Ezra makes a good point about Roland Burris: basically, he's a man of seemingly infinite vanity who wants to have more items to put on his masoleum, so that future generations can marvel at his accomplishments. Of course, all anyone is going to remember him for now is for being Blago's tainted pick to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, if for that. In fifty years, is anyone going to remember some random senator? I would think not.
It reminds me a little of George W. Bush, who prided himself in not reading newspapers but seems to be obsessed with his own narrative: strong leader, compassionate conservative, not afraid to make the tough calls. All of it is bullshit, of course: Bush's "strength" is usually to try to cover up his own inadequacies and insecurities. His compassionate conservatism has not made life better for average folks, so one must assume that the compassion was used up on the likes of Bernie Madoff. And his "tough calls" are usually half-cocked, emotional responses that don't fit the situation. Read The Dark Side if you want to get a feel for this. But Bush believes these things about himself, and it hasn't all been bad: the "tough choices" quality probably led to his adoption of the financial bailout, for example. Still, I think that the reason why Bush was so engaged and energized in 2005 and so whipped and defeated these days is because a lot of those things he believed about himself have proven to be false. It's almost enough to make you feel sympathetic toward Bush.
Burris is also obsessed with his internal narrative, which is that he is a trailblazer of historic proportions. He was the head of the C.P.A. society, dammit! And he wasn't even a C.P.A.! His historians, who I am sure he thinks there will be many, will eat that shit up. We're saying good bye to one Bush, but a conservation of Bush law must be in effect, because we're getting his spiritual partner in the Senate. Burris held two statewide posts and is going to be an interim Senator who will never get Blago's stench off of him. Burris is his own chief biographer, except that nobody really cares that much about him, and in a few generations he'll be forgotten, as will almost all of us. Come to think of it, I think that I am the opposite of Burris: I could care less about being remembered and I'm more interested in actually doing things that matter, not that I think should impress other people. Does that make me more like Dick Cheney? In at least one respect, I suppose so.
