Paul Schmelzer

Lizard People: A meme born in a Minnesota voting booth

MPR’s “Challenged Ballots: You be the judge” post has got to be the site’s top traffic generator ever. I’ve seen it linked locally and nationally, on buttoned-up news sites and Comedy Central’s Indecision ‘08. That last one, which references the infamous contested write-in vote for “Lizard People” (destined to be our “Hanging Chad of Aught [...]

Video: Palin discusses turkey pardon in front of slaughter-in-progress

Getting into the Thanksgiving spirit, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin pardoned a turkey yesterday, but afterwards, she stopped to speak with MSNBC about it in an unfortunate spot — just in front of a hatchery employee who was slaughtering the birds. Knowing what’s going on just behind her, Palin’s talk of a “brutal campaign,” her answer [...]

Recount roundup: Rigged results, Ritchie the Red — and more

A roundup of recent recount tidbits: The Strib on why Republicans may claim “we wuz robbed,” the resurgence of the Ritchie’s-a-Commie attack, Norm Coleman’s forced hockey metaphor, and more.

Newsflash: Bill O’Reilly apes Coleman ‘victory’ line

It’s hardly newsworthy when Bill O’Reilly apes GOP talking points, but since it’s local: The O’Reilly Factor namesake on Nov. 18 claimed that Sen. Norm Coleman “was certified the winner” of Minnesota’s race for U.S. Senate. The Coleman campaign has thrice declared victory for Coleman, even though the state’s top election official, Secretary of State [...]

That liberal media: Scarborough jokes about Franken stealing votes

With no evidence of fraud in Minnesota’s Senate recount, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are pushing the meme. On today’s edition of “Morning Joe,” the discussion turned to the possibility of the Democrats gaining a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, which might hinge on a victory by Al Franken. Trotting out the repeatedly refuted [...]

Norm Coleman as RNC chair?

That’s what the Washington Times is saying, citing an unnamed Republican colleague of Coleman’s who, while dining at an unnamed Capitol Hill steakhouse today, said, “Somebody like Norm Coleman would be great” to head up the Republican National Committee. Coleman reportedly countered by “expressing hope and confidence that Mr. Coleman would emerge from the recount [...]

Mingle with the media: Join us at The UpTake’s fundraiser

We’ve been kicked out of Norm Coleman events together (The UpTake two times, MnIndy twice, including today). We’ve been handcuffed, dodged impact rounds and were maced by RNC cops together. And we’ve shared plenty of excellent news footage. So now it’s time to give something back to our good friends at The UpTake. This Friday, [...]

Breaking: Judge rules in Franken’s favor over ballot access

Ramsey County Judge Dale Lindman ruled that Al Franken’s campaign can gain access to information on voters whose ballots were rejected. This morning Lindman heard nearly an hour of arguments over the issue, and this afternoon he ordered Ramsey County election officials to hand over the data by the close of business Wednesday.

Shock-jock Baker: Media to blame in murder of transgender person

KTLK radio’s Chris Baker followed up his Nov. 14 comments about a transgender person being a “mutilated lesbian” with a tirade in which he blames the media — and transgender people themselves — for the murder of Latiesha Green in Syracuse, New York. He says “a majority of the blame does not lie with” the killer, but with the media who “enable people who need serious psychological counseling.” Now activists from Soulforce Q are trying to get on Baker’s show to discuss the issues.

Fox News on Car-ballot-gate: Old fictions die hard

As David Brauer and Emily Kaiser both point out, Michele Bachmann’s Tuesday appearance on Hannity & Colmes also included another “retread”: the now-disproven story about 32 ballots being left in Minneapolis election director Cindy Reichert’s car. Reichert says it never happened, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie swears the same, and even Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty [...]