Patterico's Pontifications

6/30/2009

Senator Al Franken (Update: Coleman Concedes)

Filed under: Politics — DRJ @ 12:38 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The Minnesota Supreme Court has unanimously ruled Al Franken is entitled to be the junior Senator from Minnesota. Former Senator Norm Coleman’s appeal based on unfairly rejected absentee ballots was found lacking:

“Coleman’s appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly rejected by local election officials around the state.

The unanimous court wrote that “because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions.”

They went on to say that “because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice.”

Franken could be seated by the Senate as early as next week, and probably will be seated even if Coleman decides to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

UPDATE:
Coleman has conceded.

— DRJ

109 Responses to “Senator Al Franken (Update: Coleman Concedes)”

  1. Repeating: We are doomed.

    Old Coot (83c1d1)

  2. Expectable. No guess as to whether Coleman will go to the feds; it would, given the last ten years of election practices, be entirely appropriate.

    htom (412a17)

  3. Has any reasonable explanation besides voter fraud been offered for the hundreds of ballots that appeared after the election, all of them for Franken?

    tyree (158c98)

  4. Stuart Smalley is now a Senator – and this, after Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Minnesotans like to be quietly proud of their state, but this atrocity is truly a laughingstock. Makes me feel just a little better about my own miserable state (IL).

    Dmac (f7884d)

  5. Interesting that they were able to “find” so many “votes” for Smalley after the polls closed.

    Who could have predicted this outcome in November?

    (Apart from everybody.)

    After ~35+ years Franken finally managed to do something funny.

    Dave (in MA) (037445)

  6. Coleman has conceded.

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b)

  7. “…because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required…”

    It is unfortunate that they (the MN Supremes) couldn’t hold those who counted the votes to the same “strict…statutory requirements” that they hold the actual voters!

    It would seem that the meaning of the Equal Protection Clause is different in MN; and, if Norm Coleman does the “gentlemanly” thing, and allows this ruling to stand (as he seems to be doing), the voting rules in the various states (let alone MN) are meaningless.

    And we wonder where the Iranians came up with the idea of stuffing the ballot boxes…
    They looked to Chicago, of course.

    AD - RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  8. There’s no question that the politics in my state often borders on comic tragedy.

    And, I have no idea of any of the intricacies of Minnesota politics, but why in the world would they elect a carpetbagging New York comedian to be a U.S. Senator?

    Coleman must have been really bad.

    I don’t think the GOP needs to change its philosophy, I think it needs to change its leadership.

    Ag80 (3acbfd)

  9. Minn. gets what it deserves. Have a great time Al. I wonder what fun it’ll be watching another inexperienced pol hack away at Government. The Democratic Mascot is so much more appropriate now than ever.

    pitchforksntorches (4dd8c4)

  10. Well, Minnesota does mean “bugf**kcrazy” in Ojibway.

    nk (bef3ab)

  11. Ag80 wrote:

    And, I have no idea of any of the intricacies of Minnesota politics, but why in the world would they elect a carpetbagging New York comedian to be a U.S. Senator?

    1. Messianic coattails.
    2. The prospect of a filibuster-proof majority.

    They would have voted for the corpse of John Belushi if Obama endorsed it on stage at a campaign rally.

    L.N. Smithee (f7999b)

  12. If the voter chooses to vote in person on election day, then the presumption is that the vote counts and rules are made to be broken (or at least stretched) where necessary to protect the right to vote. But if the person chooses to cast an absentee ballot, then the presumption is turned on its head and any technicality is sufficient to deny the voter his vote.

    Got it. Thanks for playing.

    tim maguire (4a98f0)

  13. Has anybody seen Franken’s birth certificate?

    David Ehrenstein (2550d9)

  14. As tim maguire notes, the article and apparently the Minnesota Supreme Court treat absentee voting as a lesser form of voting.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  15. What about disenfranchised voters?

    Not surprised but frankly Minnesotans like to think themselves lots smarter than they are. It explains Jesse and Al.

