It's hard to believe that Rod Blagojevich could be considered a winner, well, ever, after his nasty travails with Patrick Fitzgerald and his handy wiretap, but it appears that Blago has found a way to win one against an admittedly easy target: Harry Reid and the wussified Senate Democrats.

Reports that the Dems plan to block Blago's choice to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat, one Roland Burris, by any means necessary, have taken on dramatic proportions:

The Democratic leadership's current contingency plan for next week is reportedly for Burris to be met at the chamber by a doorman telling him he's not allowed inside. If he still tries to go in, armed police officers could intervene to get him away. Burris told the Los Angeles Times that he wants to avoid a scene and have all of this negotiated before he arrives, but it's unlikely that he could negotiate his way towards actually being seated.

And even if Burris does manage to physically enter the chamber, there are still a whole lot of avenues to keep him from being sworn in. The Senate is expected to launch a Rules Committee investigation to determine the legitimacy of his appointment, thus delaying him from being seated. They'll look at everything from the facts of the Blagojevich scandal to Illinois Sec. of State Jesse White's refusal to sign the certificate of appointment. Every undotted "i" and every uncrossed "t" will be scrutinized.

At that point, Burris might just be able to go to court and force the Senate to admit him. Many legal scholars believe he has a genuine case here. But even this could take a while -- which would appear to be the whole point.

Really? Do they really plan to do all of tthat? For real for real??? Because if they do, we will have the intriguing mental picture of the party that used to be the party of segregation sending armed police-like figures to stand at the Senate chamber door, George Wallace-style, to keep a black man from taking up the seat being vacated by the first black president of the United States, who was also the lone black member of the United States Senate, who was nominated to the presidency by the former party of segregation. If the circular irony is killing you, join the club.

Enter Bobby Rush, former Obama nemesis, and current Spokesman Pro Tem for Black Illinois:

"The recent history of our nation has shown us that sometimes there could be individuals and there could be situations where school children--where you have officials standing in the doorway of school children. You know, I'm talking about all of us back in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm talking about George Wallace, Bull Connors and I'm sure that the US Senate don't want to see themselves placed in the same position."

Well, Mr. Burris is no schoolchild, by nominating a black candidate who is by all accounts qualified, and more importantly, posesses a burning ambition to have the seat, and therefore will fight for it, Blagojevich has succeeded in chumping the party in the midst of its tissue rejection of him. His nomination of Burris is, whether the Dems like it or not, probably legal, and if Burris fights for the seat all the way up to the Supreme Court, his affirmation would be a giant spit wad in the fact of Harry Reid, whom the right (and some black folk who are not on the right,) could then portray as the Bull Connor of our time. I can just see in-coming RNC Chairman Ken "Shady Election" Blackwell, his candidacy having been energized by the Democrats' blundering, wailing before black America, begging them to come home from the party of Robert Byrd. Of course, few black folk will buy it, but it will be one hell of a spectacle.

The fundamental problem is, of course, bigger than the Democrats. The fact that so much wrangling is taking place is testimony to the fact that despite the Democrats' superior electoral diversity, the Senate remains virtually an all white institution. The fight recalls the upheaval over filling the "Thurgood Marshall seat" on the Supreme Court. As flawed a character as Clarence Thomas was (and is, I mean, referring the "where was Obama born" lawsuit to his colleagues was a new low, even for him...) the vast majority of black America supported his nomination (and viciously rejected Anita Hill. Oops...) and I'll take a wild guess that most black folk will react rather negatvely to pics of Burris being frog marched out of the Senate. Just guessing. This despite the fact that Blago has earned no cool points in black America with the nomination. For most, this won't be about him.

The Republican Party is officially Out of Gas, consigned to three-fifths of the former Confederate States of America, and demographically moribund. But thanks to my party, and its crackerjack Senate leadership, they're being handed the race card.

Thanks for nothing, Harry.