For a piece on the Coleman-Franken recount in the new issue of TWS, I spent some time at the recount site in Ramsey County (St. Paul) on Wednesday. I was struck by the civility and reasonableness of volunteers for both campaigns. Very few ballots were challenged, and at the end of the day both sides were pleased with the proceedings. After the recount had concluded for the day, I chatted with one Franken campaign volunteer in the parking lot as she walked to her car. She said she had previously participated in a recount in another county and told me that the election officials were particularly professional and polite even by Minnesota's standards. As we reached her green Toyota, I noticed that the passenger side seat was covered in lefty bumperstickers (yes, the seat). "Bush and Cheney Belong in Jail," read one. "9/11 What really happened?" read another. She said she was a member of a 9/11 Truth group, which has about 10 to 20 members who attend the meetings. She expressed hope that the Obama would launch a full investigation and report the truth about 9/11. Of course, I must know all about what really happened since I live in Washington, D.C, she said. "They murdered Paul Wellstone, too," she told me before she shut her car door. I surmised that the recount was really going quite well when it had a conspiracy-theorist's seal of approval. Of course, had Coleman picked up votes instead of Franken that day, I suspect she would have thought "they" had something to do with it.