The Final US Election Thread

[Gawain of Orkeny]

wow. over 13,000 posts....

Well Im slipping as ive been away a year or so. At least from here. Not in any trouble as good old Tribsy would infer
:)

Who do you want the old shmuck or the young shmuck.

[Hooahguy]

Well Im slipping as ive been away a year or so. At least from here. Not in any trouble as good old Tribsy would infer
:)

Who do you want the old shmuck or the young shmuck.

whichever shmuck is the best for the org

[Proletariat]

whichever shmuck is the best for the org

I think I speak for many when I vouch that both of these pains in the ass are very integral to the backroom, if not the org.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I concur with milady. Both voices are of value.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I see most of the same old crew is still haning out here. Happy New Year guys


As to the elections why do we even bother. Its a sad joke.

GAWAIN! You've returned! Welcome back! Happy New Year!

I hope you're doing good and had a Merry Christmas.

Crazed Rabbit

[CrossLOPER]

I see most of the same old crew is still haning out here. Happy New Year guys


As to the elections why do we even bother. Its a sad joke.

Hello to you too!

[Hooahguy]

just curious, but will this thread be closed when obamas takes office?

[Banquo's Ghost]

Yes, I think we'll have done with it by then.

I had expected it to slowly fade from the scene, but people still find new information to slot in here. Anyway, I think I'm right in saying there is still a senatorial recount going on, and that strictly the Electoral College votes have not been counted and verified by Congress, so the presidential election is still in doubt?

[CountArach]

Anyway, I think I'm right in saying there is still a senatorial recount going on

Indeed, Franken has pulled ahead of Coleman in the recount, but it will not be completed until early to mid January.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The College of Electors have already cast their votes. This results of this vote will be reviewed and certified by Congress as their first act of business on 6 January 2009. Actually, Obama is only President-elect as of that certification, though that is really being picayune.

The 11/2008 elections will not be fully concluded until the finish of the MN recount and the certification thereof by the Minnesota legislature. Looks as though we'll be seeing Senator Franken -- his attorneys are doing a better job with ballots than are Coleman's.

[Lemur]

Looks as though we'll be seeing Senator Franken

I had my hopes pinned on the Lizard People. It's about time Minnesota sent a Sleestax-American to the Senate.

[Martok]

Al Franken has taken a VERY narrow lead in the Minnesota recount.

This could be THE cinderalla story of the election. From Coke-crazed comic to civic centerpiece in 3 decades!

....Which, incidentally, appears to be about how long this ****in' recount is going to take.


Seriously, it would be nice to have a Senator in time for the new session. [grumbles]

[Crazed Rabbit]

Blagofabitch has appointed someone to the Senate seat - the former Illinois Attorney General, Roland Burris.

A former black panther, now Congressman from Illinois, Bobby Rush, approved on the grounds that Burris is black.

The Democrats and Obama are standing firm, right now, in opposition to any pick by Blagofabitch and are saying they will refuse to seat him.

CR

[CountArach]

Actually Reid has very few legitimate powers to block the appointment:

The notion that the Democrats can refuse to seat Roland Burris out of hand is, at best, constitutionally dodgy. This is because of the Supreme Court's 1967 Powell v McCormack decision, in which it ruled that the Congress's power to judge the qualifications of its members is expressly limited to the conditions mentioned in the Constitution (e.g. age, residency, and U.S. Citizenship). If the Congress wants to deny membership for any other reason, it has another power, which is expulsion. Although the power of expulsion is much broader than the power of exclusion, it comes with a higher price tag: two-thirds of the Senate must vote to expel one of its members rather than a simple majority.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Roland Burris, the appointee, is a scumbag worse than Blagofabitch.

In 1992 he tried to get an innocent man executed while he was running for governor - maybe to look tough, maybe because he had no regard for law or justice, or maybe because he is startlingly incompetent. By that time another man had already confessed and a police detective and prosecutor had resigned in protest of the continued prosecution of Rolando Cruz.

In 1995 the prosecution continued even after DNA evidence showed Cruz didn't commit the crime. He was finally released after the state supreme court ordered a new trial which did not exclude the confession of the other man.

Blagofabitch took bribes. Burris tried to commit murder.

