Norman Coleman's very own corruption scandal

[mickyv]

(I give up with stupid html syntax codes !)

Thanks Faceless !

[faceless]

Recount’s a laughing matter
By James Cusick,
Westminster Editor
Sunday Herald (Scotland)

RECOUNTS, LAWYERS, delays, courts, contested ballots, missing votes, broken voting machines, and even the possibility of a state's supreme court. Everything that could have happened, but didn't, in the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain is happening instead in Minnesota in the Senate recount between the Saturday Night Live satirist, Al Franken, and the Republican senator Norm Coleman.

Coleman, you will recall, was the ill-advised senator who tried to take on George Galloway, alleging the Respect MP had received payment from Saddam Hussein. In the so-called "lions den" of a Washington hearing, Coleman was in the direct firing line of Galloway's finest. Despite the mauling, he survived. But perhaps not for much longer.

On November 4, Coleman found himself up against Franken, as the candidate for the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party, which might sound like a coalition trinity, but is the official state chapter of the US Democrats. When the ballots were first counted, Coleman was ahead by only 215 votes, less than 0.0075% of the 2.8 million votes cast. A recount was automatic. But starting again isn't a simple process in the USA. Why? One word and one date explains why not - Florida in 2000.

So, just before the lawyers and the courts get involved, as they will, how is the recount progressing? With 94.3% of the recount done, Franken is in the lead. Turns out there were a few errors, a few missing boxes, and some broken machines causing a bit of trouble.

So is the Senate about to get its first Emmy award-winning Saturday Night Live scriptwriter and performer as a member? Hell, I hope so. It would be like putting Rory Bremner, John Bird and John Fortune in the Commons. Franken is serious about pursuing a universal health-care system, raising taxes on oil companies and increasing the federal budgets for college students and student loans. But it's what a satirist can bring to the official political arena that's so enticing a prospect.

On Iraq, for instance, Franken had a view. "They told us that when we invaded, we'd be greeted with sweets and flowers. They left out the crucial modifier: exploding'." On George Bush's social security shortfall of $11 trillion, Franken said that if this was spread over "infinity years" it was nothing. "Over the first 11 trillion years, that's just a dollar a year. Easy. After that, it's over, you're done. What, exactly, is the problem?"

After Alistair Darling's I-speak-your-weight PBR and Michael Martin's "it wisnae me" speech, we urgently need a Franken - or at least Bremner, Bird or Fortune - in the Commons.

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go on the Franken!

[nekokate]

I just bought a used copy of "Pants on Fire: How Al Franken Lies, Smears, and Deceives by Alan Skorski" from an Amazon.co.uk marketplace seller for 26 pence plus postage. It should be a hilarious read - I love it when neocon authors try to talk shit about excellent human beings such as Al. I bet it's in the same style as that recent book, what was it called? Obama Nation (abomination). Meh.

Go Al! Minnesota needs you!

[nekokate]

Senate GOP to Block Attempt to Seat Franken Early
Counties Wrap Up Absentee Sorting in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The top Senate Republican said his caucus would block any attempt to seat Democrat Al Franken until an anticipated court case over Minnesota's close election is finished and an official election certificate is conferred.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Friday that Republicans would object to seating the race leader Mr. Franken sooner. A filibuster would require 60 votes to break -- a few more than Democrats currently hold in Washington.

Mr. Franken holds a 49-vote lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, pending the resolution of the absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's campaign has declined to say whether he would try to take his seat immediately if the canvassing board certifies him the winner. Senate Democrats haven't indicated what they would do if Mr. Franken's lead over Sen. Coleman holds up after the recount ends. The loser can appeal the recount result in court.

Sen. Cornyn's threat means it is probable that Minnesota will have only one senator when the new Congress convenes Tuesday. A court challenge and possible appeals could keep it that way for several months. Coleman's term expires at noon EST on Saturday.

Counties had until the end of the day Friday to make their reports to the Secretary of State's office. Hennepin and Beltrami counties were among those still sorting. Election officials around the state began meeting earlier this week with representatives for Sen. Coleman and Mr. Franken. All sides had to agree that an absentee ballot was incorrectly rejected before it could be forwarded to the state for counting.

The state Canvassing Board is hoping to certify a winner next week.

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Just keepin' y'all up to date...

[major.tom]

It looks very good for Franken.

[mickyv]

Looks like he's won it !

