Al Franken is setting himself up as the leader of the militant wing of the

[burythehatchet]

progressive movement. I'm half way serious. He seems to be always in the news or writing about fights. Ha.... and it looks like he's already opened up a can of WHOOP ASS on el rushbo.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. he sure is funny

The angry, foaming at the mouth cons like Ruch Limbag and Bill O'Really have a big weak spot - humor. Laughing deflates them pretty quickly.

[burythehatchet]

4. Ya got a point

They've never actuallly made anyone laugh through humor. Their laughs can only come at the expense of the weak and disadvantaged...makes them feel they are "better" than someone. But they can never make anyone laugh through any other means.

[Skidmore]

40. They laugh AT people and the thing they fear most is being

laughed at themselves since they hold themselves to be the arbiters of morality in this society. It really galls them to be laughed at because there is truth in the derision.

[burythehatchet]

41. You're on to something

I think that's why our satirists are having such success

[Maat]

5. Hi! I'm new on the Board.

I loved Al Franken's book. I love listening to him debate the right-wingers....especially Ann Coulter. I'm really enjoying listening to progressive radio on Sirius Left. When is Al going to hit the airwaves?

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Welcome to DU, LSM!

[Maat]

13. Thanks, ABB! (BlueEyedSon)

I love discussing politics. You guys have the best board.

[Supply Side Jesus]

36. You've come to the right place!

Welcome aboard! :bounce:

[Room101]

38. LawStudentMom- Welcome to DU

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must always undergo the fatigue of supporting it" - Thomas Paine

I look forward to your fatigue;)

[burythehatchet]

12. Welcome LawStudentMom

:party:

:toast:

:bounce:

[Maat]

17. Thanks, you Guys!

Does anyone else listen to Sirius or XFM? Or do you guys access liberal radio on the Internet? Out here in Southern Cal it is hard to get anything beyond right-wing radio...course I am in the rural part....the Inland Empire (Riverside/San-Bernardino Co. area). All I was able to get was the right-wing radio that got Arnold into the governor's office.

[burythehatchet]

19. I guess I have been hesitant to take on yet another monthly bill

between cable ISP, satellite, cell, pager, and on and on....

[Room101]

39. Lawstudentmom- Radio info here...........

http://www.kpfk.org/ LA Area
http://democracynow.org/

[calimary]

26. Another new baby! Our family is expanding!

Welcome, LawStudentMom! This here's another mom - and I, too, love Franken's books. I think his new network gets rolling in March or April.

[blondeatlast]

42. He'll host a show on CentralAir if it gets off the ground.

Link: http://www.centralairmedia.com/

Edit: Welcome to DU!
:toast:

[Melsky]

51. Welcome to DU!

Be careful, the board is addictive!

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

[corporatewhore]

2. hahaever check out his book where he devotes a chaptersayingthat bill

clinton was best pres of the 20th cent he himself said he was a neo liberal

[Tinoire]

22. Thanks... I thought it was just me.

Michael Moore did absolutely nothing for me in the past and neither does Franken now. I was beginning to think it was just me.

Whew! Cause Franken puts me to sleep.

[Eric J in MN]

3. Franken isn't very liberal

Franken said that Democracy Now is too liberal for him.

democracynow.org

[xultar]

8. Isn't that why the post said Progressive Movement!

I'm excited cuz....I've got Al's back. The bruvas and sistahs will have his back also!

GO Al... we can call him Franken X

[burythehatchet]

15. That's hilarious....Franken X

:7

[cryofan]

44. umm....progressive ARE the liberal's Liberal

They are the most liberal of liberals. Or were you making a joke?

[Tinoire]

45. So you can be a Progressive without being a Liberal? I see...

and am afraid I am going to have to disagree.

Franken is an entertainer who is trying to co-opt the Left. Isn't going to happen. Some will fall for that old trick but only the new ones on the block.

