Even if Dems own up to the IL Senate mess, there's really not much they can do about it, unlike Republicans, who could end the MN mess anytime

Can anyone get Illinois Sen. Roland Burris to quit? Well, can anyone get the GOP legal thug patrol to allow Minnesota's Al Franken to take his Senate seat?

by Ken

"Roland Burris, resign."

That's the headline on the editorial in today's Chicago Tribune, which begins:

The benefit of the doubt had already been stretched thin and taut by the time Roland Burris offered his third version of the events leading to his appointment to the U.S. Senate. It finally snapped like a rubber band, popping him on that long Pinocchio nose of his, when he came out with version four.

Let's see if we have it right: Burris had zero contact with any of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's cronies about his interest in the Senate seat being vacated by President Barack Obama—unless you count that conversation with former chief of staff Lon Monk, and, on further reflection, the ones with insiders John Harris, Doug Scofield and John Wyma and, oh yeah, the governor's brother and fundraising chief, Robert Blagojevich. But Burris didn't raise a single dollar for the now ex-governor as a result of those contacts because that could be construed as a quid pro quo and besides, everyone he asked refused to donate.

[and so on and so on and so on]

There's been a lot of finger-pointing as to who could have done what to avoid this mess, and I guess it's true that the Illinois state legislature could have moved faster on impeachment, trying to reserve the Senate appointment to Gov.-to-be Pat Quinn, but could they have prevented Gov. Rod Blagojevich from making an appointment? And maybe Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats could have delayed seating Burris long enough for, well, something to happen.

The Trib editorial reproaches the legislature for not at least scheduling a special election. ("If they had done that, voters today might be weighing the lost credibility of candidate Burris, instead of expressing their disgust with Sen. Burris.") But in the end there wasn't much anyone could have done, given one reality beyond anyone else's control: Governor Blagojevich's startling insistence on hanging tough, metaphorically chaining himself to the governor's chair until the guards finally came and chucked him out of the statehouse.

I've got this bad feeling that the new round of speculation regarding Senator Burris's continued tenure is going to be similarly fruitless; he doesn't show any sign of being prepared to go quietly. And here the end game is foggier, with nothing comparable to Blagojevich's impeachment in prospect. Speculation now focuses on the possibility that "Prosecutor Pat" Fitzgerald may have some disclosures to disclose, presumably from his taped collection of the Best of Blago, which may unjam the logjam.

Democrats have to own up to their mess, but they're isn't much they can do beyond trying to help Senator Burris see that ultimately he's doomed. This is in marked contrast to the situation in Minnesota, where Republican officials know they've lost but clearly have any intention of giving up on their naked power play. They all know that former Sen. Norm Coleman isn't returning to he Senate except perhaps as a visitor. But if that "R" vote is lost, they clearly do have the power to prevent it from turning "D" anytime in the immediate future.

When it was Coleman who appeared to have a minuscule lead in the 2008 election vote-counting, the senator couldn't have been clearer or more vocal about what came next: The only honorable course was for Democrat Al Franken to concede. Then the Minnesota elections people did a heroic job of establishing as good a vote count as they're going to get, and while it obviously was close, it went the other way, and Coleman developed amnesia with regard to those pretty principles of his. (Well, the now-former senator has always had a shaky relationship with principle. He'll be a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, whatever serves his immediate interest.)

Buttressed by the whole League of GOP Thugs (Hon. John Cornyn, Your NRSC Thugmaster), Coleman and his enforcers have made it clear that they will do whatever they have to do, whatever it costs, to prevent Franken from taking the seat to which he was elected, however narrowly, for as long as they can. "It's what we do," I'm sure the Republithugs are thinking. "We're the Party of No."


UPDATE: PLAY "SEAT THE SENATOR!" ON BUZZFLASH

While visiting Bluestem Prairie for our next Minnesota-related post, we found a heads-up on BuzzFlash's "Seat the Senator!" contest, in which all you have to do is guess correctly the date on which Al Franken takes the oath of office in the Senate. You simply leave your guess in a comment on Meg's post updating the Minnesota election mess, using your BuzzFlash username (if you're not already signed up, sign-up is free), by 11:59 p.m. CT, Feb. 28, 2009.

The Gopher State-appropriate prize is the Coen Brothers Movie Collection, "which includes five DVDs of the Minnesotan sibling duo's critically-acclaimed films: Fargo, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, and Blood Simple."

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