Hominid Views

I guess I expected some of the nutburgers at FAUX News to go into full apoplexy mode with the announcement that the Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld Senator Elect Al Franken’s victory over Sen. Norm Coleman. I haven’t been disappointed.

What surprises me a little is, yet, another embarrassingly amateurish unsigned editorial from The Wall Street Journal. The editorial is ladened with irrational emotional charges and riddled with factual errors. And this editorial make the fourth such embarrassingly poor editorial on this topic.

The editorial goes off the deep-end, misunderstanding the nature of recounts, election challenges, and Minnesota election law. Instead they throw out the cowardly “stolen election” like some childish Wingding, never offering any serious evidence for a stolen election.

Where it gets personal for me, however, is the mischaracterization of the 2004 Washington state gubernatorial election:

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.

Huh…I followed that election pretty damn carefully. There were many interesting and complex issues in the Gregoire–Rossi election, recount and court challenge. But “rifl[ing] through a list of provisional voters” had nothing whatsoever to do with Gregoire’s victory.

And there was no “third recount.” There were only the two recounts prescribed by Washington state law: a mandatory recount, and the single “requested” recount.

Now that I think about it, this WSJ editorial, isn’t even written to the level of a bad blog post. It is more akin to the kind of anonymous comments that inevitably show up in newspapers and political blogs. Perhaps these guys just need to lay off reading comment threads for awhile.

Today is my 48th birthday, and I get a little gift from the Minnesota Supreme Court!

Today the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to Senator Elect Al Franken’s win in the Nov. 2008 election. Franken led Sen. Norm Coleman by 225 votes (out of almost 3 million vote) following a mandatory recount. Coleman challenged the election outcome, lost the challenge, and appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Today’s ruling will almost certainly put the 60th Senator in the Senate who caucuses with the Democrats. The “effective” number is closer to 58 because Senators Byrd and Kennedy are too ill to show up regularly.

The reason I call this a little gift for me is because it means my prediction for the Senatorial races was spot-on:

It looks like there will be 58 or 59 seats in the hands of the Democrats—59 is slightly more probable.

The 60th seat came to the Democrats after the election, when Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched from being a Republican to being a Democrat.

Also note that Minnesota is colored light pink on my final map. This is because the aggregate poll data literally suggested a 50-50 tie in Minnesota. Just by chance, Coleman came out winning few more of the simulated elections.

The are two little catches. First, we are all assuming that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will actually certify the results (as he has hinted he would do). Second, Coleman could take the case to the federal courts. Even if he does, a victory seems most improbable, and Franken will almost certainly be seated anyway.

Update: Or Coleman could just concede!

N in Seattle has more….

Via Politico:

“Immediately after all this unfolded last week I had thought I would resign – as I believe in the military model of leadership and when trust of any form is broken one lays down the sword,” Sanford wrote in the message, which he posted on his personal website http://www.governorsanford.com and Facebook page, and broadcast via Twitter.

“A long list of close friends have suggested otherwise – that for God to really work in my life I shouldn’t be getting off so lightly. While it would be personally easier to exit stage left, their point has been that my larger sin was the sin of pride.”

Gag me. Seriously…I don’t think God gives a shit who the Governor of South Carolina is.

The only thing worse than a hypocrite, is a fallen hypocrite who invokes God as an excuse to cling to power. It’s both pathetic and likely to fail.

I though Sen. John McCain and Vice President Dick Cheney were the only two Republicans with the proper credentials to use vulgarities.

Then last Friday, after the House passed a landmark climate change bill, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pointed out why he had read a 307 page amendment:

Hey, people deserve to know what’s in this pile of shit.

Sweeeeeet.

And then there is this little episode, also from Friday, reported by CQ Politics:

[…] CQ reporter Richard Rubin overheard at 1st and C streets Southeast from Republican Rep. Lee Terry this morning[:]

…Terry was crossing a Washington street during a workweek when a local driver called him out for jaywalking.

“Can’t you read the sign?” the driver shouted.

“[Fuck] you!” Terry retorted.

“Really?” the driver asked.

“Really,” Terry confirmed.

Clearly, Rep. Terry is attempting to stake out turf as the right-wing answer to Rahm Emanuel.

I say good on these guys for letting it all out. I mean, the puritanical bullshit has only served to highlight hypocrisy.

