I was there, I saw what you did. I saw it with my own two eyes

(Apologies to Phil Collins for the Title)

And I although I am busy today, I could not let it pass without comment since both of us participated as groundlings in the recount process. The best wrapup/explanation/in case you've forgotten what this was about is provided by the Wall Street Journal.(H/T our friend Peg at What If?)

The money section for me:

This is now the second time Republicans have been beaten in this kind of legal street fight. In 2004, Dino Rossi was ahead in the election-night count for Washington Governor against Democrat Christine Gregoire. Ms. Gregoire's team demanded the right to rifle through a list of provisional votes that hadn't been counted, setting off a hunt for "new" Gregoire votes. By the third recount, she'd discovered enough to win. This was the model for the Franken team.

Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern elections don't end when voters cast their ballots. They only end after the lawyers count them.

The Franken team had a lawyer for every table, minimum, the entire time we recounted in Minneapolis. We had a only one lawyer (and a couple of political operatives who were not lawyers) overseeing our efforts. And Minneapolis was where Franken stole the election. It was maybe the only place where Coleman could have alleged fraud with missing and mishandled votes that did not match the tapes. (I say "maybe" because in my cursory reading of the decision, it seems that there were precedents in how to handle those situations and the canvassing board's decision more or less followed them). That is what this final decision boiled down to, none of the allegations of fraud amounted to anything substantiated. It's hard to prove at that point. From our previous experience in recounting, I learned that you need to look at irregularities between the registers (signatures), ballots and tapes. If these don't match, you've got a problem. Ballots that disappear and reappear are also a problem.

It shouldn't matter what the local officials intentions were. If they did the wrong thing they invalidated those ballots. Somehow we've gotten to a point where counting the ballots (regardless of their provenance or how they were treated) is the sine qua non of elections. Which overlooks the fact that the integrity of the process may have been completely destroyed.

There is more than one way to steal an election. You can hijack the whole thing. Ask Hugo Chavez.

Martha Conyers goes down for Bribery

There's a special place in hell waiting for corrupt politicians who make money off a fallen city or country. H/T Instapundit

Living Off the Wall

The bizarre spectacle of Michael Jackson's sudden death yesterday, capping a bizarre life has led lots of people to 80s nostalgia. If you can use mind bleach to erase the last 30 odd years (and I do mean odd) of Michael's "career" and just focus on his two, actually interesting and successful albums Off the Wall and Thriller, they remind you of a couple of things. One, that Michael Jackson led us out of disco hell on a wave of R&B and opened the door to a lot of other artists and genres like rap and hiphop. Even if you don't think he played a big role in that, I think he can still be considered an important and perhaps necessary transition. Two, that Quincy Jones was responsible for repackaging Jackson and pointing him in his commercially successful direction after his brief teen idol years as the black Donnie Osmond. (Or was Donnie Osmond the white Michael Jackson? I can't say for sure.) Not that Jackson didn't have talent but I always thought he must have made a deal with the devil when he was about 13 because somehow his voice never broke and he was capable of those amazing falsettos from boyhood to adulthood. Maybe the devil came to collect yesterday.

I posted on Anti-Strib

I said I would post about once a week on the new anti-strib and so far, I've been remiss. Today I highlighted a Minn Post Article knocking Sen. Amy Klobuchar on her expensive genetic screening bill for rare breast cancers. If you have to have a disease, pray that you have one that gets that kind of celebrity and government attention and money.

Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America

And none are in Minneapolis! Andrew Schiller of the now infamous real estate value index has a new index of the country's worst neighborhoods. 5 are in Chicago and the rust belt is generally over represented. Surprisingly, Detroit, my home town only has one neighborhood on the list. Minneapolis can't even remotely be on this list since Schiller used murder as one of the components of his bad 'hood index. We've had 5, this year so far, last time I checked. The interesting thing about this list is that it breaks down the idea that there are good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods in good and bad cities. Indian Village in Detroit is probably still a nice place to live, as is Lincoln Park in Chicago.

