Roland and Rolanda -- the new IL Senator 'it' children?

Meet Roland and Rolanda Burris. They are the children of Roland Burris. Was that not clear?

Granted, they are both successful, fully-grown adults, one of whom has a healthy baby son named....curve ball alert!....Roland Burris.

But screw that. Now that their father is the Senator-elect of Illinois, they have their own, formidable opponents. Before, their biggest problem was that 80% of their family's names began with "Role." Now, the question remains: Can these two adults make themselves as cute as the children whose father once occupied the seat which now belongs to Role-n-Role's Dad?

It will be tough.

Google Sasha and Malia and one phrase will come to mind: freaking creepy. JackandJillPolitics.com, for example, is doing a really cool series of in-depth articles about Sidwell in honor of the Obama children starting school there on Monday. (Yes, I do know they are starting school on Monday. And that Sasha's favorite food is ice cream. Sue me, okay?) Their first article has attracted about 80 comments, some more questionably -- shall we say -- involved than others. Take this one from FreedomDreamer, who thoughtfully muses that

"I think the Obama girls will do fine; it's not a huge jump from the Chicago Lab School to Sidwell, after all. As they age, and Malia deals with the ups and downs of secondary school, I suspect this will change."

Maybe she got this insight from an extra close-reading of Obama's trip to a Hawaiian ice cream shop to get his daughters some shaved ice.

For the record, though, I do hope that at least one teacher is transparently self-serving enough to suddenly add to the curriculum a 'Career' series which includes Take Your Parent to School Night, Parent Autograph Day, and, of course, the Hold Your Parent Accountable to his Campaign Promises box social. (Don't worry, it's a time honored tradition at Sidwell. Promise).

Roland and Rolanda have their work cut out for them if they're going to take on the cuteness of the Obamas. Someone get these children a giant video screen of their father!