Go Kitty!! Sing it!!!

Awesome! Nice kitty, too.

And the crowd goes wild!

Here it is, folks — the moment we’ve been waiting for since last friggin’ November: Norm Coleman concedes the election contest to Al Franken

SAHHH…WEEEEEEEETTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great picture and for such great news!! Where’s SD, so we can also celebrate that my new Tiger moved in with me today. To celebrate new things…and Al has had so much class.

Guess John Cornyn was sick of seeing $145k a week going into the pockets of Tony Trimble, Fritz Knaak, Joe Friedberg et al, when it could be going to shore up the campaigns of endangered Senate Republican candidates nationwide.

that is one amazing figure right there pw

ps

what am I going to do since I cliked here every day to see if you had something new to report on franken?

I might go through withdrawal symptoms

Congrats on your tiger! Picture?

Phoenix Woman,

gotta little giddy with the news and neglected to THANK YOU for your stellar explanatory reporting on this saga – can not tell you how many times I’d be using something you reported and some poor Minnesotan would ask me “where in the hell did you hear that ?!?!”

fabulous job – mwwaaah ! & clink !

That’s Keyboard Cat! And he’s been waiting to do this for aaaaages!

Thanks!

The words I’ve longed to hear. “Congratulations to Al Franken.”

Yipppppppeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

(And congrats to you, RevBev. Looking forward to hearing more.)

Great news, PW!
Video removed, though. I wanted to see kitteh!

Congrats on your new kitteh, RevBev. I forget, did you name him/her? Always up for kitteh pics!

FunnyWheelieDiva

thanks for all your awesome reporting pw.

video gone, do you have another link?

what time is franken’s presser? i don’t want to miss that!

I’m having trouble connecting to YouTube, P — could you Google for one for me?

4:15 CT (5:15 ET)

What cbl2 said. Thank you!
FWDiva

I’d like to jump on the bandwagon and say thanks for your work, PW.

When Al threw his hat in the ring he never could have imagined what a long strange trip it would be.

It’s about time MN got a second senator! Congratulations, Senator Al Franken. I love typing that.

try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc0lYe-i6wE

FWDiva

Ah, so gratifying. Wave goodbye, Norm.

Thanks, FD!

So darn funny! Love the Stevie Wonder head-roll toward the end.

Yay, Senator Franken!

Ruh Roh, Harry Reid. Whatcha gonna do now you have 60 votes?
Other than change the “rules” to require 80 votes to get anything done.

FWDiva

My two tigers would like to welcome your new addition and would willingly (Hah!) share their catch of the day with him/her if mouse could be sent via email.

Sen Franken’s news conference is during cocktail hour and I will happily toast him.

Gotta go for now — but have fun, everyone! :-))))

OT Holy shit what a day first Franken wins then WalMart reverses position on a employee mandate
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress……rt-letter/

Male or female? Named yet? How about Al/Alecia?

Any reaction from Faux Noise?

Is it time to start bitching about Al yet?

PS:
My Buster Kitten says “Welcome to the Life of Riley” to your new tiger and recommends the most comfy chair in the house as a bed. Also. Any pillow occupied by a human head.
Have fun, Kitteh Mom!

FWDiva

Thanks, PW, and congratulations to Senator Franken! I wish you were my Senator!

got it, thanx pw!

great reading you waiting for this moment

now for some real progressive lawmaking from teh a.f.

Think I heard tweety’s gonna have the author of the palin article in Vanity Fair on today…..*that* should be interesting. Sounds like something right up tweety’s alley. :-(

About damn time!!!

5 4 3 2 …..

Curious now what seniority Franken will get. Will he be considered part of the incoming 2009 class, or be behind all of the special appointees like Burris and Gillibrand?

I tend to keep my expectations low but I’m more optimistic than usual about Franken. Among other things I think his admiration for Paul Wellstone bodes well. I hope he does a good job and that the voters of Minnesota think so, so he can hold that seat.

Awwww, she came with the name Angela, and, I will say, a nicely privileged background. She now has more stuff in our home than I do;))I may not make it with any pics, alittle non compus. She is doll.

They are probably ahead but I’m inclined to think Burris is a lame-duck, reasonable chance Gillibrand is as well. I just hope that if they exit it is because they lost to a primary challenge, rather than losing to a Republican in the general.

Franken IS part of the ‘09 class but will start as #100 in seniority (which is I believe based on swear-in date – think of the times in the past when a retiring senator has resigned in December to allow the incoming replacement to get a head start on seniority)

As a Minnesotan I think I can safely say Franken will be a hell of a liberal senator. His politics has always been driven by ordinary people, not corporate interests. He really is going to be a worthy torchbearer for Wellstone’s legacy.

That’s not 100% determined, Wikipedia has said the question is up in the air. The Democratic leadership in the Senate decides. Franken’s situation is different from a retiree replacement, he won his election in November but it’s taken a long time to determine the results.

:D

Here’s hoping our new senator from the great state of Minnesota can hold even the smallest candle up to the memory of Paul Wellstone. I’ll be toasting good luck and god’s speed to our newest senator this evening!

crikey ! linky no work – here it is
by notmybo [Jun 30, 2009 4:22:53 PM]

Suck it GOP !

