Why would Burris jump into toxic situation?

TAINTED FRUIT | Blagojevich counting on race issue to force Senate to seat African American

It is tainted fruit. Gov. Blagojevich's bodacious handout to Roland Burris is every bit as toxic as anything he has been accused of seeking for President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Before Blagojevich landed in handcuffs, Burris wasn't a bleep on his radar screen.

But with the Illinois General Assembly moving toward impeachment, and prominent elected officials across the country calling on the embattled governor to resign, Blagojevich wants us to believe this appointment is not about him.

How could it not be about him?

This is the same man who was allegedly taped saying: "I've got this thing and it's f - - - - - - golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f - - - - -' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there."

His appointment of Burris to the Senate is every bit as mercenary.

Now, while the Illinois General Assembly winds through the impeachment process, the U.S. Senate will be convulsing over whether it should refuse to seat Blagojevich's pick.

As pointed out by U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), who in the Senate -- where not one member is black -- will want to be the first on the floor to argue that Burris should not be seated?

Blagojevich is counting on the Senate's sensitivity to the race issue to trump the disdain that body holds for his alleged behavior.

Because despite being warned that the U.S. Senate would not honor his pick, Blagojevich has intentionally set up a fight that adds another layer of turmoil in an already chaotic political situation.

The question is why would Burris, who left public life with his reputation intact, be eager to snap up such a toxic handout?

Why would Rush stand in this harsh light to help Blagojevich create the illusion that the governor is really concerned about the lack of black voices in the Senate?

And why would these African-American political leaders allow themselves to get caught up in this sordid scandal?

They must know that Blagojevich couldn't care less that there isn't an African American in the Senate.

If he did, he wouldn't have gotten into the mess he is now trying to get out of.

With the U.S. attorney's office closing in on him and public opinion turning against him, Blagojevich is apparently trying to shore up support among his African-American base by handing out tainted fruit.

"No thank you" should have been Burris' response.

It's one thing to believe that the absence of a black voice in the U.S. Senate is a social injustice.

It's another to play that issue like a bartering chip.