Newly released Secret Service documents show that Trump's suggestion of a 2nd Amendment solution for Hillary Clinton resulted in numerous threats.

(Threat starts at the 40 second mark.)

Do you remember that from August of 2016?

Did you wonder if any of Trump's supporters actually got fired up enough to make actual threats against Hillary Clinton?

Well wonder no more.

These are today's tweets from journalist Michael Best who specializes in reporting on the intelligence community.

Just got docs from @SecretService on threats against Hillary Clinton, including Trump's comments.

— Michael Best (@NatSecGeek) April 6, 2017

.@SecretService pic.twitter.com/114ufXCAXq

— Michael Best (@NatSecGeek) April 6, 2017

Completely redacted pic.twitter.com/hatu6YSxJG

— Michael Best (@NatSecGeek) April 6, 2017

Secret Service docs indicate they did see threats against Hillary Clinton seemingly as a result of Trump's "2nd Amendment people" comment

— Michael Best (@NatSecGeek) April 6, 2017

DHS' reaction to Trump's "2nd Amendment people" comments: "YIKES!" pic.twitter.com/yEYu5MRGQg

— Michael Best (@NatSecGeek) April 6, 2017

Yikes! Indeed.

Could you even imagine how badly this might have gone?

After all Donald Trump's supporters are some of the angriest, mentally unbalanced crackpots that we have seen since the McCain Palin rallies of 2008.

These are the types of folks who see the solution to just about every problem as a bullet, and all it takes to set them off is a simple traffic incident, neighborhood confrontation, or careless presidential candidate and the next thing you know the air is filled with lead.

And there Donald Trump was, pouring gasoline ALL OVER those burning embers.

#Notmypresident.

(H/T to Politicususa.)

Hey remember when Mitch McConnell was a real stickler for cabinet appointees to have their paperwork finished before any hearings? Yeah neither does he apparently.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate plans to rush forward this week with confirmation hearings for many of Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet and other key executive positions. Though many of the picks have not yet completed the customarily required ethics clearances and background checks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has shown no willingness to delay.

But back in 2009, McConnell took the exact opposite view. A letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), posted on Twitter by Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington co-founder and former Obama administration ethics adviser Norm Eisen on Sunday, shows he demanded that “financial disclosures must be complete” before any confirmation hearings be scheduled.

In his letter, McConnell wrote that his party’s duty to “conduct the appropriate review” of presidential nominations, “consistent with the long standing and best practices of committees, regardless of which party is in the majority,” was one it took seriously. “These best practices serve the Senate well,” he added, “and we will insist on their fair and consistent application.” The then-Senate Minority Leader called the financial disclosure process and other ethical steps essential “to fairly review a nominee’s record and to make an informed decision prior to a vote.”

Yep, that ole Mitch McConnell is a by the book kind of guy.

Right up until it inconveniences a president from his party that is.

It is not everyone who has a photograph of the exact moment that somebody decided that they despised them.

This is a still that my friend Dennis Zaki sent me yesterday from the day back in 2009 when I interviewed Sarah Palin.  (I will not bother to retell what happened as you can simply go here and read the whole wild story for yourself.)

I do remember this part in particular because though Palin had been somewhat suspicious throughout the interview, it was not until this point right here that she suddenly decided that something was up.

Look at those eyes! I swear I lost several years off my life that day.

Don't laugh at the Palin curse folks, it's real.

For my part I thought I had handled the whole thing quite well considering it was my very first on camera interview and I was coerced by Dennis into doing it.

Of course the fact that during the entire interview I was worried that she would suddenly drop Trig, point in my direction, and scream "GRYPHEN" in that high pitched scream from the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," did nothing to quiet my nerves.

And of course it was right after this that she chased us out into the parking lot.

Ah, good times.

Anchorage FINALLY has a law protecting LGBT people. And it only took six years.

Source

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Anchorage’s new law adding discrimination protections for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people is now officially on the books, with Anchorage Assembly Chair Dick Traini signing the legislation Friday morning in a brief ceremony at City Hall. 

