The AP reports:
The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota’s grueling Senate election in Al Franken’s favor — but that doesn’t mean the race is definitely over.
I think they mean “poised” but it’s bad either way.
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If he makes it through two terms, roughly speaking, it really will be the Al Franken Decade.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:26 amIf Al Franken is the winner, the rest of us are the losers. Then again, by not having certified by the day the Congress opens, at least Mr Franken will be the most junior member of the Senate.
The cynical Dana (3e4784) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:30 amWell, everyone knew The Fix Was In from the moment the cry of “recount” was raised to the heavens.
To nick a phrase typically used to describe government budgets: A hundred votes “found” here, a hundred votes “recovered” there — before long we’re talking real elections.
PCachu (e072b7) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:34 amThere are a few issues which must be resolved before Franken gets seated, if he ever does. One of those issues revolves around the political process of deciding which absentee ballots get rejected. This issue is not done yet. I wonder what ACORN has to say about all the uproar.
John Hitchcock doesn't like acorns (fb941d) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:37 amThere’s still 3 more seats to be filled, Dana. We, as a nation, have a major embarrassment on our hands. Why can’t we be like Italy and put porn stars into government instead of bad comedians?
Pablo (99243e) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:38 amThe Democrats must be so proud.
Old Coot (f036b5) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:42 amWhen Al Franken is seated (note I do not use the term ‘win’), the Senate becomes just another failed sit-com.
As a comedian, Al Franken is a better un-employed Air America thief. As a Senator, Al Franken is a better comedian and joins his fellow thieves.
SeniorD (50f696) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:53 amAl fricken Franken a U.S. Senator. WTF We are so screwed, it isn’t even funny any more. But, hey, we still have the Blago-Burris controversy! Will they seat him? Won’t they seat him? Will he be physically denied his rightful seat? Dems, the funniest bunch around. Now we will see if absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Dems have had absolute power in Illinois and Chicago for the last umpteen years, how’s that working out for Illinois? Chicago is the murder capital of the world, more murders than Iraq, yet Chicago has a complete and total ban on handguns, how can that be? Mayor Daley? Mayor Daley? Mayor Daley? Oh I forgot, he’s hiding behind his two ARMED bodyguards!
J. Raymond Wright (d83ab3) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:01 amOne thing that pisses me off — why can’t we all agree that a ballot that is not marked in a way that’s easily understood is spoiled? The attempts to discern intent on a mish-mash of garbage are simply attempts to re-cast votes.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:02 amInteresting – now that the Troll was threatened with a possible banning, suddenly becomes reasonable and coherenet. I’m not buying it, not by a long shot.
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:14 am“coherent.”
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:15 amI wonder what ACORN has to say about all the uproar.
ACORN is behind it. This is just a part of the story.
There should have been a runoff as the third party candidate for over 15% of the vote.
Mike K (2cf494) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:24 amI agree completely, Dr. K.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:25 amPablo,
She was ugly. Besides, they also had Mussolini’s granddaughter who had her aunt Sophia Loren’s good looks, too.
I don’t think we want to put any of our “Hollywood Intellectual Porn” stars like Susan Sarandon in the Senate either.
PCD (7fe637) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:25 amThe Burris controversy should make for some comedy. According to many accounts they plan on denying him access to the Senate floor and voting priveleges, but will give him temporary office space and some staff until the mess gets sorted out. Harking back to the days of the Founders, it sounds like they are treating like even less than 3/5 of a Senator. Cue Bobby Rush speech now.
Personally I would love to see Burris sit in the visitors gallery, presumably they can’t keep him out of there, and have somebody like Robert Byrd shout “Get out of here, boy.”
This is going to be fun. Pass the popcorn.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:34 amI believe the narrow margin of this election is the result of the pernicious influence, over many years, of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (sometimes called the Red Star) and especially its strident liberal columnist, Nick Coleman. (Coleman’s father, Nick Coleman, Sr. was the Democratic leader of the Minnesota State Senate. His brother, Chris Coleman, is the Democratic mayor of St. Paul. His stepmother is Deborah Howell, the Washington Post ombudsman–who almost always concludes that her newspaper was right.)
Offcial Internet Data Office (81a27f) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:44 amBut after a gulp of coffee, that’s Official Internet Data Office, of course.
Offcial Internet Data Office (81a27f) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:47 amNope. Posed was just perfect.
irongrampa (8332bb) — 1/5/2009 @ 9:09 amOne thing that pisses me off — why can’t we all agree that a ballot that is not marked in a way that’s easily understood is spoiled? The attempts to discern intent on a mish-mash of garbage are simply attempts to re-cast votes.
I agree. It is the most simple task and there is no valid reason to not require people do it properly.
As for electing Franken (and previously Ventura)- Minnesotans seem like such rational people. Yet they obviously are not.
MayBee (5b642f) — 1/5/2009 @ 9:24 amThere is something deeply wrong with roughly half the voting population in Minnesota that it could mistake a clown with a history of temper tantrums and assault and battery for an elder statesman.
