Blago's Circus

The spectacle of the rejection of Roland Burris's credentials for senator is full of racial overtones, not just undertones. African American U.S. reps Bobby Rush, Elijah Cummings, and some other black leaders are demanding that Burris be seated, claiming that to do otherwise is racist. What a mess. Of course, Burris knew when he agreed to accept the appointment by soon-to-be-indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that such an appointment would be a sham. But the reason the senate is so susceptible to the "racism" claim is that of 100 senators elected to represent this "fair" land, exactly one of them--Barack Obama--was black. This in a nation about 12% black. Were blacks to have proportional representation, one would expect for there to be 12 black senators. Instead, if Obama were replaced by a nonblack, there would be zero. Like I said, what a mess. I guess our land is too "fair" (i.e., light skinned), and at the same time not nearly fair enough (when it comes to equality without regard to skin color/race).