    HeavenSent (1e97ff)

  16. I’ve updated the post. Coleman conceded.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  17. Another blow to the Republican Party. You guys have little luck.

    Andrew (dff4d2)

  18. It’s true, little luck.

    Though this further cements the Democrat ownership of the disaster we all see around them making. Franken will be a convenient icon of the movement in the way Obama thought Limbaugh would be for the GOP.

    Juan (c7e552)

  19. ACORN’s on a role…they’re really earning those billion$ that the party is throwing at them.

    AD - RtR/OS! (e2c6d2)

  20. It is very disturbing that anyone would be reasonable to doubt the election results.

    The GOP had time to have HAVA enforced, and waffled like mad for years about it. And that’s a shame.

    Obama is clearly playing for keeps. The madness in permitting Black Panthers with batons to threaten poll workers, forbidding Georgia from following the federal law regarding IDs, and Acorn’s general gearing up under the new COI banner portents a future of more aggressive election rigging efforts. Worse, the COI run Census, plus the attempt to inflate the numbers of ‘disadvantaged’ voters using scientific models will provide the democrats with seats that are invented from thin air.

    And that’s just the part we actually know about. Obama’s support of the Honduran election theft effort shows he has no problem with far more egregious crimes.

    And I just don’t believe it. There’s really no other explanation for what’s going on, but I can’t accept that the US President would be willing to act like this is 1910 Chicago. Just feels like a B Movie.

    Juan (c7e552)

  21. Everytime I hear Senator Franken, my testicles acsend. It is going to be a long six years.

    Joe (dcebbd)

  22. Minnesota has a long and honorable history of voting for lefties. They have never elected a comedian before but maybe they though Ventura needed some cheering up.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  23. … which is why Republicans need to play dirty to win. C what playing nice gets you?

    Nobility is no defense in this fight.

    Second time an election is stolen at a State level by Democrats and Republicans are simply playing it like a country club dispute.

    Franken and Democrats fabricate votes to steal Minnesota. Military votes thrown out in Minnesota by Democratic Judge….. this is the language you need to use in order to create space in the battlefield so that way a “Country Club Conservative” can come in with high minded principles and pretend to be a moderate.

    That is what Democrats do. That is what Obambi did. Let the bomb throwers prepare the battlefield so that he could ride in on a white horse.

    HeavenSent (1e97ff)

  24. ACORN and Zombie voters win again. How many election observers from Iran were there last November in Minnesota?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  25. Maybe the people of Minnesota should be left to decide this themselves and everybody else should BUTT OUT.

    JEA (ac0351)

  26. JEA,

    Okay, but only if you promise to BUTT OUT if Texas decides to secede.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  27. Why is it the folks like JEA’s typical response is to tell us to shut up or butt out?

    DRJ – If y’all decide to do so, could you give me about a week’s notice so I can move my family down there first?

    JD (0ecdbf)

  28. I wouldn’t worry. Franken has tons of dirt. I recommend that the Republicans just start putting together their “Franken Commercial” to raise money for Republican causes.

    And can anyone imagine that Franken is going to be saying calm and temperate things?

    He is also a horrible winner. Get your popcorn ready.

    Eric Blair (c8876d)

  29. He is also a horrible winner person.

    Fixed that for you…

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  30. Think of it this way – Certifying Franken’s win just adds to the ranks of Democrat tax cheats in Washington.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  31. What a f*cking joke.

    I resume my call to donate Minnesota to the French Canadians.

    JD (cb9226)

  32. I wish long life and a steady recuperation to Senators Byrd and Kennedy. Hopefully, they will ignore irresponsible suggestions that they endanger their health by attending Senate sessions.

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b)

  33. Coleman was born in New York and came to Minnesota as a Democrat (DFL, here) and became the mayor of St. Paul. He was elected to the Senate as a Democrat, had his pro-life views exposed, changed to being a Republican (IR, here, then) and was re-elected! (This was a shocker to almost everyone.) The long knives have been waiting for him.

