GREEN: Ok,
can you now finally admit that you miss your 12-3 pm Air America timeslot and
regret leaving for a senate bid?
FRANKEN: Well, no I don't. I'm really looking forward to getting into the Senate, and it looks like it's going to happen, and I hope it happens soon. So no, I don't. If I had lost, I might regret it, but I don't think I did that.
GREEN: We talked before air about an election night a few years back when I spent two hours in an emotional deep freeze not knowing whether I had won or lost a close and big race. So how have you handled a three month -- and counting -- emotional deep freeze?
FRANKEN: Well, Frannie and I Iook at each other at night, usually right before we go to bed, and go like: "How long is this gonna go on?" But, it really looks now that it's going to get resolved in my favor, and soon, and so I'm actually excited to get there. So that sort of overcomes the frustration of: "How long can this go on?"
GREEN: What's the hold-up? Haven't you been certified the winner by the secretary of state of Minnesota?
FRANKEN: Well, I've been certified as the winner of the recount. So I just want to be fair to everybody. When I was certified by the state canvassing board as the winner of the recount, Coleman, as is his right, filed a legal contest contesting the outcome of the recount. And that was January 6th, the day that I could've been seated as the winner of the recount. Then we went to trial January 26th, and this is the fourth week. At the end of this past week, the judges issued a ruling, which we think is a great ruling, which narrowed the standards and scope of the absentee ballots that have been previously rejected...then the Coleman people kind of did a 180. They had not wanted these ballots included at all, but now that they're behind, they wanted them all included. The narrowing of the universe of these absentee ballots that could be counted is such that we really believe we're going to win, and we're going to win soon.
GREEN: I can't think of precedents for you -- an over three month counting delay in seating a senator...and also a comedian moving on to the Senate. Are there any?
FRANKEN: Comedy to the Senate? Well, there certainly hasn't been a satirist or a political satirist who's done that. So, that really was uncharted territory during the campaign. But I think it's a good thing. Some peopl e thought that it was an odd career arc, but to me it made absolute sense. I had always been obviously interested in politics; DFL politics in Minnesota was when I was a teenager. And the reason I wrote political satire was because I thought it -- politics -- was important... that public policy was important. Then I transitioned into books, then into radio. So it all, actually, made total sense to me, as puzzled as many people were and continue to be.
GREEN: Was there a moment where you thought -- yeah, I can be the first to go from satire to senate, I can actually run and win and serve?
FRANKEN: A: I don't know about the moment when I first considered running, but I remember the moment where I pulled the trigger, where I said: "I'm gonna do this." I was in Iraq. And I had been sort of toying with the idea. I mean, more than toying -- really actively considering it. GREEN: What year was this? FRANKEN: This is right before I announced in December 2006. I'm weighing this, and I'm thinking, like: "Oh, what a tremendous burden on my family. This is going to be a couple years of me not having any income." Then there's a risk to it, and my reputation. And I'm in Iraq with all these guys and women who're there for their third tour, and their families are half a world away and totally anxious every day. These men and women are working their butts off and are in danger. And I'm thinking, like: "What am I talking about? What am I thinking about?" So, I said I'm going to do this. I figured that at least it would be over by November 4th, 2008, and I wasn't right. The point is is that, I've always been more of a policy wonk than people probably think a comedian would be. Before I even decided I was going to run, I would go around and campaign for DFL'ers in Minnesota, and just talk to people and hear their stories about kids not getting any healthcare, and the educational system not being what it used to be when I was growing up. The middle class squeeze, all the issues that we know are salient now in this country. I felt like I could do something, so here I am.
GREEN: Who do you predict might be the next U.S. Senator with an Air America pedigree? Reagan because of his somewhat recognizable last name or Bender, because he has the chops and the good looks?
FRANKEN: Yeah, Bender lost a lot of weight, huh? Is that what you're talking about? Well, I think Rachel. So, I think when you're talking about the next Air America senator, it would be Rachel Maddow.
GREEN: When you were campaigning, was your association with Air America a net plus or minus?
