Happy Pictures And Overnight Thread

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OMG pic stolen from John, others from here.

World War Two veteran Jordan McElroy points to his signature in front of a wall dedicated to U.S. President-elect Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) in front of the Lincoln Memorial reflection pool in Washington November 5, 2008. The wall was constructed Wednesday and will stand all week for people to view and write their thoughts to the next president.
REUTERS/Mitch Dumke (UNITED STATES)

From the Department of WTF? Voter turnout was not huge

By GottaLaff

No, seriously... wtf?

Despite widespread predictions of record turnout in this year’s presidential election, roughly the same portion of eligible voters cast ballots in 2008 as in 2004.

Between 60.7 percent and 61.7 percent of the 208.3 million eligible voters cast ballots this year, compared with 60.6 percent of those eligible in 2004, according to a voting analysis by American University political scientist Curtis Gans, an authority on voter turnout.

He estimated that between 126.5 million and 128.5 million eligible voters cast ballots this year, versus 122.3 million four years ago. Gans said the gross number of ballots cast in 2008 was the highest ever, even though the percentage was not substantially different from 2004, because there were about 6.5 million more people registered to vote this time around. [...]

Nationally, the 2008 voter turnout was roughly equivalent to 1968 in percentage terms. Gans said that when taking into account the disenfranchisement of blacks, this year’s turnout was below the 1960 and 1964 presidential campaigns. For example, if blacks had been allowed to vote in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon race, he said, turnout probably would have reached about 67 percent, as opposed to the official Federal Election Commission tally of about 63 percent.

What kind of candidate does it take to increase turnout? God? According to the GOP, that's who our candidate was. So, again, what kind of candidate does it take?

Court ruling helps Franken in tight Minnesota senate race

By GottaLaff

Yes!

Sen. Norm Coleman has failed in an attempt to block some absentee ballots from being counted in his close race with Democrat Al Franken.

A Ramsey County judge on Saturday denied the request because of lack of jurisdiction. The incumbent Republican had tried to block 32 ballots from heavily Democratic Hennepin County.

Coleman's campaign says the ballots were not counted on Election Day or were not kept in sealed boxes. It says the request was made amid "increasing questions about unexplained and improbable shifts in vote counts."

There's only a couple of hundred votes that separate them. Every single vote counts.

Obama's political advisers making the rounds

By GottaLaff

Paddy will post the morning shows, but suffice it to say, Obama's team will be on a slew of them. Meantime, watch for them to pop up on 60 Minutes tomorrow night. Tick, tick, tick, tick...

CBS’s “60 Minutes” has interviews at 9 p.m. with several of Mr. Obama’s top political advisers: David Axelrod, Anita Dunn, David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs.

The aides said in the interviews that the campaign did not spend much time fretting about race. “Honestly, you had to take a leap of faith in the beginning that the people will get by race,” said Mr. Plouffe, the campaign manager, according to excerpts provided by CBS. “And I think the number of meetings we had about race was zero.”

“If there had been a discussion” about whether Mr. Obama should deliver his race speech in the wake of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright’s comments, Ms. Dunn said, “we’ve often joked, probably most of the people in the campaign would have advised against it.”

BFPE.

BFPE

By GottaLaff

Work in progress... suggestions (within reason)?

Hey look! A contest!

By GottaLaff

You may have noticed a wonderful fellow blogger/Commenter who goes by Elvis Dingeldein. He has notified us of a spiffy contest that we can all partake in! Go here to join the fun.

This November, Clusterdouche! is giving away a copy of THE WAR IN QUOTES, Doonesbury.com’s fabulous fun-filled look at Donny, Dick and George’s wacky romp through Mesopotamia. But unlike so many other popular books that shit on the Iraq War (“Blowing Up Brown People That Had It Coming For No Particular Reason”), this one tells the story the easy way: By quoting the pinheads that started it, waged it and then flushed it all down the crapper.

Wow! Free books! Hilarious contestage! Unnecessary exclamation points! Cheese!*

* No. There’s no cheese.

So here’s the contest, Clusterdouchers! Leave us a comment on the following image between now and midnight on November 30, 2008. It can be a caption, a witty aside, a scandalous insult, or just tell us to fuck ourselves for being so brazenly Liberal and despising Republicans so much! But leave a comment. In order to win, you must provide an e-mail address with your name, otherwise how the hell would we reach you when you win, or mock you mercilessly for losing?

One commentator will be chosen at random by our syphilitic Rhesus monkey intern Mr. Syllabus. Never argue with Mr. Syllabus. He’ll bite your rectum.

Good luck! Now here’s your photo. Get busy snarking on it!

Remember, don't participate here at TPC. That would be wrong. Go here! That would be right.

