Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/24/11

Left Wing Climate Of Hate And Assassination

Colin Powell: Obama Still Has Work To Do

FBI: Woman Who Raised Stolen NY Baby Held In Conn.

Does The NFL Still Need The 'Rooney Rule'?

The Philadelphia Horror

The Fight To Give Educational Choices To Poor Dc Children

Skins: A New Low, Even For MTV; More Advertisers Pull Out

Rick Santorum: Why Would Obama Deny Human Rights To An Unborn Child

2nd Grade Teacher Suspended After Reports Of Classroom Sex

Gov. Robert Bentley Apologizes For Remarks On Christians

Former Rep. Bob Barr: Haiti Is Worse Now Than Under Duvalier; Show Me The Money, Haiti

Norm Coleman: GOP Outreach To Hispanics 'Tough Sell'

Wall Street Journal Admits That Al Franken Stole MN Election

Pretty bold stuff. Kudos to the WSJ for having some balls:

The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year's disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.

Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat's strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in a way that would discover votes that could add to his total. The Franken legal team swarmed the recount, aggressively demanding that votes that had been disqualified be added to his count, while others be denied for Mr. Coleman.

But the team's real goldmine were absentee ballots, thousands of which the Franken team claimed had been mistakenly rejected. While Mr. Coleman's lawyers demanded a uniform standard for how counties should re-evaluate these rejected ballots, the Franken team ginned up an additional 1,350 absentees from Franken-leaning counties. By the time this treasure hunt ended, Mr. Franken was 312 votes up, and Mr. Coleman was left to file legal briefs.

What Mr. Franken understood was that courts would later be loathe to overrule decisions made by the canvassing board, however arbitrary those decisions were. He was right. The three-judge panel overseeing the Coleman legal challenge, and the Supreme Court that reviewed the panel's findings, in essence found that Mr. Coleman hadn't demonstrated a willful or malicious attempt on behalf of officials to deny him the election. And so they refused to reopen what had become a forbidding tangle of irregularities. Mr. Coleman didn't lose the election. He lost the fight to stop the state canvassing board from changing the vote-counting rules after the fact.

This is now the second time Republicans have been beaten in this kind of legal street fight. In 2004, Dino Rossi was ahead in the election-night count for Washington Governor against Democrat Christine Gregoire. Ms. Gregoire's team demanded the right to rifle through a list of provisional votes that hadn't been counted, setting off a hunt for "new" Gregoire votes. By the third recount, she'd discovered enough to win. This was the model for the Franken team.

Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern elections don't end when voters cast their ballots. They only end after the lawyers count them.

Even if he didn't think that he had a chance in hell, Norm Coleman should've at least tried to take this up with SCOTUS--he owed that to the Minnesota voters.

Victory For King Of All Liberals George Soros: Al Franken Wins MN Senate Seat

YahooNews.com:

Al Franken refused his rival's calls for an election night concession last November, choosing instead to begin vote counting and courtroom haggling that stretched almost eight months and ultimately landed him a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Franken's victory over Republican Norm Coleman gives Democrats 60 Senate seats, the critical number needed to overcome Republican filibusters. When Franken is seated, which could come as early as next week, his party will have a majority not reached on either side of the aisle in some three decades.

Coleman conceded the election hours after a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Franken — who moved into politics with books poking fun at conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh — should be certified the winner. In doing so, Coleman pulled the plug on a bitter election that was decided by 312 votes out of almost 2.9 million cast.

"When you win an election this close, you know not one bit of effort went to waste," Franken told reporters outside his downtown Minneapolis town house, accompanied by his wife. "The way I see it, I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second senator from Minnesota."

As most conservatives already know it was leftwing kingpin and billionaire George Soros who threw his mighty dollars behind Al Franken, giving him the wherewithal to rob Norm Coleman of his Senate seat. All I can say now is thank goodness we have the Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats to keep the socialist Obama agenda in check no matter how much the loons think they should be the ones running things now.

Norm Coleman, Al Franken Arguments Heard In MN Supreme Court

Pretty much the last chance for Norm Coleman and so far it's not looking good:

Republican Norm Coleman’s legal team on Monday faced a skeptical audience of five Minnesota Supreme Court justices, who could be his last lifeline to prevent Democrat Al Franken from being seated as the state’s junior senator.

During the one-hour proceeding, the five justices peppered Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg with pointed questions on whether the campaign had provided enough evidence to prove that Coleman would have won the election if additional absentee ballots were included.

