Hey, Minnesota, have you had enough yet? Truly, can there be any greater assault on the manhood of a State than to say, "You've only got one nut (in the Senate)"? I bet that stings almost as much as the fleeting memory of a certain Little Brown Jug.
As former Saturnday Night Live! comedian and duly elected representative Al Franken waits for the will of Minnesotans to be put into full effect, Republicans everywhere are wailing and gnashing their teeth, and they don't mean to stop anytime soon.
Even with the Minnesota Supreme Court validating the election results, other odious members of the GOP continue to push former Senator Norm Coleman to take his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. In their wild-eyed desperation, they're also leaning on Governor Tim Pawlenty not to certify the election results - never mind his aspirations for national office.
Conservatives mask their raw obstructionism by invoking the rights of every voter to cast, and have counted, a ballot. Such concern was nowhere to be found shortly after the election. Back then, with an apparent lead, Coleman called on Franken to concede in order to save the taxpayers the cost of a recount even though such was mandated by state law.
Coleman lucked into that seat anyway, as he stood little chance against incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone in 2oo2, but Wellstone died in a plane crash just weeks before the election and the Democrats inexplicably countered with Walter Mondale. Since he didn't exactly arrive with a mandate, getting dumped for Franken shouldn't be so shocking.
Whenever Franken gets seated (the opposition threatens to somehow filibuster even that) the Democrats will have little need of Republican support in order to pass any sort of legislation they like. Conservatives have thus abandoned all manner of pride in this venture. They realize this is embarrassing but they can't afford to care.
Neither, then, can the good people of Minnesota. Recent polls tell us that nearly two-thirds of them want Coleman to concede already and get this past election over with before the next one begins. They're probably not very happy with Pawlenty's mime act, either.
Keep in mind, based on the weather alone, that these are not fickle people in Minnesota. Remember Jesse Ventura? Don't laugh; save it for your first encounter with Michelle Bachmann.
Eventually this current charade will come to a halt, and Norm "God Wants Me To Serve" Coleman will be tossed out with the rest of the of 'o8 Republicans. So Minnesotans can take solace in two things. One is that Barack Obama genuinely wants to avoid any further bridge collapses in your state (and every other).
Better yet is this: At least you're not... quite... Alaska.
pH 4.17.o9
No comments:
Post a Comment