The question that needs to be asked, though, is, how did things get to this point? Mr. Burris is supposedly a reasonable man, and a highly respected moderate. He KNEW the ruckus this would raise. He KNEW the president-elect might well oppose his being seated. Did it not even occur to him to at least place a call to Mr. Obama before accepting the nomination?

With his rather disingenuous comments about how he's just answering the urgent call of duty, this is beginning to have the smell of opportunism about it. One would hope that Mr. Burris would think twice before tarnishing his reputation at this late point in his life, lest history regard him as just another black opportunist a la Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.