From The Colbert Report:

The Minnesota Supreme Court rushes to declare Al Franken the winner of the Senate race after only seven months.

Right on cue, Rush Limbaugh attacks Al Franken's victory in Minnesota.

LIMBAUGH: Look at this. From Iran's press television, the state-run media in Iran: Ahmadinejad gains votes in recount, just like in our country! It had -- just like in our country. Norm Coleman wins in Minnesota in a recount, and they keep having recounts, and Al Franken wins. So they had the recount in Iran, and shazzam! Ahmadinejad gained votes!

Hmmm, what to say, what to say. Are we all living in Iran now?

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So now Norm Coleman has conceded:

Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight.

Coleman announced his decision at a news conference in St. Paul, hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator, should be certified the winner.

"The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman told reporters outside his St. Paul home.

This means the hissy fit is truly and finally over. Except, of course, for the one Bill O'Reilly is going to throw.

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Finally, it looks like the longest hissy fit in Republican history is finally drawing to a close, eight months after the election:

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.

Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.

However, there's a final hitch:

Coleman's campaign didn't immediately return a call for comment. Nor did Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose signature is required on the election certificate Franken needs to be seated.

Pawlenty, a Republican, has said he would sign the certificate if ordered to do so by the court. The court's ruling stopped short of explicitly ordering the governor to sign the document, saying only that Franken was "entitled" to it.

You may recall that when Pawlenty was on TV earlier this week, he indicated he'd sign the certificate -- but used very lawyerly language in doing so:

... I'm going to follow the direction of the court, John. We expect that ruling any day now. I also expect them to give guidance and direction as to the certificate of election. I'm prepared to sign it as soon as they give the green light.

... Well, a federal court could stay or put a limit on or stop the effect of the state court ruling. If they chose, if they do that, I would certainly follow their direction. But if that doesn't happen promptly or drags out for any period of time, then we need to move ahead with signing this, particularly if I'm ordered to do that by the state court.

Now, it would be a mighty thin straw to grasp, but Pawlenty could say that since he wasn't ordered to sign it, he doesn't have to (and then point to any appeal filed by Coleman as a further excuse). Normally, I'd guess that sanity would prevail and Pawlenty wouldn't attempt it. But given the behavior of Minnesota's GOP throughout this fiasco, anything seems possible.

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Someone please tell me this means we are finally going to see a Sen. Al Franken some time in the next week or so. If Pawlenty actually signs the election certification once the Minnesota Supreme Court makes its ruling, it's about damned time. Enough with the games Governor.

KING: Welcome back to State of the Union. Let's continue our conversation with Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty.

Governor, I want to move on to what you think ails the national Republican Party. But first, a question that is very personal to you. Your state has only had one United States senator since the election because of the disputed election between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

Your state supreme court has a ruling before it, it could come very soon. After that ruling, the next step would be for you to certify the election. Will you certify the election based on your state's supreme court ruling, is that for you?

PAWLENTY: I'm going to follow the direction of the court, John. We expect that ruling any day now. I also expect them to give guidance and direction as to the certificate of election. I'm prepared to sign it as soon as they give the green light.

KING: And so if Norm Coleman loses at the state supreme court and says he's going to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, will you give him that time or will you say, sorry, Senator Coleman, our state supreme court, our highest court in this state, has spoken, and I will follow their lead?

PAWLENTY: Well, a federal court could stay or put a limit on or stop the effect of the state court ruling. If they chose, if they do that, I would certainly follow their direction. But if that doesn't happen promptly or drags out for any period of time, then we need to move ahead with signing this, particularly if I'm ordered to do that by the state court. KING: And if you're ordered to do it and they say Al Franken has narrowly won the election, you're prepared to sign it, if the court says so.

PAWLENTY: I'm not going to defy an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. That would be a dereliction of my duty. But a federal court could weigh in and say, don't do that and order a different result.

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty joined Neil Cavuto and talked up his next move in the Franken/Loserman election as the Minnesota State Supreme Court is getting ready to rule next month. Cavuto is all hot and bothered because bloggers and the unions are pushing Pawlenty to certify Franken. Pawlenty responded that Neil should name his show "Between a rock and a hard place." I have no idea what that means, but if I were to offer a guess, I'd say that he knows the court will rule in favor of Franken, but his Republican buddies want him to stall it for all of eternity. Unfortunately for Pawlenty, the Minnesota voters want this thing settled.

