Seat 'em both

There are still some unresolved senate seats lingering.  I'm going to skip NY for the moment, since there's no clear declaration if Caroline Kennedy will be appointed (I hope not; as her experience is non existent).

The two other seats are in IL and MN.  I think that both Al Franken (D-MN) and Roland Burris (D-IL) should be seated as United States Senators.

Let's first look at Franken's seat.  The MN State Canvassing Board has certified results that show Franken winning the seat by 225 votes.  He actually was down with the first results, but the recount shows him a clear winner.  The result was the direct consequence of shrewd lawyering, but that is a moot point.  He is the winner, and deserves a 6 year term.  The Republican who holds the seat for a few more days, Norm Coleman, plans to file lawsuits challenging this result, but given our litigious nature and the possibility for lawsuits to last for a sustained time, Franken should be seated now.

Now we move to the most interesting seat, Barack Obama's old seat in IL.  The governor, Mr. Blagojevich, has appointed Roland Burris to the seat.  Burris has already called himself Senator.  We all know that Blagojevich allegedly tried to sell this very seat.  However, he has not been indicted or convicted of any offense.  As his is presumed innocent for the time being, this appointment is legal.  The only hiccup is that the Illinois Secretary of State did not sign the appointment.  But it would be quite unprecedented for the Senate to refuse to seat him.  I think for the time being, he should be seated.  If Blagojevich goes to jail or is indicted, the Senate can then decide if it wants to remove Burris.