate.

It appears they will be victorious and that Roland Burris in short order will realize his long held dream to join the exclusive club of 100.
» Click to enlarge image
Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown

RELATED STORIES
White isn’t the bad guy in Burris turmoil

The other members of the club have lost their backbone and are preparing to sell the voters of this state down the Illinois River. They seem to have come to the conclusion that this whole stinky business –much like the polluted waterway — is a mess of our own making.

They may have a point, gutless as they are for abandoning us in our hour of need, the president-elect included.

Still, what a grand triumph for democracy and the rule of law.

It’s not every day that a man facing federal criminal charges of attempting to sell a Senate seat — and any other decision that would fetch a big campaign donation — is allowed the opportunity to make the appointment anyhow.

No, Gov. Blagojevich hasn’t been convicted, or even formally indicted, but he will be. And won’t that be a proud day for Burris, who owes his great opportunity solely to this one corrupt individual.

I’ve never denied the governor is within his legal rights to make his pick. Unfortunately, there may be no legal way to stop him, short of impeachment, which takes time.

I would again suggest, however, that no person of integrity would have accepted the appointment from Blagojevich under these circumstances, and we’re well within our rights to pressure anyone who would.

The honorable course for Burris would have been to turn down Blagojevich, just as Rep. Danny Davis says he did, although I’m still fuzzy on how Davis squares this profile in courage with his later decision to back Burris for the job.

Contrary to the yes men chirping in Burris’ ear, the people of Illinois aren’t begging him to come to our rescue. Simply put, we don’t want nobody that Blagojevich sent.

I’d be saying the same if his pick had been Lisa Madigan, Dawn Clark Netsch, Dan Hynes or Jesse White, not that I put Burris in their league.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says the governor tried to sell us out. The governor says he didn’t.

Which of those two has earned the better reputation here for truth and honesty?

A person doesn’t have to wait for a Blagojevich conviction to make a personal judgment about how to deal with him.

The best solution here would have been a special election, but Democrats were too busy trying to ensure their hold on the Senate seat, which as we know is a bleeping valuable thing. They couldn’t just give it away for nothing.

One of the last roadblocks for Burris is a trip before the House impeachment committee Thursday to explain how it was the governor came to pick him. The former attorney general was still a little hazy on that topic when our Lynn Sweet questioned him Wednesday during a Washington press conference.
‘No money’? Numbers say differently

But Burris assured us “there was certainly no pay to play involved because I don’t have no money.”

Poor Roland Burris. Turned away (so far) by the Senate, picked on by the press and no money to boot. It’s good that being a U.S. senator pays a salary of $169,300.

Of course, when he becomes a senator, Burris will have to give up the $70,000 in compensation he’s been taking home every year just for serving on the board of directors of Inland Real Estate Corp.

Then again, he will continue to collect his $118,000 annual pension from the State of Illinois. That’s right, 118,000 smackers, more than he made as attorney general, thanks to the state’s taxpayer-supported pension plan.

I’m afraid he’ll have to give up whatever six-figure retainer he’s been collecting as a lawyer with the Milwaukee law firm of Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, which has enjoyed a big bump in its Illinois bond counsel work since Burris came aboard in 2007 as a rainmaker for government business. But surely this will create more opportunities than ever for his son, Roland II, as is traditional for U.S. senators.

At least Burris won’t have to hustle any more business for his lobbying firm, Burris & Lebed Consulting, which a few years back was even trying to help the Ho-Chunk Nation slip a casino into Hoffman Estates.

Poor Roland Burris. I’ll bet he’ll miss that money, too.

Don’t worry about any harsh treatment, though, when Burris goes before the impeachment committee. The Springfield crowd will treat him with kid gloves.

He’s already a member of that club.

All too often, we are coddling, indulging and pampering (and I don’t mean diapering) our kids to death. No, I am not a loving, nurturing mother. God didn’t bless me with the gift of children, but I am a child of parents who did something right. I don’t know what they did, but they didn’t withhold any good thing from me, nor did they resist giving me stern, measured discipline when my little butt got out of line.

Yes, there was a line. My parents made sure to always let us know where it was, what we could do to cross it and what the ramifications of crossing that line would be. Initially, my comments would have been that the parents were wrong for having the loaded weapon in the house (I guess the law will deal with that), but I had to stop and think about it: my dad had a gun in our house.

Of course, being the child, I didn’t know where dad’s gun was because that was “grown folks business.” When I eventually found out that the gun was there, I did know that wherever it was, it was across “that” line. You know, the line that meant the difference between a raw behind and shamed face, or a trip to the ice cream parlor and/or a night standing outside of Krispy Kreme watching the donuts getting drenched with icing anxiously waiting for the “Hot Now” sign to light up.

Anger management may help, but where was all of this soft psychological coddling when we were children? This child needed William D. Judge, II or a strong man like my dad in the household.