The Assembly passed the law in a 9-2 vote just before midnight Tuesday. Normally, the chair signs legislation with little fanfare, Traini said. But he said he wanted to have a ceremony to give the law’s supporters closure. 

Traini signed the law with Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson at his side. About two dozen onlookers cheered as he handed out the pens he used to sign the measure. 

“It’s been a long road,” Traini told the room after the signing. “And this will help a lot of people in Anchorage who have been discriminated against. So hopefully we’ve sealed that. And we’ll just move on.”

Man has this been a long time coming.

Some of you long time IM visitors may remember the Summer of Hate back in 2009 when Jerry Prevo had Fundamentalist Christians from the Valley bused in to argue against the ordinance. Resulting in some rather angry confrontations.

Despite the best efforts of Prevo and his religious homophobes, that ordinance passed.

However Anchorage's newly elected mayor, Dan Sullivan, promptly vetoed it which put us back at square one.

Now with a new mayor in place we can finally provide protection to some of our most vulnerable citizens.

And that my friends is why local elections matter.

"Death Panels" are back! Cue the Sarah Palin outrage machine!

I know a lot of you were worried I did not see this yesterday, but I did.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Physicians would be paid to discuss end-of-life options with Medicare patients who want their wishes spelled out in advance under a regulation proposed by the federal government Wednesday. 

Medical societies and seniors' groups like the AARP have long supported so-called advance care planning as a way for patients to consider whether they want intensive medical care in the event of a life-threatening illness near the close of their lives, and to make their preferences known to their loved ones in writing. But Medicare has never had a mechanism with which to pay doctors for this counseling, except during a physical exam when beneficiaries first enroll in the program. 

“Today’s proposal supports individuals and families who wish to have the opportunity to discuss advance care planning with their physician and care team, as part of coordinated, patient- and family-centered care," Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chief Medical Officer Patrick Conway said in a statement. "CMS looks forward to gathering public input on this proposal.”

The article goes on to point out that an earlier version of this option was derailed due to Sarah Palin's  histrionics over the so-called "death panels" which earned her Politifact's "Lie of the Year" back in 2009.

You may remember that back then Palin's ghostwriter wrote this on her Facebook page:

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Which is so stupid that you actually risk losing brain cells by reading it.

Well fortunately today cooler, less ignorant, heads are prevailing and this end-of-life option is being reintroduced.

Which I think we all realize means at some point Palin will fire up her ghostwriter and post yet another brain cell murdering diatribe on her only remaining media outlet, Facebook.

I am sure reporters and pundits have their itchy fingers hovering over their keyboards in anticipation.

Hey, whatever happened to this lady?

This is from January 2009, right after President Obama was sworn in and apparently before Sarah Palin decided to become a full time Right Wing troll.

Despite constant obstructionism and withering partisan attacks, President Obama has completed almost 100% of the domestic agenda he laid out in his 2009 inaugural speech.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

On January 20, 2009, when Obama delivered his inaugural address as president, he outlined his coming domestic agenda in two sentences summarizing the challenges he identified: “Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” Those were the four major areas of domestic reform: economic recovery measures, health-care reform, a response to climate change, and education reform. (To the justifiable dismay of immigration advocates, Obama did not call for immigration reform at the time, and immigration reform is now the only possible remaining area for significant domestic reform.) With the announcement of the largest piece of his environmental program last Monday, Obama has now accomplished major policy responses on all these things. There is enormous room left to debate whether Obama’s agenda in all these areas qualifies as good or bad, but “ineffectual” seems as though it should be ruled out at this point.

Shocking right? But there you have it.

The President has continued moving forward despite the fact that he is often swimming against the political current in shark infested waters.

And what exactly has he accomplished? Well I'm glad you asked.