Justice Christopher Dietzen, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty who is considered to be the court’s most conservative judge, said during the hearing that Coleman’s argument was filled with “legal theory” but had “no concrete evidence to back it up.”

While Franken attorney Marc Elias also received tough questioning over the fact that some counties used different standards in counting absentee ballots, the fact that Coleman was aggressively questioned by Republican-appointed judges, doesn’t bode well for his chances, according to legal observers.

“If this isn’t a 5-0 opinion for Franken, I would be totally surprised. You got the sense that the justices were very unpersuaded by the Coleman arguments,” University of Minnesota law professor David Schultz said. “What [the judges] were saying is Coleman didn’t provide the sufficient evidence to either overturn the lower court decision, or sufficient evidence to show why the additional ballots should be introduced.”

Even if Coleman loses, thus making Franken a senator, the idea of Democrats having a super-majority (and being able to avoid filibusters) just doesn't phase me only because I know trust conservative Democrats like the Blue Dogs, Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and yes, even Arlen Specter are not going to just sit back and let Barry bulldoze his liberal agenda through Congress and onto the masses. It's the principle of the thing that we stand for, screw the rest.

Norm Coleman's Last Shot Is Minnesota Supreme Court

That's the only conclusion one can draw from this, that and a prayer along with a miracle:

Minnesota has just finished counting the 351 previously-rejected ballots approved by the three-judge panel as having been legally cast and rejected in error. The numbers: Al Franken 198, Norm Coleman 111, Other 42.

This means that Al Franken's lead has increased from the 225 he had going into today, up to 312 votes out of roughly 2.9 million. We still need to wait for the judges to rule on the remaining issues, but the vote-counting during the election contest-proper is done.

The only way for Coleman to overcome this lead would be to win an appeal against the election court's prior rulings in favor of strict standards to let in new ballots, or to somehow win his much more far-fetched proposal to retroactively declare a number of absentee votes illegal and deduct them from the totals based on countywide averages. The first one is more likely in terms of feasibility, and even that's a long shot, leaving the Coleman camp at their other proposal to "set aside" the election result entirely.

Wow, Chuck Schumer is one of the a-holes calling on Norm Coleman to concede. Norm Coleman should use every available option he has left despite the dire circumstances. He has that right. He has to fight to the end for his constituents.

Judges Deal Norm Coleman A Huge Setback

It's gotten bleak for Norm Coleman as that clown Al Franken gets closer and closer to swiping a seat in the Senate:

A special court on Tuesday ordered further review of 400 absentee ballots in the Minnesota Senate race, dealing a crippling blow to Republican Norm Coleman's legal challenge against Democrat Al Franken's lead.

Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said the small amount of remaining ballots made it difficult for Coleman, who had asked to include 1,360 ballots, to erase Franken's current 225-vote lead. Within two hours of the ruling, Ginsberg warned of an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, arguing that the panel's ruling tolerated differing standards from county to county between the general election and the recount.

"You never give up hope but it becomes a much longer shot," said Ginsberg, who was part of the legal team that helped George W. Bush win the presidency in the 2000 Florida recount battle.

The judges were ruling in an election challenge filed by Coleman after a recount showed Franken with a 225-vote lead.

A Franken victory in the Senate race would make it easier for Democrats to advance President Barack Obama's agenda.

With Franken, the Democratic caucus would have 59 seats, including two independents, just one short of the 60 senators needed to overcome filibusters by the Republicans, a legislative maneuver to prevent measures from coming to a vote.

Minn. Supreme Court Denies Al Franken's Attempt To Steal Senate Seat

Good news for Norm Coleman, his freak opponent, Al Franken, had his attempt to bully his way into the Senate rightfully denied:

Democrat Al Franken has lost a bid to force Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to sign an election certificate that would allow him to be seated in the Senate.

For months, Franken and Republican rival Norm Coleman have been embroiled in legal battles over who actually won the Minnesota Senate election in November. While the results initially showed a Coleman victory, a recount found that Franken led by 225 votes.

Before the recount, Coleman called for Franken to concede the election; afterward, he took the matter to the courts. Franken has also filed legal challenges. Both sides have sued to have rejected absentee ballots – at least, the ones most likely to favor them – counted. Coleman has tried to have the recount results thrown out.

Following today’s decision, the Coleman camp sent out a release trumpeting the “wise ruling will ensure that Harry Reid, Al Franken and Chuck Schumer cannot short-circuit Minnesota Law in their partisan power play.”