Federal Dog (9f7406) — 1/5/2009 @ 9:49 amThe election has been stolen with Franken. There have been ballots counted twice for Franken and ballots that were visibly not acceptable to be counted. Coleman won the first time, the second time and now he has stolen the election with help from the democrats in Washington I would assume. THERE IS NO LOGICAL PERSON IN MINNESOTA (I LIVE HERE) THAT WOULD VOTE FOR THIS CLOWN. I do not want him to represent me in this stolen election.
Contesa (2602ec) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:16 amAccording to this, the Minnesota Supreme Court has denied Coleman’s emergency motion. We are truly doomed.
Old Coot (f036b5) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:18 amContesa: it appears that the game is over. And I would hate to see Republicans act like the nutjobs after 2000.
So what all of us need to work for is a MAJOR overhaul of voter registration and reforms of vote counting. The “every vote must count” business is invariably code for “I need my candidates to have more votes than the other candidates,” rather than a genuine expression of democracy in action.
Again, looking over 2000 showed what was in store.
First order of business: prosecute ACORN. Second order of business: regularize recount rules. And so forth.
What’s done is done and cannot be undone—even if (and I agree that vote fraud played a major role in that election) it results in something as unpalatable as Al Franken.
The good news is that Al Franken can literally not restrain himself from embarrassing actions and statement. He will see this as mandate, not a contested nanometer thin victory….and quickly act out in an over the top fashion.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:22 amIn 25 precincts there were more ballots counted than voters signed in to vote. The count is funnier than Franken.
snaggletoothie (532a38) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:28 amSo what all of us need to work for is a MAJOR overhaul of voter registration and reforms of vote counting.
You are right of course, Eric, but you can forget any kind of voting reforms as long as Obama and the Dems control Washington. Unless we are talking about the kind of reforms that make fraud even easier (expansion of same-day registration with no ID required, opening polls for a week at a time, etc.).
JVW (bff0a4) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:43 amI know, JVW.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:46 amSo it is time for more of us to get involved at the grassroots. What else is there?
Just look at it as revenge for the theft of election 2000 by the evil Bush cabal. Lord Algore wuz robbed when all those absentee military ballots were counted, when so many elderly dimbulbs were confused by the dem-designed buttefly ballots and thus voted for pat Buchanan and when the election judges of Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties didn’t make enough effort to give Lord algore more of the hanging chads, etc. Also SCOTUS had some nerve to overrrule Fla. scotus court’s use of ex post facto interpretation of the election laws.
aoibhneas (0c6cfc) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:47 amGot a petition today from care2.com that really cracked me up. They want the Bush administration to take total responsibility for the financial meltdown. A nY Times editorial “fairly” determined all the things W did wrong in not confronting IRRESPONSIBLE LENDING and instead let wall st. build mortgage-backed securities into a massive complicated ponzi scheme that wrecked the global economy.
Gotta admire the chutzpah of the dinosaur media and Goebbels would be soooo proud. Keep repeating the lies. And Obama can f*ck up on a massive scale going forward as it is all Bush’s fault. Also no menntion of the culpability of the Fannie and Freddie’s, Acorn, Sen. Dodd and Rep. Franks, Gorelick and that Franklin dude making millions.
And of course NOT giving the loans with lower standards would have been a form of redlining and surely racist.
Back to Frnaken. He was wise enough to hire the thief that helped steal that Wash. state election too.
This is embarrassing. I expect Minnesota to elect mostly Democrats, but to do so in such an underhanded manner is unusual. I guess we’ve become a regular state, the era of “clean politics” is decidedly in the past.
htom (412a17) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:48 amI’m sorry, but every time I read Jamie Gorelick’s last name, it gives me the Beavis and Butthead giggles.
Even though her impact has been anything but humorous.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:48 am“Tom and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly advocate the violent overthrow of the United States government.”
mojo (8096f2) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:49 am— Al Franken, SNL, mid-70’s
That was during his LSD period, I think, mojo.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:52 am…my, my, all this wailing and crying over questionable registrations and ballots. And what, my dear friends, did the Republicans do towards cleaning up this mess when THEY CONTROLLED CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE???!!! Nothing, nada, nope, nix… Anyone with half a brain could see this coming when Motor Voter was passed under Clinton. The Republicans in Congress are truly, truly incompetent.
sam (1a8310) — 1/5/2009 @ 10:59 amI don’t think you hear anyone disagreeing with you, sam.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:00 amSure looks like leftardism is on the upswing for the US Senate, at least. Wasn’t the Minneapolis rag predicting a bigger Stuart Smiley victory? So it looks like that idiot will join other assclowns in the Senate. Will Fat Teddy get his wish that Princess Caroline be appointed to US Senate for NY? Will Teddy’s wife replace HIM as Mass. Senator? Blago’s Burris in Illinois? Biden Jr. in ’10? Chrissie ‘I squat to whiz’ Matthews replacing RINO Specter in ’10 in Pa.?
aoibhneas (0c6cfc) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:07 amEvery circus needs a clown, that’s why Minnesota elected you.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
Looked like Colman was the winner, but you have the friends you owe a “dinner.”
Al Franken. Al Franken.
I am surprised the Vikings did now win by several dozen touchdowns found in someone’s car,
but the NFL is more fair than the Minnesota election board.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:07 amI am surprised the Vikings did now win by several dozen touchdowns found in someone’s car,
but the NFL is more fair than the Minnesota election board.
