Senate soap opera

The Senate has become the center of the circus politics. The good news is we may be near resolution for the New York seat, as sources close to Gov. Patterson say he is leaning towards appointing Caroline Kennedy. I don't know how I feel about the pick, but I am glad we can move forward. The bad news? We still have two other Senate races unsettled, both of which are contentious: the Franken/Coleman headache in Minnesota and the Blagojevich/Burris debacle in Illinois. Today we learn that the political futures of these seats are intertwined. Just as Harry Reid is going to block the Burris appointment, now Senate Republicans - led by Sen. Cornyn (Texas) - are going to block Franken's seating should his slim margin hold. Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake explains:

The Republicans have been planning to block Franken for some time, and Reid should have factored that in when he drew up his Burris game plan. Until Reid announced he'd refuse to seat Burris because he didn't have a certificate, the Dems had an argument that the Senate Republicans were just playing politics.

Now they're stuck trying to explain the double standard for Franken and Burris.

Ugh. You've got to be kidding me. Heckuva job, Harry.

AMERICAblog captures my feelings well:

Great. The Senate is going to be the battleground. If change is going to happen, it has to get through that body. None of what's happening now bodes well for the rest of the session.

The drama should be over passing the stimulus package, considering the precarious state of our economy. This is a time for leadership, not gamesmanship.