Her statement, in response to this:

It is likely at this point that Congressman Reichert has won re-election, and while we will certainly ensure that every valid vote is counted, we accept the decision of the voters.

I would like to thank the thousands of people who put so much time and effort into the campaign, as well as the countless thousands more who went beyond voting to actively participate in our democratic process this year. The election of Barack Obama as our new President will ensure that the change to the direction of our country called for in this campaign is realized in the new year.

I'm hoping that some of this political involvement stuff will stick in the wake of this election. Here are two things to do.

In the comments to Dan's post about boycotting Utah and Mormonism, commenter pox points out the Mormon Stock Index, which lists businesses owned by Mormons. I was surprised by a couple of these, in particular Dell, American Express and Diebold.

And Daily Kos runs the phone numbers of Democratic Senators to call and insist that Joe Lieberman be stripped of his major committee chairmanships. Both of these actions are long overdue, and I hope people are willing to put in the time and make a difference.

Here's something interesting that I learned this morning: Washington's senior Senator, Democrat Patty Murray, could be a big beneficiary of some post-election reshuffling that's likely to take place in the Senate.

The scenario: Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, now 90 years old, is removed from his post as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Which means Murray, who has been doing a lot of hard work helping the aging Byrd run the committee, moves up significantly in appropriations influence.

At the same time, Senator Joe Lieberman, ardent McCain supporter, is stripped of his chairmanship of the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. In which case Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii would likely be given Lieberman's post. That would mean that Sen. Akaka would have to give up his chairmanship of the Committee on Veteran's Affairs (because a Senator can only hold one chairmanship at a time), which would give Murray, next in line on that committee, a very strong shot at becoming the first female chair of Veteran's Affairs.

UPDATE: As I was typing, I realized that half of this scenario happened today. Byrd has now stepped aside. Patty Murray: movin' on up in appropriations. Veterans Affairs next?

If you recall, McCain got some fleeting traction this summer when Russia invaded Georgia. He was particularly fond of eviscerating Obama for a cautious early statement saying both sides should "show restraint."

Turns out cautious Obama might not have been so far off the mark. From today's NYT:

TBILISI, Georgia — Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.

Instead, the accounts suggest that Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.

The accounts are neither fully conclusive nor broad enough to settle the many lingering disputes over blame in a war that hardened relations between the Kremlin and the West. But they raise questions about the accuracy and honesty of Georgia’s insistence that its shelling of Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, was a precise operation.

p.s.: Hello again! Law school's fun. But not as delightful as Slogging.

Slog tipper Jack sent this picture...

"Thought the folks over at The Stranger might appreciate this," says Jack. "The life-size cardboard cut out of Ms. Palin was in my front window for weeks, next to a sign that read 'I Can See Russia From My House!,' which, while seemingly tame to the average Seattle-ite, was not so warmly embraced by the folks in Monroe where I live."

If you recall, McCain got some fleeting traction this summer when Russia invaded Georgia. He was particularly fond of eviscerating Obama for a cautious early statement saying both sides should "show restraint."

Turns out cautious Obama might not have been so far off the mark. From today's NYT:

TBILISI, Georgia — Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.

Instead, the accounts suggest that Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.

The accounts are neither fully conclusive nor broad enough to settle the many lingering disputes over blame in a war that hardened relations between the Kremlin and the West. But they raise questions about the accuracy and honesty of Georgia’s insistence that its shelling of Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, was a precise operation.

p.s.: Hello again! Law school's fun. But not as delightful as Slogging.

This just in from Utah Democrat Katherine:

I'm going to the Prop. 8 protest with my family tonight in downtown Salt Lake City, next to the biggest, fattest LDS temple. I want to make as many protest signs as possible, but I'm so enraged that I'm having trouble coming up with pithy stuff to put on them. (I drove by the temple this afternoon while picking my son up from school and saw dozens of Mormon brides parading across the street to Temple Square. I could hardly drive in a straight line after that.)

Might Sloggers have any ideas?

I wrote back and told her Sloggers will have nothing but ideas. Please make good on my promise in the comments.

My best bet: A group sing of "Take the M out of Mormon and it's moron," sung to the tune of the Motels' "Take the L Out of Lover (And It's Over)".

(Also: "Keep your cult out of our culture wars!" and, of course, "FUCK YOU, BIGOTS!")

I missed it because of this. In case you did, too, here's the video:

(Comments by Jen and Dan below.)