The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today that Al Franken is the rightful, legal winner of Minnesota’s US Senate race. Just minutes ago, Norm Coleman made a statement congratulating Sen. Franken, acknowledging that future legislation would only hurt Minnesota. Rumors on the street in Washington DC had earlier suggested that Coleman would have the support of Republicans in the US Senate if he chose to take his fight [even] further. But Coleman said he will not appeal.

Last year, Coleman contested the results of the automatically generated recount of the initial race but Franken’s lead only increased. He then filed a lawsuit but failed to prove either wrongdoing or the disenfranchisement of Minnesota voters. Much to the chagrin of underrepresented Minnesotans all across the state, Coleman then took his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court – which has now ruled unanimously in Franken’s favor.

The next and last step is for Gov. Pawlenty to go forward with signing the election certificate. Given the expectation that Pawlenty will run for president in 2012, it is likely that he will sign the certificate very soon in an effort to put this highly publicized race behind him.

Franken’s Democratic colleague, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, told MSNBC this afternoon that first, she congratulates Sen. Franken on a hard-fought, well-earned race and secondly, she respects Norm Coleman for making what had to have been a difficult decision to concede but that it was the right thing to do for the people of Minnesota.

Minnesota Supreme Court Justices

On Monday, April 20, Norm Coleman filed an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court in an effort to overturn recount results – and a court decision – which found Al Franken the winner of the Senate race.

Franken’s attorneys filed a motion on April 21 requesting that Coleman’s arguments and documents be presented to the Minnesota Supreme Court by May 4 in the interest of expediency and for the sake of underrepresented Minnesotans. Today, the motion was denied and the court ordered that Coleman has until May 15 to file related documents and the case will be heard beginning June 1, 2009.

Although officially a nonpartisan body, the Minnesota Supreme Court weighs heavy on the republican side. The five judges who will hear the case are Justices Alan Page, Paul Anderson, Lorie Gildea, Helen Meyer and Christopher Dietzen. Pawlenty appointees Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Justice G. Barry Anderson have recused themselves from the case citing their involvement in the recount. Justice Lorie Gildea contributed directly to the 1998 Coleman campaign but has not recused herself. Similarly, Justice Christopher Dietzen made a $500 contribution to Coleman’s Senate campaign. He has not, as of yet, recused himself either. Again, state supreme courts are nonpartisan but Dietzen and Gildea’s actions will undoubtedly be under scrutiny, as was Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s during the recount process. Ritchie is a democrat whose conduct during the recount has proved to be impeccably nonpartisan:

“The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State and election officials throughout Minnesota’s counties and cities are well-trained, fair, and conscientious and performed their duties admirably. Minnesota could not conduct elections without the hard work and diligence of its dedicated professional and citizen volunteers, and the Court is proud of their service.”                   - State of Minnesota Second District Court, April 13, 2009

Back on November 5, 2008 no winner was declared in this race and a recount was generated automatically in accordance with Minnesota election law. Even so, Coleman asked Franken to give him the race in an effort to “begin the healing process.” Almost six months later with Franken having been repeatedly found to be the winner in this race and a majority of Minnesotans (including one-third of Coleman’s supporters) believing he should concede, Coleman continues to fight.

See: MPR, MinnPost, Aurora, MN Progressive Project

Last night, the judges presiding over Norm Coleman’s lawsuit against Al Franken released their Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order for Judgment (full text below) wherein they officially dismissed Coleman’s claims with prejudice and declared Franken “the party to the contest who received the highest number of votes legally cast in the 2008 United States Senate general election and is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of election.”

Coleman’s lawyers claimed they expected this outcome and have been working on an appeal to the Minnesota State Supreme Court. In closing arguments last week they admitted they had not proved the requirements set upon them by the judges in the contest but said the courts “got [it] wrong.”