I thank you. Elvis thanks you.

Obama Positions Himself to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues

You knew these wheels were turning in the background all along. Now we need a Best F'ng Administration Ever graphic!!

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse the president on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

Little chop of horrors

By GottaLaff

Harry's saying, "Feeeeed me":

Reid looks to chop Republican committee seats:

Senate Democratic leaders plan to cut Republican committee seats to reflect the new balance of power in the upper chamber, according to Democratic aides.

Republicans will lose at least one seat on most committees and may lose as many as two on some of the larger panels, such as the powerful Appropriations committee.

One aide said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will likely follow the model set at the start of the 103rd Congress, when Democrats held a 57-seat Senate majority, the same margin they are expected to hold when the results of the election become final. The aide said leaders are not likely to add Democratic seats to achieve the proper ratios. [...]

Democrats may chop additional Republican seats if they expand their majority control to 58, 59 or 60 seats, depending on the outcome of undecided races in Georgia, Minnesota and Alaska.

Political analysts say the seat held by Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota is the most likely to fall into Democratic hands. [...]

If the Democratic majority holds at 57 and past precedents are followed, several GOP seats on coveted committees could become open.

A seat could open on the powerful Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over all tax issues as well as Social Security and Medicare. Defeated GOP Sens. Smith and John Sununu (N.H.) held seats on that panel.

Suddenly we more.*

*Homage to "Suddenly Seymour".

The Party's Over: The visual

By GottaLaff

Via Zina Saunders:

Pretty, huh?

Kinda makes up for all of our nauseous moments over the past 21 months.

Contact sports: Obama wins again

By GottaLaff

We've been hearing about "the ground game" a lot over the past year or two. Nate the Great 'splains how well Obama's team played it:

One of the more interesting questions posed on this year's exit polls was whether the voter had been contacted by the Obama and McCain campaigns personally about getting out to vote. Unfortunately, the exit poll consortium did not ask this question in all states, but it did in a dozen or so competitive states; these figures are summarized below:

% of Voters Reporting Direct Contact from Campaigns

State  Obama   McCain   Gap
NV     50%     29%      21%
CO     51%     34%      17%
IN     37%     22%      15%
VA     50%     38%      12%
PA     50%     39%      11%
IA     41%     30%      11%
FL     29%     20%       9%
NC     34%     26%       8%
MO     44%     37%       7%
OH     43%     36%       7%
WI     42%     39%       3%
WV     29%     31%      -2%

The Obama campaign had a superior contact rate in 11 of the 12 battlegrounds; the only exception was West Virginia. [...]

This is a sign of a campaign that knew where the tipping points were, rather than (say) sending volunteers to Michigan on Election Day just to play it safe.

Oh-h-h, suh-nap! BFCE.

Another Reason to Can Joe

By GottaLaff

We already know that Harry Reid isn't a fan of Joe no mo'. Josh Marshall gives us another reason that might have slipped by us:

But one, perhaps the most obvious and substantive, has gone little mentioned. Simply put, he was terrible at it. Lieberman's committee is the senate investigations and oversight committee, the senate's counterpart to Rep. Henry Waxman's committee in the House. And if you remember a lot about Waxman's investigations and hearings and nothing about Lieberman's, that's because Lieberman didn't hold any. Even in the face of endless scandals of the late Bush administration, Lieberman couldn't find anything worth poking into.

Rule One: If one isn't good at one's job, one must be fired from said job.

Hit the road, Joe.

Calls for Obama inauguration tickets through the roof

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Obama inauguration tickets already offered for sale online. Snippet:

On eBay, 18 bidders have driven up one pair to more than $1,000. One Web site, Inauguraltickets.com, is inviting members of the public to place orders, warning "Our prices will reflect the difficulty in obtaining" tickets. Another site, Dreamtix, is offering a variety of seats ranging from $1,400 to $21,000 a pop. Carole Florman, Communications Director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, says "anyone claiming to have tickets to sell right now, or saying that they will guarantee tickets, is not telling the truth."

Baracking our world:

In the three days since the election of Barack Obama, the demand for tickets to Inauguration Day events has been unprecedented, local congressional officials said.

"It's crazy," said Sharon Jenkins, spokeswoman for Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "We're in a unique moment in U.S. history. Every day under Obama's administration is a first, and people want to be a part of it."

Tickets to inaugural events are free of charge and distributed through members of the incoming Congress. The ceremonies are coordinated by different committees, and the tickets to the events are distributed differently. Events include a morning worship service, a procession to the Capitol, a swearing-in ceremony, an address, a parade and balls. [...]

At the office of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), officials are adjusting their Web site to handle the demand because the volume of calls has been so overwhelming.

