Did you miss "Become a Citizen Journalist" on July 21, 2007? Click above to see Eric Black's speech to mnpACT!
Garrison Keillor
Minnesota Network for Progressive Action
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It is somewhat amazing that the Wall Street Journal continues to expound factually inaccurate opinions on Minnesota's Senate race. Each and every time they have rendered their "opinion" in the matter, they have distorted the facts, belittled Minnesota's voting regulations, and simply played the "sore loser" hype right over the top.
We have yet another (hopefully the last) attack on the US Senate election.
First, we get their version of the "facts":
Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat's strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in a way that would discover votes that could add to his total. The Franken legal team swarmed the recount, aggressively demanding that votes that had been disqualified be added to his count, while others be denied for . . .
That's the basic statement from Tony Sutton, new Republican chair for the Minnesota GOP.
Quite the statesmanlike thing to do, don't you think?
After Norm Coleman did the most difficult thing in his career, does he get a show of support from his party chair?
No, Sutton is on to the next election, using this one as a partisan springboard. The next divisive statement. The next battle of the extremes.
When it comes to being robbed, Mr. Sutton, this is nothing compared to Al Gore's defeat in 2000. That election didn't have Minnesota's election laws. That contest had little semblance of conclusion. Yet, we had to accept it....and the consequences that went along with it.
Well, Mr. Sutton, you may not accept Al Franken as your next Senator but he will be sworn in. If you want to use . . .
It is not just any Senate seat. It is Paul Wellstone's Senate seat. And now it is back in the hands of someone who understands what that means.
Congratulations, Al Franken. You richly deserve this victory. You put up with the smears; you put up with the delays; you weathered the storm.
But you won't have much time to savor the moment. There is hard work to be done, and you have a legacy to uphold.
In 2002, when that plane crashed and the truest, progressive voice in the Senate was silenced, it almost seemed as if Minnesota's progressive tradition was silenced as well.
We have endured Pawlenty and Coleman and Bachmann. We have endured deteriorating infrastructure and an assault on the poor. We have endured war and economic tailspins. We have endured attacks on civil liberties and attacks on . . .
