Towards a More Diverse Senate

Yesterday, leaders of the US Senate agreed to seat Roland Burris, the appointee of the beleaguered governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. This is a victory for Americans in all states, despite the inevitable baggage Burris will carry with him into Washington. For one thing, Burris himself is not accused of any wrongdoing, and was not one of the five on the list Gov. Blagojevich believed might be willing to make a pay-for-play deal with him. Although it is perhaps unfortunate that the Eminence Greasy chose anyone at all, Burris is a well-known state politician with a clean (by American standards, at least!) record.
There is another reason why Burris’ appointment should be recognized, instead of making another choice: he will inject a good dose of diversity into the Old Boys Club of the Senate. Indeed, there are no other members of the Senate who are people of color. Burris also has a long history with the civil rights movement. Although Blagojevich may have chosen Burris specifically to prevent the all-white Senate from objecting too strenuously to his choice, it remains a good thing for this country to have as many different cultural backgrounds and viewpoints in our senior legislative body as possible.

See the New York Times story about the Senate’s decision:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13burris.html?ref=washington