It's a movement.

Obama's thank-you notes

By GottaLaff

Colbert I. King says that President-elect Obama should write a few thank you notes:

1. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. The allegiance of Obama's Democratic party allies should be measured against the standard: "BATK" (Before or After Tim Kaine.)
2. Bill and Hillary Clinton. Obama could not have asked more of the Clintons. [...] [T]hey went all-out for Obama [Plus...] Obama wouldn't be set to become the nation's 44th president were it not for the toughening-up he got from the Clintons in the primaries. [...] By the time Obama locked horns with the GOP attack machine, he was battle-tested.
3. The debates elevated Obama's presidential stature -- and took McCain down a peg or two.
4. The Rev. Jeremiah Alvesta Wright. In Liberty Baptist church, my childhood place of worship, I heard it preached: "Sometimes a stumbling block can be a steppingstone in disguise." [...] Without Wright's fiery and controversial sermons, short segments of which were repeatedly aired in the media, Obama would not have delivered his "A More Perfect Union" speech in Philadelphia.
5. The U.S. Secret Service. The number of threats against Obama is kept confidential, but I'm reliably told it is huge. [...] That Obama is on his way to the White House is a tribute to the men and women who, 24-7, put their lives and limbs between him and harm.
6. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, courtesy of their prime-time cable broadcasts, found new ways to get the juices of the Obama faithful flowing.
7. Katie Couric. [Her interviews with Wardrobe Barbie] sent McCain's claim to good judgment up in flames.
8. Soul-searching Republicans. If the GOP does not become more inclusive and open to new ideas, it could take on the image (not the ideology) of F.W. De Klerk's now disbanded National Party of South Africa.

   If that happens, Obama can thank narrow-minded Republican strategists.

He offers more details than I've posted here. The last part is the best.

VIDEO: Notes to Obama

By GottaLaff

Right after the election, hundreds of messages of good luck to Obama were written on makeshift walls near the Lincoln Memorial.

Hmmm. I don't remember that happening after Bush got selected.

In secret agreement, Shell nets 25-year monopoly on S. Iraq's gas

By GottaLaff

Oily to bed, oily to rise:

Royal Dutch Shell oil company and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have struck a secret, as-of-yet non-binding agreement that gives a monopoly over southern Iraq's natural gas to the energy giant. It marks the first time in over 35 years a Western oil company has played a major role in the country's most lucrative industry.

Signed Sept. 22 and obtained by United Press International, the "Heads of Agreement" document -- basically a legal framework for a contract -- delegates Shell sole access to the reserves for the next 25 years, with an option to extend that term.

Shell says the arrangement gives it exclusive rights to all natural gas runoff produced by oil exploration operations in the southern portion of the country. However, like so many other major industrial contracts coming out of Iraq, the process used to reach an agreement is being questioned. [...]
The agreement does not allow Iraqi's the first rights to the natural gas reserves. [...]

The "Heads of Agreement" document is just the next step in what AlterNet's Nick Turse says is a secretly negotiated arrangement between the Pentagon and the UK's most powerful oil company.

"The Pentagon's Shell deal came during one DoD's periodic petroleum benders - massive multi-day spending sprees where hundreds of millions or billions of taxpayer dollars are paid out to oil companies," writes Turse. "This one, on September 17th and 18th, netted Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and seven other oil companies a grand total of over $1.5 billion."

"These complex issues go ignored because they are viewed as so routine as not to be worth mentioning, but in any other context the confluence of guns, oil and billions of dollars would certainly raise eyebrows," he concludes.

Oil shook up.

Whiplash

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

It's amazing what effect Obama's newfound power change message has already had:

Just a few weeks ago, at the height of the campaign, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told Chris Matthews of MSNBC that, when it came to Mr. Obama, “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.”

But there she was on Thursday, after narrowly escaping defeat because of those comments, saying she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” Ms. Bachmann, a Republican, called Mr. Obama’s victory, which included her state, “a tremendous signal we sent.”

We? We?!

Cold Shoulder Alert-- The following is not in the new Obama-era spirit of unity: Bite me, Bachmann.

Whether it all heralds a new era of cooperation in Washington remains to be seen and it may be downright doubtful. But for now, at least, it would seem to be part of an apparent rush to join what has emerged as a real moment in American history. [...]

Some wondered whether simple pragmatism was the explanation.

Oh, those ubiquitous, wacky "some". I wonder who "some" is? Why, here's a "some" now! And what a wise "some" he is:

“My experience is, it’s less an epiphany and more a political reality,” said Chris Lehane, a former Democratic strategist who worked on the presidential campaign of Al Gore. “I’m thinking they will continue in this direction so long as the polls indicate it’s a smart place to be.”