    Senator Franken is going to discover that having is not nearly so good as wanting. The Senate is going to be a lonely place for someone who’s made a trade of trashing the other 99 members.

    htom (412a17)

  34. No state deserves a Senator Stuart Smalley mroe than Minnesota. And frankly, that’s how every Republican should address him.

    drjohn (862e69)

  35. There’s even more good news out there in loony lib land today, Andrew Sullivan has yet another post up about Trig Palin.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  36. Please dear Jesus, tell me that you’re joking…

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  37. I thank the Lord above evry day that GWB was not cowed into accepting all that hanging chad BS propagated by Gore, Boies, et al.

    And Andrew Sullivan is a total moron equateing what happened to Neda and the Iranians to “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Utter putz.

    Cara (3bef8c)

  38. Correction: Sullivan has 6 posts up today about Palin and family. Little obscene stalker boy.

    Dana (8d88ef)

  39. “Okay, but only if you promise to BUTT OUT if Texas decides to secede.”

    – DRJ

    What are your thoughts on that, by the way? Not intended as snark or anything; it’s an interesting topic.

    And New Mexico might be one of the states that joined you, so there’s always that…

    Leviticus (1f2312)

  40. Dana – I did not read or look at them. He’s as bad as Ehrenstein. I just saw the headline at Memeorandum and a short excerpt somewhere of someone mocking him.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  41. Leviticus,

    I don’t support secession but it intrigues me, too, primarily because of how quickly the idea went from something only a handful of Texans took seriously to something 20% of Texans will consider. That’s a huge leap in just a few months time. I think the numbers will only increase (at least in Texas) because of what’s happening with the federal government, but I expect to see more Tea Party protests than secession parties. Of course, I could be underestimating the support for secession in Texas so I’ll just conclude with these thoughts from Doug Mader:

    “Texas is its own place, with its own history, its own traditions, and its own sense of what I think can only be described as a national identity. That’s not to say Texans don’t love America; by God, they love it. They love it as Texans. They see no contradiction between the two. But I believe that in the heart of every Texan there is this serene confidence: Texas abides. Texas will go on. And for my own part, while I hope that the Union of the American States lasts into the millennia, nevertheless I believe that if the Union ever does falter, if it ever does fail, yet still there will be Texas.”

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  42. daley, I knew because the Other McCain got the knives out today.

    Dana (8d88ef)

  43. I heard that Franken diddles legislative pages, engages in affairs with his staffers’ wives, has a very, very wide stance in public restrooms before fumbling around the glory hole, and met his soul-mate while having his hands full with a handful of women other than his wife.
    So how is it that the Dems now have this magic number 60 that you so fear?
    Surely Franken is Republican.
    And I expect Coleman will in the not too distant future be a felon. But, hey, he’s your guy.

    Larry Reilly (45e7a4)

  44. Senator-SELECT, not Senator-Elect. He’s not my Senator.

    Etc.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  45. And so the Al Franken decade begins.

    It’s refreshing to see the GOP maintains its pattern of fiscal irresponsibility by wasting over $1 million in the vain attempt to thwart the seating of Senator-elect Al Franken.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  46. DCSCA,

    It’s like Obama’s stimulus only much, much smaller.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  47. DRJ, #45 is the usual helpful addition to debate here.

    So let the threadjacking begin, with obvious trolling—because of the scale of the fiscal irresponsibility of this character’s “side,” accusations of fiscal malfeasance are beyond merely a joke. A million dollars compared to…the current pattern of spending responsibility? Here is a graph:

    http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/79840/

    Not to mention:

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/06/obama-poll-economic-stimulus-confidence-down.html

    Pitch perfect threadjacking. Let the discussion land. Clearly another TrollBot 5000 post.

    I won’t even start—getting back to the actual topic— on what is going to happen when Franken gets a Senate microphone. It will actually help Republicans. It’s like Biden. Once you let Biden talk, no one can ever ever call GWB or Sarah Palin “stupid” again.

