The Stonecipher Report

This is Why I'm Thrilled That Al Franken Won in Minnesota

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Oct. 23, 2009

Some of you may have already seen this clip, it was originally posted over at Fire Dog Lake, but in case you missed it, here is Al Franken taking on the for-profit health care industry:

Maybe the Right-Wing is Onto Something With This Tea Party Thing

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Apr. 10, 2009

This piece is cross posted at Eyes on Obama

In case you haven't tuned into FOX News or logged onto their website recently, you may not be aware that a number of conservatives in this country are planning a tax day "tea party" - supposedly inspired by the Boston Tea Party.

The modern day tea partiers have spent a fair amount of time encouraging their supporters to "tea bag" public officials who have supported the federal stimulus plan.  I'm not real sure what these guys mean by tea bagging, but watch Rachel Maddow of MSNBC try to explain it with a straight face. 

Franken Makes Gains, Palin Makes a Gaffe, Dingell Makes an Exit

Posted By: Stonecipher

Nov. 21, 2008

Some quick notes from around the nation this Friday afternoon:

The Minnesota Recount

So far, the recount in Minnesota has been good to Al Franken.  With 46% of the vote now recounted, Norm Coleman's razor-thin lead has shrunk from 215 votes to 136 votes.

Minnesota Public Radio has posted pictures of many of the contested ballots along with explanations for why they were contested and with polls allowing you to decide who the ballot should count for. 

It is amazing, funny and terrifying to see just how difficult it was for some voters to simply fill in a bubble...yet another case to eliminate low-information voters from the equation.  What may be even more frightening however, are the some of the arguments that both campaigns made in their contesting of the ballots. 

For the record The Stonecipher Prediction is that when all the recounting is finally done, all the legal challenges are over and we finally have a winner, it will be Al Franken.

Palin Being Palin

Honestly, this woman can't do anything right.  To her credit, Sarah Palin actually gets through this brief interview without saying anything extraordinarily stupid - which is quite an accomplishment for the Governor of Alaska, but, well...just watch the video:

Yikes. 

Is there ever a moment when this woman is aware of her surroundings?  It's a good thing there aren't too many traffic signals up there in Wasilla.

Dingell Loses His Chairmanship

The Detroit Free Press has said "By any conservative estimate, Dingell's power has likely been worth billions of dollars in projects, programs and aid to the state."

Rep. John Dingell, the Democrat from Ford, GM and Chrysler...I mean from Michigan, has been a key ally to the Big Three Automakers in Detroit and his position as chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee has helped enable the Big Three to continue their disastrous, greedy and short-sighted policies.

In a somewhat surprising move, however, Democrats voted 137 - 122 to strip John Dingell of his chairmanship and replace him with California Congressman and key Nancy Pelosi ally, Henry Waxman.

The loss of Dingell is yet another blow to the Big Three, but it's a win for people who enjoy breathing.