Posts Tagged ‘2008 Elections’

In the latest update to the Senate Election That Never Ends, the three-judge panel assembled to hear the contest of the election result of Al Franken’s 225-vote victory over incumbent Senator Norm Coleman resulted in Franken officially being declared the winner by 312 votes and a sound verbal lashing by a unanimous panel of judges.

Watching one's reputation being summarily destroyed must be enthralling. (image from theuptake.org)

ORDER FOR JUDGMENT

Based on the above findings of the fact and conclusions of law, and pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 209.12, the Court, DECIDES, DECLARES, AND ADJUDGES that Contestee Al Franken is the party to the contest who received the highest number of votes legally cast in the 2008 United States Senate general election and is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of election.

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that:

1. Contestants’ Notice of Contest is dismissed with prejudice;
2. Contestee’s Counterclaims are dismissed without prejudice as moot;
3. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 209.07, subd. 3, costs of the contest must be paid by Contestants, and Contestee and the Court shall prove up the applicable costs by affidavit after all proceedings in this matter are concluded; and
4. For the reasons stated in the Court’s Order of March 2, 2009, imposing a sanction on Contestants, Contestee is awarded his reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees in connection with Contestants’ failure to disclose, such costs and fees to be proved up by affidavit.
5. Any request for relief in these proceedings not specifically granted herein is denied.

There being no just reason for delay,
LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.

I personally find that last statement of legalese quite fitting. “[N]o just reason for delay”. But that’s exactly what the GOP is intending on doing — delaying this decision for as long as legally possible. They have 10 days to appeal. Make no mistake they’re going to use every last one of them.

They have no chance of winning this claim because, as it’s become painfully clear, it’s wholly without merit. Franken won and Coleman lost. That’s the fact. And those who vehemently disagree with Al Franken’s politics can rant and rave all they want about the “disenfranchisement” of voters in Minnesota, they care not one bit about the voters in Minnesota. They only care about that 59th Democrat vote not being in the Senate. And Sen. John Cornyn, the head of the NRSC, is all but gleeful in blocking Al Franken from being rightfully seated as the new Senator from Minnesota.

So here’s the short of it: The Republicans are going to hold this Senate seat hostage for as long they possibly can. And though they are the party that stands for “States Rights”, they will gladly walk the only possible ruling of the Minnesota State Supreme Court over the federal courts so they can hold it up longer. They do not expect to win, only to delay. Cornyn had clearly stated that he expects this process to take “years”. He’s not lying for a change — he really means that.

But this yet again illustrates a glaring problem that the GOP has struggled with time and time again — absolutely no long-term vision. They are only concerned with the immediate gratification they can enjoy, and fuck the long term. What they’re failing to see in this instance is that Norm Coleman will have zero chance of being elected for any office in the future, the Minnesota GOP will continue to watch their numbers in the state disappear with each passing election, and voters will remember this political game-playing when it comes time for the midterm elections in 2010. Translation: More Democrats in congress and a GOP reeling from the third national political drubbing in a row, struggling to maintain viability as a political party.

So as much as I’d like to watch Cornyn impeached from office for being the biggest political game player since Nixon, I’m much more content watching him flush the GOP down the toilet as a result of his lack of vision. The longer he holds the Senate seat hostage in the courts, the more this prophecy becomes self-fulfilling.

It’s like Rudy Giuliani got his script from the pages of 1984…

“Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”

Seventy one percent of Americans in a recent poll disapprove of the Preznit. I know the sonuvabitch says that he doesn’t govern based on polls, but seriously when are we going to collectively hand this man his hat? He’s not leaving. He’s like that one party guest that clears rooms by his sheer obnoxious presence who has absolutely no capacity to catch a hint.

Does that sound far-fetched? Republican Presidential candidates look like Olympian sprinters, running in the opposite direction of nearly all of this man’s policies.

“Oh man…George is coming. Quick, out the other door before he starts talking to us.”

The only one who has stayed to talk, indeed seems excited to do so, is watching his campaign fall apart in chunks large enough to be visible from space with the naked eye. The “Straight Talk Express” looks like Keystone Cops mixed with The Towering Inferno — some parts horrifying while others are fantastically funny.

What needs to be emphasized more, however, is the growing need for impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. The White House seems to be keenly aware of this need and my opinion is that is why they are stonewalling every request that comes from a Democrat. The more they can stall testimonies in the myriad of investigations that are underway by Democrats, the less time Democrats will be able to assemble the needed evidence and testimony to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their capital crimes against, both foreign and domestic.

Here’s a good example of what I’m talking about: Bruce Fein’s appearance on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

It’s official: President Bush is the most unpopular President for the longest stretch of time in American history. Keith reports on the latest poll findings confirming this sad, sad fact, and conservative Republican & former Reagan Deputy AG Bruce Fein talks about why Bush must be impeached.