    At least without being a complete and total hypocrite.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  48. DRJ, The thought that scares me most about secession is – the Texas Legislature.

    Leonardo DaFinchi (8c0a12)

  49. htom:

    Coleman was born in New York and came to Minnesota as a Democrat (DFL, here) and became the mayor of St. Paul. He was elected to the Senate as a Democrat, had his pro-life views exposed, changed to being a Republican (IR, here, then) and was re-elected! (This was a shocker to almost everyone.) The long knives have been waiting for him.

    Wikipedia confirms my memory that Norm Coleman changed from Democrat to Republican while he was mayor of St. Paul, in 1996, before his first (and only) election to the Senate in 2002. He was the Republican candidate for governor in 1998, losing to Jesse Ventura.

    GaryC (c1edfb)

  50. Just think of the fun we can have with Franken as the face of the Democrat party in the Senate. Pass the popcorn.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  51. Hey, daley…

    Franken starred in a television show called “Lateline” a few years ago. He played a pompous guy who was clueless, much in the Ted Knight tradition.

    His tagline? “We have to…” raising his hand “…raise…the…bar.”

    Indeed. And he isn’t it.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  52. Ah, memory. Still, he’s a turncoat and a pro-lifer, so to the Democratic majority here he’s due to go.

    htom (412a17)

  53. Money spent fighting the obvious and crass theft of this election was no waste. It’s sad that we’re running out of options to preserve fair elections.

    Juan (0a6638)

  54. Juan, I know what you mean. I’m with Hugh Hewitt on this one: if it’s not close, they can’t cheat.

    So we cannot afford to “sit out” elections—unless we don’t mind what is happening.

    Because the ACORN types don’t mind cheating. And it is cheating. I love it when folks on the Left say that the ACORN cheating didn’t matter. Those same people on the Left seemed VERY concerned about every single vote in 2000.

    But that’s different, of course.

    So I hope that folks on the Right don’t sit things out.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  55. I wish long life and a steady recuperation to Senators Byrd and Kennedy. Hopefully, they will ignore irresponsible suggestions that they endanger their health by attending Senate sessions.

    I, on the other hand, wish both of them would resign as it’s clear they no longer are capable of doing their job.

    aphrael (9e8ccd)

  56. “JEA,

    Okay, but only if you promise to BUTT OUT if Texas decides to secede.”

    No problem. And don’t let the door hit y’all on your way out…

    JEA (cfcb76)

  57. Now the deceased Americans will have someone to represent them. Since their votes put Franken over the top, the can rest (RIP) assured that he will look after their interests in the Senate.

    Sabba Hillel (153338)

  58. The election of Franken represents a recent trend that is discrediting ALL politicians, of both parties. Bradley may hope that it will result in more interest in libertarian candidates. I have obtained information from a modern Whig party. We have elected a community organizer president, a comic who is not very funny as a Senator. Barbara Boxer is a good example of the present quality of US politicians.

    I will concede that it has always been thus. Mark Twain commented that no man’s life, liberty or property was safe while Congress was in session but that Congress had a miniscule role in everyday life compared to the present. The Depression was the first example of disastrous consequences of government meddling. I fear we may see another one from this exercise in futility.

    Electing fools to Congress is nothing new but they are far more harmful today. For a nice visual on Franken, you might check out his role as baggage handler in “Trading Places.”

    Mike K (2cf494)

  59. I do not think JEA has thought out what would happen were TX to do as DRJ suggests.

    JD (e1e93d)

  60. I see Larry Reilly has already forgotten Gov. Spitzer and Gov. Jim McGreevey. But that’s typical of Reilly’s fact-free comments.

    And DCSCA is still parodying himself.

    At this point, Glenn Reynolds has the best comment – that Caligula sent a horse to the Senate but Minnesota only sent part of a horse.

