Franken Wins! (Now what?)

**Tiassa** · 06-30-09, 04:47 PM

Politics is paradox. In this case, it is both interesting and boring.

Nearly eight months after Election Day, Al Franken, a former comedian and an author, appeared certain on Tuesday to become the next United States senator from Minnesota, giving the Democratic Party at least symbolic control over Senate filibusters.

Outside his St. Paul home, the incumbent, Norm Coleman, a Republican who had held the seat for one term, conceded the election to Mr. Franken, bringing an end to a lengthy battle that had resulted in thousands of pages of legal documents, cost tens of thousands of dollars, and had left many ordinary Minnesotans weary.

Mr. Coleman's announcement followed a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday in Mr. Franken's favor. There, the case had centered, in part, around whether some absentee ballots had been wrongly excluded and standards had been inconsistent, as Mr. Coleman contended.

But in their 5-0 ruling, the court found that Mr. Coleman had failed to prove that "the trial court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous or that the court committed an error of law or abused its discretion."

(Davey and Hulse)

Now that it's over, the real question is whether it will make any practical difference. Senator Franken has had over five months to observe President Obama in action. Will the comedian become the heckler? I mean, we know already that Franken does both well enough. But giving the Democrats sixty seats will mean almost nothing if he simply falls in line with the Reid Senate and President Obama's centrist overdose.
____________________

Notes:

Davey, Monica and Carl Hulse. "After 8 Months, Franken Wins Senate Seat in Minnesota". June 30, 2009. NYTimes.com. June 30, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/us...minnesota.html

**superstring01** · 06-30-09, 05:52 PM

'Bout time. The decision of the canvasing board should have stuck way back.... wait? When was the election? Oh yeah. Like a hundred years ago.

~String

**ElectricFetus** · 06-30-09, 07:29 PM

Franken is a centrist, he will likely go with what ever bill the democrats get through.

**superstring01** · 06-30-09, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by ElectricFetus

Franken is a centrist, he will likely go with what ever bill the democrats get through.

It's been a while since I read his books (loved "Rush Limbaugh... Big Fat Idiot" and "Liars"), but he seemed a bit left of center to me.

~String

**hypewaders** · 06-30-09, 08:06 PM

Smart enough, good enough, and gosh-darnit a majority voted for him.

**joepistole** · 07-01-09, 12:13 AM

I would love to see a little of Franken's humor in Washington. They are too stiff and full of themselves in Washington.

**iceaura** · 07-01-09, 01:42 AM

I would love to see a little of Franken's humor in Washington.

George Galloway was in the Twin Cities for some reason, coincidentally, when Coleman conceded (if anyone recalls, Galloway was addressing Coleman when he delivered his famous dressing down, in Washington, a couple of years ago).

Franken seems to be one of those people around whom odd and entertaining stuff just sort of happens.

Coleman's final and fittingly smarmy, classless act was to ban unfriendly reporters from his concession speech. His legacy in the Wellstone seat, apart from the occasional memorable moment ("polls are dead", as Republican spokesman after the Ohio debacle), may be his chairmanship of a Senate committee charged with investigating contracting fraud and waste in the Iraq War. He had subpoena power. AFAIK he held no hearings whatsoever - not one. Apparently nothing attracted his attention.

Nowhere to go but up from that - lame as Klobucher and Franken may be, they're welcome.

**countezero** · 07-01-09, 01:58 AM

Originally Posted by superstring01

It's been a while since I read his books (loved "Rush Limbaugh... Big Fat Idiot" and "Liars"), but he seemed a bit left of center to me.

~String

And he's gone even further Left in recent years. But to the people on this site, what with their bizarre appreciations of American politics, he is a "centrist."

Coleman, frankly is a disgrace, but Franken in the Senate? Minnesota, yet again, seems to be spitting up political oddities that nobody should be proud of.

**ElectricFetus** · 07-01-09, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by superstring01

It's been a while since I read his books (loved "Rush Limbaugh... Big Fat Idiot" and "Liars"), but he seemed a bit left of center to me.

