More popcorn and margaritas!

Remember Al Franken kind of sort of burst into national politics with his book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot".

Pretty good stuff. I'm having a good time.

Actually it was the other clown from OK, Sen. Inhofe who made the statement (apparently not knowing Franken graduated cum laude from Harvard while Inhofe finally managed to graduate from the University of Tulsa at age 38).

Al Franken! Si!
Al trollbot. No.

Franken/Clinton 2016

LOL, did Inhofe actually take longer to get his degree than Palin? It's quite the brain trust they've got.
The thing that these Repubs don't get is that the best comedians are very intelligent and insightful, whether they went to college or not.
They were right to want to keep Franken out of the Senate, because he's gonna run circles around them and expose them as fools on a regular basis.

Was it Coburn who called Franken a "clown", or was it Inhofe? Does it even matter?

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Al Franken on a couple of occasions, and he is as bright as Inhofe is dullard, he is as self-effacing as Limbaugh is egomaniac, and he is as grounded as Glenn Beck is insane.

He will do the good people of Minnesota proud.

All this from the party that reveres a former president who was an actor.

Go figure...

I too think Al will probably surprise a whole lot of people.

Geez, its fascinating how their comments characterize themselves instead of Franken.

Considering how many times I've dismissed Coburn as a clown

Now this isn't new, so let's all get it straight this time. Franken is the clown. Coleman is the joke.

No doubt this is cause for merriment for liberals and their entertainment industry buddies. For the rest of us this is cause for somber reflection and sadness that Coleman didn't continue to fight for democracy.

AL, man you are an awesome parody troll. You're almost as funny as watching the republiclown meltdown.

To be really *and intentionally* funny/amusing, requires the kind of intelligence that folks like Inhofe (or Coburn, for that matter) could not beg, steal or borrow. Not in a million years. Not even at subprime terms.

No doubt Franken will do well. What these comments tell me is at least one Senator from Oklahoma hasn't quite caught on that Franken will be allowed privileges to the Senate gym, just like him. They are going to be part of the same club. Calling a fellow Senator a clown is not a good way to impress people. As to Beck and Limbaugh, they should never forget that Franken decided that there is more to life than being an entertainer. Neither of them have the balls to actually run for elective office and do something important.

Kanopsis just had his point proved by Al.

Franken wouldn't have even been admitted to college had his father, George H.W. Bush, not pulled strings for him.

Former right wing bogey(wo)man Hillary Clinton from the Senate.

Enter new right wing bogeyman Al Franken.

And before Harvard, Franken scored a perfect 1500 on his SAT math test.

What was Inhofe's score? Anybody know?

Watching my new Senator make mince-meat out of these guys is going to be so much fun to watch. He won't even break a sweat.

Franken had a noon rally on the capitol steps today to thank everyone who helped him. It turned out to be a rather emotional event.

I thought of how the wingnuts must feel today when, at 1:00, the civil defense sirens went off (which they do at 1:00 every first wednesday of the month). The sirens are very loud near the capitol and I'm sure everyone got a smile out of it as they were leaving the rally.

re: "For the rest of us this is cause for somber reflection and sadness that Coleman didn't continue to fight for democracy"
Are you speaking about Iranian democracy ?

Doctors in the Victorian era believed that melancholy feelings had their roots in the spleen. These feelings rose up through the body in the form of vapors which affected the mind. "The vapors" led to swooning and was believed to affect mostly women and effeminate men.

As El Rushbo and Glenn Beck vent their spleens they should be aware of the threat to their health a case of the vapors may bring.

It's almost enough to get me to watch Beck...almost.

Nahhhhhhh.

Never mind.

That's gotta sting, not being taken seriously by a pigf**ker like Inhofe.

Wingers beating up on Franken for being a professional comedian? Three words: "Bedtime for Bonzo".

All this from the party that reveres a former president who was an actor.

Given that one of the other former actor Republicans was Fred "Gopher" Grandy of The Love Boat fame, it looks like Republicans only like mediocre actors. Someone who has actually won awards in his successful 30-year career? Not Politician Caliber.

"Clown?"

Seriously?

From the party that hosted Ronald "Bedtime for Bonzo" Reagan, Arnold "Terminator" Schwarzenegger, Fred "Gopher" Grandy, and Sonny "no need for funny nickname" Bono?

They want to throw around the "clown" label to belittle a politician based upon previous profession?

Seriously?

No doubt this is cause for merriment for liberals and their entertainment industry buddies.

Entertainment industry - like the Orally Factor on Fox? For example the hilarious entertainment Bill Orally offered when he claimed Sen. Franken would 'never set foot in the US Senate'.

bwahahahahaha.

it looks like Republicans only like mediocre actors.