With RINO's like Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe turning their backs on conservative principles recently, the need for Norm Coleman to win this race has become urgent.

Tom Coburn Takes Away Barack's "Gift" To Hollywood Liberals

Tom Coburn is my new hero:

Senate Republicans yesterday stripped a special $246 million tax break for Hollywood producers from President Obama's stimulus package.

"This isn't stimulus. This is a gift," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who wrote the amendment to strike out the giveaway for some of the Democrats' most generous political supporters.

"It's not going to stimulate the economy at all," he said. "What it's going to do is line the pockets of very wealthy individuals already not experiencing the downside of the economy."

The 52-45 vote was largely along party lines, with nearly every Republican voting to remove the Hollywood tax break, joined by 13 Democrats and independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Under the measure, Hollywood moguls would have been allowed to write off half the production and filming costs of big-budget films and TV shows.

Backed by Walt Disney and the Motion Picture Association of America, the provision amounted to an estimated $246 million tax break over 11 years.

Of course RINO Arlen Specter was one of the few Republicans to sign off on BO's bogus stimulus plan. Specter is an embarrassment, with the likes of his kind the GOP needs Norm Coleman to defeat Al Franken BAD in Minnesota, thank goodness Coleman received some really good news today.

Al Franken Turned Down In Bid For Senate Seat

Thankfully Stuart Smalley's attempt to sidestep the courts was quickly dismissed:

Democrat Al Franken was quickly turned down Monday when he asked Minnesota's governor and secretary of state to issue an election certificate that would let him take office in the Senate.

In letters the campaign sent to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Franken's lawyers argued that a seven-day waiting period for issuing the certificate after an election has passed and he should get the signed certificate. But the state officials said their hands were tied by state law and they could not act.

Franken led Republican Norm Coleman by 225 votes after a statewide recount that was completed Jan. 5.

Coleman is suing over the result, claiming there were irregularities on Election Day and during the recount.

Minnesota law prevents officials from issuing an election certificate until legal matters are resolved. But Franken's legal team argues that federal election law entitles Franken to receive the certificate before the lawsuit is settled.

Sadly, my gut feeling is that Franken's theft of a Minnesota Senate seat will be granted and that would be too bad for Norm Coleman, a man of integrity who didn't deserve this fate esp. after winning the initial vote. But Franken, a notorious Catholic-basher and porn lover, just had too much behind him, including most of the immoral Hollywood Left who funded his recount bid and are already patting themselves on the back for getting this unfit for office clown in the Senate.

Democrats Hold Off On Seating Al Franken

Reuters.com:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yielded to Republican threats and agreed on Monday not to immediately seat fellow Democrat Al Franken, whose razor-close victory in Minnesota faces legal challenges.

Senate Republicans had planned to disrupt the opening of the new Congress on Tuesday by blocking Franken's swearing-in.

And in another ugly fight, Senate Democrats vowed to block, at least for now, the seating of fellow party member Roland Burris whose appointment by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich carries a whiff of political scandal.

The 57-year old Franken, who gained fame as a writer and performer on the satiric Saturday Night Live television show, on Monday officially was declared the victor by a 225-vote margin by Minnesota state officials from nearly 2.9 million votes cast.

But lawyers for incumbent Republican Norm Coleman complained the recount was conducted unfairly and promised a court challenge that could take weeks to resolve.

"Shortly after Election Day, Coleman criticized Mr. Franken for wanting a recount and wasting taxpayer money. Now that it is clear he lost, Coleman should follow his own advice and not subject the people of Minnesota to a costly legal battle," Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid of Nevada, said in a statement.

"However, there will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken tomorrow," Manley said.

If both Franken and Burris were sworn in, the Democrats' majority in the normally 100-member Senate would swell to 59 -- their biggest margin in 30 years and just one short of the needed 60 votes to end Republican procedural roadblocks.

Al Franken as Senator of any state is a joke, literally and figuratively, but then Minnesota is the same state that not too long ago elected a wrestler to be their governor. Judging from all the money Franken's rapid left-wing supporters have poured into this recount fiasco and all these court decisions that continue to go against Norm Coleman, something is obviously amiss here. Credibility alone says that this race shouldn't have even been close and thus, Norm Coleman needs to keep fighting, use all available legal options and take it up to SCOTUS if he has to, because there'll be too much at stake if he concedes this farce of an election to a sanctimonious blowhard like Franken.

