I Love That Town!

Remember Roland Burris, now the junior senator from Illinois? Former Illinois Gov. Rod "The Bleepinator" Blagojevich appointed him to the seat vacated by now-President Barack Obama. He did that just before the Illinois legislature made him former Gov. Blagojevich for almost literally taking bids over the phone for the senate seat.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in a true demonstration of his authority, said there was no way the Senate would seat Mr. Burris (or anyone else that Blagojevich might have appointed) because any such person would be tainted by association with the governor's fund-raising tactics. He was sure Mr. Burris was a swell guy and all, but there was just no way that the Senate would allow such a taint to stain its reputation. No way. No how. And he kept saying it right up until he seated Senator Burris.

Well, turns out that Senator Burris may have been one of those folks that Gov. Blagojevich reached out to about money, through the governor's brother, Rob. Burris, testifying to an investigative committee in the Illinois legislature, said no one contacted him about money, except when they did, and he never agreed to pay anyone for anything, except when he did, and it didn't matter because all the people he called didn't give any money anyway.

The chair of the Illinois House committee to which the Everchanging Story was submitted apparently sat on it for a week -- a week in which Senator Burris was one of the votes that kept the economic stimulus package from dying a filibustered death in the Senate. Without Burris, those favoring the bill would have had to get four Republican votes instead of three, and that would have been a lot harder -- if possible. Where is the chair from? Some downstate burg or maybe that silly college town, Champaign-Urbana, or even Springfield itself? Nope. She's from Chicago, baby! Again, somewhere Mike Royko is laughing his head off, and Da Mare, Richard J. Daley, is shaking his head at how clumsy these kids are.

Next Christmas, see if you can't give someone a Blago of their very own. It really is a gift that keeps on giving.