~String

Just because he roasts republicans in comedy, does not mean his policies aren't centrist. For example he proposed a compromised health plan during his primary run and put down is competitors more socialist plan as "unrealistic".

**superstring01** · 07-01-09, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by ElectricFetus

Just because he roasts republicans in comedy, does not mean his policies aren't centrist. For example he proposed a compromised health plan during his primary run and put down is competitors more socialist plan as "unrealistic".

That's just pragmatic, Electric!

A "Journey of a thousand miles..." sort of thing. One foot in front of the other.

Have you ever read his books? He's pretty left of center. That's not an insult, shit at least we know what he believes up front! Just that no mistakes should be made about who he is and what he believes.

~String

**Balerion** · 07-01-09, 08:09 AM

In comedy and on the stump he's a leftist. In practice, I have no idea. I don't personally see how being a liberal is an insult, or how we should expect him to be anything other than that.

"Liars" was a great book, by the way. I love how he discusses the original title God proposed to him: "Bearers of False Witness and the False Witness They Bear" or something to that effect...I swear to God they do not build comedians like Al anymore.

**ElectricFetus** · 07-01-09, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by superstring01

That's just pragmatic, Electric!

A "Journey of a thousand miles..." sort of thing. One foot in front of the other.

Have you ever read his books? He's pretty left of center. That's not an insult, shit at least we know what he believes up front! Just that no mistakes should be made about who he is and what he believes.

~String

Yes I have read his book, I have even met him personally and hosted him for a conference on biofuels here. Tell me what in his book tells you he is "left of center"?

**hypewaders** · 07-01-09, 09:53 AM

While we await the full String Theory of Political Handedness, let's also turn to countezero's full accounting of this whopper:

"...Franken in the Senate? Minnesota, yet again, seems to be spitting up political oddities that nobody should be proud of."

Let's count how long it takes to get straight answers. Start with zero.

**cosmictraveler** · 07-01-09, 09:54 AM

Franken Wins! (Now what?)

Now the Deocrats will get what they want without any contention. They rule the Senate totally.

**hypewaders** · 07-01-09, 09:58 AM

Mwuaahahahahaha! ~~Neoconservatism~~ ~~Interventionism~~ ~~Privatization of the Constitution~~ Idealism Ruuuuules! Wooot-Wooot.

woot.

wüt.

wut?

Deocratic National Convention Slogan 2012: "Let God Do It!"

**EmeraldAxe** · 07-01-09, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by hypewaders

Smart enough, good enough, and gosh-darnit a majority voted for him.

There were three candidates in that election.

**hypewaders** · 07-01-09, 10:29 AM

You somehow missed the part about "a fucking majority voted for him".

**hypewaders** · 07-01-09, 10:31 AM

I would like to emphasize the statistical probability that most of Frankens voters were and are fuckers; they actually fuck. And they actually fucked with the status quo quid pro, and here's to them.

And nobody got killed over it. We can be civilized! Woot! We should export this notion, without any military packaging. It would profitably sell. Franken understands this.

**joepistole** · 07-01-09, 11:34 AM

Democrats are very unlike Republicans. They tend to be more independent thinkers (e.g. Their presidential candidates tend to be unpredictable as opposed to Republicans). So just because they have a majority does not mean they will be a homogenous group like the Republicans, quite to the contrary I expect there will be a lot of debate and disagreement within the Democratic Party as we move ahead.
Speaking of Republican homogeneity, it is pretty easy to predict who is going to the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney. He is the next in line to inherit the crown. I wonder why the Republicans even bother with primary nominations as they are so very predictable.

**Tiassa** · 07-01-09, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Joepistole

Speaking of Republican homogeneity, it is pretty easy to predict who is going to the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney. He is the next in line to inherit the crown. I wonder why the Republicans even bother with primary nominations as they are so very predictable.

Because of the pun involved, would it be inappropriate to point out how vanilla a selection that would be?