Charles D. Ellison, Huffington Post
- The (dis) appointment of Roland Burris appears to spin out of unnecessary control at every speeding moment of the news cycle, even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Illinois chum/senior Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) fail to see the full reality of it. Talking heads continue to spin numerous scenarios, each one as plausible and astonishing given the horrifically simple nature of the whole affair. Ultimately, somebody in Senate leadership will fall back into crusty disposition and conclude that they should have just let Burris in.
This is clearly an example of politicians slipping on the political cost-benefit analysis. Reid, privately accused by colleagues of chamber isolation, may have wrongly assumed that a Burris appointment by scandal-challenged Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) would damage Democratic prospects in the 111th Congress. Thus, he got skittish – and in that moment, he bucked up a bit too much for his own good. Beyond predictable grousing from shell-shocked Republicans and the typical gossip-page babble from the blogs, the drama over Burris would have evaporated into the dust of political past.
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