The Fix sums up the situation in baseball terms for the rest of us:

Chris Cillizza: If you’re scoring at home: Roland Burris 1, Barack Obama/Harry Reid/Senate Dems 0

Welcome to the Department of Mixed Messages

Harry Reid: Burris won’t be seated (12/30/2008)

“It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris’ ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.

Harry Reid: We congratulate Senator-designee Burris (01/12/09)

Accordingly, barring objections from Senate Republicans, we expect Senator-designee Burris to be sworn in and formally seated later this week…We are pleased that everything is now in order, we congratulate Senator-designee Burris on his appointment and we look forward to working with him in the 111th Congress.

Barack Obama calls Burris choice ‘disappointing’ (12/30/08)

“Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat,” he said. “I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it.”

Barack Obama Welcomes Burris (01/12/09)

As the President-elect has said repeatedly, he knows Roland Burris and has high regard for him. He looks forward to working with Senator Burris and the rest of the United States Senate to rebuild our economy and meet the great challenges of our time.

Obama may want to be careful following Reid’s lead. He’s been known to miss a few things from time to time.