    SPQR (72771e)

  61. And New Mexico might be one of the states that joined you, so there’s always that…

    Comment by Leviticus — 6/30/2009 @ 5:22 pm

    I didn’t want to say this, but I have nothing better to do right now. Next to New York and California, New Mexico’s infestation of ____________ is the reason Texas would want to leave the Union.

    nk (218382)

  62. I agree – Franken is an idiot. I wouldn’t vote him in a dogcatcher, let alone a Senator. But Minn did.

    These conspiracy theories about election rigging are fascinating. Virtually identical to the Dems whining about the 2000 election being stolen. Interesting how both sides are exactly the same…

    JEA (9f9fc9)

  63. JEA, it is not a conspiracy theory that ballots showed up in a Democratic official’s trunk.

    SPQR (72771e)

  64. Apparently the phrases “virtually identical” and “exactly the same” mean something different in your world.

    JD (b09e6a)

  65. Actually, what’s interesting is how much Democrats carried on about what they called “voter fraud” in 2000 and how little they care about it when it benefits them.

    There is a word for that: hypocrisy.

    Eric Blair (acade1)

  66. If we survived Estes Kefauver, we can survive Stuart Smiley.

    nk (218382)

  67. “…people on the Left seemed VERY concerned about every single vote in 2000…”

    As long as they weren’t Absentee’s from an APO/FPO.

    And, the only part of NM, according to my sources, that might want to join TX in skedaddling would be the SE corner, affectionately known as “Texas-West” or some such.
    North of Albuquerque, they’ld probably prefer to join the People’s Republic of San Francisco.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  68. I agree, AD. Voter fraud should be prosecuted wherever it is, and not ignored when it is convenient. And our friends on the Left will have genuine trouble snarking back to that comment, given the “every vote should count” business.

    But the press lets them, so why am I surprised?

    Eric Blair (acade1)

  69. Anyway, this explains a lot:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/poll-majority-of-minnesot_b_223711.html

    Everyone was drunk, I guess.

    Eric Blair (acade1)

  70. They got an early start on anti-freeze consumption for all that ice-fishing.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  71. Just another clown in the circus.

    tmac (f9e092)

  72. “Actually, what’s interesting is how much Democrats carried on about what they called “voter fraud” in 2000 and how little they care about it when it benefits them.

    There is a word for that: hypocrisy.”

    Actually I call it ‘party politics’ – complain when you lose and ignore it when you win, something which both parties suffer from.

    JEA (9f9fc9)

  73. More asspulls from JEA …. Shocka

    JD (00531d)

  74. Estes Kefauver was actually a pretty effective senator who held hearings on organized crime that were portrayed in Godfather II. I don’t think we can expect any such thing from Franken. More on the order of the baggage handler in Trading Places.

    JEA, the Democrats have always been far more effective in vote buying and cheating in elections. Maybe Republicans were as corrupt in the post Civil War days of Tilden but nothing recently can compare to what goes on in Chicago and New Jersey. The Loretta Sanchez election was a good example in California. She beat Bob Dornan by about 400 votes and it was later shown that over 1,000 illegal aliens voted.

    Of course, it also makes another point that Hugh Hewitt has emphasized; if it isn’t close, they can’t cheat. Dornan spent most of the year campaigning for president instead of staying home and tending the store. The 1960 election was pretty clearly an example of cheating as Kennedy was put over the top in Texas and Chicago. Eisenhower’s Attorney General Rogers told Nixon that he could prove enough fraud to reverse the decision but Nixon declined to protest for the good of the country.

    He certainly got a lot of thanks for that example of patriotism. Theodore White tells the story and also believed that Nixon felt he would be given a pass on watergate because of it. It’s hard to think of Nixon as naive but that was pretty unrealistic. The only person hated by the press more than Nixon is Palin.

