C. Mosby: HAH! I just did a coffee spit-take on the cat sleeping next to my laptop.

SunnyWeather: I don't think that the point you are trying to make is the same as the point you are actually making.

They may be idiots at the WSJ but they know how to do two things:

1) They may be the only major newspaper in the US that is making money - if not they are better off than most because of their brand

2) They are beginning to see problems with the adminstration's programs and they are jumping ship (or at least they have one foot in the boat and one in the water)

If Obama goes down, they will not go down with him.

Rupert Murdoch is crazy like a fox! The guy who brought topless babes to page 3 of London tabloids looked at the telenews business in this country and saw only mainstream consensus so he decided to counterprogram to the lowest common demoninator! What better counterweight to mainstream blandness than a blowhard from Sacramento who is full of himself in every possible sense of the phrase! Murdoch's a businessman first and last! And he will be the first to start broadcasting in Chinese and start the broadcasting day with the Internationale when our new overlords come to collect their due!

"I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."

Poor Joe. He thinks if he can lie and tell us that Dems do not ever steal elections....no, not like that horrid Bush in 2000, and never never would put up an incompetent pol to run, not like that Ted Stevens in Alaska, he will have cred. Joe , you haven't had cred when you supported Bubba during the blue dress deal and when you supported Chavez over giving propaganda oil to Mass. during the winter because the poor were freezing!!! ACORN is not actually a credible org. to tell us that elections should be watched closely. Sorry Joe. And oh yes, like Fla., it was a Minn. Dem registrar in the 3 counties which are liberal Dem which set the standard for vote counting. On Nov. 4, Norm led by 700 plus votes, and weeks later, Hennepin found almost a 1000 new Franken votes. Puleeze Joe. In Fla., it was the 3 south-east Fla. counties plus Jacksonville which came up with new Gore votes. Your columns are angry, lying propaganda for any socialist pacifist Dem that comes down the line. And oh , you also supported Barney when it was found out his own office-home was filled with gay prostitutes and you never, never had one negative comment about that. You are another leftist fraud Joe. Sort of like ole Joan. Say, are you two married????

Will someone please administer some DIPRIVAN to me? Wake me when the crazy cabal (rush/hannity/beck/oreilly) have expired.

Well deserved. My first of his books was Lying Liars and the Lying Lies they Tell ... I paraphrase! I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I would have laughed from beginning to end, if it hadn't been so utterly sad. I give him a lot of credit for taking this risk and seeking to serve Minnesota and his country. And I believe he handled the dispute these last 8 months with dignity and integrity and style...unlike his nay-sayers.

Thank you Joe for reminding me how low humans can go when they let emotions take hold of them. The title of your article says a lot about you. As far as stolen elections, the democrats have used that pitiful crying baby tactic as well. Look in the mirror. It isn't pretty is it?

The losers are the good state of MN. They tried hiring outside the box with Jessie and that failed miserably. Now they have done it again. Doing the same over and expecting a different result is not a good plan.

If I were to compare Al Franken - from a humor perspective - to someone on the right, it would be PJ O'Rourke. They are both intelligent men, dedicated to their own beliefs and how those beliefs color the landscape. They each maintain a distance which allows them to also make fun of themselves when appropriate and (as someone else stated) their humor is INTENTIONAL.

As far as Al Franken as a Senator...

I think he clearly understands that this job is not the same as his previous ones, and I'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does - as I would with any newcomer. My guess is that he will turn in a respect-worthy term. But we'll see.

I am confused. Was Sonny Bono the perfect example of a 'serious' political statesman? I always liked him on the Sonny and Char Show. And . . . isn't or wasn't 'Gopher' on the old Loveboat series a respected republican statesman?

Another Al failed himself and the American people in 2000 when he let the neo-cons in the Supreme Court and the Republican Party steal the election in Florida. We see a man in Iran willing to stand up and opposed the corrupt machinery or government but in the USA we see Democrats in particular, gave in under the slightest pressure. Of course Fox News (Rupert Murdoch) and Limbaugh are furious at not having their bullying tactics succeed. Finally someone stood up to them and fought for the rights of the working people who seen to count for less and less with each passing year. It has nothing to do with right or wrong, only about winning or losing.

Isn't it the Democrats that always have "Stolen Election Lawyers" close at hand, even for Democratic primary elections?

Just asking.

I have lived in Minnesota for 30 years. I have heard Franken speak in person and I am proud to have voted for him. While he may have made his living as a comedian at one time, he is a truly brilliant man with one of the best minds, I'm sure, in the entire Senate. (And when did a sense of humor become a bad thing anyway?) This whole eight-month "recount" was an embarrassment to all Minnesotans as we all knew on Nov 10 who had really won. Norm Coleman knew it too, but apparently felt it was his duty to his party to deny the opposition that critical 60th vote for as long as humanly possible. The fact that this left his state with only one senator for over half a year must have seemed a small price to pay. I just want to assure all of you out there who are not Minnesotans, and do not know Al Franken, that his conservative critics are all wrong. The Senate will be a better place with Al Franken in it. Anyway, forgive the rant. I just needed to set the record straight here.