So…now we know. Republicans are able to swear like a sailor. Just like regular people do.

And cheat on their wives. And patronize prostitutes. And cruise for sex in a men’s room. And send sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teen-aged former pages. You know…just like regular people do….

Via Mary Ann Akers:

It sounds like getting crushed these last two election cycles cost some of these Republicans their sense of humor.

– Sen. John Kerry’s spokeswoman Jodi Seth reacting to the reaction over Kerry’s Palin joke.

Stranahan with a personal health care story.

Young Turks: Glenn Beck’s fake crying photoshoot.

Obama on the energy bill.

Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza with another episode of Mouthpiece Theatre.

Ferguson: The Gubernator’s plane.

State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-MO) is (again!) Worst Person in the World!

Stranahan: The truth about Conservatives for Patient’s Rights.

Sanford “Sings”:

• Where’s Sanford?
• Confession and apology
• Stunning Confession
• Young Turks: Down goes Sanford!
• Maddow: Sanford’s hypocrisy rap sheet.
• Letterman: Top-10 surprising facts about Gov. Sanford
• Ferguson’s opening monologue
• Olbermann: Rush blames it on Obama.
• Headzup: Rush say it’s Obama’s fault.
• Young Turks: Sanford and Maria’s steamy emails.
• Letterman’s Top-10 excuses for Sanford
• Sam Seder: Wingnut radio host says Sanford is no worse than Obama.
• Young Turks: Is Maria hot enough?
• Sanford speaks out on Bill Clinton
• Young Turks: More Sanford on Clinton.
• Limbaugh spells it out: Sanford’s cheating is Obama’s fault!
• Krauthammer predicts Sanford “doesn’t last a week.”
• Sanford sings
• Sanford points out that King David didn’t resign either (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• Red State Update: Jackie is pissed at the G.O.P..
• Headzup: The Musical:
• Back to work on Friday
• Young Turks: Republican self-destructive ways continue.

Stephen on Zicam recall (via OneGoodMove).

Young Turks: Worlds dumbest racists.

Glenn Beck: Hates turtles…except for playing with on the air.

Glenn Beck hates commie watermelons…except to play with on TV.

Crazy Michael Steele’s shark talk (via ThinkProgress).

Health Care Reform:

• Stranahan: Taking on the health insurance companies.
• Stephen on health care (via OneGoodMove).
• Stranahan with some facts about the public option.
• Breakroom Live: G.O.P. Red Dawn talking point.
• The Ed Show: Reporters sound like ventriloquist for insurance companies & big pharma
• Stranahan: Democrats are holding up health care reform:
• Stephen on Republican health care “plan” (via DailyKos).

Goldy interviews Darcy Burner in Podcasting Liberally at Seattle’s chapter of Drinking Liberally.

Maddow: The Pathological narcissism of the neocon right.

Olbermann: The Republican reality show.

Gibbs goes down!

Letterman with a political monologue.

Crazy Census Concerns:

• Batshit Crazy Rep. Michelle Bachmann on her refusal to complete the census (via Crooks and Liars).
• Young Turks: Michelle Bachmann and Glenn Beck combine their crazy over the census.

Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza with another episode of Mouthpiece Theatre.

Mark Fiore: Power-Cling™.

Michelle Obama’s hula.

ONN: Obama to hold job performance reviews—for every American.

Anne Coulter slithers her way to Worst Person in the World!

Iran Unrest:

• Jon with Crisis in Iran (via OneGoodMove).
• Ahmadinejad tweets.

House passes American Clean Energy and Security Act (via ThinkProgress).

Stephen on stonewalling (via AmericaBlog).

Savaging Savage for Savage Suggestions:

• The Ed show: Michael Savage threatens (via Crooks and Liars).
• Headzup: Michael Savage threatens Media Matters:

Ken Schramm on public (art) nudity.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Gina Smith at The State writes about busting Gov. Mark Sanford:

It was about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday as I stood in the waiting area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, squinting my eyes to see whether Gov. Mark Sanford was part of a crowd exiting the plane from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Is he there? Is he there?” I kept asking myself as I craned my neck, flipped on my digital recorder and booted up my digital camera.

“And why is there no other media here?” I wondered. “Could we be the only ones onto this story?”
It’s how you think when you’re playing a hunch, following an anonymous tip that Sanford would be on the plane and anonymous, unverifiable e-mails about an alleged affair between Sanford and woman from Argentina.