FRANKEN: It was a net plus, there's no doubt about it. It was a net plus for a number of reasons. One, people in Minnesota who listened to Air America could testify that I was someone who was serious, someone who cared about people, someone who got his facts right , someone who worked hard, so that was good. Secondly, I had a national audience, so that helped, frankly, in terms of fund raising and other kinds of things. The only downside was, you know, the Republican talking point that I was a communist or a socialist or something like that on A ir America, that I was the same as Rush Limbaugh. I would answer: "No, I'm the opposite of Rush Limbaugh." I'm not the mirror image, I'm the opposite.
GREEN: Given your famous spats with Limbaugh and O'Reilly, what have they been saying about your success, or do you now tune them out?
FRANKEN: Well, you know what? I've
already been doing that. I don't know what they've been saying. I really
don't. I haven't been paying any attention. That is the great thing about
doing this. You really stop paying attention to that. On Air America, part of
the three hours a day is debunking the right and that kind of thing. But,
when you're faced with actually trying to help folks, you know, the past
couple of days I've been going around talking to mayors in Duluth and Two
Harbors, Minnesota, the mayor of Champlain, the mayor of St. Paul, the mayor
of Rochester, county commissioners, etc., trying to figure out how they
can get access to the stimulus package, and what they need. That's seems much
more productive than trying to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly and
hear what they think about me. Actually, that was one of the nicest things
that happened to me once I left the radio show -- I stopped paying attention
to them.
GREEN: Now
that you're paying more attention to Obama than Limbaugh, what do you think
about the Stimulus law and the proposed new bailout proposal?
FRANKEN: Well, the stimulus and the bailout are apples and oranges to me. You do hear some Republicans now say: "Well, favor a stimulus package, but not this one." That is, I have to admit, something I said about the bailout. I really didn't like the [original] bailout because it didn't have oversight, it didn't have transparency, and also it didn't seem to do anything about the foreclosure crisis. There were just all kinds of different reasons why I didn't like it. I think I was kind of right about all of that. But, nevertheless, the stimulus package is something that I definitely would've supported and voted for. We need this. We need to jump-start the economy. We're in a classic, deep recession where the government, i n a very "Keynsesian" way, has to be the spender of last resort. I think that if I had been there, there would've been a different dynamic [because he would have been another Democratic vote for it].
GREEN: Should Obama in your view be playing the bi-partisan card as hard as he is -- or should be more partisan and legislate based on his Democratic majority?
FRANKEN: Well, I think there are two things going on. One, obviously, the votes were very partisan. But I think, at least, the rancor isn't as bad as I've seen. And I think that as long as this President continues to reach out – I think the American public pays attention – maybe there wasn't bi-partisanship in the Congress, I think there is in the American people. I think there's some bi-partisanship among Republican governors. I don't know how long these Republicans in Congress can continue to do this. I think the President is right to do this. I mean, I think that there are going to be bills that are harder to pass than this one, and we may need to work across party lines to get their votes. Now, if every Republican in the House is going to vote against ever ything and then throw a party afterwards, then I don't know what to do about that. Certainly the Senate is a different thing, a different kind of body. My intention when I go there, and Mark, you know, I'm in this recount because I only got 42% of the vote. So did Norm Coleman, and then there was an independent who got 15% of the vote. I'm going to have to work on behalf of everybody in Minnesota. My plan is to try to solve problems and help the people of Minnesota, so I'm going to be working across party lines.
GREEN: The President this week said that he's sending another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Is that something that you would favor? You were an early supporter of the invasion of Iraq, but then became a vociferous, eloquent, critic of the war. What about Afghanistan?
