Al Franken, a Minnesota Embarrassment

The Wall Street Journal has a excellent piece on what is really happening in the Minnesota Senate recount. You can read it here http://http//online.wsj.com/article/SB124000875842430603.html

This election has been an embarrassment for the state of Minnesota. At best, this election has been botched. At worst, fraud has been committed. Neither scenarios are good.

Al Franken is another in a long line of elected officials that make Minnesota a laughingstock of the rest of the country (Rod Grams, Mark Dayton, Jesse Ventura, Keith Ellison). He is a vitriolic, partisan hack. The only thing he brought to the table in this election (other than massive amounts on non-Minnesota campaign contributions) was a deep seeded and fanatical hatred of George W Bush. If there was ever a theme of the 2008 election, it was about abject hatred of Bush, and in Minnesota, nobody hated Bush more than Franken.

No, the 2008 election was not about who would do a better job. It was not about who's election was paid for via outside influences. It was not about qualifications. It was not about leadership. It was not about being penalized for being a tax cheat. It was about hate - pure, seething, undiluted hate - and that's all it was about.

In the height of the election, hate worked. Now, six months later, with the economy in free fall, some in Minnesota are waking up hung over from their hate stupor. It turns out it is not all about hate, and that who we elect to represent us can have massive consequences on day-to-day living. Our investments, our tax bills, and our jobs have all been massively impacted in the past year, and it is a direct result in the choices we've made in our leadership. Nobody is immune from this impact. All are suffering.

So Coleman continues to fight, much to this dismay of the Democrats. Howls of "sore loser" invoke ghosts of Bush/Gore and the Florida recount. And in the mean time, Minnesota remains in desperate need of having reasoned representation in Washington. Now, more than ever.

But all we're going to get is all we've been promised - leadership by hate. Franken has nothing more to offer beyond that.

How ironic that a comedian can turn our entire state into a political joke for the rest of the country.

But, hey, he's not our only embarrassment. For more Minnesota shame, check this out.