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Reaction from Harry Reid:MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of a tight U.S. Senate race over Republican Norm Coleman, which should give Democrats the 60-seat majority they need to overcome procedural obstacles and push through their agenda.
Coleman has said in published reports he is unlikely to appeal the state court's decision to the federal courts. Under state law, the court's decision gives Franken the right to occupy the seat, which has been up for grabs since last November's election.
Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has said he will certify the election winner based on what the state court decides.
If the decision holds up, Democrats will control 60 of the 100 Senate seats -- enough to overcome Republican procedural roadblocks in a clear boost to President Barack Obama's agenda.
"I congratulate Senator-elect Al Franken, the next Senator from the state of Minnesota.People For the American Way President Michael B. Keegan:"The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator they elected in November and the full representation they deserve. After all the votes have been counted and recounted, the Minnesota Supreme Court has made the final determination that Minnesotans have chosen Al Franken to help their state and our country get back on track.
"The Senate looks forward to welcoming Senator-elect Franken as soon as possible. He will play a crucial role as we work to strengthen our economy, ensure all Americans can access and afford quality health care, make our country more energy independent, confirm the President's outstanding nominee to the Supreme Court, and tackle the many other challenges we face.
"I once again encourage Governor Pawlenty to respect the votes of his constituents and the decisions of his state's highest court. He should put politics aside, follow his state's laws and finally sign the certificate that will bring this episode to an end."
"It's taken quite a while, but Senator Franken's victory is now official. That's good news for Minnesotans and for all of us. Governor Pawlenty has said he would certify the election results, and he should do so immediately.
"Senator Franken's victory should finally put to rest GOP threats to filibuster this President Obama's agenda. With any luck, Senate Republicans will take this opportunity to stop obstructing the important work that needs to get done for the country and actually start helping to get it done."
OMFG. The jokes are just writing themselves. Will Gov. Mark Sanford's best bud Lindsey Graham stick up for the Palmetto State Playboy now? (The State):A reporter called a Sanford staffer, saying the paper had e-mails that outlined an affair between the governor and Maria. Unless Sanford would address the issue privately, The State would have no choice but to ask him - with TV crews filming - if he knew Maria at his press conference that afternoon.And more:The names of two other women tumbled into the newsroom.
Fearful Sanford's staffers did not get it - that the paper would ask publicly what Sanford's relationship was with Maria - a State editor called Davis, Sanford's former chief of staff.
...The editor told Davis why he thought the e-mails were genuine. They mentioned Coosaw, the Sanford plantation, and Sanford's love of digging holes; they quoted Bible verses and contained details about Sanford's known schedule.
And more names of women were coming in over the transom. The total was at three and counting.
"Women?!" Davis responded, sounding incredulous. "Women?!"
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress - but never had sex with them.This is ripe for jokes folks. Is this about making it to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd base? What is he talking about, as a man of faith who believes in the sanctity of marriage + one concubine?The governor says he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed Sanford's once-promising political career.
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife.
He says that during the other encounters he "let his guard down" with some physical contact but "didn't cross the sex line." He wouldn't go into detail.
Now you'll remember all of the BS boasting about the brilliance of Sarah Palin that went on in the McCain camp and by conservatives when she was selected as the failed presidential candidate's running mate. Don't you think it's professional malfeasance, hell, unpatriotic, to try to 1) foist her onto the American public as a strong, credible candidate, and 2) propel someone so wholly unqualified into the White House? We all called it back then, but now the McCainiacs are falling all over one another to say how brain-dead and incorrigible Palin was to Vanity Fair. (Raw Story):According to the article, former McCain campaign staffers suffer from a collective "survivor's guilt" over the problem-plagued choice of Palin as vice-presidential candidate. The friction between McCain and Palin was so intense that it carried over into election night, when Palin wanted to address the Arizona crowd to whom McCain was to give his concession speech. After much back-and-forth wrangling, Palin didn't speak that night.And the Vanity Fair piece asks some really obvious pointed questions that I'd love to hear the answers to from the McCain/Palin supporters who knew what was up.But trouble had been brewing long before that. Over the course of the campaign, one close adviser to McCain "was heard to refer to Palin as "little shop of horrors'" during the campaign.
...Palin's lack of aptitude in her new starring role as V-P candidate became obvious quickly. At times, it seemed as if she was more concerned with her popularity back home in Alaska than with the national presidential campaign that she was now a central part of.
"By all accounts, Palin was either unwilling, or simply unable, to prepare," the piece says. "In the run-up to the Couric interview, Palin had become preoccupied with a far more parochial concern: answering a humdrum written questionnaire from her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman ... At the same time, she grew concerned that her approval ratings back home in Alaska were sagging as she embraced the role of McCain's bad cop."
What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life? Why did so many skilled veterans of the Republican Party - long regarded as the more adroit team in presidential politics - keep loyally working for her election even after they privately realized she was casual about the truth and totally unfit for the vice-presidency? Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics - with a fine appreciation of life's injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense osense of his own integrity and honor-ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?
Stonewall Anniversary Poem
by Governor Barbara Roberts
From Stonewall to Salem, Across this whole nation We've marched and we've lobbied, Forty years in duration. For fairness, equality For dignity and rights For safety, and partners To turn on the lights. To come out of the darkness, Emerge from the closet, To rise above hatred And the bigots who cause it. The path has been long With hurdles and roadblocks But the future looks bright With adoptions and wedlocks. So on this eve of Stonewall We celebrate gains We stand shoulder to shoulder For the work that remains. We thank all who have given, Taken risks, led the way Lesbian, Trans, Bi, Straight and Gay. So - lift up your glasses And your hearts - one and all As we toast our martyrs and heroes And the brave souls of Stonewall.
ENDA is being introduced tomorrow in the house! Our next step is to call Rep. Walden and ask him to be a cosponsor of ENDA. Below is a script to use. It is essential that we flood his lines to let him know how many of his constituents support ENDA! Once you've called, let me know what the staffer said and then ask all of your friends and family in the district to call as well!
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-aid and then ask all of your friends and family in the district to call as well!
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and have them connect you to your Representative (based on your zip code). Tell them:
"I am a constituent and I would like you to please tell Representative _______ that I would like him/her to become a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. ENDA would ban discrimination against all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace. Can you tell me whether or not Representative _______ has cosponsored the bill?"
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