A Spork in the Drawer

Legal Levity

It's worth noting that Sen. Franken is a major wonk so don't let the funny fool you.

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60 And Done

And thus begins The Al Franken Decade.

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Update: Norm throws in the towel.

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More Coleman Comedy

The former Senator from Minnesota, Norm Coleman, makes a whoopsie:

Last night, Coleman's entire online donor list received an e-mail from a Wikileaks.org e-mail address, notifying them that their private information had been posted in a publicly accessible area of Coleman's campaign site this past January 28, and has circulated out of public view. The e-mail also contained a link to the Minnesota statute requiring organizations to disclose "in the most expedient time possible" to any Minnesotan if they reasonably believe their private information was illicitly accessed, and informed recipients that they were being notified as a courtesy by Wikileaks, in case the Coleman camp hadn't already.

A spokesdrone hints that a political dirty-trick is being played on Norm.

It's interesting that the comedian who will soon be taking Coleman's seat in the Senate is less of a clown than Norm.

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Forgery Is Legal!

So sayeth Norm Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg:

Just now in court, Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg launched into an aggressive defense in the case of Douglas Thompson, the friendly Coleman witness from two days ago who said his absentee ballot should be counted even though his girlfriend forged his signature on the application. Thus, Thompson's ballot was rejected because of a very real signature mismatch against his own signature on the ballot itself.

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Friedberg: In point of fact, even though I did something I wasn't supposed to do with the application, my ballot should still count because my signature is genuine.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann: Not according to the procedures we use to determine whether the signature is genuine.

Friedberg: I don't care about your procedures.

(Franken lawyer calls an objection, is sustained.)

Friedberg: Okay, I do care...

It's easy to dismiss Coleman's clownish attempt to regain his Senate seat but the people of Minnesota are losing out bigtime. BooMan:

Norm Coleman's quixotic thermopylaeic battle to deny Franken his seat has succeeded only in screwing Minnesota out of potential seats on Foreign Relations, Banking, Agriculture, and Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. Those seats went to Mike Bennet of Colorado and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

When Franken finally takes his seat he will be able to make a mark on education, health, and labor policy. But he will do it as the 100 ranking member of the Senate and lowest ranking member of his committee. Good job, Coleman, you asshole.

Hell, even Coleman knows he's finished. Why else would he have taken a job as a lobbyist?

But Norm, at the behest of the RNC, is going to waste Minnesota's, the Senate's, and the Nation's time and money out of sheer pique.

The Republican Party: We put temper tantrums first!

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45 Days (Minimum)

Norm Coleman reaches new depths.

The courts ought to slap the little bastard down.

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Good (!)

Minnesotans just want ex-Senator Norm Coleman to go away already.

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The Al Franken Decade

That's 59 (assuming Roland Burris is seated).

However, there will, of course, be lawsuits and the Repubs are vowing to block the seating of Franken until they're resolved.

Bill O'Reilly (Artists' conception).

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Shorter...

Michael Gerson: Al Franken is a vulgar, vulgar comedian which is why we need more panty-sniffers like Ken Starr.

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