CR

[Lemur]

CR, could you just once post Blagodinnerjacket/Burris posts in the thread created for that purpose?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Hey, it has to do with the election as well, especially with the considerations of how the democrats say they are going to block the appointment. But I'll copy my post over there just for you.

CR

[ICantSpellDawg]

CR, could you just once post Blagodinnerjacket/Burris posts in the thread created for that purpose?

Lemur just hates when you attack his side, because he is a notorious partisan. I'm suprised though, because even his side is against this appointment.

It would probably be well placed in the other thread as well, but we are trying to tie it into a larger narrative - since it is tied inexorably to the '08 election, I think it belongs here, as does the Franken/Coleman race and the Kennedy appointment.

Burris is being appointed because of the election of Barack Obama and will be a new Senator to be seated in the new Congress along with all of the other, slightly more elected newcomers.

[Lemur]

Yes, it's clearly my partisan bias, my mouth-frothing liberalism on the line when I ask that someone post in the thread Devastatin' Dave created about Blago. In fact, I got the idea of asking CR to post in there from MoveOn.org and the National Earth Shoe Appreciators' Lesbian Society, where I get my marching orders.

TuffStuff, what's gotten into you? You used to wait until you had some sort of basis before making the ad hominem assaults?

-edit-

Oh, I see, you can't possibly discuss the Illinois corruption explosion in the thread DevDave created for it, 'cause that wouldn't allow you to tie it in with all Democrats everywhere, which would violate your First Amendment rights or something. Claro que si.

Burris is being appointed because of the election of Barack Obama and will be a new Senator to be seated in the new Congress along with all of the other, slightly more elected newcomers.

And all of it is happening on Earth, which means that we should move these comments to the Science Forum.

I'm terribly sorry I asked anyone to move any posts to a more closely-related thread. I blame DevDave for starting a Blago thread in the first place. How dare he?

[ICantSpellDawg]

TuffStuff, what's gotten into you? You used to wait until you had some sort of basis before making the ad hominem assaults?

What discussion of the '08 replacement of Senator Obama is appropriate here, only that which shines neutrally of favorably on the Democratic party?

I don't care about the Blago nonsense - I just don't see why you deem it necessary to effect some restriction on an applicable topic. This is the Election thread - yet you've made it seem like associating Burris as a replacement to the Senate seat held, until now, by Obama is as unrelated as politics is to science?

[Lemur]

What discussion of the '08 replacement of Senator Obama is appropriate here, only that which shines neutrally of favorably on the Democratic party?

All I have done to excite the ire and vitriol of you and CR was to ask that the discussion of Blago be moved to the thread DevDave created for that purpose.

Show me where I have said that you must discuss Dems in a positive light. Show me where I have been a frothy partisan on this topic. Show us all, please.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Lots of adjectives

I never called you a frothing partisan. I was trying to say something simple.

The appointment of Burris applies to the election thread.

I'm off to "spew my vitriol" all over myself.

[Crazed Rabbit]

For cryin' out loud, how in the world did this become such a conflagration?

I guess my tone and inflection didn't translate well over the internet.

CR

[Lemur]

I never called you a frothing partisan.

Lemur just hates when you attack his side, because he is a notorious partisan.

I see, so the key difference is between "frothing" and "notorious."

[ICantSpellDawg]

For cryin' out loud, how in the world did this become such a conflagration?

I guess my tone and inflection didn't translate well over the internet.

CR

Tone and inflection rarely translate well over the internet.

I'm sorry for calling Lemur a notorious partisan. It is clear from his numerous posts in the Blago thread that he is capable of making fun of Democrats as well as Republicans. Although I believe that he clearly has biases as we all do; I understand that, like the rest of us, he is more interested in stifling corruption than simple partisanship.

While I don't care all that much about the Blago fiasco because I recognize that corruption follows both parties to an almost identical degree, I don't see why we can't talk about Burris in the election thread as well as the "Blago is a jerk" thread.

Although I shouldn't make unfounded ad-hominem attacks, I reserve my right to disagree with Lemur about where the topic is appropriate. I think my pettiness regarding the defense of the topic in the Election thread is comparable to his pettiness about it not being here. If someone doesn't think that is fair, please say so.