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/05/minnesota.recount/index.html

And the Right Wingers are blaming Galloway !

http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/01/06/meanwhile-back-in-the-states-2/

And this is funny as they knew Coleman was a loser the moment he met GG;

http://lastofthefamous.blogspot.com/2005/05/galloway-scares-shit-for-brains.html

[faceless]

Coleman Officially Challenges His Election Loss
January 6, 2009
huffingtonpost.com

Sen. Norm Coleman announced on Tuesday that he has instructed his legal team to challenge the result of the Minnesota Senate recount that left Democrat Al Franken 225 votes ahead.

"I really believe that the people of Minnesota want to get this right, no matter what side of the aisle you are on," the Senator declared before a gaggle of reporters.

The move by Coleman -- officially contesting the election to the Ramsey County Court -- ensures that there will be no second seated Senator from the state of Minnesota for the foreseeable future. Senate Democrats have declined to use procedural methods to seat Al Franken, who has officially won more votes in the election, until he has a signed certification from the governor.

Coleman, in a brief press conference, argued that the state canvassing board had disenfranchised some voters through a variety of decisions made during the course of the recount process. "Until these issues are settled," he said, "any attempt to seat a Senator who is not properly certified violates Senate precedent, and usurps the will of the people of Minnesota."

UPDATE: In a brief press conference after Coleman's statement, the (former) Senator's lead attorney, Fritz Knaak, warns Minnesotans that the challenge could take some time. "I would not be surprised if this went a month a half, two months out," he said. "Technically we could redo the entire recount. I can tell you right now, that is not in the plans."

Oy.

In a conference call with reporters following the announcement of Coleman's lawsuit, Al Franken's chief counsel, Marc Elias, called the move a regrettable diversion from filling Minnesota's now vacant Senate seat, one that would not change the final results.

Saying that Franken's margin was "close but comfortable," Elias dismissed the complaints contained in Coleman's suit as already settled terrain. "Today we have all learned that Sen. Coleman has decided to fight that fight no matter how long the odds are or how much the cost will be," said Elias. There is nothing in what was filed today that was new ... And the results will be the same this time as it was before."

Elias parlayed several questions about the refusal of Senate Democrats to seat Franken while the election results are being certified and litigated. He declined to call the lawsuit illegitimate, saying simply that it was frivolous. "The great thing about America is that the court systems remain open to all kinds of claims ... So I won't say it is illegitimate because that's what the courts are there for. But you shouldn't confuse that ... with the question of whether or not those cases have any merit."

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[DavidGig]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken_and_coleman_publicly_come_together_on_isra.php

[faceless]

It's nice to know they can agree on who it's ok to kill.

[luke]

yeah, franken's gone right down in my book

[nekokate]

Oh, dear. No, Al, no. Still, you have to admit he's a major improvement on Coleman. Even Obama is pro Israel, remember?

[mickyv]

Not all that's surprising when it's recalled that he was originally pro the war on Iraq;

Not long to go to see if the big question mark over Obama over Israel is valid ?

[major.tom]

I'm disappointed to see Franken take this stance as well.

At least there are still some politicians brave enough to take a moral stand. Kucinich was on Democracy Now today.

[cobweb]

An update from a find while trawling the net on this subject:

"There were 1350 absentee ballots that the election judges admit were improperly rejected. These are the ballots that the MN Supreme Court said must be counted, but only the ones that both campaigns can agree upon. Initially, Franken wanted to count all 1350, while Coleman only 46, which, surprise, was about what he was behind. Somehow the two campaigns agreed to count 900 of them, 176 more going to Franken than Coleman, giving Franken his 200+ vote lead.

The 650 absentee ballots your friend mentions are not part of that 1350 ballots. These are additional absentee ballots that Coleman wants counted, all from precincts he handily won, and were rejected by election judges on election night, rejected again during the hand recount, and rejected a third time when the canvassing board told the judges to go through all rejected absentee ballots and make sure they fall into 1 of the 4 legal reasons the ballot should not be counted.

It is these ballots that Coleman is suing to get counted, in addition to now wanting to throw out those 900 absentee ballots that were counted and he had previously agreed to count on the grounds that all 1350 should have been counted."

All as clear as mud I'm sure you'll agree but basically it's turned into a totally undignified scamble by Coleman to try and keep his seat regardless of methods or ethics.

[major.tom]

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Coleman certainly drew this one out -- 6 full months into the year.