On April 7, 2009 Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg told the press appeal would be filed on the grounds that:

1. The March 13th Order created a new set of rules for counting ballots that was not in place on election day;
2. There were different standards used by different counties to count identical ballots; and
3. The March 13th Order defined what is an illegal vote under Minnesota law and under that definition there are over thousands of illegal votes in the election day count.

Although the Coleman team will argue there was a violation of equal protection in their appeal, the April 13 Order specifically states:

“the Equal Protection Clause does not forbid the use of a variety of voting mechanisms within a jurisdiction, even though different mechanisms will have different levels of effectiveness in recording voters’ intentions…

There is hardly an election held in any county at which in some town irregularities do not occur… [but] the citizens of Minnesota should be proud of their election system. Minnesota has one of the highest voter-participation rates in the country. The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State and election officials throughout Minnesota’s counties and cities are well-trained, fair, and conscientious and performed their duties admirably. Minnesota could not conduct elections without the hard work and diligence of its dedicated professional and citizen volunteers, and the Court is proud of their service.”

Coleman’s lawyers have indicated that they intend to keep their arguments alive until Coleman is declared the winner of this race (Joe Friedman has even christened the case the “full employment act for lawyers”), but the idea that Republicans in Congress can keep Franken from being seated is contraindicated by the right of Minnesotans to be represented by their two legally elected senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. To that end, there is increasing sentiment that Coleman should concede and that Governor Pawlenty should act appropriately. See the “It’s time to give it up, Norm” video, petition and growing facebook profile, or read why MN Progressive Project is suggesting calls (651.296.3391 or 1.800.657.3717) and/or emails (tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us) be made to MN Governor Pawlenty to “make sure he knows he is constitutionally required to issue that election certificate as soon as the State Supreme Court decides on Coleman’s appeal, regardless of the result.”

Coleman v. Franken: March 15, March 31, April 7

Real Clear Politics – MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough tells Norm “It’s over”

Full text of the April 13, 2009 Order:

During a tedious process in St. Paul, MN this morning, 351 previously rejected ballots were counted in the race for US Senate between Minnesotans Al Franken (D) and Norm Coleman (R). The result of this latest count increases Franken’s lead to 312, legally (and exhaustively) enough to have him declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race again. However, fellow Republican and friend of Norm Coleman’s Governor Tim Pawlenty is unlikely to sign the certification that will seat Sen.-Elect Franken at this time. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that additional ballots could be added to the count by some further order from the three-judge election panel, and Coleman’s attorneys have threatened to keep the fight alive ever since Franken was declared the winner of this race. (Republican Senator John Cornyn (TX) has, in fact, threatened “WWIII” if Franken is seated.) Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is likely to officially certify the results if the case goes to the Minnesota Supreme Court and a decision is made there.

Gary Poser, Director of Elections and the MN Secretary of State’s office have certified the totals of today’s count as follows: Coleman 111, Franken 198, Other 42.

“Mama stares at Baba, but what can she say? My face is pretty enough—some might even say lovely—but not as luminescent as the pearl I’m named for. I tend to blush easily. Beyond that, my cheeks capture the sun. When I turned five, my mother began rubbing my face and arms with pearl creams, and mixing ground pearls into my morning jook—rice porridge—hoping the white essence would permeate my skin. It hasn’t worked. Now my cheeks burn red—exactly what my father hates. I shrink down into my chair. I always slump when I’m near him, but I slump even more on those occasions when Baba takes his eyes off my sister to look at me. I’m taller than my father, which he loathes. We live in Shanghai, where the tallest car, the tallest wall, or the tallest building sends a clear and unwavering message that the owner is a person of great importance. I am not a person of importance.”

It is 1937. Shanghai is a modern but peaceful city. The Chin family routine has yet to be disturbed. But Baba is harboring a tragic secret and the Japanese are just around the corner, ready to invade. Lisa See’s new novel, Shanghai Girls, is the story of what happens next when lies borne of shame convey unfortunate and fantastic consequences.

