A Spork in the Drawer

60 And Done

And thus begins The Al Franken Decade.

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Update: Norm throws in the towel.

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Yes.

Continuing her jihad against the Constitutionally-mandated census, Minnesota's delightful Michele Bachmann today says:

"Does the federal government really need to know our phone numbers?" she asked. "Do they really need to know, like you said, the date and time that we leave mental stability?"

I, for one, would very much like to know "the date and time" at which Ms. Bachmann left mental stability.

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Hot Off The Wires!

Minnesota's Michele Bachmann is refusing to fill out census forms because Japanese-Americans were once put into concentration camps.

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Michele Bachmann: The Comic Book!

Coming soon!

[Via Eric Kleefeld.]

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Hoot-Smalley

If anything, Michele Bachmann is becoming crazier.

Here is Minnesota's 6th. Congressional District:

If you value your sanity at all, stay out of it.

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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.

[...]

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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Another Senate Pickup

Merkely edges Smith for the win.

Minnesota is going to do a recount, Georgia a runoff, and nobody can figure out what's going on in Alaska.

So it's over but it isn't over.

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Is There Anything That Michele Bachman Can't Do?

The Shame of Minnesota has single-handedly brought gas prices down:

At a St. Cloud rally on Wednesday, Bachmann greeted supporters. She was appearing at the rally in support of Sen. Norm Coleman whose been campaigning with Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But afterwards she was surrounded by supporters, taking credit for falling gas prices.

"Gas was $2.04 a gallon today and that was my goal when I started out earlier this year. My goal was to have us get to $2 ... today in the district it's $2.04 so we're almost there," she told one voter.

Quite a woman, Josephine McCarthy is.

[Via Jane.]

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Sinking

After saying she was "trapped" by Tweety the Shame of Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, this morning makes an appearance on Mike Gallagher's wingnut radio show and proceeds to reverse herself. Again:

BACHMANN: And they can’t take it because the point is what are Barack Obama’s policies? Are they for America or will they be against traditional American ideals and values? And I’ll tell you what. Punishing tax rates, redistribution of wealth, socialized medicine, inputing censorship in the form of the un-Fairness Doctrine and taking away the secret ballot from the worker has nothing to do with traditional American values. That’s why your listeners need to know. Otherwise the United States may be literally changed forever.

When Gallagher asked, “How is it not reasonable to wonder if that’s anti-American?,” Bachmann did not disagree with him. Instead, she simply replied, “what I did is touch a nerve, just like Joe the Plumber touched a nerve.”

(Audio at link.)

But rapidly changing stories are the least of Michele's problems now. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has abandoned her. Eric Kleefeld:

Bachmann could still potentially win, as this district voted 57%-42% for George W. Bush in 2004. But she's now on her own. It's a rare thing for a national party to totally cut off an incumbent, so this should give you an idea of just how unpopular Bachmann is among Washington Republicans right now.

Damned shame, huh?

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Shifting Blame

Michele Bachmann, the Shame of Minnesota, blames Chris Matthews:

Bachmann concluded the interview by circling back to where she began: “I didn’t bring the word choice up. That was Chris Matthews who brought the word choice up. Unfortunately, like I said, I walked into a trap.”

Like the gallows, the threat of losing an election does tend to focus the mind.

At least it would if the mind in question was sane.

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Bow Down Before The Internets!

Since the Shame of Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, went on her McCarthyistic rant last week her DFL challenger, El Tinklenberg, has raised over $640,000.

And it has gotten even worse for mal belle Michele as her primary challenger, Aubrey Immelman, has filed to run as an independent with the intention of knocking-off Bachmann.

As a reminder of just how insane Michele is here are some pictures of her "observing" a rally to defeat one of her anti-gay bills in 2005:

Lurking behind bushes isn't a sign of good mental health. Of course, neither is kissing them

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Josephine McCarthy

America's newest cuddly fascist, Michelle Bachmann, the shame of Minnesota, is in trouble, election-wise. The first thing you can do is throw some cash at her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg (I gave $25) to try and get Michelle (nobody's belle) out of Congress and, hopefully, into a padded cell. Then sign the petition to urge the House to censure Bachmann for her McCarthyistic threats.

People like Bachmann have no place in Congress let alone in a civil society.

After her fascistic comments (delivered with the standard robo-smile, of course) the editor of the Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel, had some words for Bachmann:

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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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