No Chair for Burris Lands Harry in the Hot Seat

If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was Speaker of the House, this post would have been entitled 'Waffle House', but alas, I have to make do with Hot Seat Harry.

After an appearance on Meet The Press last Sunday in which Mr. Reid seemed quite adamant that the Blagojevich-appointed Roland Burris would not be accepted into the senate as Barack Obama's replacement, he now seems to be softening his stance considerably.

For those of you scoring at home this is the part where a solid Congressional majority begins to lose its way and get bogged down in everything except, you know, actually governing. It is no wonder that at least since Reagan, if not before, the Office of the President has turned into something just this side of a cult of personality. Please don't mistake this as a partisan criticism, as this sort of thing takes place in Republican Congresses as well. Impeachment anyone?

As noted, Mr. Reid had previously seemed quite firm in his pronouncement that Mr. Burris would not be allowed to join the Senate. When asked why Mr. Burris would not be welcome by Meet The Press moderator David Gregory, Mr. Reid's answer was that, "Blagojevich is obviously a corrupt individual." As Reid indicated, yesterday Mr. Burris was denied his place in the Senate.

Today, however, the Associated Press is reporting that Mr. Reid is looking for a way to accept Mr. Burris and that the main sticking point now is the fact that the Illinois Secretary of State has not yet signed the papers finalizing the appointment. I think the Civil War was still on the last time time Democrats were this deferential to states.

I don't want to suggest that Mr. Reid's grilling on Meet The Press had anything to do with his change of heart, but Mr. Gregory had him flummoxed, if not down right stymied. I mean this is what, Gregory's fourth or fifth show? He is a savvy media insider and down-home Harry is just a Senator from little ol' Nevada.

I can't help but wonder if Hillary Clinton isn't watching the news and regretting the decision to accept the appointment as Secretary of State.

Well, for Harry and the gang it is back to that stately but hollow dome that serves as a backdrop to the Washington DC soap opera that rivals anything found on Days of Our Lives. It is just too bad that they are Mr. Reid's days and our lives.