FRANKEN: Well, first of all, as far as an early supporter of the Iraq war, I was really on the fence in a way where I neither spoke out for or against it, which I regret. I wish I had been one of the wise people who had spoken out fiercely against it. But as soon as it became evident that there were no WMD and then as we were conducting the war and the bon eheaded way we were doing, I was, as you say, a daily fierce critic on Air America of the way the war was being done, that it was a horrible mistake, and that we were essentially lied into this war. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, part of the damage from Iraq was that we took the focus off Afghanistan, and obviously, that is where the attacks on 9/11 came from. Afghanistan/Pakistan is now an incredibly difficult problem. We're changing our policy there. It looks like we're putting less stock in Karzai, and taking a different approach there which has to do with paying more attention to the tribes and hopefully doing some kind of Afghan version of counter-insurgency doctrine that we adopted during the surge in Iraq. I support putting more troops in there, but this is not going to be solved very soon, and this very difficult. I'm glad we have Holbrooke there. We obviously have to combine Afghanistan with Pakistan. This is going to be a long, long deal.
Obama Administration Reverses Campaign Position - Vows to Uphold Bush Position on Unlawful Combatants in all Courts at all Times
Obama Administration Vows Chinese Human Rights Issues will be Bump on the Road to Free Trade with China
Obama Administration Issues Report - Gitmo is an Extremely Humane Place
Posted by: Rodan | February 20, 2009 at 09:07 PM
Rodan, you need a little bit of remediation in reading.
Your headline " Obama Administration Issues Report - Gitmo is an Extremely Humane Place"
was actually headed:
"Pentagon concludes detainees treated humanely" and it was about a report issued by the Pentagon FOR President Obama, who still wants to close Gitmo down.
Your headline "Obama Administration Vows Chinese Human Rights Issues will be Bump on the Road to Free Trade with China" actually says "Activists 'shocked' at Clinton stance on China rights" which is no surprise, since her husband first gave China "Most Favored Nation" status for trade purposes, something that was continued by Bushie. Did you complain when we held the Olympics in China last summer? Do you think we should just cut off all trade to the nation that practically owns us now as it is??
And your first headline actually reads "Justice to keep Bush detainees stance" in regards to battlefield detainees held without charges by the United States in Afghanistan who are not entitled to constitutional rights to challenge their detention. It goes on to say:
" In a controversial 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court last year ruled that detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay had a right under the constitution to challenge their continued detention. However, the court did not say whether it applied to prisoners in other locations abroad, including Afghanistan.
Five prisoners from Bagram Air Base prison, backed by human rights groups, have gone to court to claim the same rights for those prisoners as the men detained in Guantanamo Bay."
Golly...you should see employment with Drudge. Thanks for playing "Grasping at Straws!!"
Posted by: sparky | February 20, 2009 at 09:36 PM
1. The Secretary of State is part of the Obama Administration.
2. The Secretary of Defense is part of the Obama Administration.
Posted by: Rodan | February 20, 2009 at 10:43 PM
"Desperate are the long-winded. The more words it takes to defend one's position, the less defensible it must be. The Truth is always simple and never requires rambling explanations." - Seneca
Posted by: Rodan | February 20, 2009 at 10:54 PM
But your version of the headlines were still misleading as to what the articles really said. Paul Harvey would not approve.
Posted by: sparky | February 20, 2009 at 10:58 PM
incorrect
Posted by: Rodan | February 20, 2009 at 11:20 PM
The long post is boring and a yawner. As for Hillary Clinton's statement re:China's human rights violations, I don't have a problem with it - she was being diplomatic and will discuss the human rights slant when it is more appropriate. I'm sure that Duff - her big admirer has no problem with it either.
Posted by: KS | February 20, 2009 at 11:38 PM
Rodan reads more like Data. Thoughtful, he is not.
Klueless, go read a book.
Posted by: joanie | February 21, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Statistic: 78% of blog readers consume no more than the first 23 words of a post or comment 90% of the time. (WIRED, June 2008)
Those who write novels are writing for themselves.
Posted by: Rodan | February 21, 2009 at 01:23 AM
"But your version of the headlines were still misleading as to what the articles really said. Paul Harvey would not approve.
