Cave in Washington near Chicago Way

John Kass:

...

Roland "Tombstone" Burris, the amiable Illinois Democratic political hack who is being called eminently qualified by the national Democrats—perhaps because he's from Illinois and he hasn't been indicted—has almost reached his goal of being addressed as "Yes, sir, Senator."

Now Tombstone has President-elect Barack Obama behind him, muscling Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid in a phone call earlier in the week. So much for transcending the old politics.

Only a week ago, Obama, Reid and other Democratic leaders were adamant that they'd block any Senate appointment made by tainted Illinois Gov. Rod "Dead Meat" Blagojevich, who has been charged with trying to sell Obama's seat to the highest bidder.

Their statements back then were stern and inflexible, invoking the honor of the Senate and how they'd never let an allegedly corrupt governor put his greasy paws on their august dignity. Those statements weren't bland. They were so tough they had hair on them. More hair than Blagojevich, even.

...

But that was then. As Dana Milbanks, "There were more caves in Washington yesterday than in the mountains of Afghanistan."

The guy with the biggest egg on his face is Durbin. He is the one who assured all the other candidates to reject Blagojevich's offer of the appointment. His premise was that the senate would reject any appointment, so they were better off waiting for the appointment from a more legitimate source.

Call it Senatorial hubris--the belief that you are a really powerful guy despite the law. Poor old Harry Reid believed it too. Most Democrats did who were not "authentic" blacks. But the rally of the "authentic," aka the Black Caucus, and the realization that the senators' grasp of the law was not as keen as thought led them to see the light outside their cave.