Gee - I thought Sonny Bono was pretty good in "Chastity".

What? Beck thinks the selection of Franken by Minnesota voters is "crazy?" Beck really has to get his story straight. It's only condescending liberal elites who have no respect for the intelligence of the average everyday voter, not the vox populi vox dei stormtroopers of the radical right like FOX.

Franken - who is well versed in literary genres - will tell you himself he's a satirist. Repugs are more absurdists, though their antics make them indistinguishable from clowns.

I think we should all eat a bowl of Frankenberry for breakfast tomorrow, in honor of Al.

And I love how republicans can so easily say that Coleman should have kept the fight going, you know, for "democracy." Like that has anything to do with why they want him to keep fighting. If they wanted to fight for democracy they'd insist that the will of the people be executed immediately and that Al Franken be sworn in before the sun sets.

HA Ha!

In fairness to Grandy, he also was a Harvard graduate.

The wingnuts forget that the Republicans have run their share of show business folks, none of whom managed to graduate from Harvard. Tom Lehrer memorialized all this regarding the forgettable and forgotten George Murphy, Senator from California:

"At last, we've got a Senator,
Who can really sing and dance ...."

I just wish someone had gotten a screenshot of the Chyron when it read (from memory, probably not exact) 'MN Supreme Court says Franken "entitled" to seat'
I love quote marks, whether they be air quotes or Chyron quotes... So Fox news doesn't think the MN Supreme Court is legitimate, or are they saying that the MN Supreme Court doesn't really think Franken's victory is legitimate?

. . . Inhofe finally managed to graduate from the University of Tulsa at age 38.

Look, while I detest Inhofe as much as the next guy -- probably more, actually -- it's pretty low to dismiss him in this manner. Relying on Wikipedia, it seems the guy served in the Army, and got married pretty soon after he got out. Married people have responsibilities. Often, those responsibilities keep them from doing things they'd rather do --- like completing their education.

If anything, the fact that he completed the degree at all is, I think, the most likable and impressive thing about him, and speaks very highly of his intelligence when all other evidence is to the contrary. Its not like absence of the degree was hindering him at all: he was already an elected politician and ran twice for Governor before getting the degree.

I think Franken is whip-smart, but he was also very lucky that he had the ability to go to Harvard -- not just with the brains, grades and test scores but also with the money, the parental support, and the freedom to move across the country for four years just because you got a letter in the mail. It's just plain mean to attack someone who wasn't blessed with all the same things.

And again, I hate me some Inhofe. But he deserves at least a modicum of respect for his perseverence in the face of what were far greater obstacles than Franken ever had.

As El Rushbo and Glenn Beck vent their spleens they should be aware of the threat to their health a case of the vapors may bring. -- pj in jesusland, @15:03

Shhh...You're gonna lose them their health insurance. And, with their preexisting conditions (effeminacy), they'll never be able to afford individual coverage.

Thanking God that Rush Limbaugh did not call Franken a "drug loving egomaniac". That would have been too much irony.

Typo alert. Right state, wrong Senator. Sen Coburn is not a long term member of the senate and didn't say that. Sen Inhofe is and did.

Married people have responsibilities.

Like what?

Can hardly to watch C-Span with Coburn and Inhoye in the well crooning, "Isn't it rich, are we a pair, me at last on the ground, you in mid-air, send in the Clown".

As Sondheim really meant fools, instead of circus clowns, the two Okie boys fit well. Geez, maybe, guys, you'll be able to get it right next year.

I understand your point,C.S., but I was raised that to get respect, one must give respect.
__________________________________________________
Remember folks, these are the people who didn't realize that Stephen Colbert was using satire when he talked about the GOP.

Welcome to this, the Al Franken Decade.

it was actually Inhofe, not Coburn. you know, the even more clownish and ignorant Senator from whatever-the-f#ck RedNeckLand..?

in the face of what were far greater obstacles than Franken ever had.

Sadly, no. Inhofe's father was a claims adjuster, which means they weren't super-rich, but they weren't the Joads at all. Inhofe initially claimed to have gotten that TU degree in 1959; the revelation that he had secretly finished it in 1973, having already been in public life for years (and on the eve of a gubernatorial run), was made by the college registrar.

Inhofe graduated from high school in 1953, served in the military from 1957-58, and got married in 1959. One can only assume he was sowing wild oats from 1953-1957, since (contrary to your unfounded assertion) financial hardship was not something Inhofe actually encountered.

kth, I wasn't basing my point on money, so I don't know where the 'unfounded assertion' dig comes from. Inhofe's a dick, but there's no need to abuse him simply because of when and where he got a degree. It's low.