Pawlenty: Once the Minnesota Supreme Court rules I will follow their direction in the law in that regard and there's lots of different scenarios of where it could go from there. For example, our Minnesota Supreme Court could rule that the case has to be remanded down to a lower court for ballot opening and further recounting, they still have a variety of theories. If they do that, again The state election certificate cannot be issued until the state court process is complete. That's what our law says and I will follow the law in that regard.

Cavuto: There are also these reports from a number of powerful Republicans in your state that are telling Norm Coleman, you put up a good fight, but give it a rest, step down.

Pawlenty: Well, I'm not privy to those discussions or what Norm Coleman is going to do after the Supreme Court decision so that ball is in his court or maybe in Al Franken's court, if Al Franken loses. The same questions or pressures are going to be placed on him...

Cavuto: I think what they are saying is do it now, don't wait for this decision, just do it now.

Pawlenty is trying to tell us he hasn't heard from Republicans in his state about this election? Jesus... And Loserman, do it now. Yeah baby, do it now. Concede and move on.

To me it appears that Pawlenty will not allow his decision to be made by the Supreme Court led by John Roberts, and we should keep pushing him on that...

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Jesse Ventura wrapped up part of his book tour with an appearance on The Ed Show. Not as much fun as his body slamming of the right wingers who decided to try to take him on over whether waterboarding is torture or not, but a good interview none the less. He put the outrage over Pelosi into perspective and said that the Franken/Coleman debacle needs to come to an end and for Minnesota to finally have its second Senator after their Supreme Court rules in a couple of days.

Schultz: Governor, I've got to ask you, do you think that Nancy Pelosi has played this correctly, and has she really beaten back a real push by the conservatives to make her look terrible on all of this?

Ventura: Well to me, to me it's very much a smoke screen. Going after the Speaker doesn't get to the heart of the problem. The truth of the matter is if the Bush administration hadn't done torture this would all be irrelevant, so let's go to the, let's go to who started it all and that is the fact that, you know, Vice President Dick Cheney and his lawyers changed the name of torture and they called it enhanced interrogation, and they think that by just changing the name of something, that makes it acceptable.

Schultz: Well you have been very critical of the former Vice President. In your opinion as an American, do you think he's gone too far to stir this up, to pit one administration against another in saying the President is weak right now?

Ventura: Well yeah. Well he's going to say that. After all he's the opposition and he's defending the position they take of taking us to these two wars and everything that went on for the last eight years. I personally am offended greatly by the fact that my country now tortures people. I don't like that a bit. It's very much like an old friend of mine used to say, once the nose of the camel gets under the tent, there's no stopping the camel from being in the tent. And when you start to waterboard, where will it end?

Schultz: Okay, and from your experience as a Navy Seal, how do you think the Seals feel about all of this?

Ventura: Well, certainly I would hope they don't condone torture because it's against the law. It's already been proven that you don't get information from torturing someone because when you do torture them they will say whatever it is to stop the torture, so it's not reliable information and again, should we be stooping to the level of our opponents? I don't think so. You know, our country should be above that and waterboarding is torture because I've had it done to me at SERE school. And so I know what it's like to be waterboarded and I find it very interesting that all the people that say "oh it's just waterboarding" have never had it done to them.

Schultz: Gov. Ventura, respectfully, I've always called you that, Jesse, what do you think of this political side show for a very serious situation in Minnesota with Norm Coleman and Al Franken? As former governor, what do you think Gov. Pawlenty should do after the Minnesota State Supreme Court rules coming up in the next few days? What do you think?

Ventura: Well I think that whatever way the Supreme Court goes he should follow suit and declare the winner because Minnesota needs its second Senator. They've gone through the process and the initial election was so close that by law I believe it required a recount. Well when they did the recount, Franken apparently won and it's time to move on and it's time to get going and let him become the Senator if indeed the Supreme Court rules that way and end this matter. And besides, I find it very interesting that Norm Coleman the Republican in thirty five years he has never had a private sector job. I think it's about time as a Republican, he finds out what it's like to work in the private sector.

Norm Coleman just won't go away, so we're trying to help him see the errors of his ways.

The PCCC's NormDollar.com campaign has been a blast. It's an action that asks: Would you give a dollar a day to make Norm go away?

So far the liberal blogosphere has donated over $95,000 to help defeat Coleman.

Over the weekend Norm got punk'd by local progressives supporting this movement. I laughed when I heard him say that he's just trying to make people have more "confidence in the system." Yeah, right, Loserman. We believe that, and we're showing you by donating to get you OUT.

