More on Men Behaving Badly

Two seats in the United States Senate are in contention now, weeks after the election. First, there is the still too-close to call contest between Al Franken and incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota. Franken is 49 votes ahead of Coleman. That is a flimsy lead by any measure. The two camps had agreed to count about 1350 absentee ballots that were originally disqualified. What remains in contestation is a group of 650 absentee ballots out of 1350 that have been discarded, but which might require another look, at least according to the Coleman camp. A lawsuit by Coleman is virtually guaranteed according to The Hill.

Senator Cornyn (R-TX) has been chest-thumping, claiming a Republican filibuster, if the Democrats try to seat Franken while the litigation is still on going.

I like Al, I like his energy, I like his ideas and the respect that he shows for folks with different beliefs. But no election should be won on such close counts, not when our election system is so vulnerable to hanky panky, and the process of registration and follow through is as poorly conceived, policed, and implemented as I witnessed while working the polls in New York.

Then there is Illinois. Embattled governor Blagojevich has cleverly pushed the attention off of him and the allegations that he was about to sell the empty Obama seat to the highest bidder by appointing while he is still governor, an apparently qualified Roland Burris, who just so happens to be African American when there are currently no African Americans in the Senate.

Illinois has removed Blagojevich's security clearance, and is moving closer to impeachment. The interesting question is whether a subsequent impeachment will invalidate an appointment made while he was still governor.

So Monday when the new Congress convenes, will Roland Burris try to enter the Senate to defy Harry Reid (D-NV) and claim his seat?

TalkingPointsMemo.com seems to think not. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer, a former chief of the Capitol Hill police, told the Associated Press that he does not expect any trouble from Roland Burris should Burris be turned away from the Senate door next week. "He is a good man," said Gainer, who has known Burris for years. "He plays by the rules. I don't think there's going to be a confrontation."

Of course, we don't need all of this added drama when the real drama of how to jumpstart the economy, remake a failed federal government, and reassert a country dedicated to the rule of law and not the rule of Bush/Cheney is so pressing and requires creativity, new coalitions, and trust. I have to giggle at the chutzpah of Blagojevich, but would appreciate it more if we weren't in such a mess.