Franken bids adieu, declares for '08

I felt just a little bit older on Thursday. That's because I spent the drive to work listening to Al Franken's last broadcast of The Al Franken Show via podcast. I fondly remember Franken (above, taking off his headset for the last time after his show on Wednesday) on Air America Radio when the network made its debut.

At first, I had mixed emotions on Franken the radio broadcaster (above, after his last show). I've always loved his books, going all the way back to Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. It was clear from the outset that he was a neophyte in the radio business - his transitions were awful, his voice not much better, and the show wasn't always as planned as it should have been.

But, it didn't take Franken long to find his voice. His show began in March 2004, and I started listening on the Internet as soon as it became available. Looking back, '04 was a pretty big, exciting year for me politically; presidential election years always are for me, but 2004 was more so than any other so far in my life. At the risk of sounding sappy, Franken built up liberals and progressives, and then built us up again after the disaster that November.

Along the way, Franken honed his skills as a host, and sharpened his wit and rhetoric. The last year of his show, Franken really rounded into form - he ratcheted down the sarcasm and ramped up his game, bringing top notch guests to the show every week, including Joe Conason, a noted and respected author; David Brock, the founder of Media Matters; Jonathan Alter of Newsweek; Thomas Oliphant of The Boston Globe; Melanie Sloan and Norm Ornstein. Heavyweights all, and some of them were Republicans.

And, like Olbermann, Franken spent a considerable amount of time taking shots at Bill O'Reilly (whom he christened "O'Lielly" in one of his books - and as readers of The Journey know, I've been carrying that flame). Originally, Franken dubbed his radio show The O'Franken Factor. He's had some legendary run-ins with BOR and even Fox News. In 2004, the network tried suing him for copyright infringement for using its term "fair and balanced" in his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. The judge overseeing the case, in the midst of throwing Fox's suit out of court, noted the irony of a news network, which is supposed to protect First Amendment rights of free speech, suing someone over their right to free speech.

Anyway, at the end of Franken's show on Wednesday, he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Franken will face Norm Coleman, who won Paul Wellstone's seat in the aftermath of Wellstone's death in 2004. Wellstone and Franken went back many years - both are from Minnesota, and the two had a close relationship. It will be poetic justice if Franken wins the seat next year.

I know there are many who will sell Franken short because of his history as a comedian. Those who underestimate him do so at their own peril. Personally, I can't wait to see Franken tear Coleman to shreds. If Franken holds to form, he will realize success as a candidate just like he has as a comedian, author and radio host.

However, one can predict the Coleman and his staff's plan of attack. For starters, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of audio clips available that can and will be taken out of context by his opponent(s).

On Wednesday, Franken offered up an example of just what his opponents had in store for him. He likes to use a joke about John McCain (that McCain now uses himself). It goes something like this -

People paint John McCain as some sort of war hero, but I don't know why. Real heroes fight, but McCain sat out the war for five-and-a-half years. I don't see how he's a hero.

Even McCain thinks it's funny. But, according to Franken, some people have criticized him for the joke, opining that he's making fun of a war hero.

There'll be a lot more of that in the next 18 months. I'm rooting like crazy for Franken, and whatever happens, he will certainly add a lot of wit and wisdom to the 2008 election.

I've got $20 that says Coleman won't debate Franken more than twice, if at all. (Assuming Franken gets the nomination.) Matching wits with Franken would be a very bad idea for Coleman.

Very bad.

In the meantime, Thom Hartman (above) will take Franken's place on Air America Radio. The future of the fledgling network is still uncertain, but the network was recently approved to emerge from Chapter 11.

Clearly, there's a market for a liberal radio network; Air America has merely been the unfortunate victim of bad management.

For the moment, I've dropped my subscription. I'll admit that Franken was the biggest reason for my subscribing to Air America. It irked me that I had to subscribe at all, but Air America doesn't have an affiliate in Philadelphia, and its satellite agreement is with XM Satellite Radio, and I'm a Sirius man. So, I was paying to listen to Air America's podcasts a day late. But, I'm spending enough money on subscriptions right now, so Air America loses out. Maybe in the future again, someday.

I'll wait and see how Hartman's received, and then maybe sometime in the future I'll subscribe again. (Above, Hartman's bulletin board outside his radio studio.)

I'm certainly rooting for Air America's success, just like Franken's. God only knows that there needs to be more voices to combat the far right blowhards like Insanity and Limbaugh.

