The Continuing Comedy that is the Minnesota Senate Death Match

Eric Kleefeld has been doing a great job chronicling the strange but true saga that is the Norm Coleman-Al Franken Death Match.

The latest:

We’ve now found a case of lead Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg actually being concerned about ballot fraud, and wanting to keep a vote out as a result — so much so that he’ll speculate about a Franken-voter being mentally disabled.

Really. No joke.

In court just now, lead Franken lawyer Marc Elias went over a rejected ballot envelope for which he said a power of attorney had been granted by a disabled voter, to allow a family member to fill it out. The issue was that the mark made to authorize the family member was not a signature or a conventional “X”, but was instead an amorphous scribble. Elias and Goodhue County elections official Carolyn Holmsted spent some time hashing it out.

Then Friedberg took issue with this whole idea of the power of attorney to fill out a ballot, which is a specifically allowed clause in Minnesota law for disabled voters.

Toles Does it Again: Detroit Bailout

Tom Toles / Washinton Post

Has the World Gone Crazy?

Just maybe:

A Republican is suggesting bank nationalization and a Democrat thinks it is a bad idea.

~ ~ ~

To be honest, this should be an interesting situation to playout in the coming months. My take is that the Obama Administration will opt against a one size fits all approach. I believe they sent a clue as to their intention by Treasury Sec. Geithner’s discussion of “stress tests” on banks.

The tests themselves will publicize just how poorly managed some of the banks are; thereby allowing more leeway from the American public in how best to handle the situation.

Rich Lowry Must be Experiencing Erectile Dysfunction

This must be sad news to the paragon of intellectual political thought, Mr. Rich “I Seriously Need to Get Laid” Lowry:

By pulling out of CPAC she guarantees February will be relatively quiet. With continual attention from August to January, Palin courted overexposure, but looks to be avoiding it this month. She’s facing criticism in her own state for paying too much attention to her national image, and she wants to rectify that.

An Odd Pairing Indeed

Hat Tip: PrettyBoring.com

A President that Frozen Minnesota could get Behind

South Minneapolis Winter / Northstar Chronicle

“Because of what? Some ice? We’re going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town,” Obama said this morning. “I’m saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don’t seem to be able to handle things.”

-President Barack Obama, after Washington, DC schools closed due to wintry weather.

QoD: Alan Grayson on Rush Limbaugh

“Rush Limbaugh is a has-been hypocrite loser, who craves attention. His right-wing lunacy sounds like Mikhail Gorbachev, extolling the virtues of communism. Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict. If America ever did 1 percent of what he wanted us to do, then we’d all need pain killers.”

-Florida Rep. Alan Grayson

Hat Tip: Down With Tyranny

Jon Stewart: Sarah Palin, AKA “Blamey Whinehouse”

The victimology of Sarah Palin’s worldview is truly astounding.

Not a good look, though. Americans don’t like whiners.

Simpsonize Yourself!

Being a fan of The Simpson’s, I just love this site.

Allright, it is a shameless tie-in with a Burger King marketing promotion. But the site lets you upload a picture of yourself, make some tweaks, and then get a Simpsons-type character version of yourself.

Way cool. Way way cool.

QoD: Josh Marshall on RNC Chair Fiasco

“I see the GOP’s devious plan to become the party of southern whites over the age of 50 continues apace.

Wholly unable to confirm this, but I’m told the talk is now that Mike Duncan may have to perform in black face at the upcoming RNC meeting to remain a credible candidate for the job.”

-Josh Marshall, TPM

If Obama Has a Fake Birth Certificate…

Why the hell would he put Hussein as his middle name if his intention was to run for public office someday?

These whack jobs should just go back to drinking their own urine that is stored in their fridge.

The Last Word on Obama’s Citizenship

Of course would come from sober-minded Marc Ambinder:

But the two-citizen parent rule, which is no longer in effect, applied to people born outside the U.S.  Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii, a U.S. state since 1959; (had he been born earlier, it wouldn’t matter — U.S. law granted natural born citizenship to every Hawaiian born after 1900.)

Now — the 14th amendment is fairly clear on the subject:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

A further objection: to be “natural born,” as the constitution requires, is to be born on U.S. soil (check) to two citizen parents (x mark.)  Again — that claim has no basis in federal law, Supreme Court precedent, or English common law.

The conspiracy theories are entertaining, and in a down economy, they keep people employed, so I suppose one cannot entirely dismiss their social utility.

I Guess It’s Official Now…

The Franklin Mint’s Barack Obama coin has arrived… in my email box this weekend.