    The tie in 2000, I believe, was due to a major mistake by the Bush people in not disclosing that drunk driving arrest early. It depressed religious voting for him and made the election a tie.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  75. Everything you need to know about Franken can be learned by reading the excellent history of SNL by Tom Shales – every person interviewed in that voluminous book hated without exception only three people in the many different casts: Chevy Chase, Garafalo…and Franken. Funniest stories concern what a coke – hound Franken was, even to the point of stealing Belushi’s delivery of coke to the offices one day. His one – time writing partner on the staff really laid into him, and Franken has never responded to all of the comments regarding his hideous behavior – for obvious reasons.

    Dmac (f7884d)

  76. 74, Mike, in OC we were screaming loudly about Illegals voting and destroying signed petitions for Prop 184 or was it 187? I remember hundreds of mailed petitions being found in the dumpster behind the Santa Ana post office and NO Police or USPS authority would investigate.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  77. Now come on, JEA:

    “Actually I call it ‘party politics’ – complain when you lose and ignore it when you win, something which both parties suffer from.”

    Nope. How about the antics of ACORN? And that isn’t accusation; the fraud has been amply demonstrated.

    Would you just shrug and say “party politics” if Republicans had done precisely that kind of thing? Really?

    Or how Gore was all fired up about “every vote must count”—but only in areas and groups that would benefit him. Again, not maybe. Not sort of.

    Shameful.

    So let’s all agree that we need to stay away from close elections, just as Hugh Hewitt states.

    But please don’t hand out the equivalence card during the last few cycles.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  78. Dmac – Can you imagine a Republican running with alf*ckingfranken’s history?

    We should cut back to 56 states by giving Minnesota to the Canadians.

    JD (00531d)

  79. #45- Yes, the cost of cleaning up the messes Dubya leaves behind has soared over the years for sure. But then Texas survived him. The United States will as well.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  80. Someone left the cellar door unlocked, and International Man of Parody escaped to spread BDS far and wide.

    JD (00531d)

  81. Wow. Sort of like the messes your current President is creating—only much smaller.

    Again, the concept of this troll carrying on about GWB’s deficit spending is sad. Because it is Bush’s fault that Obama is dwarfing those excesses, of course.

    Pitch perfect.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  82. Pitch perfect? His piþch is abouþ as good as that hanging slider that Brad Lidge threw to Albert Pujols a couple years ago. That pitch might still be in orbit.

    JD (00531d)

  83. Oh, I don’t know, JD. It seems like his pitches are completely consistent, every time: partisan trollery.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  84. 79.#45- Yes, the cost of cleaning up the messes Dubya leaves behind has soared over the years for sure. But then Texas survived him. The United States will as well.
    Comment by DCSCA — 7/1/2009 @ 12:00 pm

    45.And so the Al Franken decade begins.
    It’s refreshing to see the GOP maintains its pattern of fiscal irresponsibility by wasting over $1 million in the vain attempt to thwart the seating of Senator-elect Al Franken.
    Comment by DCSCA — 6/30/2009 @ 7:09 pm

    Now DuckCrap is criticizing himself….Hilarious!

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  85. Estes Kefauver was actually a pretty effective senator who held hearings on organized crime that were portrayed in Godfather II.
    Comment by Mike K — 7/1/2009 @ 10:59 am

    I’m biased, I admit. Maybe for a petty reason. He, along with Sidney Yates, made switchblade knives illegal.

    nk (218382)

  86. Yeah, it was all those slimey I-ties that used them to intimidate their marks.
    No more ‘blades, no more knifings.
    Now, they just shoot each other.
    That seems to have worked out well.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  87. We should cut back to 56 states by giving Minnesota to the Canadians

    I like this idea – and we can ask them in a decade how they like their new, awesome and wonderfully inexpensive socialistic health care plan. That is, if we can find anyone over the age of 60 to actually participate in the poll – think Logan’s Run.

    Dmac (f7884d)

  88. When the USA institutes a National Health Service, where will the Canuck’s go for an MRI?

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  89. “I didn’t want to say this, but I have nothing better to do right now. Next to New York and California, New Mexico’s infestation of ____________ is the reason Texas would want to leave the Union.”

    – nk

    “Infestation” of what?

