The Curious Case of Joe Biden

By Jennifer J. Foster

So it seems that Joe Biden and his lovely wife, Jill, tried to take in a showing of Brad Pitt’s latest flick, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,“ on Saturday night.

No dice, movie staffers told the Secret Service members with the VP-to-be: Sold out.

You know, you’d think that all the responsibility of being a heartbeat away from the presidency would buy you some privileges at the local movie house.

They’ll trust you with the nuke codes, but they won’t save you a seat at the picture show.

Bummer.

But here’s the thing: While Biden’s Secret Service folks were bantering with ticket salesmen about seats, Biden was hanging out in the lobby.

According to Delaware Online, it was hardly a mob scene:

Remarkably, none of the other moviegoers appeared to notice. Employees said nobody mobbed Biden or called his name or asked for an autograph.

This is Joe Biden.

In Delaware.

He’s served the state in the U.S. Senate for 36 years.

You’re telling me that no one in a movie theater in his home state recognized him?

No wonder his presidential campaign stalled out.

Well, he’s got this much in his favor: At least he won’t have to adjust to the newfound fame of the vice presidency. Pretty much no one knows who that guy is.

Sue, sue, sue, looking out my back door

By Jennifer J. Foster

... A/K/A The Ballad of the U.S. Senate.

(My apologies to Creedence Clearwater Revival for the title of this post, but there just wasn’t anything more fitting.)

As expected, Roland Burris, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appointee to succeed Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate, was denied entry to that chamber as he arrived for the swearing-in ceremony this morning.

This came as no surprise to anyone involved.

What a bunch of drama.

This is looking more like the theater of the absurd than governance in action.

You might almost say it’s a circus.

I have to question Burris’s motives at this point. I know he’s established a stellar reputation throughout his time in public service in Illinois. He’s well respected by folks on both sides of the aisle.

But Burris knew full well he wouldn’t be allowed into the chamber. He went for the show of it anyway.

And once he was denied entry, he did what any other, tired, run-of-the-mill politician does when he’s disappointed.

He threatened a lawsuit.

From CNN:

Timothy W. Wright III, an attorney for Burris, said the rejection of Burris’ credentials was unlawful.

“Our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record books. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath, all of which we think was improperly done and it is against the law of this land,“ Wright said.

Burris said he was not seeking a confrontation and would consult with his attorneys to determine his next steps.

On Monday, he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer:

“We know that under Illinois law and constitutional law that the secretary of state can in no way veto legal action of the governor,“ Burris said. “So that signature is only perfunctory and ceremonial to put the seal on it for, you know, recording and filing purposes.“

Yeah. That’s not the case.

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of this country. It supersedes any and all state provisions. It gives the Senate final say over its membership in Article 1, Section 5: “Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.“

That’s Part 1.

Here’s Part 2: Rule II of the Standing Rules of the Senate states that the secretary of state must sign the certificate of election along with the governor.

In other words, the Constitution says the Senate can make its own rules regarding membership, and the Senate says that each member has to have a certificate of election signed by his state’s governor and secretary of state.

It is pretty simple to understand, even for a lifelong politician.

Roland Burris was appointed by the governor of Illinois. Yes, it was a legal appointment. But without the signature of the Illinois secretary of state, it is not a complete one.

His constant, unrelenting protestations to the contrary, without that signature, Burris is NOT the junior senator from Illinois.

In other obscure-rules-of-the-Senate-you’ve-never-heard-before news, more than two months after Election Day, Al Franken was finally certified the winner of Minnesota’s Senate race yesterday, bringing the Democrats’ total in the Senate to 59 (that’s the magic number of 60, if you count Joe Lieberman with them). But Franken wasn’t in the chamber this morning, either.

Republicans threaten to filibuster if Democrats try to seat Franken without the requisite paperwork—paperwork which must include, as we just discussed, the signature of the governor of Minnesota. And he isn’t keen on giving it until the lawsuits promised by defeated GOP incumbent Norm Coleman are settled.

Lawsuits.

A circus.

Come to think of it,CCR’s “Lookin’ out my back door” was a perfect headline for this post. See the eerie similarities between this great classic and the mess that is your government here.

Entering Stage Right ...

By Jennifer J. Foster

There’s a new site on the Web today, and it’s promising to bring something you haven’t seen much of before:

Hollywood conservatism.

The site, Big Hollywood, is a project of Andrew Breitbart, of the famed Web news organization that bears his name. According to Fox News, the site “will be a place where center, right and libertarian-leaning celebrities and industry-insiders can weigh in on Hollywood politics, offer film, television and movie reviews, and have an open forum for political discussion.“

That’s a lot of tentacles. Breitbart simply refers to it as “a continuous politics and culture posting board,“ and its underlying, unifying aim is just as simple: “Our goal is to create an atmosphere of tolerance — something that does not exist in this town,“ he says.

It’s kind of funny—and ironic—to read about how conservatives are being encouraged to “come out of the closet.“ Most amusing is the reaction from the agent for Robert Downey, Jr., who is believed to be a “closet conservative:“

Recently, there have been rumors that Robert Downey Jr. is a closet Republican, though his publicist will neither confirm nor deny it, saying only, “We unfortunately have no comment, as RDJ does not comment on political matters.“

But Downey Jr. needn’t worry. Breitbart isn’t out (pardon the pun) to embarrass him; on the contrary, he’s prepared to make significant allowances—for Downey Jr. and others—who want to get involved without really getting involved.

But Breitbart says the goal of Big Hollywood is not to “out” conservative celebrities, and he will not pressure celebrities like Downey to jump into the fray. He says conservative celebs who aren’t comfortable with full transparency will be allowed to write under an alias.

“I want them to come on their own volition,“ he says. “‘Big Hollywood is going to have to be a compelling daily read that speaks to Hollywood conservatives’ unique burden before some will stick their necks out and choose to speak up for what they believe.“

Here’s the thing about that: How do you remove the stigma from being a conservative in Hollywood by perpetuating the stigma of conservatism in Hollywood? Because that’s all the alias provision is doing.

Big Hollywood is up and running as of this morning. I popped in over there and had a look around. It looks like there’s a lot of potential there. One thing did disappoint me, though: All but one of the submitters to this point are white males.

I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s indicative of, and a reason for, the poor performance of the Republican Party and its candidates in the 2008 general election.

So go ahead. Check on in at Big Hollywood and have a look around. You know you want to.

Now we’ll finally get to see if celebrities on the right are as annoying as those on the left ...

... and it will offer Larry King some much-needed variety.