Coleman will never ever [again] serve in the Senate. He lost the election. He can stall things, but he’ll never serve in the Senate. ~~ Harry Reid
Air America Radio is celebrating Sen. Al Franken by posting video from his broadcasts of the official launch of Air America in 2004, and a photo gallery with shots from Franken’s time at Air America.
Al Franken is the nemesis of the right-wing blabbermeisters. After all, he's called Rush a big fat idiot; Hannity and O'Reilly liars and fools. He's exposed the sleazier of their downright lies with fact-checks in print and on the air.
It can't feel good to Sean Hannity to see Franken taking the First Senator Talk Host honors when Hannity's been crock-teasing listeners, and entertaining their flattery for years with his alleged political viability, and phony "trial balloons" for a presidential run.
They've not been gracious or even pleasant. (Bill O'Reilly: "SHUT UP! SHUT-UP!") For Al Franken the anti-Christ to be elected to the most prestigious body in the land, is certainly one of the darkest developments in a year of dark development for right-wing talk.
Sen. Al Franken, I like it!
Posted by: Coiler Obama, our President | January 07, 2009 at 03:41 PM
He will do a great job, which will piss off Captain Phone Sex, and the Oxycontin King even more.
Posted by: sparky | January 07, 2009 at 04:44 PM
Franken resorts to childish behavior with name calling. He does not have the intelligence or integrity to discuss on an adult level with logic.
Posted by: Billy | January 08, 2009 at 09:09 AM
...but, dog-gone-it..he's a nice person and he likes himself! :)
Posted by: Duffman | January 08, 2009 at 09:12 AM
you're right, having that horrible bag of crap as a member of the United States Senate is as close the apocolypse as anything I can think of.
Posted by: scooter | January 08, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Minnesota has shrunk to a new low, this is even more whacked-out than Jesse Ventura.
Dems don't seem to care about a candidate's resume', ability or experience, just give them a warm touchy feeling and a hatred of anyone with an opposing view and you're in.
Posted by: Brian | January 08, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Hmm hmmm Just like Arhhnold
Posted by: Coiler | January 08, 2009 at 01:02 PM
Yes Arnold is a joke, very much a RINO.
Posted by: Brian | January 08, 2009 at 03:25 PM
....and Bushie...
Posted by: sparky | January 08, 2009 at 04:52 PM
A little tidbit for chucks who wants to vacation in Gitmo this summer. Is it possible the far right will never ever learn?
"The U.S. military officer who led the interrogation team that rapidly and humanely persuaded one of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s associates to give up his location leading to his death in a 2006 airstrike recently wrote in the Washington Post that he “learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo… It’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse.”
Well, you made America's bed with your President and evil veep. Now we all have to sleep in it.
Posted by: joanie esp. for chucks | January 10, 2009 at 12:01 PM
lmao, Chucks you were in bed with Bush and Cheney?
A nice editorial of what happened last time we treated Al Qaeda as a 'law enforcement' matter.
"Stating that the United States would be well served by returning to the anti-terror tactics of the Clinton years - trying suspects in court. Mr. Obama suggested that Gitmo was damaging international respect for the United States. By contrast, "in previous terror attacks, for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center [in 1993], we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated."
If anything, the experience of the 1990s proves just the opposite - that trying terrorists in open court is laden with pratfalls that jeopardize national security.
On Feb. 26, 1993, an al Qaeda terrorist cell bombed the World Trade Center, killing six persons and injuring 1,000. From the beginning, the investigation of the bombing was hampered by the insistence of the Clinton administration on treating it as a law-enforcement problem rather than one of state sponsorship. Senior administration officials rebuffed CIA Director James Woolsey's efforts to investigate evidence that foreign governments may have been behind the attack. The U.S. government won convictions of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the "blind sheik") and members of his terror cell in the bombing of the World Trade Center, conspiracy to bomb the United nations, the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and the FBI's Manhattan headquarters.
Mr. Obama suggests that trying the terrorists in open court did not damage U.S. security. He neglects to mention what took place during the prosecution of the sheik.
