Whip-smart reader EC (God help me if he ever starts his own blog) replies to my initial Blago/Burris take:
I don't think it's so strange at all. Blago isn't trying to win Obama's love; he's trying to stay out of jail. He wants to convince eventual jurors that the stuff on the wiretaps was just some careless talk. So making an impartial, arms-length appointment (assuming that's what he did) makes perfect sense. Burris will likely announce that he's here as a caretaker, that the people will decide in 2010, and that Blago should resign anyway. I don't know Burris from Adam, but based on my minimal reading (i.e. Wikipedia) it seems that he's a well-respected elder statesman in Illinois. In other words, he's the type of person whom Blago should have focused on from the start. And I bet Reid will decide to seat Burris after he satisfies himself that Blago made an appointment and not a sale.
For the moment, however, Reid's standing firm.
--Michael Crowley