There are new developments in the results of the special election for the 23rd District of New York. Democrat Bill Owens edged out Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman by a nominal margin on November 3. On the night of the special election, Hoffman conceded the election to Owens, but Hoffman is now revoking his statement of concession, as the state Board of Election results now indicates Hoffman received more votes than he was originally credited.

Citing problems with the vote tallies, and even pointing a finger at ACORN and the unions for possible involvement in the discrepant vote reporting, or at least their tactics, Hoffman has just sent out an email appeal renouncing his concession in the special election of the 23rd District of New York and asking for donations to “ ensure the people of NY-23 get the Congressman THEY ELECTED.”

This strange chain of events started when the Syracuse Post-Standard first reported on November 12 that the margin of victory Owens had over Hoffman, 5,335 votes, had narrowed somewhat after recanvassing, to 3,026 votes:

Mr. Obama has received his latest lesson on the topic: “Governing is harder than it looks.”

It was all so easy back during the heady days of the campaign when it all seemed to come down to Mr. Obama, his teleprompter, and crowds of thousands of people who desperately wanted to believe that every problem in the world could be solved with a catchy slogan.

Then everything began to unravel in February. The bloated bailout was a failure and insanely expensive; the unemployment rate shot through every White House “worst case” estimate; one presidential appointment after another was entangled in scandals surrounding their extremist views; and ‘health care’ collectivization which 'had to be approved by the August recess' was only through a House of Representatives under lock-and-key control of the President’s own party three months after the deadline, and only then by the slimmest of majorities.

Ex-senior attorney in the Justice Department John Yoo and his new team of lawyers have filed papers with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in response to a failure by a judge to dismiss a civil suit against Yoo. The attorneys for Yoo argued that the courts are injecting themselves into the political arena. The appeals court has not yet set a hearing date for the case.

Yoo, also a UC Berkeley law professor, helped author the famous Bybee torture memo for the Justice Department that gave legal advice to the White House in favor of strong physical interrogation methods — waterboarding for one — and detention (indefinite in many cases) along with the expansion of presidential powers. Yoo is basically seeking liability protection from the courts for his actions that could have affected how Jose Padilla, labeled an enemy combatant and held for three years, eight months, was treated by the U.S. government

Padilla, an American citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago’s O’Hare National Airport, held captive in a Navy brig without being charged, and was subjected to excessive physical and psychological torture, according to Padilla. He was denied his right to a speedy trial and now is suing Yoo for $1 plus legal fees.