Some say they agree with that assessment.

Who Didn't Ask a Question at Obama's Press Conference?

By GottaLaff

Ooo! Ooo! Pick me!

Who didn't we hear from? Hint.

Here's who did ask a question at the presser yesterday:

Nedra Pickler (AP), Lee Cowan (NBC News), Jake Tapper (ABC News), Chip Reid (CBS News), Karen Bohan (Reuters), John McCormick (Chicago Tribune), Lynn Sweet (Chicago Sun-Times), Candy Crowley (CNN), Jeff Zeleny (New York Times).

Which network didn't get a question? Fox News.

I have a sneaking feeling Helen Thomas will never be kicked out of the front row again.

Your poll-itics fix

By GottaLaff

Come on, you know you want it:

Most Proud of Obama's Election

A new USA Today/Gallup survey asked how people felt about Barack Obama's election as president: 67% said proud, 67% said optimistic, and 59% said excited.

On the other side, 30% said pessimistic and 27% said afraid.

Yes, be afraid of the evil, dark-skinned, scrawny-armed man with the funny name who brings change.

Change is big and scary. Which means, of course, that one should never veer from the same movie and/or TV show, never try new hairstyles or clothes (cough::Palin::cough), and should always eat the same food at every meal, every day. Never make new friends, either. And keep your kids enrolled in only one school until they're 18.

Naturally, one should never enlist in the military to "see the world", nor should one leave an inferior job for one that pays more.

And for goodness sake, refrain from all travel. New environments can result in headaches, nausea, bloating, blurry vision, heart palpitations, dizziness, and erections lasting more than four hours. Side effects may vary.

PHOTOS: In with the new

By GottaLaff

In with the new, healing, and inclusive...

Harouna, 26, reacts to the results of the US election in L'Hay-les-roses, 10 kilometers south of Paris, France. (Gamma/Zuma Press)

Stan Honda, AFP/Getty Images

Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

...out with the old, destructive, and toxic.

McCain strategist Steve Schmidt was against Prop 8

By GottaLaff

Ana Marie Cox interviewed Gramm-pa McCain's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt. Here's a snippet:

Towards the end of this election cycle, it seemed to many that Schmidt and the McCain campaign were reverting to themes that seemed almost antique: red-baiting taunts of “socialism” as well as appeals to “real America.” But today, Schmidt rejected those tactics as blueprints for future: “The Republican Party wants to, needs to, be able to represent, you know, not only conservatives, but centrists as well. And the party that controls the center is the party that controls the American electorate.” As to what form Republican centrism might take, Schmidt’s response to an email follow-up question suggests it will be anything but the kind of base-friendly social conservatism of Palin.

From: Ana Marie Cox
To: Steve Schmidt
Sent: Fri Nov 07 08:50:28 2008
Subject: Re: Calling you in 30

the passing of prop 8... any comment?

From: Steve Schmidt
To: Ana Marie Cox
Received: Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 7:03 AM
Subject: Re: Calling you in 30

I was disappointed with the result

That surprised me. A lot.

VIDEO: Palin "knows that she knows that she knows" that it's all the media's fault

By GottaLaff

Hey media! Hey, you guys! It's all your fault, you guys! And I'll keep talkin' and talkin' and talkin' 'cause I know that I know that I know stuff, and you guys gotta listen. Pass the Dr. Pepper, you stinkers:


Guys? Gals? Anyone seen my spray tanner and silk boxers?

Conservatives boycott Fox

By GottaLaff

"This thread would do really well at Daily Koz. They think this is a great idea. They even have the artwork ready…" Yes, that’s [Mark's] artwork posted by a Freeper.

Via our pal Mark at News Corpse, we find that Bloggers at Free Republic (aka Freepers) are leaving comments, and what comments they are! They're mad and they're not gonna take it any more. Wardrobe Barbie has been betrayed, and the Freepies are standin' up for their gal!

The treatment of Sarah Palin by Fox reporter Carl Cameron and others has incensed them to the point where they are vowing never to watch again. [...]

