Arlen Specter and the Demise of the Republican Party

When the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, seriously discusses secession (and gets the history of statehood wrong), it's time for thoughtful people to consider the future of the Republican Party. (Rick Perry at the April 15th teaparty:

"Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that ...

"We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that?")

When politicians have to publicly apologize to windbag Rush Limbaugh, including Michael Steele, the chair of the Republican National Committee, it's time to reconsider whether there is permanent damage to the structure of the Republican Party, taken over as it is by single-issue fanatics.

When Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin are Republican Party rising stars, we need to hope to hell that a new, more moderate third party is in the works, because it isn't healthy for America, or any country, to be run solely by one party.

Arlen Specter isn't ready to be retired by the right wing of the Republican Party, and I must congratulate him on his candor yesterday during his announcement. It sounded a bit arrogant, of course, but to Specter, being challenged in a Republican primary to retain his seat is much like Brad Pitt having to audition for a role.

Done that.

As Jon Stewart snickered last night, the fate of the US Senate is in the hands of Al Franken.

Having just returned from Franken country, although certainly not having access to any people who supported Coleman, I don't have many observations to make other than the housing stock of Minneapolis is just gorgeous! With the third party candidate out of the recount dragout, the vast majority of Minnesotans just want Coleman to go away. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2/3 of the state's voters want Coleman to concede the election already.

Will It Be Senator Franken, Finally?

At times like this, we need Al Franken in the Senate. We need more laughing. According to talkingpointsmem.com, the judicial battle between the two New York Jews whose families migrated to Minnesota--Norm Coleman, the incumbent, and Al Franken, the challenger--is about to end, with the Franken legal team ending its case earlier than expected. A ruling by the court is expected by the end of the month.

I miss Al Franken on Air America. I miss his intelligent, biting, yet human critique of the right wing media shouters in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

Working with "Team Franken," a group of Harvard students, Franken made mush of the Fox commentators. My daughter and I listened to the book, read by Franken in his nasal midwestern accent, on one of our mother-daughter road trips through New England. It was perfect, she was looking at colleges. Our favorite chapter: when he convinces one of the Team Franken interns to pose as a prospective student at Bob Jones University, the fundamentalist Christian college, that he affectionately calls "BJU."

The humor brought to us by the Roland Burris scandal is not funny. That's why we need Al.

More on Men Behaving Badly

Two seats in the United States Senate are in contention now, weeks after the election. First, there is the still too-close to call contest between Al Franken and incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota. Franken is 49 votes ahead of Coleman. That is a flimsy lead by any measure. The two camps had agreed to count about 1350 absentee ballots that were originally disqualified. What remains in contestation is a group of 650 absentee ballots out of 1350 that have been discarded, but which might require another look, at least according to the Coleman camp. A lawsuit by Coleman is virtually guaranteed according to The Hill.

Senator Cornyn (R-TX) has been chest-thumping, claiming a Republican filibuster, if the Democrats try to seat Franken while the litigation is still on going.

I like Al, I like his energy, I like his ideas and the respect that he shows for folks with different beliefs. But no election should be won on such close counts, not when our election system is so vulnerable to hanky panky, and the process of registration and follow through is as poorly conceived, policed, and implemented as I witnessed while working the polls in New York.

Then there is Illinois. Embattled governor Blagojevich has cleverly pushed the attention off of him and the allegations that he was about to sell the empty Obama seat to the highest bidder by appointing while he is still governor, an apparently qualified Roland Burris, who just so happens to be African American when there are currently no African Americans in the Senate.

Illinois has removed Blagojevich's security clearance, and is moving closer to impeachment. The interesting question is whether a subsequent impeachment will invalidate an appointment made while he was still governor.

So Monday when the new Congress convenes, will Roland Burris try to enter the Senate to defy Harry Reid (D-NV) and claim his seat?

TalkingPointsMemo.com seems to think not. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer, a former chief of the Capitol Hill police, told the Associated Press that he does not expect any trouble from Roland Burris should Burris be turned away from the Senate door next week. "He is a good man," said Gainer, who has known Burris for years. "He plays by the rules. I don't think there's going to be a confrontation."

Of course, we don't need all of this added drama when the real drama of how to jumpstart the economy, remake a failed federal government, and reassert a country dedicated to the rule of law and not the rule of Bush/Cheney is so pressing and requires creativity, new coalitions, and trust. I have to giggle at the chutzpah of Blagojevich, but would appreciate it more if we weren't in such a mess.