But he may now be willing to vote for cloture, which is an important point.

Really!  I mean he's had three days already.  What's taking so long?  

Thanks for the diary, it was informative and thorough.  It's hard to see how either Clinton or Edwards could have won Iowa given Obama's well-designed and brilliantly implemented strategy.  I think Edwards could only have won if we combine several of your what-ifs:  no haircut (and media not harping on some other elitist attack); stronger fundraising; expansion of Edwards' voter universe.  In other words, if Edwards was running with Obama's campaign.  Even then, I think Edwards would have had trouble overcoming the "newness" of the Obama campaign.

Oh boy, don't get him started on links.

Actually I think Bush will have a historical legacy, just a negative one for all the mistakes he's made and the damage he's done to the constitution and to America's standing in the world community.

Please tell me you're not trying to make the point that Rahm is worse than Cheney.

I'm pretty sure Steve's point is that Blagojevich appointing himself would have been just as "legal" as having appointed Burris.  

That's right, inflate my position to look like I'm calling for something unreasonable.  Good tactic.

 He was caught on tape looking to sell this very Senate appointment.  Explain to me how it's unreasonable that a minimum expectation is that he no longer involve himself directly with the appointment?

The Democratic senators caving now and seating Burris will not make this go away.  This is the most blatant obvious case of corruption that there's been in years and the media are going to play this up every chance they get.  It is a big deal.  And it's a Democrat who's done it.  That sucks but saying "Oh well, it's not that bad" is exactly what Republicans have been doing with their own for the last eight years.  It was wrong then and it's wrong now.

Agreed and mojo'd.

I think not expending it now will come back to haunt us in 2010, and not just in the Illinois seat.

No, I've offered no opinion as to whether he should step aside or not.  I'm quite sure the Illinois legislature will take care of that before too long.  My opinion was that he should not have made the pick for Senator.
I'm sure you're right that to Blago, he did the right thing.  I don't give a damn what he thinks though.  If Burris is seated, every single media story mentioning him for his entire tenure will point him out as appointed by the corrupt gov.  "It's not so bad" is pretty weak sauce as a defense.  Aren't we supposed to be hoping for a higher standard out of our politicians?
The very fact that you're saying it's not so bad shows you're acknowledging it looks like he's doing something wrong, just not so wrong that it's worth expending a lot of political capital on.

Well, it's not like we need her validation that Bush was an abysmal failure.  I'm not asking his daughters or his dog either.