• I propose that we punish the FOX Network for its hatchet job on Sarah Palin. For one week beginning at 3:00 PM today no one tunes them in. We will demonstrate the power of conservatives when their ratings plummet dramatically. Will you join me? [FYI: their boycott will have no affect whatsoever on the ratings unless a significant number of them are Nielsen families]
• I’m done with Teevee. Let them all go to hell.
• I am with you all the way my friend…i hope FOX goes off the air…hate em now…
• It would be easy. Nearly every show on FNC is unwatchable these days. ….for quite a while, in fact.
• fauxNEWS - We Distort, You Comply
• too late………I wrote them off months ago
• GO TO EVERY RIGHTWING BLOG AND TELL THEM TO TURN OFF FOX.
• Tell him he’s no better than the “smear merchants” and “bombthrowers” he holds in such contempt. Allowing Carl Cameron to spew unmitigated hearsay and garbage without one shred of supporting evidence or fact makes O’Reilly just as bad as the supermarket tabloids.
• Life without FOX is good.
• It’s not a secret that 81% of Fox News reporters and employees donate money to the Democratic party - that’s a crazy high number for an allegedly conservative TV channel. It’s no secret to the gay community that Shepard Smith is “one” of them.
• FOX now SUX bigtime!
• Screw them too. I have watched very little since their recent maniacal swerve left.
• If FOX wants me back they will bring on Glenn Beck and Rush. I have had it with weasels like Hannity and O’Reilly.[Beck is on the way]

And looky here, kiddies! The Freepers have company!

The folks at RedState are weighing in as well with Operation Leper:

We’re tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others [...] We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you’ll see us go to war against those candidates.

This may become a new Democratic spectator sport. Maybe we should build a coliseum.

VIDEO: Bill Maher's "In Memoriam: Farewell to Douchebags"

By GottaLaff

I saw this on Real Time last night and couldn't wait to put it up:

Happy Biden Pictures

Since Joe has gotten short shrift here lately.

Republicans Look to Gingrich

Oh how sweet it is when Gingrich is the best they got! Via Taegan-

Newt Gingrich "is far from a unanimous or even a consensus choice to run for president in 2012, but there is a strong feeling in Republican ranks that he is the only leader of their party who has shown the skill and energy to attempt a comeback quickly," according to Robert Novak.

"One Republican critic of Gingrich concedes that he has an 'unlimited' energy flow and a constant stream of ideas, an important commodity in a party that appears to have run short of ideas during the Bush years. But there is widespread concern about what is described in the party as deep 'character flaws' of Gingrich's that would be difficult to overcome in a presidential campaign."

"Nobody in Republican ranks, however, matches Gingrich's dynamism."

7 Things Obama's Win Could Mean for Women's Health

Just looking at this list makes me all tingly!! They go into more depth on each item here. To quote Oliver- We have a president who believes in science! And he will appoint people who believe in science!

1. No more federal funds for abstinence-only education.

2. No more global gag rule.

3. Better coverage for contraception and pregnancy.

4. Reversal of the "conscience" regulation that threatens women's access to birth control.

5. Increases in funding for reproductive health clinics serving uninsured.

6. Fixing gender disparities in health insurance premiums.

7. Improved access to morning after pills and abortions for U.S. military women serving overseas.

The First Post-Election Interview with John McCain Goes To...

Hmmm, not quite ready for the hard questions there John?

...Jay Leno. That's right. Leno will interview Sen. John McCain next Tuesday on The Tonight Show, in honor of Veterans Day. This will be McCain's first interview since his defeat last Tuesday.

Exit poll survey confirms partisan shift

Because Clancy was missing the poll posts.

The 2008 presidential election saw the biggest partisan shift in a generation — more of a rejection of Republicans than an embrace of Democrats — but voter surveys find no broad ideological realignment behind that shift.

Democrats made up 39 percent of the electorate and Republicans 32 percent in a national exit poll for The Associated Press and television networks. That left the share of voters considering themselves members of the GOP lower than in any presidential election since 1980 and was a sharp contrast with the 37-37 split between the two parties in the 2004 election.

Saturday Linkage

Wha? No special edition of "Hardball"? No 3 hour extended version of "Ballot Bowl"? What am I gonna do now?

Alaska's voting turnout puzzling

Town stunned as 8-year-old charged in two killings

Aunt from Kenya to fight deportation

'Racism' would block a British Obama: equality head

The strange places people keep their loved ones ashes

Help! I'm flying blind: RAF hero guides down 65-year-old pilot unable to see after a stroke

UK bets on Obama assassination turned away (ed note- wow)

Women's hands have more kinds of bacteria than men's, study finds

Obama Fever in Africa

Oy. h/t Oliver

`Oh, you will, Mr. President,'"

Gave me a big smile even before my coffee.

From the CoS archive, July 2004:

Speaking to the Illinois delegation breakfast, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D.-Evanston) recalled a meeting she and other lawmakers had with President Bush in the White House in February.

As they were leaving, Schakowsky said, she pulled on her coat and Bush "literally jumped back and looked stricken" when he saw the "Obama" button.

Shakowsky said she explained that it wasn't Osama but Obama, and that he was running in the U.S. Senate primary in Illinois.

Bush said, "I don't know him," according to Schakowsky.

