From The Associated Press: Senate leaders have caved in their efforts to block Roland Burris from replacing President-elect Barack Obama in the upper chamber. Burris had been appointed to the post last month by Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who’s facing charges that he tried to sell the seat following Obama’s promotion. Democratic leaders feared that anyone appointed by Blagojevich would be ineffective because of the scandal surrounding the governor. But they ignored a couple things: (1) Blagojevich has yet to be convicted; (2) the appointment is perfectly legal; and 3) Burris is, by most accounts, a dedicated public servant who also happens not to be Blagojevich.
It took Democrat leaders until this morning to discover these things.
Note: An earlier version of this post omitted the word “Report” in the headline.