The hearing in a packed room began with Justice Paul Anderson testily responding to Roger Magnuson, the lead attorney for Coleman, who compared Minnesota's recount to the 2000 presidential election dispute that focused on the counting of ballots in Florida. "This is not Florida," said Anderson.

Oops. When a judge rejects an argument like that, it doesn't bode well. When it's a state Supreme Court, that really doesn't bode well.

Court weighs absentee ballots

After eight disastrous years of Bush, they thought they had lost the middle — so they picked a middling guy to get it back.

Which made sense, right up until the moment when they stuck him with Pinochet in heels for a running mate.

If you're a lefty, the article is hilarious. If you're in the middle, it's a vicious dissection of why things went horribly wrong for the McCain campaign. If you're on the right, well, go watch Hannity or something, you won't get either the point or the humor.

Requiem for a Maverick : Rolling Stone

The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes -- and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman's support for a resolution to impeach President Bush. (Also showcased: Washington state's 1919 labor strike, its suffrage movement and the violent anti-World Trade Organization riots of 1999.) Lawrence sent it off to D.C. in September and was very surprised it was accepted for the tree

I believe my response to this is, "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach - Reliable Source - Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts share gossip from inside the Beltway and beyond.

Mrs. Clinton's and her closest advisers' turning a suggestion by the President-elect that she might, among other things, head the State Department into an "offer" and reports that she was agonizing over whether to accept it, did not please officials in Chicago, some of whom hoped that issues over disclosure of Bill Clinton's post-presidential record might block the appointment.

Let's spell this out in more clear terms. There was no offer to make Hillary Sec State. Her flunkies floated a story that there was and that she was unsure about accepting it turned it from pure fiction into a fait accompli.

She created it out of thin air, and to what end? If Obama doesn't tap her, well that's evidence that see, he really is the sexist bastard she said he was! And pumps up the Hillary fans and Obama haters. If he does pick her, that still pumps up the Hillary fans, and now also pumps up the Hillary haters to rally against Obama. Heads I win, tails he loses.

Now that may be ascribing a bit much to the Senator from New York, on the other hand, it may not.

The Truth About the Election - The New York Review of Books

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

The monster years - Paul Krugman - Op-Ed Columnist - New York Times Blog

The investor under scrutiny purchased large blocks of McCain futures at once, boosting their price and increasing the prediction that McCain had a greater chance of winning the presidential election. At other times, according to Intrade’s online records, blocks of Obama futures were sold — lowering the market’s prediction about Obama’s standing in the race.

According to Intrade bulletin boards and market histories, smaller investors swept in to take advantage of what they saw as price discrepancies caused by the market shifts — quickly returning the Obama and McCain futures prices to their previous value.

This resulted in losses for the investor and profits for the small investors who followed the patterns to take maximum advantage.

The perfect mix of bad politics and bad market trading.

CQ Politics | Trader Drove Up Price of McCain ‘Stock’ in Online Market

There's nothing in the link but the picture. I just found it REALLY CREEPY.

slide_443_10841_large.jpg (JPEG Image, 550x400 pixels)

No longer just a civil matter to blithely ignore, this ominous development could result in current and high level officials being indicted for crimes. I suspect the special counsel will "follow the emails" in the way that "follow the money" brought down Nixon's men during Watergate.

I'd like to know what Iglesias thinks about the potential for RICO charges coming out of all this.

David C. Iglesias: Dangerous New Turn in Justice Department Investigation

And so inept at it: other campaigns have decided that their only shot is going negative, but usually they don't announce it, as several McCain aides have in recent days--there's no way we can win on the economy, so we're going to go sludge-diving.

But since we are dealing with manure here, I'll put the rest of this post below the fold.

It is appropriate that the prime vessel for this assault is Sarah Palin, whose very presence on a national ticket is an insult to your intelligence. She now has "credibility," we are told, because she managed to read talking points off notecards in the debate last week with unwitting enthusiasm.

I don't often find myself nodding my head at something Joe Klein has said, but this one? In the word of Chris Matthews... HA!

Embarracuda - Swampland - TIME

When you have section headings like:

B. Plantiffs' Argument that All Executive Acts Are Off-Limits to Legislative Investigation Is Absurdly Detached from Basic Constitutional Principles and the Legislature's Inherent Powers

You know something good is happening. The Troopergate non-injunction is 30 pages of legal hilarity.

Lawyers out there? This is the kind of thing you never want to see written against you.

Troopergate non-Injunction Decision