[roughsatori]

9. He also is pro-torture of terrorists

I don't have a link, but he said something to the effect of "we" should stick red hot pokers up their "ass" to get them to talk. He was on the old Politically Incorrect and was serious.

He is a moderate Democrat (they can be angry too).

[Tinoire]

46. Thanks. Franken is definitely no liberal and no progresive. n/t

[gristy]

54. I heard him say something about red hot pokers, but it was a *joke*.

I think he was talking to the Nat'l Press Club about subprime lending, and he moved on to talking about Bush. I don't remember the joke, but I do remember it was pretty funny.

He is NOT "pro-torture of terrorists".

[ParanoidPat]

7. "militant wing of the progressive movement"?

Could you please explain that remark? :evilgrin:

What's so "militant" about telling the truth? :shrug:

[xultar]

10. Now that is a Slogan we should suggestt o BushCo. n/t

[burythehatchet]

18. Hey...its better then "The Militant Wing of the Salvation Army"

:shrug:

[ParanoidPat]

25. ROFLMAO!

Bad Santa's? :)

[burythehatchet]

28. That line's actually from Austin Powers, remember?

the character of the Russian spy?

[burythehatchet]

16. Well you're right

but....I think he wants to really kick their ass because he will not be intimadated, it seems to me.

[oostevo]

11. He really is quite moderate ...

Isn't he a member of the DLC?

[Minstrel Boy]

48. "I'm a DLC Democrat" I heard Franken say.

That he can be considered "militant" or "progressive" is simply a sad example of how much the ground has shifted rightward in America.

[KG]

14. i'm a big fan of the man, but he's hardly a progressive.

[JanMichael]

20. He's one moment of "disruption" away from RADICAL.

My step-Dad is the same way. He argues against my way, way, way, way, let's just say it, Socialist, points till he turns blue in the face. BUT when given the point by point, issue by issue, facts he consistantly falls closer to me than he'd like. Sometimes, on certain issues, he's MORE Left than I am! Yet he's a nice professional Liberal Dem in the mode of 68'....All mouth and no trousers...But one, one, moment away from true commitment...

[JohnKleeb]

21. Yeah

My grandfather is a big Bush fighter but hes not really a liberal.

[Tinoire]

27. Aw jeez! The last 3 comments have WARMED my heart!

Thanks a million! :hi:

I'm sick of these neo-progressives like Soros, Moore and Franken who parrot a few words of the lingo and get fawned upon as if they were Gods.

PsyOps for 20 years. Boy are Liberals easy to play! Heart-breaking actually.

[Minstrel Boy]

52. "PsyOps for 20 years"

That's it. Recent American history is a study in mind control.

[ochazuke]

23. He's way funnier doing the political schtick than he was on SNL

Al Franken decade and all that. I never laughed too hard at his stuff on SNL back in the 70s and 80s, but now that he's sending up right-wing nonsense, I think he's hilarious.

BTW, a lot of the posts here show what's wrong with liberals when it comes to winning political battles. It's like "Is he progressive or not?" The conservatives are like zombies. They never break ranks. Well, Bush is trying to appeal to Hispanics and subvert democracy for his Chrons, and that has miffed some traditional conservatives, but most of them will still vote for the whistle ass. Liberals often say "if my guy doesn't get the nomination I'm staying home". Cheeze, we don't have that luxury.

[burythehatchet]

32. Well there was one joke from 1976 that

I still remember. In fact I'm one of those people who can never remember jokes...especially good ones. But the only one I'll never forget was his

Why did the rabbi do circumcisions for free?




He only kept tips

[anti-NAFTA]

24. Kucinich is the leader of the militant wing of the progressive movement.

Franken is a comedian: nothing more, nothing less. It's an insult to the progressive movement to say that it is best represented by a comedian instead of a thinker.

[Tinoire]

29. Thanks.

I look forward to your comment in I/P. You've made some reall excellent ones up here in the last few months and I have quite a bit of respect for you.

