Roland Burris has announced, via lame cop-out (that got overshadowed by… everything) that he will not seek election to the Senate.

He has excuses, of course.  It costs too much money, he’s too dedicated, blah blah.

I think the reality here is that Burris, long a crony of Blago’s, made a play here — he thought Blago could beat the rap, and he could sail out of retirement into the height of power.  Blago didn’t, which means that Burris would be tainted by his impeachment — forever.   It all came down to Blago getting away with it.

Having said that, Burris is still just a hilarious figure.  Check this out:

In Washington, Mr. Burris often appeared a lonely figure, smiling but mildly uncertain how to navigate the place, and ignored at times by colleagues milling around between votes.

…

He is known for his ambition, with earlier campaigns for governor and a mausoleum he has already erected in this city that lists his accomplishments and titles beneath the carved words “Trail Blazer.”

He erected his own grand death monument while he was still alive.    Does he think he’s the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian pharoah?

Wow.  I’ll miss you, Burris, you crazy, greedy, amoral, corrupt bastard.

(At least, until your inevitable trial when Blago sells you out for a plea deal.)

Just a quick post about the barn swallows that are nesting above our underground garage entrance.

Cute aren’t they?  See my Flickr page for more photos, including a very large size version of this one.  Well, ok, it’s 800k.  But that’s obviously too big to embed… ever.

Apparently we’ve all been doing it the wrong way, and the lowly monkey can teach us something better:

I will try this out at the first opportunity.

Hat tip to Pharyngula