"I said, `Oh, you will, Mr. President,'" she said.

Most Minnesota Senate 'undervotes' are from Obama turf

By GottaLaff

Go Al!

An Associated Press analysis of votes in the tight, still-to-be decided race for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota shows that most ballots lacking a recorded choice in the election were cast in counties won by Democrat Barack Obama.

The finding could have implications for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, who are headed for a recount separated by the thinnest of margins — a couple of hundred votes, or about 0.01 percent. [...]

A recount due to begin Nov. 19 will use manual inspection to detect such ballots.

Meanwhile, Coleman is using the state's open records law to ask Minnesota and all 87 counties for access to voting data and other records, questioning gains Franken has made since Election Day.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan complained of "statistically dubious and improbable shifts that are overwhelmingly accruing to the benefit of Al Franken." [...]

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said it was unfortunate that the Coleman campaign was questioning the integrity of the election, noting that adjustments are a normal part of the canvassing process.

Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease....

VIDEO: In case you missed it, President-Elect Obama's first press conference

By GottaLaff

I liveblogged it here.


UPDATE:

President-elect Obama called Nancy Reagan on Friday to apologize for joking that she held seances in the White House.

VIDEO: Hilarious roast of Rahm Emanuel by... Prez- Elect Obama

By GottaLaff

Recently, CSPAN rebroadcast a roast from 2005 where Barack Obama takes on his future White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Discussed are Rahm's past with ballet and the accident in which Rahm lost his middle finger, a loss that Obama said essentially rendered Rahm mute.

This is really good. Obama is at ease and at his best. He actually performed better here than he did at the Al Smith dinner. Is there anything he can't do?

VIDEO: Lawrence O'Donnell vs. Pat Buchanan on Palin... just watch

By GottaLaff

O'Donnell: "You come from a party that celebrates ignorance..."

Buchanan: "Do you believe you're a descendant from a monkey?"

H/t: Chris

Facts Belie the Scapegoating of Black People for Proposition 8

By GottaLaff

The DKos post was very long and involved, so I will post the basic-est of basic snippets, and suggest you read the rest of the wonderfully thorough piece for yourself:

• Factually Unsupported Myth #1: CNN’s 10% Black exit poll sample accurately reflects the actual distribution of voters on Proposition 8.
• Factually Unsupported Myth #2: There were enough Black people in California to have created, all by themselves, the;"510,000 margin (as of tonight) of passage for Proposition 8.
• Factually Unsupported Myth #3: All Black people in California are old enough to vote.
• Factually Unsupported Myth #4: All adult Black people in California are eligible to vote.
• Factually Unsupported Myth #5: Virtually every adult, non-disqualified Black person was registered to vote on Election Day.
• Factually Unsupported Myth #6: There Were Enough "Black Votes" to be the "Deciding Factor" for Proposition 8.
• Utterly Supported Fact #1: There Were So Many More White, Latino and Asian Votes in Favor of Proposition 8 That Blaming Black Folks is Both Bad Math and Racist Scapegoating of the Highest Order
  

  Non-Black Votes in Favor of Proposition 8:

  White Men: 51% of 31% of 10,325,615 votes: 1,632,480 Yes
  White Women: 47% of 32% of 10,325,615 votes: 1,552,972 Yes
  Latino Men: 54% of 8% of 10,325,615 votes: 446,067 Yes
  Latino Women: 52% of 11% of 10,325,615 votes: 592,170 Yes
  Asian/Native: 51% of 9% of 10,325,615 votes: 473,946 Yes

  Total: 4,697,635 (9.3 times the maximum TOTAL number of Black votes in California.)

• Proposition 8 would have still passed by 81,565 votes, if Black voters had done no more than reflect the rest of the state's will on the matter.

Crystal clear

By GottaLaff

You want transparency in government? Here are some of the very transparencies you may be looking for, from President Obama's new site, change.gov:

Among the ideas listed on the site:

• Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for Voters: Obama and Biden will create a centralized Internet database of lobbying reports, ethics records and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable and downloadable format.
  
  
• Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws and Ethics Rules: Obama and Biden will use the power of the presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics violations so that the public can be assured that ethics complaints will be investigated.

• Create a Public "Contracts and Influence" Database: As president, Obama will create a "contracts and influence" database that will disclose how much federal contractors spend on lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and how well they complete them.
  
  
• Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public Scrutiny: Obama and Biden will ensure that any tax breaks for corporate recipients — or tax earmarks — are also publicly available on the Internet in an easily searchable format.
  
  
• Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days.
  
  
• Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel Spending: Obama's Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by disclosing the name of the legislator who asked for each earmark, along with a written justification, 72 hours before they can be approved by the full Senate.