What a Rush - intolerance in the morning

My favorite drug addict is at it again.

Yesterday, I was listening to Howard Stern (as usual) on Sirius Satellite Radio while getting ready for work. I must confess that I don't always agree with what Stern says, but yesterday he took off on a rant about Rush Limbaugh, complete with audio clips from his show. His rants on Limbaugh and Republicans are usually worth the price alone for subscribing to Sirius, but yesterday's rant was sort of special.

The short of was this - Limbaugh was talking about Barack Obama getting a celebrity endorsement from actress Halle Berry. This is how Rush announced it on his show it:

"Halfrican American Barack Obama has received another endorsement, this time from Halfrican American Halle Berry."

I'm trying REAL HARD to stick to my New Year's resolution of not using profanity on this blog, but it's not easy when I hear stuff like this.

Stern wasted no time laying waste to Rush. ...

"He's such a f------ dickhead. I hate it that he's successful. I mean, what's your point?!?"

I think Howard missed the point about Limbaugh's mispronunciation, though. At best, Limbaugh was intentionally mispronouncing "African-American" simply to annoy people (unlikely, but it IS what he's best at), and at worst (likely), he was mispronouncing it because both Berry and Obama are half African-American.

His listeners must be awfully proud. Making fun of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's Disease (which he can't help) wasn't enough - now Limbaugh's moved on to making fun of people's ethnic make-up (which they can't help, either [not that they would want to, I'm quite certain]).

It got me thinking - I listen to Al Franken quite a bit on Air America Radio, and I defy anyone to come up with an instance when he race-baited his audience (or his detractors), or made fun of people's diseases because he disagreed with them politically.

Granted, Franken did write a book called Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot, but that's really what Rush is. I wonder if Franken will write a sequel, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Intolerant Drug Addicted Moron. Now that Franken is leaving Air America Radio (more on that in a minute), he'll have the time. Get going, Al.

Just who started this name calling, anyway?

So I get several comments a few weeks back on this blog from someone I don't even know that got me thinking. Of course, before I go any further, I appreciate anyone who reads my blog, and I respect everyone for his or her opinion. But, the comments went something like this: "My, we are angry, aren't we?" and also "What's with all the name calling?"

Honestly, I don't know who started all of this name calling in politics and who poisoned the atmosphere, and frankly, I don't care. But, it doesn't take sophisticated, scholarly research to reveal that there's plenty of guilty culprits on both sides.

Everywhere I look, there's a right-wing author trying to save America from us "Godless, Evil" liberals. Thank God we have people like Sean Hannity around who can truly deliver us from evil.

Then we have people like Michael Savage. Yep, all liberals are enemies.

And thank God Savage broke the news to me that my liberalism is a mental disorder. Who knew?

This one might be my favorite. Every liberal is an idiot?

This Al Franken book is definitely my favorite example from the left. And Rush really is a big fat idiot. Wait, shouldn't there be a part 2 to this book? How about Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat, divorced, hypocritical, drug abusing, impotent idiot? That would be better. A close second on my favorites list is Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them; A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

I particularly enjoyed Franken's Lies book - nothing pisses off Bill O'Lielly more than when he's caught in a lie. However, this now happens so often, it's hardly worth noting. It's like Bush lying - we are so used to it that it hardly registers on the radar.

Say what you want about Franken, but at least his books are adequately and accurately researched vis a vis Ann Coulter.

Back to Coulter for a second - this is the woman who has alleged that Former President Bill Clinton was a rapist and that Hillary Clinton has fat legs. No on the former and who cares on the latter. But, when you look like an old scarecrow like Coulter does, it's not a good idea to criticize what others look like.

What's my point in this post? That plenty of stones are thrown on both sides. I'm merely wading into the cesspool and taking my turn. That's the name of the game in politics - throw the rock at them before they throw it at you. There are those people who say, "You should rise above it and not sink yourself down to that level." And to those I would say this - it never does any good - you're just portrayed as a wimp when you do that. If you need proof of this, 1. You haven't been paying attention to American politics in the last 30 years, and 2. See the Swiftboating of John Kerry as a refresher. He waited to respond, and the next thing you know, it stuck. Bush and Rove's lies, libel and slander about Kerry were subconsciously believed as fact by many. So there you go - fight fire with fire, or get burned at the stake.

And as for my reader's comment that I seem angry? He's spot on. I AM pissed, but instead of just sitting here and blogging, I speak with my actions - my dollar and my pen.