Franken wins by +312.
Lazy, cloudy Sunday here, a bit damp (we could use the rain to green things up. Thought I'd look at the crossword, the jumble and the sudoku today.
Lets see.
The Former Senator: Mr. 11Across (A) Modern eohippus// 14Down (D). Set of artificial teeth.
TODAY is DAY 6 since the Election Contest Court (ECC) handed down its decision in Coleman v. Franken. Coleman has 4 days left to 2D. "Rank and ___" an appeal with the MN Supreme Court or the decision becomes final.
1.(A) Old time furnace fuel delivery man. Var. C-o-l-e-m-a-n met with the 3A."Burning gas ball in space"...s-t-a-r 4D. second letter from 3A:"Roman official"...hmmmm (T)...r-i-b-u-n-e for an 16A. Opp. of outer- view.
Mr. 11A + 14D: We believe very strongly that there are thousands of Minnesotans who voted through absentee ballots and didn't know that their ballots had been rejected until these proceedings began.......
There was no malicious intent; good judges made decisions that resulted in the disenfranchisement of voters -- that's a constitutional problem.
But one of the chief grounds for a constitutional argument for equal 31D. Opp of anti-tection is malicious intent: election officials who say these voters shouldn't vote because they are 14A. Not male 17A. Not white 26D. "______ and paid for". If there is no malicious intent that 11D. "Iran-_____: Reagan era scandal"- dicts the idea there was UN-equal protection, yes?
There ARE statewide standards that are implemented locally. That is NOT an equal protection issue. As Franken attorney Marc Elias said to the Pioneer Press:
..... Virginia requires voters to show photo ID, but Minnesota does not. Yet no one would argue that this variation in administering a national election invalidates the result in a national presidential race. "You're always going to have variations between jurisdictions,'' he said. "There's nothing in the constitution that says that's wrong.''
When all the absentee ballots were in, 10,962 of them were 26A. Not accepted, r- j c ed for one of 4 legal reasons. Norm, when you filed your court case you only wanted 4797 counted. Isn't that UNequal protection for the other 6165, because yours would be counted and the others would not? Or are you arguing all 10962 should be counted? The ECC called that 41D. a-b-s-u-r-d. If all 10962 get counted, then we have no state standard, just like 57A. Capital is Tallahassee. If none can be rejected the law passed by the MN legislature to govern elections is 48A."___ and void" See 41D. Then the need for a legislature is 29A. "All or ___" which is also 35D. See 41D.
I know, this is what 43A. Author of "Das Kapital"____ Marx Rove means when he says "permanent Republican majority". Fortunately Mr. 1743A. 3rd US President and Mr. 1751D. 4th US President set up a democracy, NOT a 26D. Ancient tyrant satrap ship/ "d-i-c-t-a-t-o-r-" ship.
The (Election Contest) court was wrong to say it didn't have jurisdiction to deal with equal protection. As a result, we weren't able to introduce the full range of evidence.
Mr. Furnace Fuel Delivery Man? The ECC spent 46A. Number of cents in a quarter pages on equal protection, utterly 19D. Display contempt, street slang---mantling every piece of Equal protection they could reach. And for cryin' out loud: "we weren't able to introduce the full range of evidence"? You had 5 full freakin' weeks! What a bunch of 37A. Male bovine droppings.
ON POLLS THAT SAY HE SHOULD STEP ASIDE
I'm not going to stick my finger to the wind and say here's a poll, here's what we should do.
22D. "X,_, Z" 33A. "Here's ______ back from your dollar"
52.A "Every ______ and then."??
ON HIS POLITICAL FUTURE
I say this humbly: I don't spend 30 seconds worrying about my political future.
When you have to point out a character trait it usually means you ain't got it. Sort of like shopping at "Honest John's Used Cars." But I have to agree with the second part; indeed, I'll beat it. I don't spend 19A. "4, 3, 2, _" second worrying about that 36D. "Past, present, _______" either.
The Governor of MN
Patricia Lopez got a front page, under the fold story on Governor Pawlenty, looking at how the waters are rising around him as the Senate race grinds into the 22A. Diana Ross and the ______ Court. Lopez quotes T-Paw as waiting until the court stuff plays out before he has to face the music. We may not like it, but its completely true and a fairly safe spot for him.
Where he heads off for trouble is when he start saying stuff like, "the federal courts might stay the (state) court proceedings. We want a chance to see."--to Rachel Maddow.
He also says once the Supreme Court hands down its ruling, "I will evaluate genuinely and seriously at that point. Its quite unfair to say what you would do in advance of all that."
But elections law expert Raleigh Levine, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law, said Pawlenty may not have any such purview."The [Minnesota] statute does not give him any grounds for saying 'Wait for the federal court,'" Levine said. "I think he'd be on pretty shaky ground saying he needed to do a review once the state Supreme Court decides the case. He has mandatory responsibility to issue the certificate when all the requirements have been met. There isn't any discretion there."
Sounds like T-Paw is trying to create discretion.....is that creating an indescretion?
Oh, an another quarter heard from..... from the man who likely has "666D" tattooed somewhere on his scalp:
Would a federal court appeal prevent an election certificate from being issued?
That's "an open question,'' said Ben Ginsberg, Coleman's lead attorney and a player in the Bush vs. Gore recount.
Fortunately, appearing in the Gregory Peck role to answer Damien,
Marc Elias, Franken's lead recount attorney, said he finds it "curious'' that Pawlenty would imply that the decision is his to make.
Pawlenty "does not get to apply his own, independent legal analysis to this issue," Elias said. "The governor's role is ministerial -- to prepare the paperwork. He's not the decider here."
Thank all the holies that are out there! I am HEARTILY sick of self-proclaimed deciderers littering the American political scene like an rat-infested, overturned dumpster. Governor, if it gets to your desk, sign the certificate and just ....shut... up. If you need help NOT talking, just go see Michele Bachmann. She hasn't kissed anyone like a $10 "sex worker" since the '07 State of the Union and she's probably in the mood.
OK thats a weekend edition. Hope this will hold you with the latest news from yust southeast of 87A. Garrison Keillor locale.
7D. "Peace" in Hebrew.