And majii, I get your point, too. And I do not respect Inhofe in the slightest. I just respect him slightly less than I otherwise would.

Here's the biggest difference between Franken and Limbaugh (and Beck and Hannity and Coulter):

Franken not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. He put his political ideology on the line by running for office, putting himself before the voters. If Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly or any of the other talking heads - hell let's throw Keith Olbermann into the mix - really believe that they're right and that the American people REALLY are on their side, they ought to run for office.

C'mon Rush. If you're so right, the voters would vote for you in droves. Why don't you run for office? What, worried that your critics are gonna have a field day with you? Why be worried? You'll have your librul critics shredding you no matter what. Like Franken had it easy running for his Senate seat? But he took the criticism, and the legal battles, and he won. Narrowly, to be true. But he won.

And *that* is the difference between Franken and Limbaugh. Franken's not afraid of the voters. Limbaugh is.

I'm a little shaky on what makes a real estate developer like Inhofe qualified to serve in the Senate, other than the votes of the citizens, which is the same thing that qualifies Franken.

Whatever did you mean by "far greater obstacles", then?

I totally agree that, in general, it's unfair to assume that someone is dull and lazy just because they didn't graduate from college until they were nearly 40. But we know enough about Inhofe that, in his case, the inference isn't unfounded at all.

You can't score 1500 on the math portion of the SAT. 800 is the max.

Others were all over it before I got here - kanopsis first, if memory serves. I also was immediately struck by the attention-deficit squalling about Franken being a "clown" from the same people who would crawl across broken glass to kiss Reagan's toes. To the best of my recollection, Reagan was an actor who had no other background that would make him a stellar choice for a politician, let alone president. Doubtless many of you recall the train-wreck that was Fred Thompson's campaign, in which he briefly cruised on nothing but folksy aphorisms and pointing out that The Great Ronald Reagan had also come from an acting background. If you do remember, you likely have to suppress a shudder at the thought of what kind of president Fred Thompson would have been.

Thinking that suggests good presidents are scions of wealthy families who don't have a tawdry employment background that will come back to them in mockery is the kind of thinking that put two wealthy families in charge of America's destiny for the best part of a generation.

I enjoyed this from wikipedia about Al Frankin, an intelligent graduate of Harvard University:

'In 2003, Penguin Books published Franken's book Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, which included a cover photo of Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly and a chapter accusing O'Reilly of lying. In August of that year, Fox News sued, claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase "Fair and Balanced." A federal judge found the lawsuit to be "wholly without merit." The episode with Fox focused a great deal of media attention upon Franken's book and, according to Franken, greatly increased its sales. Reflecting on the lawsuit during a September 2003 interview on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Franken said that Fox's case against him was "literally laughed out of court" and added that the judge's comment that the case was "wholly without merit" was a good characterization of Fox News itself.'

What?? You mean Faux 'News' filed a frivolous lawsuit?

P.S. Franken's book The Truth is excellent too.

I happened to dirty myself by listening to Sean Hannity this afternoon--callers were noting his seeming disdain for African Americans.

I just saw this from a couple of years ago regarding a decision by the Congressional Black Caucus:

"...Black online activists — led by ColorOfChange.org — partnered with Robert Greenwald’s Fox Attacks to call on the CBC Institute to reject Fox as a partner for their presidential debates. A letter from Color Of Change to activists:

“Fox News is not a ‘fair and balanced’ source of information or political debate, and it has repeatedly proven itself hostile to the interests of Black Americans… Fox on-air personalities and regular guests consistently marginalize Black leaders, culture, and institutions.”

"The efforts appear to have paid off. A new release from CNN says it “will partner with the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute (CBC Institute) to host a presidential debate among Democratic candidates.”

This was in 2007--but how appropo

Whatever did you mean by "far greater obstacles", then?

Um . . . since 'obstacles' is plural, and you seem to think I was just talking about money (which would be singular) I fail to see your point.

But step back a second kth. Why are you going to the mat on this one? Why do you care about parsing the particulars of his life just to have an excuse to bash him on this one thing? It's Inhofe, for crissakes! He's an idiot Christianist and an asshole of the first order! You don't have to range far to find stuff proving every kind of character defect under the sun. The post I objected to -- and one following soon after -- attacked Inhofe for being stupid. Which, again, he is, and there's plenty of evidence for it. But not only is his age when he got his degree unnecessary to make that point, it is completely irrelevant, and unnecessarily insulting --- and not just to Inhofe.

The upshot is simply this: I hope you were raised better than to attack a man for finishing college, no matter what circumstances he did it in.

