Franken declared winner* in Minnesota

For those of you waiting on signs of the apocalypse, I give you the state of Minnesota, where it appears that (I can't believe I'm writing this) Al Franken will be a US Senator.

The point is that the fix seems to be in for Franken. The latest blow came from the state Supreme Court:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday rejected Republican Norm Coleman's request to count an additional 654 rejected absentee ballots in the state's U.S. Senate race, taking away his last option for overtaking Democrat Al Franken in the recount.

The court's ruling paves the way for the state Canvassing Board to certify results showing Franken won the race. But Coleman's attorneys have said they are likely to sue if he loses the recount, meaning it could be weeks more before the outcome is final.

"Today's ruling, which effectively disregards the votes of hundreds of Minnesotans, ensures that an election contest is now inevitable," Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak said in a written statement. "The Coleman campaign has consistently and continually fought to have every validly cast vote counted, and for the integrity of Minnesota's election system, we will not stop now."

Of course, the liberals that have shouted from rooftops in elections past about counting every vote (even when they weren't legally cast ballots) have nothing to say in this case.

According to The Fix, Coleman's likely points in a challenge would be:

...that the 654 absentee ballots have been wrongly excluded, that roughly 150 ballots have been double-counted, and that 130 ballots that disappeared from a church between election night Nov. 4 and the manual recount should not be included in the final tally.

Double counted ballots (in a precinct that went big for Franken by the way) and ballots that were counted on election night, but not verified in a recount because they vanished..., just the kind of thing that would be sending the "stolen elections" crowd into orbit, if the tables were reversed.

I'm so sick of the hypocrisy on this type of thing that I sincerely hope that Coleman (and the GOP for that matter) goes to the legal mat on this one...(or, if you're a Godfather fan, "goes to the mattresses")...no matter how long it takes, how many court challenges, or how long Minnesota has to go with just one Senator.

Sometimes our biggest political enemy is ourselves, especially when we're not willing to fight tooth-and-nail like the opposition.

It's a real contest..not Tidily Winks...and it has real consequences.

***

Other Takes:

Ace of Spades: "Yep, Franken stole the election"

Right Wing News: "Franken to be handed Coleman's seat"

Stop the ACLU: "Will they be screaming about unfair, stolen elections now?"

More: The Daily Beast - Michelle Malkin - Hotline -