Courtesy of Americans Against the Tea Party:

Economic Recovery: By the time Obama entered office, the Bush Recession had already crushed our — and most of the world’s — economy by sheer force of greed. Obama’s first actions kept the Great Recession from turning into a full-blown Great Depression. An $800 billion stimulus, the Frank-Dodd financial regulations, bank reorganization and the auto bailout were controversial moves, but they gave America’s sinking ship the vital moments it needed to level out. Since then, we’ve been steadily bailing water and pumping ballast from the bilge. Unemployment is down to at least mid-2008 levels, as is deficit spending, with both dropping steadily. Wall Street closed at an all-time high not long ago, and Gross Domestic Product is growing at about the same rate it was in 2007. We’ve got a ways to go yet, but the way things are going, we very likely will see a full recovery to a Pre-Bush-Recession economy by the time Hillary gets elected. 

Health Care Reform: Obamacare. Despite the fact that almost nobody likes it (us because blood-sucking insurance companies are still involved, them because Obama’s involved), the Affordable Care Act has already hit its target number for paying enrollees. Uninsured rates are dropping precipitously, and the exponential rise in the cost of medical care has at least begun to level off. Which, in itself is impressive, considering that Koch-owned conservatives were (again) predicting exactly the opposite. More impressively still, this is in spite of the fact that almost half the states in the country don’t even allow their citizens access to expanded Medicaid. Because, Tea Party. Once those states’ constituencies start firing the people who are killing them…well, we’ll see what the figures look like then. 

Education Reform: Obama’s education reforms haven’t been mind-blowing, but some progress is better than the regress we were facing under Republican authority. As of now, it’s estimated that about 22 million students are currently benefitting from Obama’s educational reforms, which included doubling funding for Pell grants, offering “Race to the Top” grants for schools that improved standards and education, and most recently, stopped student loans from more than doubling for 7 million college students, and capped federal student loan rates at 10 percent of income. Which is, you know…better. At least, it’s better than just sending all the white kids to private schools to receive a proper, Christian education before the strongest get shipped off to Koch U to get an indoctrination they’ll never finish paying for. 

A Response to Climate Change: In 2009, Obama promised to “double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in three years.” Challenge accepted, and met: Solar energy supplies have tripled, and wind energy has increased by a whopping 16-to-1. But that was a somewhat intangible thing for most. Obama’s latest bit of legislature has been called a “war on coal” by people who sell coal. The rest of us just call it “a market-based cap on carbon emissions via EPA regulations passed more than 20 years ago.” It might not be the most drastic step imaginable, but nobody can argue that it’s not a serious response to climate change. You know it’s serious, because the Koch Brothers hate it.

There is reasonable criticism which can be voiced concerning the effectiveness of these changes or the methodology used to achieve them, but what cannot be argued is that the goals were not reached.

They were.

And don't forget all of this was accomplished despite the fact that key Republicans met the night of Obama's inauguration to make sure NONE of it would succeed.

Imagine just how much more could have been accomplished if the Republicans were actually working for the American people instead of their corporate overlords.

In attempt to demonstrate how close he and Sarah Palin still remain, instead John McCain shows that he is completely out of touch. Update!

So McCain does not even realize that Palin is now a semi-permanent resident of HIS state?

Oh yeah they are SO close!

And for the record Senator the Iditarod is truly the toughest race in North America, and the Iron Dog is for those who don't have the balls for that yet still want to look tough. (Sorry Levi, but it's true.)

I really hated watching Letterman bring up that whole apology thing again. I said way back then, right before the flying monkeys came after me, that he was setting a dangerous precedent and that NOBODY should ever apologize to that bitch.

And look what has happened to everybody who dared to criticize her since.

Update: Speaking of the Iditarod it looks like this year's champion is Dallas Seavey.

Sarah Palin gives passive aggressive endorsement to a Peggy Noonan column.

This from the "Queen of Holding Grudges" Facebook page:  

Great article, Peggy, but where the heck were you when I and other commonsense conservatives were sounding the warning bell in '08? You joined the "cool kids" in mocking and condescendingly criticizing -- ultimately demanding that we "sit down and shut up." Better late than never, though, Peggy and your ilk, because, meanwhile back in America... 

Oooh, snippy!