That’s a great analogy, Joe. Maybe Iowahawk or Scott Ott at Scrappleface reads this blog and might construct a post about how the Vikings have suddenly “discovered” a couple of “uncounted” touchdowns and are lobbying to be declared the winners of yesterday’s game.
JVW (bff0a4) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:13 amWherever ACORN is involved, there WILL be voter fraud!
Take it to the bank.
If you want to mount a “grass-roots” effort to combat voter fraud, you need to remove from office any politician who has taken contributions and support from ACORN, especially if they are a Secretary of State with control of the election process.
Of course, with a new crew of USA’s coming into office in the near future, we will see no investigations of this crowd for the irregularities and fraud that they have perpetrated, there are too many ties to the incoming administration.
But, if we fail to take action now, it will only become more difficult in the future as this infection on the body-politik metastasizes into a full-blown cancer that dominates the political landscape.
At that point, we might have to look back to the mid-70’s Al Franken to guidance as to how to treat this threat to Liberty, with a respectful nod to a T.Jefferson as well.
AD (748b7c) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:14 am#30- “Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot.”
Al Franken, book title, mid ’90s.
I’m looking forward to Rush and O’Reilly’s senate runs one day, and their co-authored book to be, titled ‘Better To Have Run And Lost, Than Never To have Run At All.”
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:19 amI’m looking forward to Rush and O’Reilly’s senate runs one day, and their co-authored book to be, titled ‘Better To Have Run And Lost, Than Never To have Run At All.”
The difference being that Limbaugh and O’Reilly have proven they can run profitable media enterprises (without getting money from the Boys & Girls Clibs and while paying their taxes too!), so they don’t need to go to the Senate in order to be somebody.
JVW (bff0a4) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:27 amAnd again.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:37 amRemember this is the same state that elected Jesse Ventura Governor. They seemed to have a predilection for electing clowns.
Richard (d23a8a) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:44 amIt’s like he’s got some form of tourettes or something…
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:45 amI resume my call for a Constitutional Convention, with the expressed intent of giving away Minnesota away to the French-Canadians.
Oh, and hi everyone. Long time no see …
Racists
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:48 amI denounce your absence, JD.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 11:51 amEric – You have, as always, shown remarkable restraint with the trolls. You should be commended. And condemned.
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:01 pmToo late. I already denounced myself.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:03 pmOh, and JD? I don’t think we could pay France enough cash money to take Minnesota back, given the budget (non)crisis.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:05 pmI condemned you, which is like a denunciation, cubed.
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:05 pmYeah? Well I condemn your condemnation of my self-denunciation! When do the show trials start?
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:13 pmThe rules and regulations regarding elections are in the hands of the individual states. President Bush and the Republicans in Congress, when they were in the majority, could not do anything about things that were the responsibilities of the states. BTW, the election laws that the seven Florida Supremes overthrew were the product of a Democratic Governor and a Democratic legislature.
longwalker (dda662) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:25 pmyou need to remove from office any politician who has taken contributions and support from ACORN,
Good luck with that. We just elected an ACORN community activist president.
Time to hibernate.
Mike K (f89cb3) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:28 pmEric – Show trials? We will go straight to some kangaroo court in a banana republic, maybe even an evil military tribunal.
Minnesotans should be ashamed of themselves. Very very very very very very very ashamed.
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:35 pmMore than just recount rules. Here’s my wish list:
“Should more marks appear within the space for an election than are valid choices for that election, the ballot shall not be counted for that election.”
“If the initial ballot counting is performed by machine, then any marks which are not recognizable by a properly operating machine of that type shall not be counted.”
“Once received by election officials, all ballots shall be maintained in a secure manner, with clear and consistent records of their movement and who has had access to them kept for public review. Ballots for which these records have not been kept, or for which the records are incomplete, shall not be counted. Any challenge to these records is sufficient to deem them incomplete.”
(That one is tricky. I can see requiring something like a chain of evidence, but that wouldn’t stop a one-party election board from stuffing the ballot box. So the “any challenge” requirement — sure, one side could challenge perfectly legitimate ballots, but doing so simply for partisan advantage would lead to an Armageddon of challenges, with all the ballots being declared invalid.)
“All voting equipment must produce a human-readable artifact.”
“The implementation of all voting equipment — mechanical, electronic, or digital — shall be made public. This does not extend to security artifacts (keys, passwords), but does extend to security design and implementation.”
“Before voting, all voters must be marked with an indelible ink. Anyone who attempts to vote while marked with this ink shall be arrested and subject to imprisonment. Anyone who refuses to be marked shall not be allowed to vote.”
“The only valid reason for not voting in person is being more than 100 miles from your assigned polling place for the entire duration of voting.”
“All registrations expire after 6 years, regardless of voting history.”
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:39 pmWell, we need to do something with Gitmo. Until BO decides to keep it, and it suddenly becomes a fine strategy to deal with terrorists.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:39 pmRob, I am with you with several of your proposals. Fill out the ballot clearly, or it doesn’t count. That hardly seems partisan.
And I would enjoy seeing the argument that it is….since many academics keep explaining to me how Democrats are smarter than Republicans.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:41 pmDamn. I heard a buncha long-running Broadway shows were closing down, and was hoping there’d be a new crop along…
Wait… what?