Posted by: sparky | February 20, 2009 at 10:58 PM"
Sparky
quite agree. and how about this 'rest of the story story' ending that mr. harvey would likely approve -he loves when the self righteous get hoisted by their own pertard- on the lame attempt to smear john gibson (saying gibson compared the AG to a monkey) on the Huff Post with a doctored clip is particularly reprehensible, eh?
try the one who 'speaks authoritatively on radio matters,' aka the radio equalizer, for the story. oh yeah, the daily kos and huffington post have finally retracted their stories. to quote the great Homer 'Doh!'
wow
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 05:32 AM
anyone seen duffman lately?
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 05:38 AM
cause if they haven't, all i can say is i hope merci has an airtight alibi...i'm just saying.
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 05:39 AM
Roll in the Radio Fertilizer?
Hmmm....no.
Posted by: sparky | February 21, 2009 at 08:44 AM
Rodan, I think this quote is more applicable:
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
-H. L. Mencken
Have a nice weekend, everyone! I am off for a couple of days. Maybe one of them will be sunny..
Posted by: sparky | February 21, 2009 at 09:00 AM
Ye, where is Duffy?
I don't care about Franken enough to even be close to on topic.
He is just another turd to add to that septic pool that is our federal government. We are so screwed.
Posted by: chucks | February 21, 2009 at 09:01 AM
"Roll in the Radio Fertilizer?
Hmmm....no.
Posted by: sparky | February 21, 2009 at 08:44 AM"
okay sparky. i guess misinformation only works in one direction with you. oh well, enjoy the day.
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 10:25 AM
"As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
Another quote from Mencken.
Was that great and glorious day Jan 21 2009 Sparky?
Posted by: Nevets | February 21, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Yes, the neo-Marxist liars in the media keep trying to bring down Fox News and any other conservative sources by spreading lies around about anyone affiliated with them - in this case John Gibson, whom to his credit came up with the best nickname so far for Keith Olberman - "bathtub boy".
The Huff Post knew the lie that they ran (they took it in from another leftwing news organization without verifying) had been debunked about what they claimed Gibson said about Holder. I cannot respect an irresponsible news organization like the Huffington Post who doesn't check out their sources (of course that rules out about 80% of the Media) . The leftwing kool aid drinkers who post on this site keep looking like idiots, when they get behind yellow journalism.
Posted by: KS | February 21, 2009 at 10:54 AM
You on your way to buy that book yet, klueless? There are lots of libraries around, you know.
Posted by: joanie | February 21, 2009 at 01:59 PM
i am thinking that having those three master musicians fake playing that 'special song' is a nice metaphor for this administration.
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Nice to have you back, duff. I'd know you anywhere and under any alias. I've been noticing your posts over on SP. Sputs has been a bit more sheepish since his peanut gallery disappeared.
Posted by: joanie | February 21, 2009 at 02:29 PM
Roz
Where you at? Don't be shy.
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 21, 2009 at 05:20 PM
I heard Bill Press as he was getting his ass handed to him by Laura Ingrahm about the Fairness Doctrine that Al Frankens AA show was terrible and he couldn't force himself to listen to him.
Posted by: Nevets | February 21, 2009 at 08:50 PM
duff has apparently gone where the subject matter is more of a challenge. He's doing OK on SP - provides a centrist perspective on most topics.
Posted by: KS | February 21, 2009 at 09:06 PM
thanks KS
so duff's been spotted on the other boards? just wanted to make sure he wasn't being 'disappeared' (aka the lockout) or a victim of foul play (merci, just don't be leaving town without letting the authorities know first).
Nevets,
there are some great audio/video clips of Laura Ingrahm tearing Bill Press a new one on this 'fairness doctrine.' I see now where Henry Waxman is also said to be going to be looking to the Internet for a version of same. Yikes!
Posted by: Puget Sound | February 22, 2009 at 06:07 AM
It is March 7 and that fungus on the scrotum of decency is still trying to use every means of fraud at his disposal to get into Congress. Hopefully, it is a day that will never occur. Franken is a rash on the anus of intelligence.
Posted by: Jerry Lemieux | March 07, 2009 at 03:15 PM