Just give up, Minnesota Republicans.

What's the bloody point in litigating and contesting the results, you sore losers? You're wasting your time and the state's money. Give up already.
From the National Post...

Al Franken likely victor in contentious Minnesota Senate recount

Posted: January 05, 2009, 10:39 AM by Shane Dingman

U.S. Politics, u.S. election

Reuters is reporting that Democrat Al Franken will be declared the winner of the tight U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, emerging from a ballot recount with a slim margin over Republican Norm Coleman, state officials said on Sunday.

“At the moment, Franken has a 225-vote lead,” after the weekend counting of what were deemed the last uncounted absentee ballots, said Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat who oversaw the process.

Ritchie said unless the supreme court acts on Coleman’s request and orders more ballots to be counted, he will reconvene the state’s Canvassing Board on Monday to certify Franken as the winner of the Nov. 4 contest.

As the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes, Coleman isn't going away quietly.

Coleman, who led Franken on election night, hasn't ruled out a lawsuit challenging the results, claiming there were irregularities that gave Franken an unfair advantage. The Coleman campaign also has a petition pending before the state Supreme Court to include 650 ballots that it says were improperly rejected but not forwarded by local officials to St. Paul for counting.

"We are prepared to go forward and take whatever legal action is necessary to ... remedy this artificial lead that we believe is being shown now for the Franken campaign," Recount attorney Fritz Knaak said.

Franken campaign spokesman Andy Barr said in an e-mail Sunday: "In terms of future planning, we're taking it one step at a time. The next step is the canvass board's meeting tomorrow, where we have every expectation they will declare that Al won the election."

As MSNBC pulled out: "Not surprisingly, Chuck Schumer wants Franken seated, now. And the Wall Street Journal editorial page thinks Franken is the illegitimate winner."

Reuters writes that the recount of some 2.4 million votes cast for the pair has swung back and forth over several weeks. Coleman initially held the edge, but his narrow victory margin necessitated the recount under state law.

The Canvassing Board sifted through hundreds of ballots contested by the two campaigns.

"The recount has been done so precisely, and so transparently," it would be difficult to envision a challenge succeeding, Ritchie said.

But the Washington Post reports that the process itself may come under challenge:

"The Coleman team has laid the groundwork for a real, substantive challenge in front of the Minnesota Supreme Court," said Vin Weber, a former member of Congress from Minnesota and now a lobbyist in Washington. "The race is still a ways from being over."

Photo: Cory Ryan/Getty ImagesAl Franken is a well-known satirist who wrote for and starred on "Saturday Night Live," and more recently hosted a liberal radio show before running for the Senate.

Of Statistics, Ebonics, and Football Mechanics

At my Stats class today, I made a joke about converting statistical data into Ebonic speak when analyzing something. The instructor, who is African-American said, "You know, you're trying to be funny, but you aren't." I thought, "Well EXCUUUUUUUUSE ME for putting the ASS in CLASS, but that's just the way I am, chief." And while I went into Diplomat Mode after class, I stil thought, "And you know, that's not the worst epithet I can lay on you, either. At least be happy the bloody N-word wasn't decked out in a nod to the KKK being reformed as a result of the election a couple weeks ago, and that I am doing my role in making this class fun like you are. You ungrateful instructor."

He was even gargling a bit while talking about the 5-Step Hypothesis Test. For a few fleeting seconds, I thought, "My god, is Screamin' Jay Hawkins teaching the course? Did he somehow get back from the dead? Damn you, Henry!" Henry is Jay's little butt-smoking skull friend on a stick. Something like that.

As I left for the 111, I was like Kyou Fujibayashi post-Tomoya Okazaki Bitchslap of Horror: "Sheeesh, why do professors who gargle like Screamin' Jay Hawkins show a lack of gratitude? Are they taught to be that way since childhood? If so, may the Devil Incarnate save them."

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Speaking of elections, what took the damn pricks from CNN so fucking long to call Missouri to McCain. I mean, it's TWO WEEKS after the fact, and just today...they called it.

God help whoever was working the map, or compiling the exit polls down there at the Election Center. They call Missouri a bellweather state...I beg to differ; Missouri got its bell rung today. Guess they showed them, huh?

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And aside from my little chastising moment a few hours ago, I am actually in a good mood overall. The Socceroos and the USA men's national team (unlike the U-17 girls against Kim Jong Il's young Arirang Mass Games gymnasts-in-training) actually won. Australia's 1-0 win against Bahrain was funny. It looked like the goal winner by Marco Bresciano was a Steven Bradbury-esque goal. The seas party like the Men's 1,000 meters in short track at Salt Lake 2002, and the most unlikely of heroes takes advantage of the unexpected opportunity.

Ironically, Mark cycled a cracker against this same Bahraini side two years ago in Sydney. One thing's for sure: Bresciano is a hated man in Manama now. He may have as well ruined their hopes of even coming close to the fifth-place match.

As for the guys, it was just plain cleaning up in a 2-0 win over Guatemala., So they enter the Hexagonal with Mexico (I mean, come on, a CONCACAF Hexagonal would not be a CONCACAF Hexagonal without the USA and Mexico in it...it just wouldn't be the same without both of them qualifying), Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago (who dealt Bob Bradley's guys the only loss in the third round).

One has to feel for Jamaica, though. In spite of a 3-0 blasting of Canada, they are set to be in a state of lux (and their manager is destined to be sacked like a gift in Santa's gunny) after Mexico failed to do their share of the dirty work in a 1-0 defeat (with two red cards; ugh!) against Los Catrachos. Poor Reggae Boyz..now they will get the epithet of "Reggae Toyz" for four more years.

It's a cruel game, football is. But that's what makes it fun to watch.

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Once agaim, I said it again...good riddance Ted Stevens. Thanks to Mark Begich unseating the old geezer, we Now all that needs to happen in Norm Coleman and Saxby Chambliss to fall in their races in Minnesota and Georgia, respectively. They will be luckier than Steven Bradbury if they do get re-elected, the GOP rubes.

The Iowa caucus

As I got on Mark Andrews's van heading out of the Thunderdome after watching Long Beach State put up a valiant fight against the preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, I knew that Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus on the Democratic side. What I didn't expect was a humble Arkansas guy by the name of Mike Huckabee supplant Mitt Romney for the Republican victory. Now Romney spent millions of dollars on winning Iowa. This is the first state to decide who they want, followed by New Hampshire, and then the rest of the other states. My state's primary isn't until the fifth of February, and already we are getting a feeling of who might win end up getting the nomination.

There are some also-rans that didn't stand a chance at this caucus, as Andrews talks about his father, an accomplished tennis player, and one-time shoulder-rubber with Andre Agassi, on the ride home from Goleta. I am wondering why Rudy Giuliani is running this race. At his age, he should be done with politics. And why is Bill Richardson trying to get the nomination. Now, granted, Hilary Clinton is not out of the race, because the other states have her ahead, but is Obama racks up state after state after state, then all the chips will fall. Same for Mike Huckabee. He only spent just over a million dollars on Iowa, and look what happened.

Yes sirree, the 2008 race is in full swing. But I can't wait to see if Long Beach State's Canadian sweep in Florida was a fluke or not when they try to snap a losing streak to a resurging USC side.