Oh…. sorry. Misunderstood what you were talking about.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:43 pmIt is perfect, Eric, and when Baracky decides to maintain Gitmo, I am going to laugh my ass off at all of the verbal contortions the Leftists will come up with to defend it as now honorable.
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:44 pmThe voting thing should be simple. Follow the damn rules. Any variation from the rules means that you disenfranchised yourself.
JD (61086e) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:45 pmEric, I don’t even see that as an intelligence issue. It’s fundamentally about being able to get a valid, repeatable count of the votes. Anytime you try to discern the “intent”, then you’ve tossed out the repeatability.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/5/2009 @ 12:47 pmRob (#59), I am with you. But then the screams begin about disenfranchisement, without any responsibility on the part of the voter to fill in the correct box or oval. Or the suggestion that a person enter the voting booth with the befuddled voter to “help” them vote “correctly.” And that is seen as okay!
Good old George Orwell had a great quote:
I think we are going to be seeing a lot more of that, and not in a D versus R context, either. And either voters will wake up and get more involved in politics (and I am NOT being partisan here!), or they will continue to vote for stooges who repeat “hot button” phrases that appeal to them.
I used to have a bumper sticker that read:
I had to take it off my car because it upset people at work, who thought I was attacking specific people and politicians. On both sides.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:03 pmWho cares? It’s a Senate seat in a blue state in a year when Republicans got trounced. When Chambliss won and made impossible a 60-seat majority, this race stopped mattering.
Also, let’s remember how Bush won office in 2000 before we start getting too excited, okay?
Sarlberid (b989f8) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:11 pmBush won every count, every recount, and even won the recounts conducted by newspapers after the fact. Had votes been created out of thin air in order to shift the count in his favor, you’d have a point.
None were.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:14 pmConvictions of voter fraud should not only be a felony, they should be a capital crime!
AD (748b7c) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:21 pmI didn’t mean that I wanted to go over all of that, just pointing out that there was another one of these contentious recount fiascos not too long ago for a much more important job. The MN recount was compelled by state law and it seems to be on the level. I just don’t think it’s a big deal if we lose another Senate seat, especially a guy like Coleman, whose gotten a lot of bad, Ted Stevens-y heat around him lately.
Sarlberid (b989f8) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:29 pmJVW- No, the difference is Franken put his name on a ballot and was elected to public office. The other two have not. And you may recall he made a few bucks in the media biz. I ran into him once on the way to a SNL rehersal some years back and again some years later at a the premiere for Hank’s Earth To The Moon series, in which he briefly appeared.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:34 pmI’ll give you this- he’s a short fella and O’Reilly literally towers over him.
JVW, don’t take the bait….
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:37 pmI just threw up in my mouth.
And it was not milkshake.
Joe (dcebbd) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:37 pmYou weren’t there. Compared to the actual clowns nominated by the IR and DFL (our versions of Republican and Democratic parties) liberal-but-independant Jesse was the sensible choice. He did a better-than-average job, too, until the two parties figured out that acting together, they could override any veto he made, and then it was back to business-as-usual.
We’re looking at a $5,000,000,000 deficit for the next two year budget cycle, and guess what the Vikings want? The state to spend a billion on a new stadium! We need more politicians like Jesse, not fewer.
htom (412a17) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:37 pm#40. Chumming with snark bait. Beneath you.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:38 pmBut when he had to rely on his own talent to get people to watch/listen, he’s fallen flat. Very flat.
Air America flat.
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:39 pmI used to laugh at loud at the parsing of those Air America press releases – “Franken beating Hannity in NYC.” They would cherry-pick dayparts, demos, you name it. Even in liberal heartland cities like Portland they couldn’t build an audience. Couple that with a bizarro-world business plan (lease time in major metros, then pay it back when you have ratings and can sell spots), and you have unmitigated, Titanic-like disaster.
Not to mention bad radio.
carlitos the non-pedant (34f76e) — 1/5/2009 @ 1:54 pmYou do realize there’s a difference between making money as a paid performer and running a profitable enterprise, right?
Maybe you don’t.
Steverino (69d941) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:02 pmCouple that with a bizarro-world business plan (lease time in major metros, then pay it back when you have ratings and can sell spots), and you have unmitigated, Titanic-like disaster.
Which means that Harry Reid will almost certainly put Franken on the Senate Finance Committee.
JVW (bff0a4) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:03 pm“I just don’t think it’s a big deal if we lose another Senate seat, especially a guy like Coleman, whose gotten a lot of bad, Ted Stevens-y heat around him lately.”
Sarlberid – Given your comments on the Obama Bus thread, whi is this “We” you speak of above? You also seem to forget about RINOs and assume 100% party unity in making the above statement. Of course the seat matters.
“The MN recount was compelled by state law and it seems to be on the level.”
You obviously haven’t been watching closely enough ro make an ill informed comment such as the above. When the precincts use optical scanning equipment, why do you have situations in which more votes are recorded than voters showed up to vote, particularly in precincts which voted heavily in favor of Franken? Why is voter intent an issue if machines are used voters submitting unreadable ballots are given opportunities to redo their ballots before leaving the polls? The process has been ludicrous.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:24 pmAnd you may recall he made a few bucks in the media biz.
