Before yesterday, voters in more than 30 consecutive statewide elections across the United States approved bans on same-sex marriage. On Tuesday, three states broke that trend, while Wisconsin elected the first openly gay U.S. Senator.

The Human Rights Campaign today announced a $100,000 contribution from the actor Brad Pitt to help fund the organization’s final six days of campaigning for ballot measures in four states that would legalize same-sex marriage.

If you so choose, here’s some video of Al Franken being sworn in to the U.S. Senate by Vice President Joe Biden this afternoon, courtesy The Hill. Franken reportedly took the oath on a Bible that belonged to the family of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). The AP noted that ‘the former Saturday Night Live performer and satirist offered no jokes, just a promise that he is “ready get to work.”‘ After months and months of waiting, the new junior senator from the state of Minnesota officially gives the Democratic Party a crucial 60-seat Senate majority.

Al Franken Comedian, radio talk show host, and now it seems after all this time, United States Senator. The Minnesota Supreme Court today declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of his U.S. Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. The decision appears to finally clear the way for the Senate to seat Franken, concluding a protracted legal battle over the outcome of an incredibly tight race. Should Franken join the Senate, the Democrats would also…

Well ain’t this a kick in the pants? The Washington Redskins, faced with having to take the same long cut to the playoffs that they did the last time they found themselves all but eliminated and facing a slew of teams suddenly willing to play dead, took their act on the road to Minnesota and won 32-1421, in a game that was only briefly tense and was basically decided by an alert eye on the…

I doubt anyone is at the “Gilbert Who?” stage yet, but anyone who’s been watching the Washington Wizards play since Agent Zero went down would be hard pressed to deny that the team has been just plain fun to watch these last few weeks – perhaps because with the big gun out, they are playing like a team. Last night three players had double-doubles and a total of six players scored in double figures…

Just in case you were still tap, tap, tapping your fingers in anticipation of what Sen. Larry Craig would decide to do about his scandal-ridden Senate career, the wait is over: Craig has changed his mind about resigning and will remain in the Senate through next year. He made his decision this afternoon, shortly after a Minnesota judge ruled Craig could not withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct in a men’s restroom at a…

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to a world of omnipresent peril. That’s what it seems like, anyway, given the constant stream of recalls that we’ve been facing lately. This morning’s additions to the list of things that are trying to kill you and your family: children’s cribs and Mattel toys. Oh, and microwave popcorn — but then, that stuff’s so delicious that you probably already suspected its deadliness. Firefighter Sex Ring Press Conference: WUSA…

The Washington Times brings us the most, ahem, alarming piece of news we’ve seen this morning: that D.C. fire officials are investigating whether some firefighters have been running a prostitution ring out of several of the city’s firehouses. Around a dozen employees from at least four firehouses are being investigated for involvement in the prostitution ring, which fire officials first learned of after a criminal investigation last month into claims that a sergeant exposed himself…

Once again, the country is in a tizzy over a conservative Republican senator doing naughty things. According to a Post report, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Id.) was arrested earlier this month in an airport bathroom in Minnesota after he became a little touchy with an undercover police officer. (Similar allegations were made against him here, though they allegedly occurred in a Union Station bathroom.) Our favorite part? That during an interview with police after the…