Then, my jaw dropped when Sanford appeared. My camera flashed, almost as a reflex.

The Governor sat down with Smith for an extended interview/discussion until Smith asked if the Governor was alone in Argentina.

“Yes,” he said.

That’s when he cut me off, saying he could see where the interview was going and he did not want to discuss the situation further.
[…]

As Sanford walked away from our interview, it was clear he was troubled, feeling defeat both personally and professionally.

We can well imagine what was going through his mind. This man who had summited tall political mountains, had become a “chosen one” in Republican circles, and seemingly had excellent prospects for being his party’s presidential nominee, now knew it was over.

He must have realized that he was about to be knocked off of his mountain, that his political life was about to take on the chaos and turmoil that had overcome his personal life. He would have to hold that “press conference of shame” and become the butt of jokes, the poster child of moralistic hypocrisy, and all-around pariah. He knew that those things he felt about Pres. Bill Clinton after his own confession…that’s what people would be feeling about him.

It’s odd how these sexual wanderings have “taken out” so many political rising stars. There was, of course, the sad demise of Gov. Elliot Spitzer, who was being discussed as a presidential candidate for the Democrats. And then there is the case of Sen. John Edwards, who actually ran for the office. Last week, we also saw the future political career of Sen. John Ensign flushed down the toilet by some extra-marital diddling. Based on some visits to Iowa by Ensign, there was speculation that he was (also) flirting with a presidential run.

I have to wonder whether the type of person likely to succeed in politics is simply more susceptible to the “power trip” of having an affair? This was certainly a popular theory during the Clinton–Lewinsky episode. Alternatively, it is possible that affairs and presidential ambitions are two manifestations of a mid-life crisis for an ambitious person.

Perhaps both serve as diversions from the “God…I getting old and lumpy, and I feel empty inside” blues. Perhaps very successful men get his harder by these feelings.

But, man…can’t these guys just buy a new sports car or something?

I’m sure it’s just a matter of hours now before some Wingnut will use the Sanford affair to make the argument that, when it comes to White male Republicans, a Latina woman doesn’t always show wise judgement.

Now here’s an interesting way to spend Father’s Day: Off the grid, out of contact, telling no one, in Argentina, shirking your work responsibilities, having an affair….

Well…at least he wasn’t hiking naked.

I mean…depending on what you mean by “hiking.”

Politico’s Mike Allen writes:

A couple of surprising words were missing from President Barack Obama’s 55-minute news conference on Wednesday: “Iraq” — and “Afghanistan.”

Also MIA: “Korea,” “Pakistan,” “soldiers,” “surge” and “war” — as well as the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

I noticed a few other MIA: “axis of evil”, “misunderestimate”, “they hate our freedoms”, “bass fishing”, “terrorists”, “decider”, “brush clearing”, “9-11″, “mushroom cloud”, “pig roast”, “it’s hard work”, and “rogue nations”.

Oddly, nobody was doing “a heck of a job.”

And most disappointingly, there was no statement about the real trouble with health care in America: “Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.”

Here’s what’s bothering me: Why didn’t President Mohammad Khatami of Iran come out with more forceful statements when the 2000 U.S. presidential election was being stolen?

Some sweet irony via Thinkprogress:

On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives as a prime way of attracting “working class white Democrats.” The discussion ridiculed Judge Sotomayor for the fact that she studied children’s classics to improve her grammar while attending college. The panelists also suggested that, without English as the official language, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish.

One salient feature of the event was the banner hanging over the English-only advocates. The word conference was spelled “Conferenece.” View it here:

Some commenters in the ThinkProgress thread suggested that we petition MSNBC to fire Pat Buchanan as a political analyst. I don’t know about that. Pat makes a mighty fine spokesidiot for the Wingnuts.

Lee Stranahan offers this video on what (and who) is holding up meaningful health care reform. He offers some actions you can take to “un-stick” things:

The New York Times Magazine has this short & sassy interview with the second human to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. Here is a snippet:

What sort of music do you like?

I just did a rap session with Snoop Dogg and a rap composition called “Rocket Experience.” It’s going to be an online video. The Web site is funnyordie.com.

Do you actually sing on the video?

I relate. It’s not singing, it’s rapping.

Oh my!

