TheUptake continues their important role of sharing with the citizenry every step of the long U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, with some “backstage” video of Sen. Al Franken, thanking supporters at a luncheon in his honor, following his swearing-in yesterday…
And now we’ll find out — over time I’d think — which Al Franken we’ll get in the U.S. Senate. Will it be the feisty, funny, dogged, hypocrite-busting, pre-Air America best-selling author Franken? The too-careful, not-so-funny, conservative Air America stalwart party-Democrat Franken? Or will it be the independent, heroic, and courageous Paul Wellstone progressive Franken, whose seat Franken now fills, and whom he so often nods to, as he does with a few tears at the top of the video above, and again at the end when he notes, through more tears, what Wellstone “said politics is about…It’s not about power, it’s not about elections, it’s about improving people’s lives.”
Good luck, Senator. Please choose wisely.
Hopefully he misspoke a while back when he said he was ‘A DLC Democrat”.
Hey Brad, too busy to put up any Honduran stories?
I think there is a little Republican (IRI) interference going on there, Haiti style.
In fairness, Flo, there seems to be quite a lot of Democratic interference going on there, too. It’s dirt obvious the coup has U.S. backing… and this administration is just trying to be smooth about it.
Maybe Al Franken can give the bluedogs a good progressive kick in the butt…
Go Al..let’s not be cynical about who this guy is..cmon he just beat Norm Coleman. I never liked that guy from the start, with his “laissez faire” attitude. That policy is what has gotton us in our current disasters and gave rise to the great depression. Thank God for the Supermajority and I hope they use it right, with might and no more consideration for those corporate facistic, wealth aristocratic conservative republicans!
Hey Dennis, you forgot the terms, “ignoramuses,” “fuckheads,” and “knuckle-dragging, ego-bloated narcissistic cretins that should go crawl back under the rocks they popped out from under.”
Randi Rhodes doesn’t like him. Does anyone know why?
Al Franken got me interested in politics, with his book: “Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them”.
So, he created a monster.
Indeed, Big Danny, indeed! 😛
“Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them” was an important and tough book. I believe Franken will try to make our lives better and it’s a great thing he fought for the seat.
I’ll never forget the day he was on C-span with Molly Ivans and Bill O’Reilly who got so flustered with Franken that he started shouting “shut up, just shut up!” Great stuff!
No doubt about it, he did something to tick off both Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy, but those thing happen.
I adore Al Franken. I read that wonderful book as well. However, the only thing I have a problem with is his dismissal of the multitude of factual scientific data regarding 9-11-01. Considering he was heading for the Senate, maybe it was best he didn’t acknowledge it. Anyone with half a brain that looks at the evidence can see that which is obvious. The obvious cover-up! Maybe now, he might be willing to address it. Heck, more people realize the cover-up, than not at this point. I wonder if Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy are bothered by that, his dismissal of 911-truth.
I hope Franken does something about the legal “free-speech” called lying, yes it’s legal to lie because it is considered “free-speech”. FAUX got a lawsuit thrown at them for a lie (among many), but “free-speech” got them off. PLEASE, AL, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, STOP THE
F%#KING LYING LIARS FROM CONTINUING TO LEGALLY LIE. IT IS DESTROYING THE ALREADY DELUDED IN OUR POPULATION FROM EVER GAINING A PERSPECTIVE OF REALITY!!!
CONGRATULATIONS, AL, YOU ARE LOVED BY US LIBERALS, ALSO, PLEASE RESEARCH 911!! THE FACTS ARE IN. SCIENCE IS ON THE SIDE OF 911 TRUTH.
Yep! I love Al Franken, and I hope he does stand-up comedy in the Senate. And show all these FAKE “comedian” senators what a real comedian is like!
99, The NDI doesn’t show anyone working in Honduras, but the IRI does…hmmm
Nevermind😉The people on THIS site of all places (what I consider the heart and soul of the Election Integrity movement) should know why Randi and Mike Malloy and many progressives don’t like Al.
He’s a lifelong “old school” Democrat and a political wonk. He’s a great guy. He’s mostly very progressive and DEFINITELY very liberal.
But, he still believes the electoral system is “fair.” He doesn’t believe in electoral fraud. He thinks that 2004 was won fair and square by Bush and he refused to use his Air America pulpit in 2004 to fight for a fair election. He went the “safe mainstream” approach with Air America. When Randi and Mike were out there trying to do a #IRANELECTION on the people, Al was refusing to have anybody on to discuss the theft of the Presidency.
Other than that one (not so) little problem, Al is a great man, and I predict over the next 20 years, (assuming no airplane “accidents”) he will replace Ted Kennedy as the elder statesman of liberal/progressive thought in the Senate.
We will some day speak with great pride of the “elder Senator from Minnesota.”
Al Franken’s “Lies and The Lying Liars” was the first widely read expose’ of the right wing’s lying propaganda …I read it and felt relieved that SOMEONE finally was exposing those buffoons.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly were exposed for the truthless hucksters that they are.
Franken’s book emboldened the overwhelmed liberal/progressives to make a stand and push back with the truth.
Bravo Al Franken…
I love that book. I felt much like BlueHawk, above.
Al, please make people watch CSPAN more, if you know what I mean. You have the potential to really get people involved, which is definitely a good thing. Just remember that computers are inherently insecure, and should not be used for vote counting.
BlueHawk #16, you nailed it! That’s exactly what turned me on about the book. I wasn’t interested in politics, I was an Al Franken fan from the comedy angle. I got the book, and I’d say by accident, it changed the way I view media and politics. It’s not even the reason I got the book. Excellent book! Especially at that time. It did expose what rightwing media was doing in the mainstream media, how rightwing media was influencing mainstream media. And from an insider’s point of view. Al Franken was actually at Wellstone’s funeral. Franken says in the book, basically, “I was there, and THIS is what happened, not what you saw on TV”. And I thought: “WOW”, when I read that.
And, actually, I never looked at TV news the same again. And I mean the mainstream TV news, not just the rightwing TV news.
Don’t think that just because he was a comedian, that he isn’t insightful and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s quite the opposite. He’s very intelligent and insightful, he knows what he’s talking about.
And he seems like a very caring individual, to me. From what I’ve read by him, and what I’ve heard from him.
GO AL FRANKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to the wonder of the internet, you can see Al Franken causing Bill O’reilly’s C-Span conniption fit here. A wonderful moment on American television.
Al Franken needs to get Harry Reid’s job. Both of them claim to be fighters; only one of them is.
The bad thing is that Franken can’t use his superior wit as much now because it will cause great insecurity throughout the congress.
COMMENT #24
Nah, I think Al has to build up some seniority first. Barbara Boxer should replace Reid. She is a real fighter – did you see her in the stimulus debate?
She can be funny too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...eature=related
But, she has the years in to get away with it…
Barbara Boxer has been great. I’m not averse to that. I think we’ll both agree Boxer and Franken need to address the voting machine issue.
I definitely remember the moment in the video. Laugh it up Inhofe, you swine.