U.S. Senate: Burning Down the House

[Crazed Rabbit]

Paterson has appointed an upstate NRA-backed conservative Dem congresswoman!

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson, defying the liberal wing of his Democratic Party, has chosen little-known, NRA-backed, upstate Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as New York's junior senator, it was learned last night.

The surprising - and, for many Democrats shocking - decision to pick the conservative Gillibrand, 42, from Hudson in Columbia County, was disclosed by the governor in calls to party officials and some members of the state's congressional delegation, many of whom said they were unhappy with the selection, sources said.

Hahaha! This is great! So much better than Andrew "End Run Around the Constitution" Cuomo!

CR

[Lemur]

I'm just glad it's not another Kennedy. Down with dynasties!

[HoreTore]

I'm just glad it's not another Kennedy. Down with dynasties!

Bah!

Admit it, you envy our dynastic ways! You're just jealous because our dynasties are proper inbreds, unlike yours!

[CountArach]

Bah!

Admit it, you envy our dynastic ways! You're just jealous because our dynasties are proper inbreds, unlike yours!

American ones just act like inbreds.

[Lemur]

Today is a great day for lizard people.

A three-judge panel ruled that as many as 4,790 rejected absentee ballots can be considered for inclusion in the Minnesota Senate recount, adding a new wrinkle to the long-lasting Minnesota Senate recount between Coleman and Al Franken.

The court ruling is a victory for Coleman’s camp, which has been trying to get thousands of additional ballots counted in its efforts to overturn Franken’s 225-vote lead over Coleman.

The inclusion of these absentee ballots is at the center of the Coleman’s camp’s legal challenge. [...]

So only a subset of the 4,700 absentee ballots -- identified by the Coleman camp -- will be added to the count. The inclusion of additional ballots could be enough to shrink Franken’s lead, but unless most of them end up being included, it would still be difficult for Coleman to overturn his 225-vote deficit.

[Lemur]

More bad news for Coleman. But then, he took a lobbying job already, so I guess he kind of knew this wasn't going to go his way.

The judges in Minnesota's U.S. Senate trial say Republican Norm Coleman has not yet shown a widespread problem with absentee voters being denied the right to vote.

In a ruling Friday, the three-judge panel says rejected absentee ballots in 12 of 19 categories should not be counted in the Senate race. That's a setback for Coleman, who wanted to count ballots in all but three categories.

Coleman is trying to undo Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote lead by arguing that thousands of rejected absentee ballots should be counted. But the order from the judges will limit the number of ballots to be reviewed for counting.

[KukriKhan]

Wut a way to run a railroad.

[Spino]

Today is a great day for lizard people.

A three-judge panel ruled that as many as 4,790 rejected absentee ballots can be considered for inclusion in the Minnesota Senate recount, adding a new wrinkle to the long-lasting Minnesota Senate recount between Coleman and Al Franken.

The court ruling is a victory for Coleman’s camp, which has been trying to get thousands of additional ballots counted in its efforts to overturn Franken’s 225-vote lead over Coleman.

The inclusion of these absentee ballots is at the center of the Coleman’s camp’s legal challenge. [...]

So only a subset of the 4,700 absentee ballots -- identified by the Coleman camp -- will be added to the count. The inclusion of additional ballots could be enough to shrink Franken’s lead, but unless most of them end up being included, it would still be difficult for Coleman to overturn his 225-vote deficit.

Sammy Sleestack will have his day in court! The Lizard People have spoken!

[Lemur]

Now Coleman suggests a do-over election. If Franken agreed, who would foot the bill for another election? Does this sound workable or advisable to anyone?

[Coleman said] "Yeah, you know some folks are now talking about simply saying run it again, just run it again."

"Have another statewide election?" Wilkow asked.

Coleman responded: "You know the St. Paul Pioneer Press is...one of the second largest papers in the state, last week [they] said we're never going to figure this out, just run it again. So you start hearing that. Ultimately the court has to make a determination, can they confirm, can they certify who got the most legally cast votes?"

[ICantSpellDawg]

Paterson has appointed an upstate NRA-backed conservative Dem congresswoman!



Hahaha! This is great! So much better than Andrew "End Run Around the Constitution" Cuomo!

CR

I'm psyched. That was clearly a responsible and relatively middle ground appointment. If she doesn't turn out to be a psycho hose-beast, I might vote for her just to keep her in action. No more Hillary and her ilk. I've always even liked Chuck Schumer - honorable people who care about New York and have some talent.

Clinton is a monster. Kennedy is an entitled dud.