Adam Green explains:

Fun news. Yesterday in Minnesota, Norm Coleman thought he was being greeted by supporters outside a local Republican event.

But instead, Coleman came face-to-face with the fact that his insistence on being a sore loser has raised over $90,000 to help progressives defeat Republicans in 2010 -- thanks to the "Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away" campaign the PCCC recently launched with Howard Dean's Democracy for America.

It's all caught on video -- check it out!...read on

And he signed it: "Senator Norm Coleman." C&L and others are planning an action against Tim Pawlenty next.

Republican obstructionism has gone on far too long, especially in Minnesota.

Would it be great if this was finally over? But no, Norm "Sore Loser" Coleman continues to do the dirty work for the national Republican party. See, when Republicans steal an election and Democrats protest it, we're cry babies. And when Democrats win an election, Republicans insist it's illegitimate. Do you ever get the feeling that Republicans just don't like democracy?

Al Franken asked the Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday to affirm his victory in the 2008 Senate race and hand down a ruling that would direct Gov. Tim Pawlenty to certify him the winner.

“We think the law is clear,” said Franken's lead attorney, Marc Elias, pointing to a state Supreme Court ruling on the matter in February that he said indicated “that the certification would issue after the state court process ended.”

The Minnesota “Supreme Court is the end of the state court process,” Elias noted.

The request came as part of Franken’s reply brief to Republican Norm Coleman’s appeal of a trial court decision that declared Franken the Senate winner by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast on Nov. 4.

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From The Cafferty File:

Minnesota still hasn’t decided the outcome of its Senate race more than six months since Election Day, and the stakes are higher than ever. With the defection of Arlen Specter from the Republican Party, Minnesota’s race takes on a whole new meaning.

If Al Franken wins, he’ll become the 60th Democratic senator and the party will have a filibuster-proof majority. This would likely help President Obama get through his upcoming Supreme Court nominee along with big initiatives like health care.

Vice President Joe Biden met with Franken this week and said the administration looks forward to working with him once Minnesota’s Supreme Court issues its final ruling. That’s where the race is now tied up.

A three-judge panel ruled Franken is the winner, but Norm Coleman won’t go away. He has asked for a recount of at least 1,300 ballots. Coleman is trailing Franken by 312 votes. Coleman’s appeal could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court; even though some in the Republican Party concede it’s not looking good for him.

By all accounts, it seems likely that Al Franken — a former comedian who appeared on Saturday Night Live and a former liberal radio host — will win. One Democratic consultant and a friend of Franken says it’s ironic for a comedian to carry so much power, but “Franken is certainly comfortable with irony.”

Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that a comedian will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate?

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Sen. Harry Reid talked at length today on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell about Arlen Specter, the closing of Gitmo and possible prosecutions over the torture memos.

Reid said that he talked to Specter after he read that Arlen supported Norm Coleman when he was interviewed by the NY Times, and Specter says he misspoke.

CQ Politics:

The political whirlwind that surrounded Sen. Arlen Specter ’s switch from the Republican to Democratic party had him forgetting which team he is rooting for in 2010.

But after voicing support for Republican Norm Coleman in his contested Minnesota Senate race, Specter said he misspoke in a New York Times magazine interview and is supporting Democrats.

--

Asked whether he cared about a shortage of Jewish Republicans in the Senate, Specter replied: “I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.” But questioned outside the Senate chamber Tuesday, Specter said the comment was a mistake.

“In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates,” he said. “I’m ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I’ve made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke.”

Asked who he’s backing now in elections, Specter said, “I’m looking for more Democratic members. Nothing personal.”

Specter's idiocy forced Harry Reid to come out and talk the whole story down. I'm sure he was really giddy about that. And is Specter's support for Franken only based on the fact that he switched sides? Reid also said that he wanted to wait until Dianne Feinsten's investigation into the torture memos was completed before he gave an opinion on the Bush Co. torture memos. Are you sold on her investigation, or the OLC's?

The minute Feinstein became the great congressional leader on torture, I wondered if it wasn't kabuki. It's DiFi we're talking about. She rushed in "begging" the president not to launch any investigation until she'd finished hers. The village babblers were using her investigations as the primary reason not to pursue prosecutions. It makes perfect sense that they would bottle the thing up in secret hearings and a very slow investigation as long as possible.

