Meet the new Senator.

Senator-elect Al Franken and wife Franni wave to supporters after Republican Norm Coleman ended his court fight over the Senate seat he held for one term, conceding to the former 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Air America' mainstay after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Franken's favor. His victory gives the Democrats 60 votes in the Senate, enough to override Republican filibusters and (however unlikely) presidential vetoes.

When Franken published Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot in 1996 it was a lone voice in an arena dominated by right-wing gasbags cashing in on the enmity caused by Bill Clinton's wildly successful Democratic presidency (Blowjobgate notwithstanding). His follow-up -- a brilliant excoriation of Bill O'Reilly and the right-wing bullshit brigade behind Fox News in Lying Liars and the Liars Who Tell Them -- made him a hero with 'lefties' and solidified his credentials as a liberal spokesperson.

I remember listening to the debut of Air America and 'The O'Franken Factor' in April 2004 in the midst of The Miserable Failure's reign. It was a dollop of hope in a massive Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld shitpile. Let's hope his ascension into the US Senate fulfills that hope -- and drives right-wing haters bonkers!