All I can say is “About Fucking Time”… Ya think a little birdie told Coleman he had better concede or else there is no $$$$ for his real legal problems?

You raaannnng? The Queen has a new home. Love live the Queen.

Congrats, RevBev, I didn’t want to say anything this morning. Figured your stress level was already maxed out.

OK, where’s the pix? *g*

Whooooppiieee! At long last.

uptake is reporting that pawlenty is signing today. and that franken should be seated next week when the senate returns.

god,, if i lived in dc i’d go for his entry to the senate.

ot: the sleaze of south carolina in his own words – he’s “crossed lines” with more women (before he met maria) and he’s seen maria more times than he originally said in oh so last week’s presser.

I’m assuming his presser today will be low-key but am hoping he will be good for some high quality snark in whatever venue he appears. Hell’s bells and codfish!?! May be the Sunday talk shows will even have him on……that would be a pleasant change of face.

He’s good enough, smart enough and darn it, the people elected him.
Congratulations Senator Franken

As TPM sez, Sanford should stop digging. He’s making a mockery of himself.

She’s lovely….Im not so up on the pic thing…will have to see what I can do. What is weird is that she is almost a copy of a beloved one who died/killed a few years ago. Talk about karma..Smokey gray with a white bib…yeah, regal, she is. She says thank you for asking.

I hope Franken doesn’t tone down his arsenal of satire too much. He could verbally take down a republican spinner in no time if he chose to.

drip……drip…..drip

Sanford: open mouth; insert foot.

Do you think Franken can loan some of his spine to the rest of the Dims? I hope he has been as frustrated as the rest of us watching them act like the Repukes won in November.

Oh for pity’s sake, doesn’t that man know when to put a sock in it? What a total idiot.

Schuster is having himself a good day with both Franken and coleman……a well-deserved gloat.

Oooooh, chuckie todd in for tweety.

I used to listen to Air America religiously, I got a Sirius satellite unit so I could get Air America, when it went tits up I replaced it with an XM because AA had moved …

Anyway, I listened to Franken most days. One of the big reasons he got into politics has to be the GOP actions after Wellstone’s death. Franken was a big admirer, from listening to him it’s clear that he view(s) Coleman as an unworthy successor who stole Wellstone’s seat and memory.

He certainly appears to be a worthy successor to Paul Wellstone.

And thanks to PW for keeping us covered on this.

Just to remind everyone, to paraphrase the language of Barack Obama…

In this time, and on this date, let us recall…

That the decision that Al made back in 2003 at the first board meeting for the memorial for Paul Wellstone — The Wellstone Alliance, which sponsors the candidate and campaign staffer training all around the country, called “Camp Wellstone” — during a coffee break, Molly Ivins, one of the founding board members, in the presence of Walter Mondale — another founding board member, spoke up and told Al Franken how to order the rest of his life with the sentence “Al, you’ve got to move home to Minnesota and run for Paul’s seat.”

Mondale allowed as to how that might just be a good idea.

And so in the fullness of time, it came to pass.

Tamaron Hall @ MSNBC if your not the winner your just a loser.
HA Ha Normy

Coleman has a slight lisp. It probably is owing to his teeth, which look like a row of new refrigerators.

Franken (not kitty) lead story on aftenoon NPR… Coleman says he is not “irreplaceable”, future is Franken.

707!!!!

Best. Description. Ever.

I guess he went to the wrong taxidermist.

I can’t take pride of creation. I read it somewhere relating to someone else’s teeth. But it certainly fits Coleman.

Dog bless Ms. Molly!……somewhere today she’s having a great good jolly laugh.

Yeah, and what about the other lawsuits pending…anyway congratulations ironranger and all other Minnesotans and all of us!!!

Fits him better than those “teeth” do! Thanks for a good chuckle. :)

An endorsement from Molly Ivins is about as good as it gets as far as I’m concerned.

RevBev – you mentioned new kitty last week, but I forget – is she a mature cat whose owner died or became frail? Or am I mixing ‘Angela’ with someone else’s new feline?

Suggest re-cat-proofing if you haven’t been owned by a cat for awhile. My eldest has lately taken to pushing EVERYthing off the coffeetable, where he lounges, and earlier today leaped onto my new laptop before I could stop him. Damage – the number 3 lost its key. Still works, thought. Sigh. But he still has me wound around his fuzzy little paw.Hope your newbie is settling in.

Just getting home and fortunately in time to see Franken’s press conference. Hooray for us.

LOL.

Thanks, Sara!

Not to nit pic, but I think “a sock on it’ is more applicable:):)

The news is stressing the importance of the number 60. However, if Franken turns out to be as liberal as we hope, then he could have an outsized influence. He could shame some backbone into some of the tottery Ds, or at least that’s something one could realisticly hope.

Heads up. Franken presser scheduled to start in about 5 minutes, at 4:15CDT (5:15 E). The UpTake to carry it live, in its entirety, I’m sure (unlike cable nets which will be edited). C-Span maybe covering, too.

We can hope. The Senate is a weird institution, though. He needs to be buddies with the right people and smile a lot with Harry.

where’s franken’s presser online?