After Baba’s mistakes are revealed, sisters Pearl and May Chin are forced from their happy-go-lucky life as “beautiful girls” of Shanghai to one of great uncertainty as wives to two Chinese brothers living in California. The marriages are arranged and the sisters arrive in the US with secrets of their own. If and how the girls assimilate will depend on how truthful they are with each other and what they can hide from their new family.

See revives the theme of sisterhood from previous novels with a relatively contemporary twist in Shanghai Girls and faithful readers may find the departure somewhat disconcerting; although the new novel is suffused with traditional Chinese cultural, the ancient ghosts found in See’s Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan have been replaced with the visceral realities of WWII. However, the brutal Japanese attack on Shanghai and the subsequent rejection of the Chinese people in America provide an engaging and historical substratum for the trials and tribulations of the Chin sisters during the years 1937 – 1957, and See gives us a dark look behind the US Confession Program imposed on Chinese immigrants to America during the 1950’s.

Also reminiscent of her earlier novels, See’s protagonists learn a good deal about themselves, love and life in general as they mature, and it is precisely this evolution of character which See brings to the page in a way that is too often missing in 21st century novels. Combined with her mastery of research, See’s character development and commitment to the verisimilitude of Chinese culture have produced an entertaining and endearing novel.

Lisa See is the author of the bestselling memoir On Gold Mountain and the novels Flower Net, a national bestseller and NYTimes Notable Book that was on the Los Angeles Times Best Books List for 1997 and an Edgar award nominee; The Interior; Dragon Bones; the internationally acclaimed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love, both of which received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly; and the nonfiction book, Half & Half. Currently serving as a Los Angeles City Commissioner on the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Monument Authority, Ms. See was named the 2001 National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women and received the Fall 2003 Chinese American Museum’s History Award.

Shanghai Girls, 336 pp.
Random House, May 26, 2009
ISBN: 978-1400067114

Read the first chapter
Available for pre-order now
Read my 2008 interview with Lisa

Just this afternoon, District Court Judges Elizabeth A. Hayden, Kurt J. Marben and Denise D. Reilly ordered the delivery of the following 400 ballots/applications/envelopes to the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State by noon the 6th of April, 2009:

“The absentee ballot return envelopes for the individuals identified in Exhibit A [394 beginning on page 20 of the Order], the absentee return ballots, absentee ballot applications and federal postcard applications for the individuals identified in Exhibit B [five listed on page 30 of the Order], and the original voter registration application and absentee ballot return envelope for the individual identified in Exhibit C [one on page 31 of the Order].”

“Legally cast ballots shall be opened, sorted and counted by the Office of the Secretary of State in open court. Opening, sorting and counting shall proceed using the same methods as described in the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Order of December 24, 2008. Upon opening, sorting and counting, the ballots shall be completely and finally separated from the envelopes in accordance with Minnesota’s policy of ballot secrecy. The totals from the opening, sorting and counting shall be included in the results of the 2008 United States Senate election reported by the Minnesota Secretary of State.”

The Order further states that “Any other relief not specifically ordered herein is denied,” ostensibly referring to the ballots Coleman’s attorneys claimed were lost or double-counted. However, Franken’s attorney Marc Elias said there could be additional orders forthcoming.

If the 400 ballots reconfirm that Al Franken received the most votes in this election, it is clear that Coleman’s attorneys will not concede. What is unclear is how far they might be allowed to take their arguments, how long the people of Minnesota will remain underrepresented in the US Senate and how long this race will be used to keep a lawfully elected fillibuster-proof majority out of the US Senate. In a recent radio interview, Coleman’s lead attorney Joe Friedberg told Ron Rosenbaum, “We’ve been trying this case with the appeal record in mind,” and “the more input lawyers can have, the better I like it. It’s called the full employment act for lawyers.”

