Don't cry for him, Roland Burris

Pace Devin below, I can't say that my heart bleeds with particular sympathy for Roland Burris. If this is Blago's way of putting the kibosh on Burris's chances of making it into the Senate (and this really is his best shot, having lost his previous electoral attempts), Burris had no obligation to accept the nomination. Indeed, he seems all too content to play along with the craven tactic of charging racism. That this charge is both laughably false on its face and ethically bankrupt doesn't seem to give him much pause at all... or certain other people, for that matter.

This is all ridiculous and embarrassing. There is genuine racism in our country, as a casual stroll through teh Internets will reveal in short order. (I'm not going to dignify some of the horrible racist sites out there by linking to them. You can either trust me, or look for them yourselves.) Using the charge of racism as a battering ram to create political chaos as a distraction from one's blatantly criminal activities only serves to dilute the anger we should justifiably feel at genuine instances. Whatever reputation Burris had as a clean and decent public servant is going to be blasted to smithereens by his tying himself to Blago, and he has whatever opprobrium he gets coming.

On a lighter note, best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year to our small but loyal band of readers... particularly our frequent commenter Charo.

Update: Whoopsie. In case you were wanting to oppose Burris on the merits, there's this.