Seriously, could they fail any harder?
the Burris appointment and protect the integrity of that very exclusive
club, which nonetheless warmly embraces Joe Lieberman.
If only he had been so Johnny-on-the-spot when Bush was appointing
Supreme Court Justices, ramming through telecom immunity, FISA and the
Military Commissions Act, and otherwise trashing the country.
I thinkthis may be my favorite part, however:
Should Roland Burris show up Tuesday for duty in the Senate, armed police officers stand ready to bar him from the floor.
This cinematic showdown is among an elaborate set of contingencies
that Democratic leaders are planning if, as expected, the Illinoisan
shows up with newly elected senators pressing his claim that he is the
legitimate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama after the
disputed appointment of Burris by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Would that by any chance be the Sergeant-at-Arms, who
oversees the Capital police, who was never deployed to enforce
congressional subpoenas when the Bush administration refused to comply?
So many powers at their disposal! Who knew?
Blago could actually show up himself on Tuesday — as a sitting
governor he would have to be allowed on the Senate floor, even if they
won’t allow Burris.
It would be quite fitting. Not that they needed any help, but Blago
has done a damn good job of making the Democratic leadership look
absolutely ridiculous.
I am really just about … okay, I get that there are reasons we don’t put me in charge of soothing tensions abroad and running the floor fight on FISA and whatnot, like my OH MY GOD FUCK YOU style of diplomacy isn’t everybody’s cup of scotch, but you can’t tell me this is the right way to handle things. This is the fight you get up for, Harry? Seriously, this is the thing you can get out of bed with morning wood about? This. Roland Burris, who while he’s always come off round these parts as kind of a self-aggrandizing douchebag, isn’t even in the neighborhood of the list of Top Ten Senate Douchebags that includes not only ponces like Lieberman but people like Brownback, who think high school bathrooms are full of predatory lesbians, and Cornyn, who has impure thoughts regarding reptiles.
I don’t even know what to do when Harry Reid wakes up from his two-year nap and discovers that THIS is a bridge too far.
Post title via The West Wing.
A.