Dick Does What Dicks Do
Let’s pretend for a moment that you are one of the lucky ones to still be employed.
Now let’s pretend that your employer has a huge job to tackle that will likely mean the difference between the company’s survival if it succeeds or its agonizing and certain demise if it fails. This job will take all your skill and likely will mean many long nights working on projects to meet vital deadlines. The boss has made it clear that it won’t be easy but has made it equally clear that your ability and dedication to your chosen profession will be critical in the overall success of the company. In fact your personal participation will be particularly critical as you will be the second in command.
Now, having established the premise of this make-believe scenario, would you think it was proper to accept an additional full time position to perform in conjunction with all of your other duties?
While the scenario may be a fantasy the reality is that Illinois Senator Dick “Gulag” Durbin, the second in command of the Senate behind leader Harry Reid, has done just that.
In what can only be viewed as yet another thumb in the eye of the Illinois voters that sent him to Washington, Durbin announced today that he has accepted the position of campaign chairman for Democrat Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias.
Giannoulias won the recent Democrat primary and will face off against Republican candidate and current US House member Mark Kirk. Both are vying to fill the US Senate seat rarely used and quickly vacated by Barack Obama, currently being kept dust free by Roland Burris. Burris has decided not to run for reelection after having been gifted the seat by the infamous former Illinois Governor and current celebrity Trump apprentice hopeful Rod Blagojevich. Though Burris has done less in the Senate than any other Senator except for Obama himself, he will receive a lifetime Senator’s pension at the taxpayer’s expense. Never mind that fact that the guy who gave him the job will likely also be living off the taxpayers very soon in a federal penitentiary.
But regardless of the history, the Democrats view this Illinois seat as yet another critical political possession. Even though there are countless political hacks in the Illinois Democrat machine that could serve with equal alacrity and ability, in order to keep this historically Democrat seat in the blue column Durbin has been tapped to run the little known and lesser financed Giannoulias campaign. The question that needs to be asked by all taxpayers that pay Durbin salary is; is this the best use of his time? I guess it depends on whose interest is being served.
Since losing the Massachusetts seat to Scott Brown the president has spent the last few weeks publically declaring his recently acquired desire for bipartisan cooperation. Headlines from this past weekend alone touted that “The President Braves Winter Storm” to rally his depressed party faithful in a special Capitol Hill visit. While meeting with Democrats Obama discussed how to revitalize his now failing agenda stating “We can’t solve all our problems alone”.
But now, with possibly the last best hope for meaningful bipartisan progress in the Senate, the Democrats give an excused absence to their Number Two man for strictly partisan political purposes. The Giannoulias campaign is woefully short of funds so from a strictly partisan political position, Durbin is the logical choice. He won’t need to be paid for his chairmanship as he is already being paid by the taxpayers to do his job in the Senate.
It is obvious that the Democrats have learned absolutely nothing about the outrage of the voting public. They just don’t understand that people are watching what they do and not listening to what they say. It’s just yet another example of a Democrat controlled House and Senate far more interested in staying in power than serving the people that sent them. And for that I agree with another of Obama’s recent quotes.
“Change can’t come quickly enough”.
democrats, Dick Durbin, partisanship, politics
