The Senate is the center of the drama

What's going to cause more drama in the Senate next week?

The GOP filibuster of Al Franken?:

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) threatened Friday to filibuster any attempt to seat Democratic Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken next week.

The newly minted National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman said he had not whipped votes in the GOP caucus, but added that he could not imagine any members defecting and seating Franken without a certificate of election.

Or the effort to keep Roland Burris out of the chamber?:

The U.S. Senate's sergeant at arms says he doesn't expect trouble when Roland Burris shows up to be sworn in as President-elect Barack Obama's successor on Tuesday.

The sergeant at arms, Terrence Gainer, said he has known Burris for years. Gainer said in a telephone interview: ''He is a good man. He plays by the rules.''

Jane Hamsher explains how the these two situations are inter-related. It's not pretty:

The Republicans have been planning to block Franken for some time, and Reid should have factored that in when he drew up his Burris game plan. Until Reid announced he'd refuse to seat Burris because he didn't have a certificate, the Dems had an argument that the Senate Republicans were just playing politics.

Now they're stuck trying to explain the double standard for Franken and Burris.

Great. The Senate is going to be the battleground. If change is going to happen, it has to get through that body. None of what's happening now bodes well for the rest of the session.

The drama should be over passing the stimulus package, considering the precarious state of our economy. This is a time for leadership, not gamesmanship.