During the trial, prosecutors turned over a list of 200 unindicted conspirators to the defense - as the civilian criminal justice system required them to do. Within 10 days, the list made its way to downtown Khartoum, and Osama bin Laden knew that the U.S. government was on his trail. By giving this information to the defense in that terrorism case, the U.S. courts gave al Qaeda valuable information about which of its agents had been uncovered.
In another case, according to then-U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey, there was seemingly innocuous testimony about delivery of a cell phone. That alerted terrorists to government surveillance. They shut down their communication network and intelligence was lost to the government forever."
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 10, 2009 at 03:32 PM
Looks like Eric Holder is in trouble. This could get real ugly per the Washington Post.
The Washington Post reports that the confirmation of Eric Holder appears headed for rough waters when hearings begin on Thursday. A series of revelations since Barack Obama announced his appointment as Attorney General have Republicans looking deep into his records and Democrats acknowledging that more time is needed to research serious questions. And even the Post has begun to link Holder with Alberto Gonzales and mention “politicization”:
The confirmation process, said Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the judiciary panel’s top Republican, will be Holder’s “day in court” and a chance to “state his case” — an awkward position for a man more accustomed to negotiating disputes than engaging in bare-knuckled fights.
Specter previewed the main line of attack in a floor speech this week, asserting that, in Holder’s years as President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general, he at times “appeared to be serving the interest of his superiors” rather than heeding recommendations from career Justice Department lawyers. The argument echoed criticism that former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales, who resigned in 2007, had acted to please his friend President Bush rather than to uphold the principles of justice.
In a pointed effort to scrub Holder’s past, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and two other leading GOP Judiciary Committee members submitted a public records request this week to Illinois officials, seeking information on a thwarted $300,000 legal services contract that Holder won from now-disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).
The LA Times exposé on Holder’s role in the FALN pardons will undoubtedly play a central role in the hearings. Democrats screeched about politicization of Justice during Gonzales’ tenure because of the termination of at-will political appointments, but Holder pressured careerists at Justice in 1999 to change their opinions on granting pardons to FALN terrorists. He twisted arms to get Bill Clinton some political cover for clemency, which Clinton thought he needed to get Latino support for Hillary in the 2000 Senate race in New York. That’s real politicization, and it shows Holder as nothing more than a hatchet man.
That same impression will be made when the subject turns to Holder’s aborted partnership with Rod Blagojevich. Holder neglected to mention this on his questionnaire, but he agreed to represent Blagojevich to the Illinois Gaming Board to help push through a casino that Blagojevich and Obama ally Tony Rezko needed for his own financial benefit. The Gaming Board refused to accept Holder, and the Senate Judiciary Committee (or at least the Republican members) will be interested in hearing what exactly Holder intended to do for the corrupt cabal in Illinois.
The biggest question will be whether Barack Obama wants to have Blagojevich, Rezko, Clinton pardons, and freed terrorists discussed on the national news in connection to his incoming Hope and Change administration. Will he stick with Holder? Or will he wisely decide to find someone less connected to scandals and more interested in Justice than politics? I’d bet the wheels of the bus go thump, thump, thump by Wednesday.
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 10, 2009 at 04:01 PM
Great letter.
We Want a Divorce.
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists,
Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this
latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I
know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future
generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two
ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is
right, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, slate it up
to irreconcilable differences, and go our own ways.
Here is a model dissolution agreement. Our two groups can equitably
divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be
the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly
agreement. After that it should be relatively easy! Our respective
representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides
have such distinct and disparate tastes. We don't like redistributive
taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and
the ACLU.
Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the
NRA, and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie
O'Donnell (you are however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle
big enough to move them). We'll keep the capitalism, greedy
corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street. You
can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies, and illegal aliens.
We'll keep the hot Alaskan Hockey Moms, greedy CEO's, and Rednecks.