*VIDEO YOU MUST WATCH*

What makes this most recent poll incredible is the fact that Bush still has almost two years left in office (or 544 days). Like they say in a limbo competition, “How low can he go?”

What continually amazes me are the numbers of former Reagan and Nixon appointees who are appalled by the actions of this administration. After reading as many things as I have, I’ve become convinced that Dick Cheney has put into practice all of the things he wanted to do under Nixon but wasn’t allowed to. Like Hitler’s teary-eyed promise from a hospital bed that he would avenge Germany when he heard the announcement of the Armistace, Dick Cheney promised to get into that power again and avenge Nixon — and damn anyone, regardless of political party, if they stood in his way. (If you even breathe the words Godwin’s Law, I will smack you with a fish.)

You’d think, even if you went by El WaPo’s 65% disapproval ratings, that congress would understand and comply with the wishes of the people. These fuckers need impeachment. Even if you don’t have the 2/3 majority in the Senate for a conviction, put forth the effort and the American people will reward you with replacements to those who voted no in 2008 and then you’re looking at supermajority to go with a Democratic President. Risky? Yes, but no less than the risk our soldiers suffer everyday in Iraq because of these colossal pricks.

I love Think Progress, and I regularly visit their site for the latest liberal gossip and what have you. But ever since Judd, one of their long-time writers and contributors, was hired by the Hillary 08 team, it seems that TP has taken the role of being Hillary’s champion defender, while taking little time to defend remarks made against other Democratic Senators.

The latest is a post about Carl Bernstein’s new book, A Woman in Charge. Here’s the nuts and bolts of it:

Carl Bernstein has published a new book about Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), in large part featuring “assertions and anecdotes” about Clinton’s career that have been published previously.

In addition to these “scoops” (described as “not of the bombshell variety” by Time’s Jay Carney), Bernstein’s book offers a forum for numerous demeaning sexist attacks, such as claims that Hillary is not as “intrinsically bright” as her husband.

Call me sexist, but I don’t think it’s sexist to point out that Hillary is not as intrinsically bright as Bill is. That’s a comparison, and a very fair one, of a woman who is poised to take a seat in the White House that her husband ran for eight years that bears some significance to those who are basing their support of her because of her husband. In fact, a few of the examples offered by TP as “sexist” really aren’t. I’m not a woman – granted – but I’m not seeing the angle here. “Her ankles were thick” is not sexist, it’s just plain shallow; like talking about Al Gore’s weight as if it had anything to do with his qualifications to be president.

Thankfully the readers, who have been instructed well in the art of looking in between the political lines, are recognizing this and their comments are pretty straight-forward in telling TP that it has its head up Hillary’s ass on this one. That’s what good liberals do – they question the bullshit, regardless of which side of the aisle its coming from.

Note to Nico, from Nicho: Stop defending every little insult hurled Hillary’s way unless you’re prepared to do so at the unfavorable items hurled at Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson, Biden, Dodd and Gravel. In which case, you have a assload to catch up on at this point.

Republican candidates and conservative attack dogs alike found a fresh target recently in presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Apparently when one is fuming mad over the disgraceful reign of Dubya, when a weakling is perceived in the heard, the dogs isolate it and rip it to pieces.

Giuliani’s rambling and sometimes contradictory responses on abortion during last week’s Republican presidential debate in California provided an opening for the other GOP hopefuls, including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who declared Monday that an abortion rights candidate violates one of the “fundamental principles of a conservative.”

*snip*

Said Bay Buchanan, a senior adviser to Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), another presidential hopeful: “What’s happening now is it’s becoming apparent who Giuliani really is. He exposed himself to be someone who is very much pro-choice but would like to hide the matter.”

Here’s the funny part.

If Republicans have a shred of hope in 2008, Rudy Guiliani is it. Look at the rest of the leaders of the hopefuls; McCain, as you should know by now, is considered by me to be anything but reputable and that will shine like a beacon over the next few months, and Romney is a virtual unknown who’s tactics are so Bushian that you’d think he was HW’s bastard son.

Speaking in terms of the general election, Guiliani is the GOP’s best bet to maintain control of the White House. As much as I disagree, he’s still considered by many to be “America’s Mayor” from his performance on 9/11 (if not the preparation for it). And his views on abortion, while apparently the very litmus test of a candidate, are very much in the mainstream. Never mind the current Preznit had four years of complete Republican dominance in all three branches of the government and didn’t even raise the subject once. In a general election, Guiliani would scare the pants off of me.

I would love to take on the very strongest of your party’s dogma against any of the Democrats. Brownback? Oh my we would have such fun. His mortal combat with the reality that is evolution is enough to have him laughed out of the race. Tancredo? The presidential debates would spawn absolutely legendary Lloyd Bentsen-like moments at the expense of that nutjob and his psychotic ramblings.

So, please….pretty please conservatives, tear him apart. I’m looking forward to a Republican landslide defeat in 2008 and by taking him out you’re paving the way for us.