Peace

[burythehatchet]

30. There are many petals on a rose.

[KG]

33. no doubt. and we need them all.

[Beam Me Up]

31. Thumbs up on THAT statement:

As in, "lets get real, folks." I know, due to media, it is difficult to tell the difference between politics and entertainment but THERE IS A DIFFERENCE damn it!

[burythehatchet]

34. You're dreaming

If the masses are addicted to the need for entertainment, how else are you going to reach them? Why do you think Franken and Jon Stewart are so friggin popular?

[Beam Me Up]

35. I didn't say entertainment can't be educational

You can educate people through entertainment. But entertainment is not politics. Entertainment doesn't use live ammunition. Politics does.

[Tinoire]

47. So let's keep feeding them swill? Is that the solution? n/t

[burythehatchet]

55. No Tinoire, that in and of itself is not the solution

But sometimes it would be wise to consider the the construct of our social institutions. We have been hijacked as a society by a minority of the populus. One of the most effective tools they have used is controlling the message and the medium. They did this because they know that self indulgence is the addiction that can keep people docile. That being the case, should we not then consider USING that reality to our advantage by injecting OUR messages or owning OUR medium?

Tactical changes must always be based upon the reality of the battlefield.

[Tinoire]

56. Then all is lost & you and I are wasting our time

If that is the case, then issues are unimportant. Just get a botox treatment, change your position on the war because there's no contradictory proof, promise the populus that you will replace the crumbs with gold coins.

Yeah, we've been hijacked. I just can't deal with that reality- that's what I'm fighting; I can't give in now.

Don't ever let the established realities limit your dreams- that's the way I look at at- the day they do, we will be finished.

We need our own medium for sure. But no one will ever let us really have one- for now we have the Internet which has made a huge difference but for how much longer?

Peace

[burythehatchet]

58. You may not have completely gotten the gist of my view

so I'll resort to analogy.

Sometimes you must use direct pressure, and sometimes you turn your opponents own thrust into his demise.

The struggle that you and I are involved in (we have the same goals, I assure you) is something we engage on many fronts. Your fact based view is then colored by your approach to life. As is mine. Franken represents one front, Kucinich another.

And I'll let you in on secret. Or rather, I'll ask you a few questions that have self-evident answers.

Do you think there are large groups of people who share our views?

Do you think that among them they have discovered the power of the web.

Do you think that the web can be controlled? (not so self evident but the answer is NO. Two computers on a network are "a web")

And finally, don't you think that people like us aren't thinking of next killer app to serve our cause? That represents another front.

We're going to win Brother, the good guys always do. Even the Bible says so. As for me, I believe that because Mahatma told me.

[shoopnyc123]

37. NO...Dean is...

he is, at this point, going to make some serious change in the Demo electorate if he dosn't win the nom.

[cryofan]

43. Oh boy, that's all we need: another millionaire faux-progressive

...speaking for the people, supposedly. Thanks, but no thanks. I think he is a funny guy, and he should get on radio or into politics (better politics). But a progressive? Ah, no...I SERIOUSLY doubt it!

[artr2]

49. I guess that the Al Franken Decade has finally arrived !!!

LOL

[DiverDave]

50. WHO CARES??

He advances the cause, I don't care if he is, or isn't.
He brings the issues to the front, and with the junta that ain't easy due to the "librul media".

[UTUSN]

53. Stopping Being "Noble" and Wimpy Doesn't Make "MILITANT"

DUKAKIS, McGOVERN, MONDALE, GORE were genteel noblemen in a prison exercise pen of Repuke THUGS. They tried to be above the fray. Standing up for self doesn't make a "militant". The noble Dems have the SAME policy-values.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

57. Good luck to him. Kinda like herding cats.

As a long time lefty, getting a group of us to agree on anything, let alone follow a "leader" is an exercise in futility.