The Constitution is a dead letter
and Harry Reid has the shovel in hand, digging the grave.
Burris Decision Could Lead to Unprecedented Use of Senate Power to Refuse Appointment
Harry Reid wants to refuse to let Burris into the Senate as a member. The trouble is, he has no such authority to do so. What he does have is the authority to immediately call for a vote to eject Burris, which he could almost certainly win. But he doesn’t have the imagination to do that. I can’t see how it could fail, as Republicans would support the vote (wanting to appear to have a spine) and Democrats would support it (wanting to appear to be opposed to corruption). Surely between these two self-centered groups Harry could find 67 votes against Burris.
Instead he tries to flaunt his authority and claim a power he does not have and is expressly denied (all authority to recall a senator or representative is reserved to the state or its citizens, by the tenth amendment, because it is not assigned to the Congress, President, or Courts). Our Constitution dies one clause at a time, and Harry just killed another one.
Tyranny approaches. Be prepared.