I sure agree, eCAHN.

And I’d mention that he can combine his progressive positions with a strong, capable and eloquent voice, not to mention a built-in amount of press interest. All this will hopefully help get stuff done!

Would love to see Franken knock senate pomp on its butt.

http://www.theuptake.org for presser….

Enjoy!

Thanks….yes, mature. One of 2 whose owner needed to let go. Sort of amazing how it worked, and owner so relieved a beloved one has a new home. I am hoping I can plan for some household/furniture protection…hard to tell.

Can a person chime in from the ICU lounge where healing’s in progress with a hearty WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

MSNBC for live presser

Lots to celebrate, PS!

He must have to work extra hard to fight his natural inclination to be funny.

Franken presser on CNN and C-span – no over-talk on C-span.

Wow. I was just over at Jonathan Turley’s and he seems NOT to have been following this very closely. He uses the word “arbitrary”, for one thing. Wow. Never had the feeling of him talking thru his hat before. He’s usually pretty solid.

FunnyWheelieDiva

Al sez he thinks he’ll be seated early next week.

Turley talks through his hat a lot. That was how he first became a cable-TV pundit in the 1990s, by talking nonsense about Whitewater and Ken Starr.

Yep. Pawlenty’s said he’ll sign the cert today, so after that they just wait for the Senate to get back into session.

WHOOOPEEEEE!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! Glory BE!!! Hip Hip HOOORAY!!!!

Whew…………..

owner so relieved a beloved one has a new home.

I’ll bet. I can’t imagine letting any of mine go, and hoping they won’t outlive me.

Re protection–those gray fuzzy-ish mats you find at pet stores and even Target and Wal-Mart are practically cat magnets – they seem to love them. Throw em on the furniture and whisk ‘em off so a human can sit down, and the human won’t find himself covered with the kitty’s fur. And an older kitty probably won’t be climbing the curtains. ; )
So kind of you to take on the mature little lady, and relieve her person’s mind.

Funny you should mention that. When I first got Min she started playing with my laces when I tied my shoes in the morning. Got to be a ritual between us. When she stopped is when I had her checked and found that she was hypertensive and had lost most of her sight. This morning Nagi, my new Manx, started playing with my laces as I was tying my shoes.

Have you figured out a name for her yet?

i’m crying watching the presser – i’m soooooo glad he’s finally in.

Yep. A tremendous sense of relief and optimism.

“Going up to the Range to do some parades” — great way to spend the 4th, Senator-Elect Franken!

Every tiger I have clears the table. Get 3 or 4 on the dining room table I’m lucky to be able to sit there and listen to the Rays game and read. Nothing breakable gets put on surfaces outside the kitchen if I’m not there to watch it. Gigi broke one of my small plates last week. Had this set for over 30 years. Tigers – 2, ex-girlfriend – 1.

Love him. And I don’t think he’ll disappoint.

He didn’t completely succeed.

“I’m going to hit the ground running … well, at least trotting.”

waiting for the results for his race, i stayed up all night on election night. i’m still crying now. as someone else said earlier, may he have even part of the courage of wellstone. and may he stay alive and healthy.

Wow. I did not know that. He’s been pretty solid on torture and state secrets/sovereign immunity. Certainly one of KO’s better tallking heads.
FWDiva

She arrived as Angela…so that’s it. Sorry about the plates…I better be putting up some stuff.

Were you watching Franken? NOLA, thanks for the link. So smart and gracious. Reminds me of the hope of the election. Plus, I like how he treats his wife…

Don’t want to forget to say thanks to you, PW. It’s been a long haul and you were always there with the latest info.

Maybe now you can start a Sanford Death Watch.

Yeah–my condolences on the plates. My guy only recently started this clearing-off everything. Not sure why.

The upside – I have learned to be less attached to material things. *g*

Maybe now you can start a Sanford Death Watch.

That’ll be a real short run for PW (as opposed to Franken). If the SC thugs haven’t written up his walkin’ papers yet, one more presser with do the trick. There *have* to be more and more people in the state questioning whether he has the mental stability to be gov.

Angela is sweet. Since she’s mature no fair changing, although I have when the name’s just so bad. Fuerae didn’t mind switching from Chester.

That’s a lesson I learned long ago. Now if one breaks a bowl I’ll have a complete set for 3 instead of 3 plus one bowl. Besides I can only eat from one at a time.

Soooo, PW, what’s yer next project? You did an outstanding job on this one.

No, I was at work when all the fun started. Saw your 5 just as I was leaving.

You just have to say how classy Al was…no attacks and kind words about telephone call from Norm…I feel like we can all claim abit of Al’s victory, having been his Air AMerica fan before it was cut here and the months of pulling for him….

Bye Bye Norm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75yo42QvSPM

WalMart wrote:

We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees

What kind of “barriers to hiring” might they be considering?

If you ever get a chance, listen to George Mitchell talk about his beginnings it’s funny.

I guess he’ll have to practice a bit at that smiling stuff. I’m sure he’s never done that before. Is there a special “Senate smile” or will just the standard 1920s Fitzgerald smirk do the job?