No, he did not – he was successfully pursued for not paying his share of back taxes in two different states, due to his pleads of penury. He was also fired by Lorne Michaels, and his film “Stuart Saves his Family” was a complete BO disaster (though quite funny, I must admit).
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:27 pmThe bottom line is that any election in which a third party gets more than 10% should have a runoff unless one candidate gets a majority. The third party got 15% and we got Franken. In Georgia, they did it with a recount and they got a clean result. Same situation.
Maybe there is a reason people are moving south and west (but not to California).
Mike K (f89cb3) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:34 pmI didn’t mean a recount but a runoff in Georgia.
Mike K (8df289) — 1/5/2009 @ 2:57 pmThe state Canvassing Board was posed to certify
No, posed was correct.
MJBrutus (78a680) — 1/5/2009 @ 3:10 pm#70– You might want to review the writing credits at SNL. His talent in that arena is valid. But as an out front player I’d agree he’s second tier. Still it may give C-SPAN II viewership a bounce when he’s on the floor, but then they dont do collect ratingd data on C-SPAN.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 3:28 pmDare I use the phrase “Selected Not Elected”?
Mike Myers (31af82) — 1/5/2009 @ 3:35 pmBy this logic, I would be the best Senator ever…
Scott Jacobs (90ff96) — 1/5/2009 @ 4:12 pmYou might want to review the writing credits at SNL.
I actually have the oral history of SNL, written by Tom Shales. Franken contributed much less than his writing partner (Tom Davis), and was completely overshadowed by the brilliant and often unhinged Michael O’Donoghue. Franken’s best known for doing copious amounts of Coke (along with Belushi), and being among the most – hated members on the writing staff, along with Chevy Chase and Garofalo (big surprise).
Dmac (eb0dd0) — 1/5/2009 @ 4:19 pm#82– That may very well be. I interviewed a few SNL writers for some outsourced gigs while at CBS in the 80’s and they confirmed the burnout rate was high and fast. One looked 45 and she was only 25.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 4:47 pm#81- follow his lead- run for office.
DCSCA (d8da01) — 1/5/2009 @ 4:47 pmAnd then Daley screamed….
Okay, look, not to be the resident contrarian
Franken did get close enough legally to force a real close examined recount….
He did
Then, in the course of events
He won the recount
I grieve for the country
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 4:48 pmI agree, Eric. I like Minnesota but it would depress me to live in a state where so many people voted for Franken.
DRJ (345e40) — 1/5/2009 @ 5:01 pmDRJ
Yeah, I’m a Lutheran as well
oh the shame….
Picking a blue writer over a Mayor and a Senator
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 5:28 pmThe Hill reports Franken may be seated soon, as well as this from Harry Reid:
DRJ (345e40) — 1/5/2009 @ 5:39 pmNever would have guessed you would kick a Lutheran when they are down….
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 5:53 pmI’m Anglican/Episcopalian, Eric, and I feel your pain.
DRJ (345e40) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:00 pm“I interviewed a few SNL writers for some outsourced gigs while at CBS in the 80’s and they confirmed the burnout rate was high and fast. One looked 45 and she was only 25.”
Drugs and booze can age some people pretty quickly. No surprises there.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:17 pmEricPWJohnson – Minnesota has to follow the law as written. I’ve been following the recount through the guys at Powerline and Ed Morrisey, residents of the state who appear to know what they are talking about. The lack of uniformity in standards, apparent double counting of votes in Franken heavy precincts and injection of voter intent into a machine read process are all troubling to me but apparently legal so far under the Minnesota recount rules. If the situation had been reversed and Coleman had come from behind in the recount I think you would have been hearing a lot more yelling and screaming by now. Just sayin’.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:26 pmMoney for ACORN and more votes for free.
I want my
John Hitchcock doesn't like acorns (fb941d) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:38 pmI want my
I want my DNC!
DRJ, I think it would be interesting to find 100 folks who voted for Franken, and ask them to describe Franken’s positions on various issues, locally, nationally, and internationally.
I doubt that they could do it.
The problem today, I think, is that people are looking for walking bumper stickers, with short phrases: hope and change, no blood for oil, that kind of thing.
I doubt that the voters were for Franken as much as they were against what they perceived as the status quo.
So now they find out if change is always good. And so do we.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:52 pmDaleyrocks
well, we have a situation that someone has to lose – like in basketball its a whole lot easier to lose by ten than by one
I am NOT for the RNC suing, Coleman ran a poor campaign and deserved to lose. We are not going to waste precious resources and capital sitting someone who could not beat someone so dense on the issues.
Coleman clearly got most of his votes because of Al Franken – not because of Norm Coleman
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 6:57 pmEricB
Coleman won because he was MORE liberal than the guy he ran against in 2002.
People in Minnesota were disgusted with him long before Obama entered the race.
Case be it that the Dems could not EVEN recruit a challenger – Franken stepped in like Alan Keyes (to me he is the “Alan Keyes” of the Dems)
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:01 pmI’ll take your word for it, EPWJ. Whenever I see odd candidates win, I usually assume that they received votes against their opponent, rather than for them.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:30 pmIt’s as clear as day that those dirty dems stole this one from us. But because we are the clean, decent folks who would never stoop to such tactics as those ACORN type people, it is up to us to accept the burden of our decency and beat them with one hand tied behind our back, which we will do. Vote Palin/Harris 2012!