I've died and gone to heaven.

Barack means Lightning, Rahm means Thunder

By GottaLaff

Oooo, Barack Obama hates the Jewish people. They'll never vote for him, because he's a Muslim terrorist who wants them all dead!

But wait! Now Obama's pallin' around with Jews? Mazel tov, Rahm, you converted the President-Elect:

Remember when it was reported that President-elect Barack Obama had a problem with the Jewish vote?

That is no more.

In one of President-elect Barack Obama’s first Presidential decisions since Election Day he selected Representative Rahm Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff. We all know that Emanuel has “has a proven commitment to Israel’s security and served as civilian volunteer on an Israeli military base during the Persian Gulf War of 1991.” We also know that Emanuel’s “aggressive, pragmatic style of politics” makes him the perfect selection to be Obama’s Chief of Staff.

But could have Emanuel’s selection had something to do with his first name - Rahm?

In Hebrew, Rahm (רעם)* means “thunder” and Barack (ברק) means “lightning.”

“If you are near...lightning you’ll hear thunder as one sharp crack”

Thunder & Lightning = Change that can get it done

*Point of clarification: Ra’am- spelled reish, ayin, mem - means thunder, but it depends on how he spells his name. If he spells his name reish, mem, then it may mean something different (like “high, lofty, or loud") - and it looks like he may. (Thanks for the heads up Nava!)

Wait... now Rahm means "high"? Oh no, Obama hired a druggy! A Jewish druggy! A loud, lofty, high guy!

So what does loud Rahm get high on, Manischewitz?

538: Uncounted Votes May Push Begich Past Ted "the felon" Stevens

By GottaLaff

This would be the suh-weetest ever. Nate the Great:

Although Ted Stevens currently holds a lead of approximately 3,200 votes in ballots counted to date in Alaska's senate contest, there is good reason to believe that the ballots yet to be counted -- the vast majority of which are early and absentee ballots -- will allow Mark Begich to mitigate his disadvantage with Stevens and quite possibly pull ahead of him.

The reasoning behind this is simple: some early ballots have been processed, and among those ballots Begich substantially leads Stevens. A tally of Alaska's 40 house districts as taken from Alaska's Division of Elections webpage suggests that Begich has won about 61% of the early ballots counted so far, as compared with 48% of ballots cast on Election Day itself. [...]

There are currently at least 9,500 early votes remaining to be counted in Alaska. In addition, there are more than 50,000 absentee votes, which are essentially early votes conducted by mail. Lastly, there are at least 18,000 "question" or "questioned" ballots, which consist principally of voters who may have cast ballots away from their home precincts. [...]

Combining the already-counted votes with our allocation of early, absentee and questioned ballots produces a projected total of 142,174 votes for Mark Begich and 139,258 for Ted Stevens -- a win for the Democrat by approximately 3,000 ballots. [...]

Obviously, there is a lot of uncertainty in this estimate, particularly regarding the nature of absentee ballots. If absentee ballots behave like in-person early ballots, which gave a substantial advantage to Mark Begich, then Begich will defeat Stevens, perhaps by some decent margin. If they behave more like regular, election-day ballots, then Stevens will hold on to a narrow victory. If they are somewhere in between, as we have assumed, then Begich is the favorite to win, although the outcome will be close.

With so few early and absentee ballots counted to date, Ted Stevens' lead is not nearly so robust as it appears. Until we get better information about the nature of the absentee vote in Alaska, the race should probably be regarded as a toss-up.

Nate knows his stuff. Fingers crossed...

H/t: Eve

VIDEO: Fox contributor mocks black reporter's tears during Obama win

By GottaLaff


Video via.

Late night Fox News host Greg Gutfeld makes a living off controversy. But this is low, even for him.

On Tuesday night, Gutfeld talked with correspondent Bill Schulz as the two mocked a video clip of a black ABC reporter breaking into tears as Obama's election to the presidency was announced. [...]

"I so wanna comfort him, right now," sneered Gutfeld. "... Bill, you were convinced he was faking it."

"I am, and I have to say, if that's a television moment, I cry on this show every night!" responded Schulz. "Why don't we get better ratings?"

The show's various cast members laughed.

"Yeah, I do think he was faking it," he continued. "It looked like he was trying to force the tears out and they weren't happening. So he could force the moment, that I come by so naturally ... Every time you hit me!"

Gutfeld laughed and hissed, "Yes! Yes, I know!"

Once again, "real" America reveals itself.

VIDEO: Students told not to speak Obama's name

By GottaLaff

School officials at a Mississippi junior high school threatened to discipline students for speaking the name of president-elect Barack Obama.