We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
You can make nice with Iran , Palestine , and France , and we'll
retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can
have the peaceniks and war protestors. When our allies or way of life
are under assault, we'll provide them job security.
We'll keep our Judeo-Christian Values. You are welcome to Islam,
Scientology, Humanism, and Shirley McClain. You can have the U.N. But we
will no longer be paying the bill. We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks,
and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru Station Wagon you
can find. You can give everyone healthcare, if you can find any
practicing Doctors (that is practicing, Howard Dean) who will follow to
your turf (sic). We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and
not a right.
We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and The National Anthem.
I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach The
World To Sing, Kum Ba Ya, or We Are the World.
We'll practice trickle down economics, and you can give trickle up
poverty its best shot. Since it often so offends you we'll keep our
History, our Name, and our Flag.
Would you agree to this? In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet
you ANWAR on who will need whose help in 15 years.
Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student
American
P.S. Please take Barbara Streisand.
Posted by: Habu | January 10, 2009 at 05:55 PM
joanie..be SURE to listen to Peter B Collins tonight...it is EXCELLENT
Posted by: sparky telling joanie something important | January 10, 2009 at 07:06 PM
"He is writing under a pseudonym for security reasons."
Nice article Joanie. But what is he afraid of? Why the secrecy? If he didn't do anything wrong.
I remember Dave Ross after the start of the war interviewing students at a college in Qatar. Everyone of them said they were going to Iraq and fight the "Americans". At the start of the war Joanie. Not after some Liberal exposed the harsh interrogation techniques used by our interrogators. And if anyone is responsible for those so called "deaths" this Alexander said was because of Abu Garib, it is those who got on the radio and talked about it because of thier hate for President Bush.
Posted by: Nevets | January 10, 2009 at 07:51 PM
And did anyone see that unemployment rate. 7.2%. Wow. What was it again before the Libs took control of the House and Senate and started thier "campaign for Socialism"?
Answer. 4%
Posted by: Nevets | January 10, 2009 at 07:53 PM
hey nevets
did you catch that gov gregoire essentially adopted the rossi proposed budget? the same one she slammed during the 08 Gov's race?
jeez, her supporters must feel let down.
oh well, at least we got that new Viaduct plan she promised to implement back in 2007, er 2006. er 2005, er 2004...?
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 10, 2009 at 08:07 PM
And it looks like Obama will forget some of his promises he made on the campaign trail also. Now he is saying we all must sacrifice instead of just the top 2%. Instead of 4.1 million jobs created, it will be more like 4.1 million jobs lost. Thanks Libs.
Posted by: Nevets | January 10, 2009 at 10:26 PM
You guys missed a few crumbs under your chair...
Posted by: sparky | January 10, 2009 at 11:46 PM
What's your comment got to do with the point of the article, steven?
Sorry, intruder of a thousand words, I never read that much verbosity.
Habu, get a life.
Posted by: joanie | January 11, 2009 at 12:50 AM
Good points Nevets. I like the way your comment ties it up for the careful reader.
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 11, 2009 at 07:28 AM
I believe that Al Franken and Mark Sidran were roommates at Harvard, the man is no dummy.
Posted by: Mike Barer | January 11, 2009 at 03:32 PM
Mike
You are correct. I've heard both Franken and Sidran comment on this before on John Carlson's old afternoon show.
Posted by: Puget Sound | January 11, 2009 at 04:20 PM
The latest blurb below on the court challenge by Coleman. Seems like Coleman's legal team is throwing everything but the kitchen sink - I wonder if they have their act together though. This is reminding me more and more of the Rossi-Gregoire showdown in the courts.
When the courts have to decide elections such as this, our system is badly broken and the process needs to be changed. This whole thing stinks to high heaven - one more argument for Term limits in Congress - 12 years for Senate and 10 years for House. People cannot help themselves from electing the same old career politicians over and over again. Lord knows how much corruption there exists in Congress. Canada's election system is superior to ours with less resulting corruption.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/37390669.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUJ
Posted by: KS | January 11, 2009 at 08:54 PM