I don't have an account with the Wall Street Journal so I can't see the article she is alluding to, but here is how Politico described it:  

Palin was presumably referring to Noonan's remarks in a series of interviews last fall, during which she accused tea party conservatives of trying to "topple" the GOP and said they needed to stop name-calling and work out their differences with establishment Republicans. 

In Friday's column, titled "Meanwhile, Back in America...", Noonan called President Obama's State of the Union address "a spectacle of delusion and self-congratulation" that failed to address the true concerns of most Americans. According to Noonan, those concerns include the fate of the school voucher program, the IRS's targeting of conservatives and the plight of nuns who "have, quite cruelly, been told they must comply with the ObamaCare mandate that all insurance coverage include contraceptives, sterilization procedures, morning-after pills."

Of course Noonan is a well known Right Wing hack so I do not give her article much credibility, and if Palin kinda sorta endorsed it then it deserves even less as far as I am concerned.

However I DO remember a time when Noonan was right on the money back in 2009:

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm. 

In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff.

And then there was this moment caught on an NBC open mic back in September 2008, right after McCain picked Palin: 

After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mike ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin. 

"It's over," said Noonan, who then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen. 

"The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullshit about narratives," she said. "Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it." 

Murphy chimed in: 

"The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical."

You know it must have really burned Palin's ass to give Noonan even that bitchy hat tip today, because as we know a Palin never forgives.

Unless of course it was the work of a soon to be kicked to the curb ghostwriter.

Just in case the Republicans thought they could use the issue of abortion against Hillary Clinton in 2016, perhaps they better think again.

Damn! That is just about the most powerful statement in support of a woman's right to choose that I have ever heard.

She is going to make an awesome candidate in 2016.

After being completely off base about Syria, Sarah Palin decides to release a video which doubles down on her "Lie of the Year" from 2009.

Courtesy of Miss "Never Admit a Mistake's" Facebook page: 

Enough of this foreign fiasco distraction. Get back to work. It is time to bomb Obamacare.

Yeah enough of this stuff that I simply don't understand, let's go revisit another time that I was horribly wrong and try to gloss it over. 

For those of you who are confused by the quickly edited imagery and seizure inducing flashing lights, here is a good explanation as to why Palin was wrong in the first place, and why nothing has changed.

Personally I think it is funny that she is going back to this while labeling the biggest news story going right now as a "foreign fiasco distraction." Methinks somebody wants to get noticed, but NOT bitchslapped for being an idiot when it comes to Middle Eastern affairs.

Somehow I don't think this is any safer for her.

Todd Palin finally replaces Sarah's wedding ring.

According to Bristol's Facebook page:

So precious. This was on my parents anniversary, right after my dad gave my mom a new wedding ring!! Made her cry.

Well it is about damn time! After all Palin threw her old ring away over four years ago now :

Do you remember all of that talk about her missing wedding ring during the three part going away picnics? Well it turns out that ring now sleeps with the fishes. Apparently in a fit of anger Sarah stripped the ring from her finger and tossed it into a lake. (It was Lake Lucille, though I was unsure of that fact at the time.)

I don't know why it took so long but I hope that she treats this one better than the last one.

(H/T to Gina M.)

Frontline presents: Inside Obama's Presidency.

Watch Inside Obama's Presidency on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

You know I typically do not post videos that are five minutes or more, because I realize that most people do not have time to watch them.

However THIS report is absolutely excellent, and well worth the fifty three minutes and thirty nine seconds it takes to watch it.

Personally I came away with a deep appreciation of what this President has accomplished and an even more negative perception of the Republicans and some real anger at how hard they worked to destroy Obama at every turn.

I do have to admit that I cringed more than a little during the report on drone strikes, but overall this is a very informative and fascinating look at the last four years of our country's history.

P.S. If for some reason this video does not play please click here and watch it over at PBS.

Paul Ryan blames President Obama for the closing of GM plant which happened BEFORE he was President. WTF?

Courtesy of the Detroit News:  

Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Thursday used the closing of a General Motors plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., to take a swipe at President Barack Obama's energy policies. 