WAPT reported:

Reporters with 16 WAPT News received several calls from upset parents that said a school bus driver told the children on a Pearl school bus that if they said Obama'€™s name, they would be written up and taken to the principal's office for disciplinary reasons.

Another parent said that a coach at Pearl Junior High School told students that if they speak Obama's name, they would face expulsion.

In a separate incident, a girl's basketball coach at Pearl Junior High School told students they would be suspended for saying Obama's name.

This video is from WAPT.com, broadcast November 7, 2008.

Those must be the "real" Americans Wardrobe Barbie was talking about.

Newsweek's Richard Wolffe gets Obama book deal

By GottaLaff

Newsweek's Richard Wolffe, who's been on the Obama trail since February 2007, has just signed a book deal with publisher Crown, a Random House imprint. [...]

Besides Newsweek, Wolffe's profile was raised during the 2008 race with regular appearances on MSNBC -- enough to be parodied last week during the Keith Olbermann sketch on "Saturday Night Live."

Whaddya think?

Ding dong, the war is dead

By GottaLaff

Via Think Progress:

Within 24 hours of Barack Obama’s election, an Army career counselor sent out a recruiting e-mail promising that the new president would “get us out of Iraq,” reports VetVoice’s Brandon Friedman. “What are you waiting for?” the e-mail asks, arguing the election of Obama makes now the perfect time to join up:

Though it’s not clear whether this recruiter is acting alone, it signals that President Obama might be used as a new, forceful recruiting tool. “If so, this would symbolize a stunning — if not totally rational — renunciation of the Bush administration and its handling of the military,” Friedman writes. “If this becomes an Army policy, it represents a true ‘ding-dong the witch is dead’ moment for the service.”

That would be ironic, wouldn't it? The rough, tough, bullying tactics of the War Chimpenfuhrer causes recruiting numbers to drop. The Liberal Commie Peace and Love Hippie Muslim newbie strengthens the military within 24 hours of his election.

And just now on the Rachel Maddow radio show, she said that the Iraqis, who have been resisting an agreement with Bush, are now changing their tune because of Obama. "We trust him enough to negotiate with him on this subject."

It's not even January yet.

Rogue Barbie wouldn't go on stage with GOP Senator Sununu

By GottaLaff

Forget reaching across the aisle, Wardrobe Barbie won't even reach across the stage:

Another reporter asked if he [Steve Schmidt] was happy with "the pick of Palin." He ducked the question. Schmidt was trying, not very hard, to hide his true feelings. He had been compelled to personally take over Palin's debate prep when she seemed unwilling to engage in the drudge work of learning the issues. McCain's advisers had been frustrated when Palin refused to talk to donors because she found it corrupting, and they were furious when they heard rumors that Todd Palin was calling around to Alaska bigwigs telling them to hold their powder until 2012. The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska. The McCain campaign ordered her onstage at the next campaign stop, but she refused to acknowledge the two Republican candidates standing behind her. McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin (perhaps once a week when they were not traveling together, estimated one adviser). Aides kept him in the dark about Palin's spending on clothes because they were sure he'd be offended. In his concession speech, McCain praised Palin, but the body language between them onstage was not particularly friendly. (Palin had asked to speak; Schmidt vetoed the request.)

I'm loving this next one:

The ad attacking Obama's former pastor was slick, with much better production values than the crude Reverend Wright videos running on the Internet. But it was too little, too late. When a NEWSWEEK reporter e-mailed a top Obama adviser for reaction, a reply came back reading simply: ZZZZZ.

Gramm-pa McCain has the worst judgment imaginable. The right candidate won.

Understatement.

UPDATE: The denials begin.

Reid: Lieberman did something 'improper'

By GottaLaff

Harry Reid said that Traitor Joe has a strong record of voting with the Democrats. Let me add that he has an equally strong record of betraying them:

"Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong, and I'd like if we weren't on television, I'd use a stronger word of describing what he did," Reid told CNN's John King. "But Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn't support us on military stuff and he didn't support us on Iraq stuff. You look at his record, it's pretty good."

Sources tell CNN Reid wants to strip Lieberman of his Homeland Security Committee chairmanship and offer him the chairmanship of a less high-profile committee. Lieberman reportedly called the proposal "not acceptable."

Fine. Don't accept it then.

Photos: Back stage with the Obamas on Election Night

By GottaLaff

Via Huffington Post. Ellen and I can't help but think there is some sadness about Toot reflected in these:

The Obama campaign has posted photos on Flickr of the Obama campaign and family on election night, watching the results backstage and celebrating. Sasha, Malia, Michelle, Jill and Joe Biden, Plouffe, Gibbs and Axelrod all make an appearance:

H/t: Ellen