Wait. Now Norm Coleman Doesn't Want Absentee Ballots Counted?

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Limbo), make up your mind!

First you wanted to count 933 rejected absentee ballots in your disputed Senate race with Al Franken. Then when they were counted and ended up giving Franken a 176 vote lead, you wanted them thrown out. But then when it appeared that some of them could be selectively thrown out, you wanted to count all the rest. But then your legal team changed its mind twice more.

Which leads us to today. And we're pretty sure... let us know if we're getting this right... you now want to throw out already-counted votes because a judge has ordained stricter guidelines for what constitutes a legal ballot? Do we have that right? Can we bring in Regis to confirm "final answer" status?

The Coleman campaign has just filed a very interesting motion in the election trial, changing their position for the fourth or fifth time on whether to count rejected absentee ballots -- and demanding that votes they've already stipulated as legal should be thrown out.

The Coleman camp's claim is based on the fact that the court ordered last week that any new absentee ballots brought in will have to meet very strict standards to show that they were legal votes and thus improperly rejected the first time around.

But here's the big complication, Coleman argues: A portion of those 933 ballots wouldn't have met these standards, and thus they are illegal votes.

Although Coleman's see-saw litigation is starting to cause judicatory motion sickness, perhaps the blame really likes with his challenger, Mr. Franken.

It seems to us that back in November, Coleman made Franken a very generous offer, whereby Franken would concede the race without a recount and Coleman, in return, would serve in the U.S. Senate on behalf of Franken and the rest of Minnesota.

Guess Franken doesn't know a good deal when he sees it. Because when this recount and corresponding court case finally end, somebody has to be dispatched to the Senate and bravely-- on behalf of Minnesota-- make awkward chitchat with Roland Burris.