He contended Obama's "terrible energy policies" led to $4 a gallon gas and the closure of the company's oldest assembly plant, breaking the Democrat's promise to keep it open. 

In fact, Obama made no such promise and the plant halted production in December 2008, when President George W. Bush was in office. 

"I remember President Obama visiting it when he was first running, saying he'll keep that plant open," Ryan said Thursday at a campaign stop in Ohio, recounting the fact his high school friends worked at the plant. "One more broken promise. We used to build Tahoes and Suburbans. One of the reasons that plant got shut down was $4 gasoline. You see, this costs jobs. The president's terrible energy policies are costing us jobs." 

GM cited the low demand for SUVs and high gas prices during the Bush administration as the reason for closing the plant. 

Obama did speak at the Janesville plant in February 2008, and suggested a government partnership with automakers could keep the plant open, but made no promises as Ryan suggested. 

Yeah I see Ryan's point. I mean why should we elect Obama for the NEXT four years if he could not solve the problems that occurred before he served his LAST four years? 

I mean Jesus, what kind of a President is he if he can't do a simple thing like time traveling? Sheesh!

Next Ryan plans to blame Obama for the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Hindenburg disaster. Stay tuned kids!

Happy Independence Day! It's too early you say? Not for Alaskans it's not!

It was three years ago today that I received an urgent e-mail saying that something big was about to happen with Palin out in Wasilla, and that journalists had 45 minutes to get there.

Unfortunately for me I was unable to leave work (And besides in order to make the drive in 45 minutes I would have had to completely ignore the posted speed limits), so I stayed by my computer and television to wait for whatever this breaking news might be.

It soon exceeded my wildest dreams.


(Here's part two for those who want to see the entire speech.)

You could almost sense the jubilation that bubbled up among many in Alaska at the news. Finally our long terrible national disgrace was coming to an end.

Of course as we know that did NOT mean that Palin was going anywhere, and she still remains Alaska's most visible shame. But hey, at least she's not actively making policy, though as I pointed out she is STILL having an influence. 

(P.S. Since I know that somebody is definitely going to send this link at some point today I thought I would beat you to it and include the "Every Breath You Take" version of the resignation speech here. That STILL cracks me up!)

More damage control from Brancy.

Apparently Nancy French has been encouraged to post more often, and yesterday she decided to push back against a long standing accusation about how Sarah views Trig:

 It’s crazy how in love with Trig we all are. When Tripp is acting up — which he does often! — I sometimes joke with my mom. 

“Hey, want to trade kids?” I laugh.

Willow and I always talk about how lovable Trig is, and how we’d take him over any so-called “normal” kid anyday! He’s way cooler than people with fewer chromosomes. I’d have a Down syndrome baby in a heartbeat, and I know anyone else would if they saw any sort of glimpse of how perfect my little brother is.

Gee more uplifting things for Tripp to read about himself, and his family, in the years to come.

Let's see so far, according ONLY to Bristol. Tripp will soon learn that his father raped her in a damp tent and stole her virginity, that his birth was the result of an accident, that his parent's reconciliation came to a screeching halt because his mom thought his dad got another girl pregnant, that his dad is a low life who simply did not want to spend time with him (Though of course he tried to repeatedly and was rebuffed), and now he gets to know that his mom would much rather have one of those"way cooler" Down syndrome kids than him any day of the week.

Gee I certainly hope Bristol is putting HIS take from the reality show in a trust fund so that he can use it for the years of therapy that he will surely require someday.

She goes on to make some points on Bristol/Sarah's behalf about how many fetuses with Down syndrome are aborted, but clearly the MAIN point was to indicate that this statement, made by Levi from way back in 2009, was not based on reality:

Sarah Palin seemed to dote more on her new grandson, Tripp, than on her own infant, Trig.  

"Sarah has a weird sense of humor. ... Sarah would call Trig -- who was born with Down syndrome -- 'my little Down's baby.' ... and sometimes say, playing around, 'No, I don't want the retarded baby -- I want the other one,' and pick up Tripp. That was just her -- even her kids were used to it."

