Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the early Christmas gift that keeps on giving, has named Roland Burris, a former state attorney general, to replace Barack Obama in the Senate. Sure, sounds good, except that, as you may recall, Blagojevich is facing federal corruption charges, including accusations that he already tried to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. Democratic Senate leaders have sworn they will not seat Burris, and the Illinois Secretary of State has said he will not certify the selection. Nothing against Burris...nobody thinks the guy did anything wrong, and most people seem to legitimately like him, but he picked the wrong place to be at the wrong time.

While we wait to see whether or not Burris is actually headed to Washington, take a look at our brief dossier to find out more about the man who may forever unfortunately reek of Blagojevich taint.

Age: 71

Current gig: Manager and CEO of Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC, a corporate and political PR and strategy firm. He also serves as counsel to Gonzalez, Saggio and Harlan (the law firm, and not the starting outfield for Kansas City Royals).

Place of birth: Centralia, IL, which is located either in the center of the state, or somewhere in a George Orwell novel.

History-making: In 1978, Burris became the first African-American elected to state office in Illinois, when he assumed the office of state comptroller for the first of three terms. So you know this dude's got everything under comptrol.

Yet no stranger to defeat: In his 1984 Senate race, Burris was defeated by Paul Simon, seemingly unable able to compete with his opponents soulful yet accessible lite-pop sounds and affiliation with African special interest group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Wait for it...: Burris has two children: a son, Roland, Jr., and a daughter, Rolanda.

Tell me more! No, wait...don't: Burris has served as president of the National Association of Comptroller and of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers, in addition to being a trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation Board. He served three years on the Executive Board as a Trustee of the Government Finance Office Association of the United States and Canada, and also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Inland Real Estate Corporation as an independent director. If you happen to get cornered by him at a cocktail party, you will probably kill yourself.

Say what?: Burris has been cited in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in Government," and "Who's Who in Law." These three citations qualify him for inclusion in next year's "Who's Who in Who's Who."

Okay, so it's not "Black Inches," but still...: He has been recognized annually for 16 years by Ebony magazine as one of The 100 Most Influential Black Americans.

Is any of this really going to matter in a day or two?: No.

Posted by: Jason Reich      I’m a fan of Jason Reich