I'm a fan of the new Senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, but I find myself with my head in my hands, lamenting his appeal to participants at Netroots Nation.

And I can tell you first hand that the government - the White House, the FCC, my fellow members of Congress - is hearing plenty from the corporations on the other side of these issues and not nearly enough from you. If you want to protect the free flow of information in this country and all that depends on it, you have to help me fight this. Help me fight this.

We decided on high card. There was no disagreement between us. We shook hands before and after.
—Andrew Borasky, who won a Republican county commission primary by card draw last week. State law mandates that primary ties be broken by a lot draw.

He was kind of uncomfortably dancing.
—Matthew Jentgen, who watched John Edwards dance to "Rump Shaker" at the West End Wine bar in Durham in April.

We're struggling here.
—Rod Blagojevich, from an FBI wiretap. It was disclosed this week that him and his wife spent over $400k on clothing in 6 years. Blogojevich spent $1300 on ties in just one day.

I know it's really gonna upset a lot of gay men—I'm sure hundreds of 'em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge—but I ain't available. I ain't gay. Sorry.

The ACLU has a long and proud history of defending the First Amendment, and while I haven’t seen polling on this, I’d bet that most Americans are fairly pro-First Amendment. But, thanks to a generation of conservative activism, the ACLU is now best known as “those guys who hate Christmas.”

—Sen. Al Franken (D, MN)

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Uh, heh, first of all, you mention the name Eric Odom. I had to pause and think, who is that?

—Rep. Charles Dijou (R, HI) when asked by Think Progress about the Tea Party leader who flew to Hawaii to help get him elected.

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Maybe we can get the man seated.

{First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate Guru.}

{First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate Guru.}

Even in North Carolina, I'm sure you've heard plenty about what's going on with the still-unsettled Senate race in Minnesota.

While Republican Norm Coleman prolongs his endless and pointless appeals, cementing his admission into the Sore Losers Hall of Fame, progressive organizations Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have introduced a new effort: NormDollar.com, "A Dollar a Day to Make Norm Go Away." Very simply put, commit to contributing just one dollar per day for every day that sore loser Norm Coleman refuses to concede.

Welcome to the US Senate Mr. Al Franken. Keep up with the tally here.

Crossposted from Daily Kos.

I've been in Iowa for a week, doing whatever it takes to win Iowa and the Democratic Nomination for Senator Joe Biden. As everybody here at BlueNC knows, I believe in Joe.

I'm beyond talking about Chuck Grassley and Tom Carper's Bankruptcy Bill, or the Clarence Thomas hearings that were cut short by Anita Hill's team. I'm beyond pedantic enucleations of back-door bureaucratic negotiations. I'm way beyond Hillary bashing. I'm not even asking for money. Instead, I'm going to tell you a story that in some ways goes back to a young college student in his small town's only diner, and in other ways goes back to a young man growing up in Delaware. Hopefully, you will indulge me as I go back in to my past, our past, and Joe Biden's past with some of my recollections and a few quotes that help tell the story. To those enamored with brevity, I apologize for the commodious topics covered in this diary. I think it's a rewarding read, but it's not for the faint of heart. Perhaps it will tell you more about a great Democratic Senator and a little about ourselves. And so it begins ...