Lanes Buckle on I-94 in Hudson Due to Heat

Something comes to mind in that "Irish Blessing" about may the road rise up to greet you. Sounds a bit dangerous to me. Also creepy since we just passed that stretch a few days ago.

KSTP TV - Minneapolis and St. Paul - Lanes Buckle on I-94 in Hudson Due to Heat

Shared via AddThis

Catching up

We've been away on vacation this past week and the last few days have been the dreaded dash catching up on mail, laundry, plant watering and everything else that usually follows time away from your house. When we got back, the weeds, which had been in abatement due to our efforts and a drought used the time (and some rain) to take the lead in the annual fight. It was like an episode of that science show where there is a simulation of what would happen if humans disappeared suddenly from the planet. I see lots of weeding in my immediate future.

Having recently returned from Michigan, my home state, I have some reflections about the state of that state's economy (14% unemployment) but no time to post them now.

Chad the Elder over at Fraters has an interesting post about the prevention dilemma as described by David Harsanyi.

It brings me back to the debate on the health care bills of the last two legislative sessions, when the Governor, a marathon runner, touted the cost savings of preventative care, even going as far to seemingly support such invasive measures as tracking kids via the public education system for weight gain. As much as I don't like to personalize public policy, I can see from our own experiences that prevention will only get you so far if you have chronic conditions, especially ones that stem from genetic predispositions. And although I agree with Harsanyi and Chad about "what a drag it is getting old" it will be even more of a drag if you are denied access to treatments or drugs that will keep you from getting bedridden due to arthritis. Or some other condition that won't kill you, at least not quickly, but will certainly make the final years of your life a misery.

On early detection, I must say I have to be a fan of that. Early detection gave me a about a 1.25" scar. I did have to have to use a lot of expensive machinery and medical talent to get it but as far as they tell me, it bought me a life expectancy that is about the same as somebody who has never had breast cancer. As treatment for all cancers gets better, we are talking about buying that with our health care dollars. It will be costly, but increasingly it's about buying a lot more for the expensive price tag. It's still a trade off, but one that most people would like to make for themselves, not have it made for them, by a bureaucrat. I know I would. I did. And given a future with government control, I may be looking back on my experience with nostalgia.

Of course, in the brave new world of health care, there are also "treatments" for old age and for the genetic predisposition problem. With government controlling it, you may not like your options.

Quick Sunday Post

This past week was busy as we prepared for a trip. Yesterday was even more jam packed as we had our Radio Show with the monthly appearance with King Banaian followed by lunch at La Fonda de Los Lobos, in Eagan. Then the next door neighbors graduation party then running to the bird boarding place, then a lovely dinner at some friends house on Lake Minnetonka. Hopefully, I'll have time to post later tonight.

In the meantime be amused by this tale of a Democratic Congresswoman from California who is a one woman foreclosure crisis. (H/T Instapundit) You've heard about abandoned houses causing blight in neighborhoods? Well, this woman bought a house, let it go to hell while she was still living there and then proceeded to move out when she was elected to congress. It went into foreclosure (so she wasn't paying the mortgage either, it seems). Somebody bought it, probably to rent out, but somehow the foreclosure was deemed faulty and SHE GOT IT BACK from the bank. (Wonder how that happened?) House continued to fall apart (unmown grass, dead bird in the living room). Because her neighbors are liberal democrats like she is, they haven't kicked her out but continue struggling with this nuisance in their neighborhood. Maybe now that the story has made the bigtime, she'll fix her house? Neighbors are jaded. Maybe because the story has already been in the LA Times and local (Sacramento) papers.

I wonder whether this is a more widespread phenomena. (I even suggest that it could be bi-partisan). Members of Congress spend all their time in DC and leave behind crumbling wrecks of houses. I think I remember Rod Grams making hay out of the state of James Oberstar's house in the 8th district when he ran against him.