Dynasties and Royalty can create great heirs and heroes, but they also have more instances of inbreeding. JFK seemed like a dynastic talent, George H W Bush had a special knack for foreign policy, etc.
Filter them out mercilessly and maybe you'll find one or two worth voting for.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I'm psyched. That was clearly a responsible and relatively middle ground appointment. If she doesn't turn out to be a psycho hose-beast, I might vote for her just to keep her in action. No more Hillary and her ilk. I've always even liked Chuck Schumer - honorable people who care about New York and have some talent.

Clinton is a monster. Kennedy is an entitled dud.

Dynasties and Royalty can create great heirs and heroes, but they also have more instances of inbreeding. JFK seemed like a dynastic talent, George H W Bush had a special knack for foreign policy, etc.
Filter them out mercilessly and maybe you'll find one or two worth voting for.

I'm a bit more cynical than you with this. Paterson is looking to win a gubernatorial election not too long from now. To do so, he needs upstate votes and not just NYC & Albany. This is a good tool for doing that -- picks off middle-of-the-road types for him. Moreover, I think Cuomo has his sights set on the same office, though maybe a term or two further down the road.

Clinton is not a monster, just amoral -- not that this makes me all "warm and fuzzy" towards her. Schlossberg would have been a big crowd pleaser among the Dems, though her whole first few years would have to have been pure OJT. At least this nominee can be seen as an experienced legislatrix.

As to Schumer, I tend to loathe his policy stances on 90% of the issues -- but I will admit that he does keep the interestes of NY in mind (some Senators lose their path more thoroughly).

[Crazed Rabbit]

The ship is sinking! Commence firing!

Gov Paterson unloads on Kennedy.

According to sources, at least - but why am I not surprised at this evaluation of Kennedy?

CR

[Lemur]

Lots of news today, let's see, Blago said he considered Oprah, and he's going on a media blitz tour while the Illinois Senate indicts him. How does he walk with balls that big?

Also, a New Yorker writer produces one of their 10,000 word articles about Caroline Kennedy. It's a long, tedious read, redeemed by the a few choice quotes:

Caroline Kennedy’s friends are always saying how normal she is, and it appears that they are right. Normal people do not run for the Senate. Normal people with lots of money and families that they like tend to want to enjoy the money and the families. They do not spend their winters on the phone grovelling for support, or their summers at obscure state fairs ingesting disagreeable and fattening local food. [...]

Paterson has appointed Kirsten Gillibrand, a second-term congresswoman from Hudson, near Albany. “Paterson has no comprehension of upstate New York, absolutely none, and has chosen someone better at representing cows than people,” Lawrence O’Donnell says. “What you have is the daughter of a lobbyist, instead of the daughter of a former President or the son of a former governor. This is the hack world producing the hack result that the hacks are happy with.”

-edit-

Blago on The View, part 1 and part 2.

[Xiahou]

Paterson has appointed Kirsten Gillibrand, a second-term congresswoman from Hudson, near Albany. “Paterson has no comprehension of upstate New York, absolutely none, and has chosen someone better at representing cows than people,” Lawrence O’Donnell says. “What you have is the daughter of a lobbyist, instead of the daughter of a former President or the son of a former governor. This is the hack world producing the hack result that the hacks are happy with.”

That alone leads me to think it was a decent choice. If this blowhard hates her so much, she can't be all bad.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Paterson has appointed Kirsten Gillibrand, a second-term congresswoman from Hudson, near Albany. “Paterson has no comprehension of upstate New York, absolutely none, and has chosen someone better at representing cows than people,” Lawrence O’Donnell says. “What you have is the daughter of a lobbyist, instead of the daughter of a former President or the son of a former governor. This is the hack world producing the hack result that the hacks are happy with.”[/indent]

Memo from the 21st century, pal:
We no longer select rulers by dynasty. You better try real hard to get your tiny, rigid brain around that fact.

And yes, Blago has some massive cojones. But it's all for nothing.

CR

[Lemur]

I'd just like to know what's so bad about representing cows?

-edit-

Meanwhile, the Franken-Coleman trial began this afternoon. I'm sure it's all terribly exciting, although Coleman has kind of shown his hand by taking a lobbyist job already.

[Ironside]

Memo from the 21st century, pal:
We no longer select rulers by dynasty. You better try real hard to get your tiny, rigid brain around that fact.

And yes, Blago has some massive cojones. But it's all for nothing.

CR

You just keep naming them as such...

Obama II vs Mccain III
Bush II vs Kerry
Bush II vs Gore II
Clinton III (well, before the name change) vs Dole

It was slightly better before that though, but the senate seems to have a simular naming habit.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yeah, yeah got a new hobby pointing that out after I realized how commmon that is in the US