An appeal to the MN Supreme Court by either side could be ruled on relatively quickly, but Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has already begun appealing for Coleman on the federal level. Should Franken remain the winner after the 400 ballots and envelopes are counted next week, and Coleman fails to impress the MN Supreme Court, Cornyn said Coleman should keep fighting “for years.” Although Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chair Sen. Chuck Shumer (D-NY) said that the case will be decided in Minnesota state courts, Cornyn has threatened “World War III” if Franken is seated.

“We’ll recover. It will take time, patience and the understanding that when we work together and look beyond our short-term interests, that’s when we’ll prosper. We should look to the future with new determination and renewed confidence.” – President Barack Obama

There should remain no question as to how President Obama intends to deal with the current financial crisis. Some of the greatest pieces of the solution lie in reducing health care costs, switching our energy dependence from foreign oil to clean resources that create jobs within the United States, investing in education and establishing policy that prevents systemic breakdown brought about by financial institutions.

In his opening remarks this evening, President Obama said the budget would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, and that we need to move from the borrow-and-spend mentality of previous years to one of save-and-invest if we’re going to bring down the deficit. He said there was a lot of rage and finger-pointing last week and, like so many others, he was angry about the large bonuses that went to those who brought us down and the culture that led us to this point. He said the days of outsized rewards and speculation that put us at risk are over, but we can’t demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit.

Read more…

“…on December 22, [1999,] the evening of the winter solstice, the brightest moon of the century would appear, just days before the calendar started with new numbers for the next century. It would be the first and only full moon of the 20th century to occur on the first day of winter. These days, Edward clung to simple, objective facts as if they were the molecules of his oatmeal. Facts could not be disputed.”

Christopher Meeks’s novel, The Brightest Moon of the Century, begins with young Edward Meiopian (My-o-pyan) being forced into private school by his widowed father. With some difficulty, he learns to contend with the sons of Minnesota’s upper crust in spite of their relentless teasing, and with the help of his new stepmother finds himself settling in at the University of Denver. From there, he tries to forge a life for himself in the movie business by way of an LA camera store, an Alabama trailer park, very few girlfriends and a good deal of sexual angst.

Within the pages of Brightest Moon lies an entertaining saturnalia of authenticity also found in Meeks’s short stories (see Months and Seasons). He has a knack for making readers believe his characters are real people. The protagonist in Brightest Moon “told a writer once that it was only in conflict that you saw a character’s true personality.” Revealing truth of character is a skill Meeks has taught himself well, and he reveals Edward’s through, to use his own words, “not a single crisis, but a series of little ones….add[ing] in daily drops of discontent; stir[ring] in unconscious offenses…”

In nine chapters written much like individual short stories, Meeks gives Edward the opportunity to grow into his full self, to come full circle, to experience the brightest moon of the century. Readers can decide for themselves whether or not Edward finds any success, but the journey suggests that Meeks has.

Christopher Meeks grew up in Minnesota and attended high school in Hopkins. He is a former journalist and Daily Variety theatre critic who now teaches creative writing to graduate students at the University of Southern California. His play, Who Lives?, opened at the Pico Playhouse in Los Angeles on March 12, 2009. He will be reading at The Bookcase in Wayzata, Minnesota on March 21, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.

The Brightest Moon of the Century, 324 pp
White Whisker Books, March 7, 2009
ISBN 13: 978-0615249148

Read an excerpt
Visit Christopher Meeks at RedRoom.com
Read more reviews: Minneapolis Star Tribune,  The Book Lady,  Raging Bibliomania
Buy the book

Al Franken (photo, Huffington Post)

With the Franken campaign resting its case last week, the three-judge election panel is about to begin final deliberation of Norm Coleman’s appeal to overturn Franken’s 225-vote victory in the US Senate election. His lawsuit, filed January 6, 2009, alleged that upon conducting a formal recount, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board erroneously declared Al Franken had received more votes than Coleman.