    Leviticus (1f2312)

  90. Overage hippies? Artistic types? Super-liberals? Democrats? People who voted for Bill Richardson? Descendants of Billy the Kid?

    nk (218382)

  91. All Of The Above!

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  92. Dmac, AD…did you see this?

    http://cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090626/090626_BABY_PASSPORTS/20090626/?hub=CP24Home

    If you read the article, and ignore the “heartless Americans” meme, you get to this:

    Parents separated from baby after transfer to US hospital because they lack passports

    Awful Americans, right? But then you read this:

    A provincewide search for an open neonatal intensive care unit bed came up empty, leaving no choice but to send the two pound, four ounce baby to Buffalo.

    Province-wide? No beds at all?

    And then you get to this…

    But that will take until at least Monday afternoon and the situation is complicated by the fact the baby’s dad has a criminal record.

    Bottom line: if Canadian health is so wonderful, what is behind this story?

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  93. Well, they should have flown to Mexico, and walked across the border, and immediately gotten themselves to ‘Frisco.
    Problem solved.

    Seriously though, that “province wide” is a real tip-off to the state of health-care in our northern neighbor.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  94. PLEASE don’t lecture me about it – I live in NJ

    JEA (d97e33)

  95. Where Tim Kaine is Governor, according to Biden….

    But no, JEA, I certainly don’t mean to lecture. Sorry if I did.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  96. nk, #90 –

    What?

    You do realize there are other places in New Mexico besides Santa Fe and Taos, right? I mean, Albuquerque had been sending a Republican to the House for years up until this election cycle, and the southern half of the state is conservative through and through. Hobbs, Clovis, and Artesia are basically West Texas.

    Leviticus (1f2312)

  97. But, currently represented by a Democrat, who voted for Cap & Tax – boy, is that going to go over big in his district.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  98. Leviticus,

    True, and Eunice, Jal, Carlsbad, and maybe Roswell, too. Plus, I have high hopes for Cloudcroft and Ruidoso.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  99. Better to just let it rejoin Old Mexico, I think, than for Texas to trust it behind its back.

    nk (218382)

  100. I love New Mexico and New Mexicans but they don’t like Texans because we’re arrogant tourists. Of course, we’re arrogant tourists everywhere we go but it’s harder on New Mexico because we go there so much.

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  101. I’ve been reading about New Mexicans’ resentment of Texas since I learned how to read, that’s why I said what I said.

    nk (218382)

  102. They’re just pissed because the Texicans got away from Mexico before they did.
    And were a State first, too (way before, and twice).

    AD - RtR/OS! (5fd0fb)

  103. I like Texas and Texans, too, but nk’s right – a bunch of New Mexicans have Texas Resentment Syndrome, for reasons that I don’t really understand.

    Anyway, I don’t. I feel like us Southwesterners ought to stick together, cause we’re badass.

    Leviticus (1f2312)

  104. DRJ, a student of mine from New Mexico brought me the coolest “alien” poster from Roswell. I had it in the lab for many years.

    Just stay away from Cline’s Corners!

    Eric Blair (acade1)

  105. According to this video Colman has conceded so looks like it is officially Sen. Franken now. This means that the Democrats now have a super-majority.

    Rosa (1e63f6)

  106. You’re assuming the Dems won’t disagree among themselves

    JEA (1eb0e1)

  107. This means that the Democrats now have a super-majority.

    Comment by Rosa — 7/2/2009 @ 9:12 am

    No, they don’t. They need 67 votes for that. With 60, they can only stop a filibuster.

    nk (218382)

  108. I’m embarrassed and sick knowing my state is represented by such an inexperienced celebrity who made a mockery of our judicial system. I’m also discusted with the horrible election system MN used to brag about being the one of the best. I too am sure Acorn cheated us all.

    CB (80672a)

  109. “No, they don’t. They need 67 votes for that. With 60, they can only stop a filibuster.”

    And a fake filibuster at that.

    imdw (1eeb6b)


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