Although I am the first to admit that I am not well versed on this particular subject, it appears to me that the fight that homosexuals are facing, while mostly civil, it is a fight against the legislation of morality. Again, I am not well versed on this, but it seems to me that no one can identify 95% – 99% of all homosexuals just by looking at them. However, I do believe that most people can identify a person of African descent with 95% – 99% accuracy.

I know that there is a raging disagreement in determining whether or not homosexuality is genetic in nature or environmental. To me, that is not an argument that is of any value. The end result is that the person identifies as homosexual so it doesn’t matter to me whether their identification as such began at infancy or yesterday. We should respect each other not matter what our choices or preferences. What matters to me is that, without their announcement of their sexual preferences, 100% of average, everyday human beings wouldn’t no with certainty if one was homosexual or not.

I am sure that there have always been homosexuals among our various circles. Many of the most celebrated Black Renaissance authors were, in fact, homosexual. Did that stop any of you from reading their works? Did that make them any less credible? No! It doesn’t matter. Heck, many of the men and women we grew up knowing around our own neighborhoods were homosexual, but our parents wouldn’t allow us to disrespect them in the least.

I fondly remember one of my grandmother’s dearest friends was someone we knew as “Ms. Shake-Right.” Yes, she was “different” from the other women who would come and visit during my grandmother’s illness – not any of the other women were over 6’ tall, with hands so big that they could effortlessly palm a basketball. And it was a little strange when “Ms. Shake-Right” would show up in a man’s suit, yet we still had to address him…her as “Ms.”

We all have “Ms. Shake-Rights” in our history, or “Aunt Loretta” who lives with “Aunt Paula.” So homosexuality is not new. The concept of homosexuals as lifetime partners is not new. No matter what the political climate, homosexuals have always managed to carve out their own existence. What is new in our current culture is the prominence of open flaunting of one’s sexuality and promiscuity – whether homosexual or heterosexual. And herein, in my own opinion, lies the beginning of the problem.

If it were up to me, I would prefer that all persons’ sexual preferences were kept on a need to know basis. It simply isn’t any of my business who you choose to live with, give it up to, or whatever. I wish that we would/could all find a way to leave our personal preferences personal and our private trysts private. But, oh no…not us, not Americans; we, just like our government continues to do around the world, have to force others to believe what we believe and accept what we accept. Is there a way to let everyone’s private business remain private?

With all of this being said: California’s Prop 8 and Florida’s Amendment 2 are our attempts to legislate morality. I firmly disagree with these attempts and openly and vehemently support homosexuals’ rights to love, live with, marry and divorce whomever they choose. Heck, Gatorskins96 said it: heterosexuals have not held a pristine record when it comes to maintaining their marriages; why shouldn’t homosexuals be allowed to live as messed up lives as heterosexuals enjoy?

Although I am a Christian, I firmly believe that the collective stance many churches and religious folk take on this issue is wrong. As Christians, God, our Father, gave each of us free will to accept Him or not. Why are we so high and mighty? What gives us the right to dictate to others with whom they can live, love, marry, divorce or to whom they can leave their worldly possessions? We are not God. We cannot stand in judgment of their moral actions.

I know that the arguments will come back that we legislate against murder and other morally repugnant crimes. But, people that is just it: they are crimes. Last I heard, being homosexual in the United States is not a crime. I do believe that as we all learn to be less judgmental of others, that homosexuals will gain the right to marry. I am hopeful that they will be protected by the rule of laws which afford most of us some comfort in know that our wishes will be carried out after our deaths. But attaching and equating the homosexual struggles to those of our African-American forefathers is just not the right way to go about making the desired change.

As for Gatorskins96, yeah, there seems to be some serious issues here because 80% of your comments do not even address the issue at hand. Hmmm? I’m just saying….

Marriage has become a joke. Marriage itself is about as dead an institution as it can possibly be these days. It certainly is an idiotic move for Black men. I say this because marriage is no longer based on love and the genuine, traditional Americanfamily relationship. Marriage is a show. It has become a dumb ritual that leads to a quick and brutal buzz kill once all of the guests have left the reception. Sixty percent of all first marriages end in divorce (that number is higher in the Black community) and 80% of all second marriages end the same way so why the hell would anyone risk such pain, heartache and financial ruin over such and arrangement. Especially the man who will inevitably be raped by his former wife in the white man’s court system and last I checked court is the last place a Black man wants to be.

Yet another addition to the marriage statistic that shows marriage is no longer valued is the one that shows Blacks still cannot grasp the devastation to our “community” generated by a staggering 70% OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHRATE! The internal sin we refuse to address yet the one that continues to see us crippled with no hope (that is right) in sight.

We want the damned government to address all the symptoms caused by this root malady yet for some reason ignore the fact, our doomed to failure baby producing mechanism is killing our “collective” ability to achieve and ultimately progress.

Tell me you too are not absolutely sick and tired of hearing women proclaiming themselves a “single-mother” as if that is some freakin’ badge of honor deserving respect and sympathy. Negrettes PLEASE!