Norm Coleman, Getty Image

During their five-week presentation, Coleman’s attorneys focused their appeal on the allegation that votes (mainly in Franken-favored districts) were double-counted, then switched gears and attempted to prove that votes made by absentee ballot and formally rejected (mainly in Coleman-favored districts) were not counted at all, but now should be. Although the Franken team’s request to have the case dismissed has been denied twice, they have been consistent throughout the recount with the message that every vote counts.

On February 26, the judges ordered that 1,500 rejected absentee ballots be opened to look for voter registration cards. MN Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann has since reported that only 80 of the 1,500 contained the cards. Franken attorney Marc Elias said, “It’s not likely the 80 will yield 80 votes.” There are other reasons why those ballots might have been rejected, and even if all 80 registration cards had been filled out properly, the 80 votes are nowhere near what the Coleman camp was hoping for…or what they needed. As Coleman’s case largely hinges on rejected absentee ballots and the 1,500 were chosen by the Coleman team with the expectation that they would yield enough votes to overtake Franken’s 225-vote lead, this discovery does not bode well for Norm Coleman.

In closing arguments, Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg admitted that the Coleman team did not prove the required elements set forth by the three-judge panel to render the absentee ballots valid. He claimed that “the panel got [it] wrong.” Friedberg said the law requires him to prove only that ballots were “more likely than not” valid, not that they comply with the elements predetermined by the three-judge panel.

The idea that votes need only be more likely than not valid stands in direct opposition to the Coleman team strategy during the physical recount. During that time, Coleman observers and lawyers seemed to have  little faith in Minnesotans’ ability to complete a valid ballot, grossly overreaching when challenging ballots that had been counted as votes for Franken. Friedberg’s closing summary statement seems to imply the opposite. He claims that the rules changed, but either the Coleman team believes it can confuse the judges by attempting to cast a pallor on Minnesota’s entire electoral process or, as Franken attorney Kevin Hamilton said, “their failure of proof is simply breathtaking.”

Once the panel renders its decision, it is possible (some say likely) that an appeal will be filed with the Minnesota State Supreme Court.

Read more at MinnPost
Watch CSPAN video of MN Secretary of State Mark Ritchie at the 2009 Legislative Conference in Washington, DC

On Wednesday, February 25, 2009 poet and essayist Bill Holm passed away at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota reportedly due to complications from pneumonia. He was 65 years old, his life full and his accomplishments many.

A native of Minneota in Southwewstern Minnesota, Bill Holm was a 1965 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, to which he returned in 2002 to deliver the commencement address. He earned a graduate degree from the University of Kansas. After teaching at the Hampton Institute and a university in Xi’an, China, Holm spent 27 years teaching poetry and literature in the English Department at Southwest Minnesota State University.

In May of 2008, he won the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, but it was not his first honor of distinction. He previously received the 2000 Prairie Star Award, a Fulbright Scholarship, a Bush Foundation Arts Fellowship and a grant from the National Foundation of Arts.

Holm authored many successful books including Eccentric Islands: Travels Real and Imaginary, Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays and, most recently, The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland, a book of provocative essays regarding the fate of America (his “home, citizenship and burden”) written at his cottage on a creek in Northern Iceland.

Holm also loved to play the piano and upon retiring, said: “I’ve started another project that pianists shouldn’t avoid for too long, and that is trying to play Chopin decently. I used to make fun of Chopin, but now, the more I play him, the better he gets.”

He was a popular speaker to many a captive audience. Well known for his interest in morality and social justice, Holm was often likened to Thoreau and Whitman. If you were ever fortunate enough to hear him read or meet him, as I was, you might most remember him for the Mark Twain-esque twinkle in his eye.

Services will be held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 414 E. Lyon Street, Minneota, MN at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

Visitation will take place at Rehkamp-Horvath Funeral Home, 124 E. 1st Street, Minneota, MN from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

Professor Holm will be greatly missed.

Read a tribute written by one of his students here.