We already saw them do this with phase two of the pre-war intelligence investigation. It took years and the media treated it as old news, not worth talking about, when it was finished. But it helped keep a lid on the political hot potato that was the dawning realization that the Bush administration had manipulated the intelligence to get us into war.

Secret investigations are a junk yard for rear view mirrors.

We need a special prosecutor, period.

I was surprised that Reid held back on this because he has shown no interest in going after the torture authors, you know, like the Mormon Judge Bybee, but he was very careful today on MSNBC. I wonder if he practiced with Blitzer, because I heard he was mumbling and stumbling his way through The Situation Room.

BLITZER: It certainly sounds like he wants Norm Coleman to beat Al Franken, the Democratic candidate, when the dust settles.

REID: Arlen has said -- that is the way that he said that. I'm not here to put words in his mouth. All I know is he told -- he's told everyone that that isn't the way that it was meant to be. He wants Franken to win ...

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Ezra Klein: Why did Arlen Specter become a Democrat?  First he says he wants Coleman to win in Minnesota, then he says he regrets his 'no' vote on cryto-segregationist, Jeff Sessions, for the federal bench. We don't need the GOP's Benedict Arnolds.

Balkinization: Prosecution of of torture memo lawyers seen as unlikely

Pam's House Blend: Memo to Miss California and all wingnut snivelers: Get off the cross, we need the wood

Scholars and Rogues: FDIC screws community banks

cab drollery: Strength and Weakness

Newsifact: Windows warns users that Republican policies may crash computers

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[YouTube] h/t Political Carnival

A profile in yesterday's Minnesota Star Tribune on how Al Franken is handling the endless delay before he's seated in the U.S. Senate.

"A lot of people ask me and Franni [his wife], 'Are you OK?'" Franken said, his face crumpling into a caricature of someone inquiring after one's health. "As life's challenges go, this is pretty low on the totem pole. Our kids are OK, we're not in danger of losing our home to foreclosure. We're fine."

Statements such as this from the always execrable Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on the continued obstruction from the GOP would tend to give one pause.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn is threatening “World War III” if Democrats try to seat Al Franken in the Senate before Norm Coleman can pursue his case through the federal courts.

Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, acknowledges that a federal challenge to November’s elections could take “years” to resolve. But he’s adamant that Coleman deserves that chance — even if it means Minnesota is short a senator for the duration.

As it stands now, the Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case brought by the Coleman campaign to overturn the recount result sometime in June.

It's time for Gov. Pawlenty to certify Al Franken's victory so he can take his rightful seat in Congress. We are waiting for the Minnesota Supreme court to rule which is supposed to come in June. It's highly doubtful that they will overturn the election results so Americans United For Change produced this ad to let him know that we're watching. And the state of Minnesota is watching too.

All the polls show that they want this carnival over and Franken to become their new Senator.

According to the Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, nearly two-thirds of the 1,042 adults surveyed believe Norm Coleman should concede the race. A separate poll by the Alliance for a Better Minnesota shows about two-thirds of the 600 people polled believe the recount process was "fair, impartial, accurate, and carried out according to Minnesota law."

The findings come after Coleman filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, following a 3-judge panel's ruling that Franken won the Senate race by 312 votes. In his appeal, Coleman cites that there are over 4,000 rejected absentee ballots that should have been counted.

Political Analyst Ralph Doty, who himself voted for the Independent candidate, said at this point in the game, Minnesotans are being "deprived." Von Thill of Cloquet said he agrees. "There's more important things to get resolved right now, with the economy, and everything else."

Gov. Pawlenty can't succumb to pressure from the Limbaugh National Committee and keep obstructing him. If Norm Loserman wants to go to the Roberts Court, that shouldn't stop Gov. Pawlenty from signing off.

Call 800-657-3717 and tell him to certify Al Franken.

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The Republican Party is now on suicide watch:

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning.

Specter's decision would give Democrats a 60 seat filibuster proof majority in the Senate assuming Democrat Al Franken is eventually sworn in as the next Senator from Minnesota. (Former Sen. Norm Coleman is appealing Franken's victory in the state Supreme Court.)

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said Specter in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

MSNBC's David Shuster, in the video above, relayed the information that Specter reached the decision because he realized that his vote for the stimulus package had irrevocably breached his relationship with the increasingly wingnutty Republican base, and that he was no longer willing to submit himself to the judgment of that base in the GOP primary. Smart move.

Of course, now that he's a Democrat, don't expect any miracles. Reportedly, he still intends to vote against cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act ...

UPDATE: Here's Specter's statement:

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.

Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.

I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.