Webster’s Dictionary Announces Word of the Year

I can’t believe that anyone is happy with this:

Merriam-Webster’s annual Words of the Year dating to 2003, when the publisher started making the selection:

2008: Bailout — ”A rescue from financial distress.”

My personal favorite was 2006’s:

2006: Truthiness — ”Truth that comes from the gut, not books.” Coined by Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert; selected as Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster’s online users.

Ya Gotta Love the Comments Section of the Internet

Being a fan of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Etta James, I was watching the trailer for the upcoming movie “Cadillac Records” on YouTube to see if it might be any good.

I’ve always felt that most internet comments posted by “readers” on most newspaper articles, blogs, etc. to be of the useless variety  (a lot of outrageous declarations and no reasoned arguments), but this one thread really takes the cake:

brenden718 (1 day ago)

and wat is this movie abot…

SCARAFCE16 (1 day ago)

I was stating my opinion so how it is hating lol? Life is to short to act so stupid on the Internet so take a chill pill dude.

who gives a f*ck what you state u f*ggot *ss b*tch

kent504 (1 day ago)

You replied to my comment that was posted WEEKS ago to call me a “f*ggot *ss b*tch” and expected to get away with it YOU STUPID F*GGOT *SS M*THER F*CKER.

NOW LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING B*TCH, dont’ F*CK WITH ME or I will report yo DUMB STUPID *SS.

brenden718 (1 day ago)

evidently IM NOT ON YOUTUBE ALL DAY F*CKING LONG LIKE UR F*GGOT ASS TALKING SH*T! GO SUCK A D*CK MOTHERF*CKER. U UGLY B*TCH AND STOP HATING ON PEOPLE. NOT A GOOD LOOK!

An Even Better Parody of Olbermann Than Ben Affleck’s

By the man himself. From the folks at 236.com:

Tom Daschle, Get Rid of Those Glasses!

There is no way anyone will take healthcare reform seriously if you continue wearing those things.

EXPOSED: “Barack Obama”

The fearless reporters at The Onion expose the truth:

International Con Man Barack Obama Leaves U.S. With $85 Million In Campaign Fundraising

Obama as he appeared to millions of Americans, along with four of the president-elect's former disguises.

CHICAGO—In a devastating blow to millions of unsuspecting Americans, newly elected president and international con man Barack Obama fled the country Wednesday with nearly $85 million in campaign funds.

According to FBI investigators, Obama’s sudden disappearance was discovered at 6:15 p.m. when the former Illinois senator failed to arrive at a gala event in Lincoln Square, prompting several aides to rush back to his campaign headquarters. At 6:23 p.m., flight logs at O’Hare International Airport confirmed that two passengers, a male carrying two silver briefcases and dressed in a perfectly tailored Brioni tuxedo, and an African-American female wearing a fur coat and speaking in a thick Russian accent, were seen boarding a private plane…

“He’s good, real good,” Hayden said. “Sometimes he’ll have three campaigns going on at once. Recently uncovered video of him in Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Italy in 1989 shows him shifting seamlessly between three languages. And no matter what dialect he speaks, he speaks it passionately. He also abides by a flawless formula: a desperate country, plus hope, plus the promise of a bold new tomorrow equals big bucks.”

SEE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Palinfreude: Do the Right Thing?

There are many Democrats just salivating with glee as the hardcore right-wingers push for Sarah Palin to continue her date with destiny in 2012. Josh Marshall of TPM has some conflicted emotions about this:

The GOP is already defaulting to her. That’s good for Democratic candidates. ‘Palin 2012!’

I quite agree from a partisan perspective. The more Palin the better. But I think we also need to think about this from the broader perspective of national dignity. And simple human decency. You’re at a party and someone’s drinking too much and starting to do embarrassing things. Even if you don’t like them, and even if the unlovely part of you thinks it’s kind of funny, still someone should step in. On the other hand, if Rush and Sean, are up for it, maybe we just tap another keg?

READ HIS FULL COMMENTS HERE.

Wolfrum: Jesus Christ Quits Christianity

Per William K. Wolfrum:

“For years, Jesus Christ had kept quiet while his “followers” had killed and committed horrendous acts of intolerance in his name. They were the “birth pangs” of a new religion, his surrogates would say. One day he would be accepted by all as a liberator.

But in an announcement that has left his followers shaken, the Christ himself has come forward to announce that he is leaving Christianity, effective immediately. The reasoning: The 2008 Republican Platform. Reached for comment at a West Hollywood coffee shop, Christ said that he couldn’t deal with a world that so misinterpreted his words and actions.”

FULL RELEASE HERE.