Blagogate black politics and irony

The Irony of Blagogate is becoming comical. Beyond trying to profit from appointing President-Elect Barrack Obama’s successor in the Senate, Governor Rod Blagojevich seems to be willing to dismantle black politics in Illinois to get away with it. Representative Bobby Rush of Illinois and Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, obviously willing participants, have decided to play the race card in Governor Rod Blagojevich’s controversial appointment.

The irony of Blagogate is how the Governor’s every move has made the chances of a white replacing the only sitting black Senator much higher. He immediately tainted Illinois Representative, Jesse Jackson, Junior by trying to offer the senate seat for favors or money. Although the U. S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, effectively cleared Jackson of wrong doing in his criminal complaint against Blagojevich, Jackson finds himself smeared by the appearance of impropriety. The irony is deliciously compounded by the fact that his rival, Burris, is being defended by Rush. Rush would seem to be representative of old racial guard to whom Jesse Jackson Senior is most closely identified. Jesse Jackson Junior and Barrack Obama have worked very hard to separate themselves from the old guard.

People like Bobby Rush are not yet interested in relinquishing their control of racial politics to the post racial (whatever that is), crowd like Obama and the younger Jackson. The irony keeps coming in the Blagojevich scandal. Rush who seems to be an advocate for Roland Burris today, refused to endorse Obama in his 2004 Senate campaign in favor of the white candidate Blair Hull.

Besides not getting the memo on a post racial United States, I wonder why Burris and Rush would tie their political boat to the sinking ship that is Blagojevich. By not denouncing any Blagojevich appointment, they have potentially put at risk any black appointment to the position. By Burris allowing himself to be used by Blagojevich, he has helped set up a special election where a white might win. Rush and Burris want us to separate the appointor from the appointee. I wonder why they didn’t separate the appointee from the appointor. By all accounts, Burris is a good man. Why tarnish his image by associating him with a crook forever?

So where do Rush and others really stand? Do they really care about real black representation? They seem to be less interested in putting a black in power and more interested in putting the right kind of black in power. They would like to continue left wing politics of persecution to the detriment of all other considerations. Blagojevich, Burris and Rush all point to the legality of the controversial appointment. Surely they understand how perception is reality in politics. If they don’t, they should ask Jesse Jackson Junior.