Die_Bold (1b15a2) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:36 pmEric
Its hard to comprehend how polarizing a guy like Franken is. Its like when David Duke ran against a Edwin Edwards did Edwards who was a crook – really get the votes – or was it a referendum against Klan members in congress.
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/5/2009 @ 7:40 pmClearly just under half of all Minnesotans are nuts.
JerryT (d21e2f) — 1/5/2009 @ 8:35 pm“well, we have a situation that someone has to lose – like in basketball its a whole lot easier to lose by ten than by one”
EricPW – It ain’t over until the contest phase provided by law is over and that’s the phase it’s moving into now. The Minnesota Supreme Court deferred ruling on issues more properly decided by elections courts so we’ll see what happens. For the Dems to seat Franken before the election process is over would be a slap in the face to Minnesotans but Reid has never proved himself very adept at public relations. Why have the Dems stopped shouting “count every vote” now when Coleman still claims there are over 600 improperly rejected absentee ballots?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/6/2009 @ 7:26 amAh, daley. Your last question is surely rhetorical. As I recall there wasn’t a lot of concern about military ballots in 2000, either.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 7:35 amWell, obviously those votes don’t count…
They were likely for Republicans, after all…
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/6/2009 @ 7:40 amIt’s always the hypocrisy that gets me. This is why, for the good of everyone, we need to have a decent set of rules about voting and how to count those votes. The variation in criteria, etc. is just an invitation to fraud and attacks upon the legitimacy of an election.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 7:42 am“Ah, daley. Your last question is surely rhetorical.”
Eric – Isn’t it obvious that some votes count more than others and that cries of disenfranchisement only apply to certain voters?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/6/2009 @ 8:11 amWhen you call folks who get hypocritical on this subject, they are….
…Shocked, shocked to hear your accusation.
While stuffing a ballot box.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 8:15 amHonestly, if a Republican candidate found boxes of “uncounted” ballots in the trunk of a car, what would the MSM do?
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 8:16 amMinnesota elections come in three parts, of which the latter two are usually ignored. Powerline has the details. It’s not over, folks, but it’s close. When we’re done, I’ll guess the margin will be less than a hundred, maybe less than fifty.
htom (412a17) — 1/6/2009 @ 8:38 am1. Anne Coulter should run for the Senate. I think she and Franken would explode if they touched.
2. Franken is not the “winner.” He is merely ahead at the end of the recount. There is a third part of the process, where issues of fact are dealt with (e.g. “were those absentee ballots correctly counted, or did the county officials make a mistake?”). The canvassing board does not do anything but count. Determination of fact is left to the courts. Which are next up.
The final margin will be lest than 50, one way or the other.
Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 1/6/2009 @ 11:25 amI seem to remember a convention hall of Republicans screaming ‘Drill Baby Drill’ over and over again this summer, so don’t pretend that the right isn’t guilty of exactly what you’re describing.
Sarlberid (b989f8) — 1/6/2009 @ 11:44 amI prefer the bumper sticker on the front bumper of my car.
Run, Hillary, run.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/6/2009 @ 11:47 amThat slogan promotes an actual, tangible policy as opposed to the vacuous platitudes EB mentions.
Pablo (99243e) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:00 pmWow, Pablo sees policy in “drill, baby, drill, despite the fact that anyone who knows anything about domestic oil production knows all the oil is in shale and tar sands. You can drill it, but until gasoline is $8 a gallon, it sure don’t make sense to process it.
As for Daleyrocks, yes, reading Powerline and other conservative sites is gonna give you a perfect window into Minnesota rules (no bias at all!). FYI: Previous directions from the Minnesota Sup Court gave directions on how contested ballots were to be counted (it needed to be a consensus between both campaigns). thus, Coleman’s first claim was rejected by the Court for failing to comply with those rules.
As for the bulls**t about the ballots found in the car…I’m very surprised a bunch of Republican partisans on a small blog don’t read the papers. That story is false, debunked, not true, as real as Pablo’s oil exploration strategies. Peep it out, boys
Crixus (2add5b) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:40 pmI don’t believe that’s shale in ANWR or off-shore. Thanks for playing, please try again.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:43 pmComment by Crixus — 1/6/2009 @ 12:40 pm
All the oils in shale and tar sands….
I’ll try and remember that when I drive through Signal Hill, Huntington Beach, Santa Fe Springs here in SoCal, plus the fields stretching from Coalinga south to Taft in the San Joaquin Valley.
What a maroon!
AD (4f3c82) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:51 pmYeah, ANWR will save America, John. By the time it comes online the Department of energy believes it will account for between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030. There’s a whole 7.7 billion barrels up there. We use 20 million per day.
Welcome to the conservative savior, ladies and gents, ANWR takes a decade or more to bring online and will net us eight to ten years at current demand rate (at the optimistic side), while NOT decreasing the price of gas! Unless you are a resident of Alaska or own an oil company, drilling in ANWR is not the answer. However, if you are a member of the Exxon board, then 7.7 billion times $60 bucks is a ton of money.