Ed: Why would anyone listen to George W. Bush on the economy?!?!

Charles Krauthammer snivels his way to Worst Person in the World!

Headzup: The Glenn Beck compares himself to MLK and Ghandi!

Olbermann WTF moment from Rep. Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) office: The story of Liz:

Sam Seder with Random Rush (Obama’s policies edition).

Olbermann with Bill Maher on Republican obstructionism on health care.

Promisekeeper Sen. Ensign (R-NV) Confession:

• Sen. Ensign wants to tell you something.
• Maddow: More Ensign details.
• Young Turks: Republican hypocrite.
• Maddow: Yet more Ensign problems.

This makes you wonder: Does Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) have a big ol’ noose hanging from a tree in his front yard? (Via ThinkProgress.)

Young Turks: Bill-O the Killer Clown gets pwned by Joan Walsh.

Avenging Amanda Terkel (via Open Left).

Olbermann on Rush “Gutter” Limbaugh.

The TV and Radio Correspondence Dinner:

• Obama, Part I
• Obama, Part II
• John Hodgeman, Part I:
• John Hodgeman, Part II:
• FOX News’ Chad Pergram takes a swipe at Obama.

Unhinged: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) calls Obama a “cream puff”.

Young Turks: Bill-O the killer clown fears all the “porn” on Youtube.

Red State Update: Jackie has had enough of gun violence.

Obama Going all G.O.P.?!?

• Mark Fiore: Obama vs. Obama.
• Olbermann: Obama being like Bush.
• Headzup: Barack Obama and Pat Robertson vs gay marriage.
• Maddow: Obama administration turns Republican on Defense of Marriage Act.
• Olbermann with James Risen: The eavesdropping continues (via Crooks and Liars).

FAUX News is Worst Person in the World!

Maddow: The unhinged “Birther” movement.

Young Turks: SC Republican official calls Michelle Obama a Gorilla.

Jeffery Smith (DOJ) is Worst Person in the World!

I Ran An Election:

• Voices and protests
• Fergusson with a political monologue.
• Letterman: Top 10 messages on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s answering machine
• Jon on social network news
• Jason Jones goes to Iran.
• Music video: Upon Iran’s stolen election
• Young Turks: The protests continue.
• Sam Seder with Random Rush (Obama on Iran).
• Iran’s Supreme Leader: Election was a definitive victory.

Maddow: More torture details (via Crooks and Liars).

Craig Ferguson: On broken bones.

Bill Maher with this week’s Real Time opening monologue.

Jon with blame (via OneGoodMove).

Swatter-in-chief:

• Obama’s no fly zone.
• Barely Political: master fly swatter
• Hannity with a bee in his bonnet (via Crooks and Liars).
• Young Turks: PITA swats back.

Attorney General Eric Holder tells Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who’s in charge (via ThinkProgress).

Jon with heal or no heal (via OneGoodMove).

VP Joe Biden questiones Dick Cheney’s judgement on national security. (via Crooks and Liars).

Maddow: To the moon!

Sen. Boxer would like some respect, yo.

The Anti-Obama Channel:

• Obama fingers FAUX News (via ThinkProgress).
• Young Turks: Obama calls out FAUX News.
• Oh…the OUTRAGE (via DailyKos).
• Young Turks: Hannity and Rove whine about things that happened in the last administration.
• FAUX Snow Job: Suspicions about former ABC reporter Linda Douglass in the White House communications shop (via DailyKos).

ONN: Gymnast euthanized after breaking leg.

Maddow: Yoo sued, defended by you.

Stephen does Josh Marshall (via TalkingPointsMemo).

Young Turks: Michael Steele’s crazy health police conspiracy.

David versus the person with the slutty flight attendant look daughter:

• David apologizes for real
• Young Turks: Letterman protesters day the darnedest things
• FAUX apoplexy (via DailyKos).
• Letterman: Top 10 things overheard at the Fire David Letterman rally.
• Sam Seder covers the Letterman protests.

Letterman with a mostly political monologue.

Bill Maher with some New Rules:

Bachmann Paranoid Overdrive:

• Kook-Job Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) on her censusophobia (via ThinkProgress).
• Ed with Psycho-Talk: Michelle Bachmann’s paranoia

Katrina Vanden Heuvel PWNS Congressman Eric Cantor on the G.O.P. fantasy health care plan.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.