I have no idea how many people actually read our blog or my own little section of it (hopefully my efforts do not detract too much from my far more talented colleagues). But on the off chance than someone who reads this has the ability to forward it to Senator Designate Burris, I have a proposal for him to ponder.

By all accounts Mr. Burris has been a dedicated public servant to the people of Illinois and does not share any of the sleaze connected to Governor Soprano. Furthermore, he has more than just the ethics issues to consider when it comes to accepting or rejecting the nomination.

There are no African American members of the US Senate and he is slated to fill that gap. In addition I think we can forgive him for being human enough to take with a bit of awe the prospect of serving in the Senate.

Finally, even if he does reject the nomination it would simply mean  that Governor Soprano could make another nomination to the body and that choice could be someone far less suited to serve than Mr. Burris, who has spent years in public office.

With that in mind I offer the following proposal.

Mr. Burris should continue to accept the nomination in order to prevent Blago from naming anyone else to the seat. When the Senate sends the issue to the Rules committee for review he should allow this to happen and simply let the process take as much time as needed.

Meanwhile the state legislature in Illinois can proceed with the impeachment process against the Blago and remove him from office as quickly as possible. When Lt. Governor Quinn becomes Governor Quinn then Mr. Burris can resign from his seat/appointment and open things up for a new candidate.

In exchange for this service to his state and country, Quinn can then name Burris back to the seat with the proviso that he does not run for election in 2010 (which is probably likely anyway given his age).

If Mr. Burris is truly the dedicated public servant he seems to be then he can take this step to preserve the dignity of the Senate seat he seeks to occupy.

Will he do it ?

Only time will tell………….