Then again, Johnny, this thread ain’t about Pablo thinking chanting equals policy, it’s about whiners complaining a completely open process amounts to thievery because they don’t like the result. Get with the program, big guy.
By the way, I didn’t source that from Chip Saltzman or Mike Pence or one of the myriad Palin folks…I used the numbers from the Bush DOE. You can check it out
Crixus (2add5b) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:56 pmDo me a favor, Crixus, and do not use inflammatory alterations to my name when making technologically unsound arguments against my statements. To do such a thing is to degrade yourself and to devalue your statements.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/6/2009 @ 12:59 pmFurthermore, crixus, I already proved my point. ANWR, contrary to your statement of fact, is not shale.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:00 pmRight, AD, that anecdote of yours is sure persuasive. Hell, I read this blog, so everybody in the country must be a Republican. That’s called a fallacy, AD. According to every source I have read, American oil production peaked in 1970 and has decreased every year since then. We may not be to world peak oil, but we passed American peak oil a long time ago.
But, you know, I saw a buggy maker on my way to work today, so that must mean buggies are a very popular method of transportation.
Let me guess, you think seeing Russia from your house means you are an expert?
Crixus (2add5b) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:01 pmJohn, one door closes, another opens. But are the people leaving and entering different?
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:02 pmWhile I suspect I know exactly what you mean by this, please explain it full.
I would enjoy knowing where you come from.
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:20 pmComment by Crixus — 1/6/2009 @ 1:01 pm
A primary reason for US oil “peaking” in 1970 (your stat, & I’ll take your word for it since it would be simple to check, and I would assume that you would not want to put yourself in the position of using fraudulent data) is that the enviro lobby has, in effect, shut down oil production in the US, and its’ subsequent requirement of refining, since the Santa Barbara Channel oil spill in 1969.
It isn’t that we don’t know if there is any oil to drill, or that we don’t know where there is any oil to drill, it is that we are not allowed to look for oil, or drill for it when we find it.
Get your facts straight.
And NO!, I can’t see Russia from my house, but I can see Signal Hill – and from Signal Hill, it is a wonderful view of the Outer Long Beach Harbor with its’ four oil islands (Grissom, Chaffee, White & Freeman), plus the platforms in the Catalina Channel – never have figured out how they keep that salt-water from contaminating the shale, or is it tar-sands?
Previously, I only assumed you were a moron, now my suspicions have been confirmed by not only your gratuitous insult to my credibility, but to Gov. Palin’s also, who never said she could see Russia from her house, but that you could see Russia from Alaskan territory (which you can, as has been discussed at length here many times).
AD (4f3c82) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:25 pmPlease try to keep up!
Scott, you have heard this before, right?
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:26 pmI have heard something similar, yes…
I look forward to hearing Crixus explain his statement.
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:29 pmIt’s gross profit, I tell ya!
Steverino (69d941) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:40 pmAmerican oil production peaked in 1970 and has decreased every year since then. We may not be to world peak oil, but we passed American peak oil a long time ago.
But, you know, I saw a buggy maker on my way to work today,
Two lies in there. One production increased when Prudhoe Bay came on-line. Two you have a job.
The Democrats are determined to block domestic production for ideological reasons, the myth of carbon-related global warming. The technology for shale and tar sands is far better than it was 30 years ago although it will require gas prices at about 2.50 per gallon to make it work. If you haven’t noticed, oil is back to 50 dollars a barrel today.
Mike K (8df289) — 1/6/2009 @ 1:59 pmAhh, Crixus, formerly known as DCSCA formerly known as actus, starring at “South Park” as “Mr. Hankey”.
nk (d08690) — 1/6/2009 @ 2:15 pm“FYI: Previous directions from the Minnesota Sup Court gave directions on how contested ballots were to be counted”
Crixus – And on assembling that fifth pile of rejected absentee ballots, which some precincts decided to segregate and some did not, what guidance was provided there, Biff? Do you work for the Franken campaign or ACORN?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/6/2009 @ 4:27 pmI don’t know. I think nk is onto something. The word choice and tone. But hey, I could be wrong.
Eric Blair (3e2520) — 1/6/2009 @ 4:33 pmEric – I don’t think so. Crixus came across as more stupid.
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/6/2009 @ 4:36 pmThat’s possible??
Scott Jacobs (90ff96) — 1/6/2009 @ 4:51 pmShortly after the election when it appeared that Senator Coleman was ahead by 200 votes or so, he had asked Franken to “Step aside”.
Now that it appears Franken is ahead by 200 votes or so…….. when do you think Coleman will “Step Aside”?
Oiram (983921) — 1/6/2009 @ 4:58 pmSince it appears multiple precincts had more votes than voters, it appears there was some form of fraud involved. And since it appears the precincts which had more votes than voters were heavily Democratic precincts, it appears the fraud was Democrat in nature.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/6/2009 @ 5:02 pm“Shortly after the election when it appeared that Senator Coleman was ahead by 200 votes or so, he had asked Franken to “Step aside”.”
Oiram – Do you have a citation for this claim?
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 1/6/2009 @ 5:09 pm*sigh* I’m going to regret this, BUT…
Yeah, Coleman did say that. He also said “It’s what I would do…”
It was, however, before someone cheated.