George Soros And Al Gore Helping Al Franken's Recount Effort

Newsmax.com:

Left-wing billionaire George Soros is hosting a fundraiser on Thursday night to help Democrat Al Franken win the recount in Minnesota’s Senate election.

The gathering at Soros’ Manhattan home will raise money to help Franken’s campaign cover the cost of monitoring the statewide recount.

“The special guest: Al Gore, who knows a thing or two about recounts,” the New York Post reports.

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman leads Franken by just over 200 votes at last count, out of 2.9 million cast. The results of the hand recount are not expected to be released until mid-December.

Coleman remains confident. His spokesman Mark Drake said: “This race will not be decided by New York billionaires or the U.S. Senate. It will be decided by Minnesotans, and we are confident Sen. Coleman will prevail.”

Earlier this year Soros’ fortune was estimated at $9 billion.

I'm amazed that more conservatives aren't getting behind Norm Coleman in this recount that is clearly tilting in Al Franken's favor. I mean, consider what's at stake here: Democrats being one step closer to a filibuster-proof super-majority (much less an idiot like Al Franken being in Congress). The big guns on the Left are certainly stepping up to the plate, where are the GOP's? And you just know the Goracle got paid a handsome fee to step away from his "climate change" hoax to make an appearance for Franken, not that King of the Loons Soros can't afford Gore's undoubtedly hefty retainer.

Al Franken Poised To Steal Minnesota Senate Race From Norm Coleman

Newsmax.com:

There are no voters left to persuade. But as Minnesota's U.S. Senate race heads toward a statewide recount, the bare-knuckle fight between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken continues like Election Day had never come and gone.

"Franken campaign attempts to stuff ballot box at the last minute," blared a Monday news release from the Coleman campaign. That came just two days after Team Franken characterized a Coleman legal filing as a "sneak attack to stop counting of ballots."

Election Day, which once promised relief from months of mudslinging, now stands simply as the day the race shifted from the paid airwaves to the legal arena. Both campaigns are still furiously pumping out news releases, calling news conferences, recruiting volunteers and pressing donors for cash to carry on the fight.

After the two candidates spent nearly $40 million combined - most of it on ads tarring the other - Coleman leads by about 200 votes out of almost 3 million cast. An automatic recount is to start next week.

Seems like Al Franken is channeling Al Gore in counting the votes until they favor himself. Of course, as we are now seeing in California, what with the angry, white, gay, racist, anti-Prop 8 mobs...when liberals don't get their way total anarchy awaits right around the corner. BTW, nice to see that the liberal media is doing their part to make sure Franken wins by failing to mention that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, whose job it is to watch over these proceedings, is like Franken, a liberal Democrat with ties to fraud-riddled Democrat group ACORN. Nice.

Al Franken Clinging To Recount In Minnesota

Considering his past incendiary comments towards Minnesotans, his love for porn and his generally being a jerk, Al Franken's bid for Senator shouldn't have even been close. But consider too that the citizens of Minnesota did once elect Jesse "The Body" Ventura to be their governor:

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - He may be good enough and smart enough -- but does he have enough votes?

Long after most races had been decided, the bid of a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian to join the United States Senate remained uncertain Wednesday.

Al Franken's bid to unseat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota fell short by 571 votes, according to the completed unofficial tally. Coleman secured 42.03 percent of the vote, and Franken 42.01 percent.

Those numbers virtually assured a recount, which according to Minnesota law is triggered if the margin of victory is less than half of 1%, and so the result may not be known for days.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 10/13/08

Kirk Cameron's Christian Drama "Fireproof" Is Surprise Hit Film Of The Fall

The Real Obama: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3

Pro-Marriage Prop.8 Pulls Ahead In Calif. Polls

30 Lesbians Impregnated By The Same Man

Al Franken, Norm Coleman 2nd Debate Breaks No New Ground

Sarah Palin Criticizes Obama On Abortion At PA Rally

Obama Website Lies About Voter Fraud Group ACORN Ties

Jimmy Carter Blames President Bush For Economic Crisis

Bush-Hating Liberal Pol John Lewis Smears John McCain As Enabling Racism

What Was I Thinking, Britney Spears Wonders

Conservatives Must Support Norm Coleman

I don't have a clue about Norm Coleman's politics, but the fact that he's up against idiot uber-liberal Al Franken for a seat on Minnesota's Senate is enough for me to have his back. If you're a conservative, you should too as the likes of Al Franken having a seat in the Senate is that scary.