Blagojevich Shall Overcome!

Say this for Blago: he's got moxie. How could he even fit behind the podium at today's press conference with those cojones?!

Say this, too: he's a civil rights leader!

From the moment he patiently explained to us that Illinois would not be shortchanged in the Senate (unlike those sissy Minnesotans), he forged ahead with galling - and perversely thrilling - swagger. His holiday greetings were jocular. His sober remarks about his appointee's "unquestioned integrity" were delivered totally unironically. Even his hair had extra volume. (Sorry, but the 'do is kind of growing on me.) Not a hint of shame.

But it was the racial jujitsu, with the appointment of black state Rep. Roland Burris to the vacant senate seat, that had my head spinning. This guy's good. (Okay, I was kind of hoping he'd appoint Oprah or Caroline Kennedy. But the Burris choice is otherwise unbeatable.)

The entrance of black Rep. Bobby Rush sealed the brilliance of Blago's move. Suddenly this was a watershed moment in America's racial saga -- Blago's appointment of Burris an important step forward. The Nation of Islam hails Governor Louis Blagojekhan.

I used to think that former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's overnight morph to a gay civil rights leader, to avoid ethics charges, was impressive. But McGreevey was already gay. Blago really had to stretch for this role -- and may have bagged an Oscar (or at least an NAACP image award).

Is Tom Wolfe writing this all down?!

Now come on, admit it, aren't you a little bit impressed?