Scott Jacobs (90ff96) — 1/6/2009 @ 5:21 pmyay!!
Frankin was excellent in Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Liar”…a fair-minded account of Rush’s life.
Coleman only got to be Senator due to untimely death of a previous Liberal Senator whom V.Pres. Cheney threatened only a few days before his death for opposing Bush’s war and economic policies. (Wellstone.. of whom Limbaugh danced over his grave). Coleman as a stodge and puppit for Bush and even a turncoat former Democrat with an awfully slutty wife. Coleman was only in the running due to a third candidate who split his overwhelming opposition.
A real Minnesotan, Senator Frankin will be intelligent leadership to a state that has be bereft of it for the last few years.
datadave (9feb62) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:05 amDatadave, I can’t tell if you’re being disingenuous or intellectually vacuous while using a plethora of logic fallacies. Please do enlighten me.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:11 amJohn, please don’t feed the trolls,
AD (64c542) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:20 amit is incapable of accomplishing any of the tasks you have requested.
Alright, I have just finished reading another of your posts, datadave, and I have decided you were not being disingenuous but rather intellectually vacuous. Your logic fallacies suggested you may have been trying to be ironic in your sarcasm but your other recent post shows your logic fallacies to be part of your nature.
Do me a favor, will you? Remove logic fallacies in your posts so I can more accurately see your opinion and not consider the whole thing a sarcastic caricature of liberals?
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:24 amNope. Dave’s being completely serious…
More’s the pity…
Scott Jacobs (a1c284) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:24 amSorry, AD, your post and mine crossed. I didn’t realize he was a troll until I read another of his trollish posts. Too many trolls to tag in such a short time for me. I get sarcastic/troll/uninformed -with-good-intentions confused still.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:27 ameh? explain what logic fallacies?
On another post I mentioned the ‘general belief’ of current ‘conservatives’ who seem to believe that more military expenditures are necessary while also promoting tax cuts at the same time.
I saw this as an extreme contradiction with the current support of Bush’s regime by conservatives. Few conservatives have reverted to the old conservatism of avoiding wars and military adventurism….which is logically in an ‘economic way’ do to conservatives being dominent in the military industrial complex. Ah, that Eisenhower sort of conservatism is long gone.
Again what logical fallacies? General and particular perhaps. (alas, bullying behavior is another annoying habit of conservatives such as Limbaugh and Coulter…so the general and particular mesh fairly well…thus wide support for force over persuasion by conservatives.)
datadave (9feb62) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:31 amdue to
spelling maybe is what you’re worried about?
datadave (9feb62) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:32 amOne logic fallacy in particular would be ad hominem. The post that caused me to expose this particular fallacy and the post that requested I expose fallacies both contain ad hominem attacks.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:40 amDems do not consider that to be fraud. They call it voting.
JD (457b76) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:47 amHow did your head not explode when you typed this statement?
JD (457b76) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:48 am#146
He has multiple rolls of duct tape. (Thank you, Glenn Beck.)
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:53 amIt is Franken, you mental midget. Damn. He is one of your own, a true far Left whack-job that does not pay his taxes, takes money from the Boys and Girls Clubs, cares more about his profits than the care of the workers, etc …
JD (457b76) — 1/7/2009 @ 11:56 amFranken is an elected officer of UAW, AFL-CIO, SMIA, or others like that who take money from the poor and give to themselves?
Sorry, I could not avoid that ad hominem attack in the face of an ad hominem attacker like datadave.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 12:04 pmMinnesota deserves Franken after this. Coleman has done a poor job of defending his campaign, however and that’s not just my opinion.
Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. Coleman thought he was still in the Senate. Instead, he was in the alley with Franken.
Mike K (f89cb3) — 1/7/2009 @ 12:07 pmAl Franken will be giving us many over-the-top liberal moments on TV for the next 6 years. The torrent of insanity from the Democrats will cause backlash. The GOP will make huge gains in 2 years if it can focus on money issues and avoid corruption, creationism, gays, and abortion. Not even The South is The South any more.
Post-Bush fiscal conservatism is too important to throw away.
Wesson (3ab0b8) — 1/7/2009 @ 12:28 pmI have wondered about Dick Armey and his reasons for quitting. He seemed one of the brain trust for the Contract in 1994 and seemed to lose enthusiasm once the GOP began to become pseudo-Democrats.
I just don’t know if we can get the party back on track. Fiscal discipline is passe’. The best we can hope for is gridlock.
Mike K (f89cb3) — 1/7/2009 @ 12:52 pmMike K, I have to say the Republican Party has never truly been the party of conservatism, but it is the more conservative of the two viable political parties. I also have to say Mr. Armey was right-leaning and not actually wholly within the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
The Republican Party has been too far left from my first vote, which was for Reagan, and has continued in its leftward track, which is highly unfortunate considering it is people like me, a staunch Christian Conservative Pro-Life Pro-Defense Pro-Ammendment #2 Republican, who are their major support group.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 1/7/2009 @ 1:02 pmI found this not surprising since Coleman ran a terrible campaign – why on earth would we expect him to run a good recount
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/01/022489.php
EricPWJohnson (5a816b) — 1/8/2009 @ 3:53 am