"Like all politicians, Obama is not intrinsically good. Good things don't happen by virtue of the mere existence of his presidency. His presidency will be good only and exactly to the extent that he does good things."

"He's not going to crumble or melt away like the Wicked Witch if he's pressured or criticized. The far more substantial danger is that he won't be pressured or criticized enough by those who are eager to see meaningful changes in Washington, and then -- either by desire or necessity -- those are the voices he will ignore most easily."

Glenn Greenwald

Benen, you risk being a voice that is ignored.

Republicans will resist any effort to seat Franken until all of Norm Coleman's lawsuits have been exhausted. He predicted this could take "a month or more."

Yeah, sure. Just like we execute all those death row inmates within a few months of their crimes after they have exhausted all their appeals.

"The NRSC has already said that defeating Burris in 2010 is a 'top priority' for the party."

as it will be for many illinois democrats.

mellowjohn, do you speak as one?

Darn, mellowjohn beat me to it.

I would be surprised if Burris is the Democratic nominee in 2010. Surely we will be able to find someone better to represent our state.

The only stumbling block I can think of is that it seems that the junior seat from Illinois is now apparently the nation's "African American seat", so that might make it tougher for, say, Jan Schakowsky (my personal choice) to take over.

it should be noted that this is yet another major Harry Reid screw up.

once again, he didn't think down the chessboard. any reasonable person would have seen the reversal on Burris as an opportunity to also seat Franken. but when pushed for "what it would take" to reach resolution with Burris, Reid just had to say it was all about the Secretary of State Certificate. perhaps he should have talked to Franken's lawyers before shooting off his mouth, since he picked the one criteria that it was certain under Minnesota law Franken couldn't meet until Coleman's legal challenges were heard.

So now he has to seat the one he didn't want, and doesn't even get the benefit of being able to seat the one he does want.

in the immortal words of that noted political philosopher Bugs Bunny, "whatta maroon!"

(and GG Fan, feel free to ignore Steve - but go all the way with it instead of starting a thread with off-topic, disrespectful nonsense. I doubt any of us regulars are likely to ignore Steve anytime soon; I happen to like the content here. There are plenty of other options if you don't.)

Burris is appointed by the world's most corrupt (allegedly) governor: he gets seated.

Franken is actually elected by a majority of voters in his state: not seated.

Whut?

"The NRSC has already said that defeating Burris in 2010 is a 'top priority' for the party."

Do they really think they'll get a chance? If Burris wins the 2010 primary, it will be because six good candidates split the opposition vote.

I sure hope the Republicans make it their top priority by running Alan Keyes again.

Even with horrific scandals for Blago, the Republicans have a long climb ahead of them in Illinois. However, I wouldn't bet against statewide Dems having the same level of party meltdown as the scandals play out.

I sure hope the Republicans make it their top priority by running Alan Keyes again. -short fuse

Unlikely, though it would be amusing. Most likely Congressman Mark Kirk will be Republican nominee for Senate in 2010.

If the GOP hopes to regain in Illinois, it will be with people like Mark Kirk who has broad appeal to undeclareds and Republicans alike.

Hopefully he took Geri Ryan to a sex club, so we can end this before it's started. He would be a formidable opponent.

I think Coleman's legal wrangling is already exhausted. He is now on to the realm of making up excuses. He is the consummate Republican. Remember their whining in 2000 and 2004. They should be ignored. Voters should not forget the bleak arrogance of GOP empty suits ever again. Coleman should be run out of Minnesota. They need to indict the SOB already.

On a related note, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Republicans will resist any effort to seat Franken until all of Norm Coleman's lawsuits have been exhausted. He predicted this could take "a month or more."
_____________

Doesn't this imply that they KNOW Coleman's lawsuits are bullsh*t? If they're predicting that it could take a month or more for Coleman to exhaust his legal possibilities of overturning the election, that means they think the legal possibilities WILL be exhausted. Which means that they know they're gonna seat Franken. Because Coleman's arguments are bullsh*t.

Yet another dog and pony show courtesy of the GOP. Enjoy the sparkles.

actually that's boilerplate language slappy. what would be interesting, and i hope it doesn't come to this, is if coleman actually wins his case and franken is put on the defensive by having to appeal, will kyl extend his logic and argue that coleman shouldn't be seated until after franken exhausts his legal options? or will he expose himself as the hypocrite he undoubtedly is.

btw mark ritchie's refusal to certify franken as the winners certainly bolsters coleman's claim that ritchie was a partisan tool during the recount.

Do they really think they'll get a chance? If Burris wins the 2010 primary, it will be because six good candidates split the opposition vote.

Perhaps Burris, who's shown such excellent judgment, humility and party loyalty so far, will wake up, smell the coffee and get out of the way so we can run a stronger candidate against Kirk, who is very likely to win the seat if Burris doesn't step aside.

And perhaps I'll get a pony for Christmas!

Has Burris even announced that he is going to stay on to run as an incumbent in the 2010 senate race (which, of course, is the very premise of the "top priority" claim of the NRSC)?