Remember all the buzz about Halle Berry’s new baby? What? Halle is not married?

Was this baby conceived and born out of wedlock? Of course it was. And who cares? Certainly not the “black community.” No wonder Black folk have been so silent on Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughter. We have no room to talk.

Chalk it up to Hollywood and unfortunately a new set of Godless “American” values. No matter. Even “happily married” couples who supposedly do it right can’t seem to find the solution to happiness either and EGADS, do not even seek to try. “I am not happy.” “I deserve better.” Do these pathetic refrains sound familiar?

First it was slavery which threw the Black family cohesiveness under the bus and then it was welfare, then feminism, then Oprah, then Lifetime TV, then Dr. Phil, then Tyler Perry, then Jerome Eric Dickey, then Zane and now just the simple ease with which one or the other can just decide one day they do not love the person they once pledged their life and soul to and run to some nebulous White man in a black robe who has known neither of you for more than a few minutes nor cares about your fate past his next case to now decide how the rest of their and unfortunately their INNOCENT CHILDREN’S LIVES are going to be run.

The funniest part about this sad African-American story is that many of the very cowardly culprits high on the need for instant self-gratification in a marriage are the very same fakes and phonies touting their oh so prestigious memberships in CHRISTIAN-BASED, FAMILY-STRENGTHENING AND SUSTAINING organizations such as the local church, mosque, synagogue, Jack and Jill of America, The 100 Black Men of America and other organizations designed to combat the very family dysfunction we the members thereof foster at home.

Instead of acting like sane grown adults with critical problem solving skills available between us, as typical lazy Americans, we instead run to have someone else who gives less than a damn about us “solve” our most intimate issues. We get so wrapped up in what others (who have their own issues to deal with by the way) say we should do and the need to be proven right and carrying one dumb decision after another through as opposed to believing that even though the night is dark, that joy will come in the morning if you simply believe and apply some elbow grease to whatever issues plague the relationship.

It is NEVER too late to repair a broken relationship or hurting heart. Yes, it takes courage and intestinal fortitude, but it can be done if LOVE was the true premise the relationship was built on and what you also pledge to GOD it was based on when all was white dress, wine and revelry. People can and DO CHANGE when given the chance and the knowledge they need to do so.

The Black family is no more. People simply do not value their vows and their commitments to each other nor the ideal family structure anymore. What is more disturbing is that the vows are more often recited in a church before God and His Son Jesus Christ only to mean absolutely NOTHING as soon as one of the spouses decides that “What God puts together let no man put asunder” or “…for better or for WORSE” or “…until death do us part” do not mean a freakin’ thing anymore.

Instant gratification and the immediate need to be happy as opposed to WORKING WITH EACH OTHER to create that desired happiness (whatever the hell that means these days).

Just like with anything else these days, people are too lazy to try and work together to fix what is broken. Nawwww. That takes effort. Instead people simply run and seek the proverbial greener grass on the other side of the street only to later be even more disappointed in what they thought was better. Now what you have is a TWO time loser and yet another angry Black person roaming the streets lurking in wait to screw up some other person’s life.

Get a grip people!

The parties (because that is what they eventually are called once in the family law/divorce system) do nothing more that walk into a church worried about superficial BS and putting on a show while not understanding they are making vows before each other and GOD!

Unfortunately far too many people enter the bonds of HOLY matrimony not understanding that once in you are supposed to remain in for LIFE. The Christian religion not only demands that you do so but that not doing so and filing for a divorce is a MORTAL SIN. An abomination unto itself. Due to the ease with which the bonds of marriage can now be broken, far too many couples hang around in one only until they realize they just don’t like the relationship anymore. Who suffers? EVERYONE! Especially the children.

Women want to get married (that would be the show) but at some point they will undoubtedly not want to be married (the commitment under the authority of the husband). Men want to be married (run their household as head as ordained by God but impeded by this new “50-50″ model) but they are still men (who are very simple to please) now trapped in a LEGAL contract which favors the wife (and she knows it). He is now at her mercy for the duration of the marriage. With her bad ABW attitude and the intrusive negative influences of her bitter “friends”, relatives, BET, Lifetime TV, Oprah, Zane, Kimberly Lawson Roby and Jerome Eric Dickey just to name a few, how can any marriage survive in modern times?

You would think the Black woman of all people would understand the slavery induced pains the Black man still endures to this day and for that same Black woman to throw the Black man into the court system run by a WHITE person in a Black robe just because she has unrealistic expectations of the marital relationship is simply wrong.

My bitterness is admitted. I once was a strong opponent of gay marriage, but now I could care less if gays are allowed to marry. Anyone stupid enough to want to get married in the year 2009 and beyond can have at it.

Marriage. The Ultimate American Joke!

Democrats show their true racist colors YET AGAIN and no one notices. Especially Black Folk

Sen. Reid, meet your brothers in sheets, fellow Democrat racists George Wallace, Lester Maddox and Bull Conner. Your place in history is secured.