See what she did there? Of course Sarah never said that, because obviously children with Down syndrome are WAY better. (Sorry Tripp! But hey, in the Palin family it sucks to be born normal don'tcha know?).

Nice try, but I would have to say that in this circumstance Levi sounds MUCH more believable.

Gee I wonder what uncomfortable truths they will attack next on the this ghostwritten blog?

From the folks at Jib Jab "Never a Year Like '09"

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Lot's of good stuff in there.

Today we have a new President. Today the air is filled with hope in America.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How light is your heart today?

How tired is your face from smiling?

How proud are you of your country?

And how hopeful are you for the future of your children?

I think Beth Kerttula is my new favorite Alaska legislator.

This comes from an article in the ADN about the beginning of the 2009 legislative session.

Gov. Sarah Palin begins the 2009 session of the Alaska Legislature on Tuesday faced with a potential state deficit in the billions of dollars and at least some hangover among lawmakers from the "Troopergate" investigation.

The article begins with a fluff piece about how POSITIVE Sarah Palin is about this new session even though, with oil prices plunging, this will mark the FIRST time she is working with a state budget not spilling over with oil soaked doubloons.

(It is not a secret that buzzards are circling our state budget this year, just waiting for it to take its last gasp of air and expire well before the end of the fiscal year. )

The Governor then talks about her desire to focus on getting the doomed gas pipeline project moving forward. I am hoping that somewhere on her staff she has retained the services of one Dr. Frankenstein because as far as I can tell the AGIA corpse is almost up on the slab with its toe tag dangling off the side.

But despite all of Palin's best cheerleading and efforts to change the subject it appears that old business may rear its head and bite her on her elliptical machine toned ass.

Here is what my new legislative crush, Beth Kertulla, has to say about this 2009 session:

"Troopergate isn't going away, and it shouldn't go away," the Juneau Democrat said.

Yeah baby! Is that not the best news we have heard for a while? Yes it is!

And get this, Kerttula is not alone.

There doesn't appear to be sufficient desire in the Legislature to reprimand the governor. But there is bipartisan concern about the resistance the attorney general, Palin appointee Talis Colberg, posed to legislative subpoenas.

"One of the judiciary committees or both of the judiciary committees should maybe bring the AG in front of them and have some frank discussions about what his actions were toward the state employees, why the subpoenas weren't complied with," said Chenault, the Republican house speaker.

In other words, "Its on bitchez"!

However there is at least one lawmaker who is not interested in revisiting Troopergate.

But Anchorage Republican Rep. Bob Lynn said it's a bad idea to dredge it up.

"I think that's history. We should stop looking in the rear-view mirror," Lynn said. "I've got a news flash, the election is over."

That is right you little pissant, the election IS over, but your next run for re-election is still in the future. Good luck on that, because trust me, you are going to need all the luck you can get. And next time, don't pee on my parade.

And by the way, and keep this under your hat, I have it on good authority that the behemoth known as "Alaskans for Truth" is finally stirring from it post election hibernation, shaking out the cobwebs from its brain, and getting ready once again to wade into battle with a renewed sense of purpose and a reinvigorated membership.

On the one side we have the soldiers of truth, and light, and ethical integrity (That's us!). On the other we have Sarah Palin, and in his last term as an Alaska legislator, Bob Lynn. Let the battle commence!

Okay now if you will excuse me I have to compose a love poem to my new legislative crush.

What rhymes with "Kerttula"? Or for that matter what rhymes with "Beth"? Oh this is going to take a while.

Al Franken is going to be a GREAT Senator, despite his...."colorful" past.

The thing I like about Al Franken is that his skeletons are not hidden away in a closet somewhere.

Hell no! They are right there on YouTube for everybody to watch!

Of course the other great thing about Franken is that he is smart and oh so fast with the witty comeback, as evidenced by this bizarre exchange with Ann "Crypt Keepers daughter" Coulter.

The sad part of that exchange of course is that Ann Coulter was NOT trying to be funny. She really is that disgusting of a person.