Who wouldn't want to?

Play poker with Harry Reid, that is?

If he ever showed up at any of the hold-em tables in Atlantic City, he'd go home wearing nothing but his boxers and a glum look.

(Not that his glum look is anything new!)

Jane Hamsher over at FireDogLake has a great article about just how awful our Senate Majority Leader is at trying to bluff:

Rather than call for a special election in Illinois, Reid sends a letter to Blagojevich signed by everyone in the Democratic caucus asking him to step down. They assert that they will not seat anyone he appoints.

Harumph!

Blago wipes his ass with it and appoints Burris anyway.

Burris holds a press conference and announces he will be in D.C. on Tuesday to be sworn in with the rest of the Senate. Bobby Rush plays the race card. Reid does not see the handwriting on the wall.

He counters by calling Secretary of State Jesse White, who has already said he won't sign Burris's certification, and encourages him. What White is doing is most certainly outside his legal authority -- the Secretary of State doesn't have veto power. But Reid not only gives White a high five, he tells him they'll use this to keep Burris from being seated.

Then he smugly chortles about how he'll manipulate Senate procedure and punt to the Rules Committee, and assures everyone that they will drag things out for months if necessary until Blago is impeached and his successor appoints someone else. And he does it in the press.

This is a perfect example of how poorly Harry Reid plans, and how he doesn't anticipate the consequences of his actions. To wit:

Upon reading this, (Republican Sen.) Cornyn announces that Franken won't have a signed certification either, and the GOP will use it to keep him from being seated...

Upon hearing this, Reid could stand up to Sen. Cornyn and tell him that if the Republicans block Franken from being seated, Reid will work overtime to see that not a single GOP initiative gets passed.

Or, he could fold like a cheap patio chair. Let's see what he does:

Reuters: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yielded to Republican threats and agreed on Monday not to immediately seat fellow Democrat Al Franken."

Wow, who saw THAT coming?

Blago laughs out loud. This is amateur night in Dixieland.

Indeed.

The entire article deserves a read, and Jane expertly details the reasons why Harry Reid would be the absolute worst poker player in the world.

I'm "all-in" on that one.