In fairness to Grandy, he also was a Harvard graduate.
Posted by: DJ

and he was a fairly thoughtful member of congress. his writings have even graced the pages of the washington monthly

"...than to attack a man for finishing college, no matter what circumstances he did it in." C.S. @ 6:22 PM.
There is the little item in kth's 4:16 PM post noting that "Inhofe initially claimed to have gotten that degree in 1959" which points to the good Senator lying to his constituents from the very beginning of his political career. Nor, evidently, would his constituents have ever found out had the registrar at TU, apparently, been queried about it during Inhofe's gubenatorial run, which was sometime AFTER 1973 (I don't know the year).
Sorry, but there is nothing praiseworthy about lying about your accomplishments to those you want to vote for you and then trying to cover that lie by SECRETLY getting the degree that you claimed to have had all along.
I have seen married military members balancing their 8-hour a day job, watchstanding duties, other assorted military duties, deployments and their families and they still managed to get their degrees in a third of the time that the Senator took. That Sen. Inhofe took 14 years to get his degree and did so in secret only shows how little he thought of either the degree or his constituents.
Padding his resume to get elected was more attractive than honesty, apparently.

Eric Boehlert, of Media Matters For America rocks it:

"...It wasn't until the Florida recount in 2000, I think, that Fox News went all in with the GOP and made a conscious decision to sever its ties with traditional journalism. Since then, of course, whatever journalism links remained were certainly cut during Fox News' unabashed cheerleading of the Iraq war and unquestionably in the wake of the Obama's inauguration, when Fox News rushed into the fever swamps.

In fact, Fox News now routinely apes the most radical and hateful rhetoric found anywhere on the far right. Fox News, like the Republican Party (or at least Rush Limbaugh's Republican Party) is now for true believers only. Dissenting voices, such as Smith's, are no longer welcome. Viewers prefer a drum-tight conformity and become incensed when somebody veers off script, even for just two or three minutes. Fox News is for those who think that Obama is a fascist, that he might not be a natural-born citizen, and that he wants to take away your guns.

Basically, Fox News is for those who are convinced that Obama is destroying America on purpose.

Whether consciously or not (its prime-time shows are run as hands-off fiefdoms, so I doubt there's been internal coordination), Fox News has positioned itself as the opposition party of the Obama White House. And it's hard for anyone to make the serious claim that Fox News still practices journalism as it's commonly defined or recognized. The question then becomes, does Smith want to make his living being part of the opposition party?

And a party led by Beck?..."

When I was a fan of CNN, I called and complained about Harold Hill aka Glenn Beck.

My complaint - Beck would often say, "It made blood shoot out of my eyes."

This is some spooky stuff - it just doesn't sound normal. A couple of months later, Beck found his true home "Faux News."

would be entertaining to see a Franken/Coburn debate.

Let's get this straight. Being a professional comedian means you cannot later be taken seriously as a politician. On the other hand, acting in a B-movie opposite a chimpanzee does not disqualify you from being President.

Actually, it was Senator Inhofe that referred to him as a clown.

"
It's not much better on the Hill among Fox News' allies. Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma, a long-time member of the world's most deliberative body, today referred to his newest colleague as "the clown from Minnesota." Considering how many times I've dismissed Coburn as a clown, I found his choice of words rather ironic."

Yes, It is becoming quite evident that there isn't a whole lot that will disqualify you from being President or holding public office for that matter. Unfortunately, I think over time, by diminishing the requirements and standards for our leaders, we are making the office and those that hold the office less than respectable and possibly even relevant.

However, the arguement that Fox News is for those "who think that Obama is a fascist, that he might not be a natural-born citizen, and that he wants to take away your guns. Basically, Fox News is for those who are convinced that Obama is destroying America" would seem to be a majority opinion - given Fox News ratings. Apparently, those that have a different opinion are clearly in the minority. Imagine that.

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

Good evening. Sometimes love will pick you up by the short hairs.and jerk the heck out of you. Help me! I can not find sites on the: Money symbols international. I found only this - board of medical examiner. Tote the note is a phrase used by we finance everyone. Online learning self paced seminar retail financial basics. :eek: Thanks in advance. Mireille from Islands.

Perfect work!

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

I want to say - thank you for this!

I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!

Perfect site, i like it!

Great. Now i can say thank you!

Incredible site!

Great site. Good info.

I want to say - thank you for this!

Great site. Keep doing.

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Beautiful site!

It is the coolest site, keep so!

I want to say - thank you for this!

Incredible site!

Incredible site!

I want to say - thank you for this!

Perfect work!

Incredible site!

Perfect site, i like it!

Great site. Good info.

Incredible site!

Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.

I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!

Perfect site, i like it!

Beautiful site!

I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!

Great site. Good info.

Great site. Keep doing.

Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!

Great work, webmaster, nice design!

Great site. Good info.

Great site. Keep doing.