I can't take Al Franken anymore. Giving his dittohead pal is a crime.

[Cyrano]

We finally get a station, AAR, and what does Franken do? Gives airtime to a major league dittohead asshole friend of his.

I was listening in the car just now, Franken played Limbaugh's comments about Cindy Sheehan, and then denials that he'd ever made them. The screaming asshole dittohead actually defended Limbaugh and found some unintelligible defense of pigboy.

That's about what you'd expect from that kind of Koolaid drinker. But the fact that Franken even lets him on the air, and then doesn't shred him to pieces (the way Randi Rhodes would) is criminal. Al gives that stupid laugh of his, and tries to reason with his pal. And after listening to about five minutes of that, I don't know which one of them is dumber. The dittohead for buying into Limbaugh's shit, or Franken, for trying to reason with him and show him where he's wrong.

It's like speaking English to a chimp (smirking or otherwise). But I just can't take Franken for another second.

[LoKnLoD]

1. i skip franken

He just doesn't appeal to me, I listen to Jerry, turn off Franken, then put on Randi.

[corker]

2. I can't stomach the dittohead

Tom Hartman is great

[Surya Gayatri]

18. Couldn't agree more, corker!

Thom Hartmann is great resource. Both entertaining and so informative. His simply stated wisdom reminds me in a way of Ben Franklin's Old Farmer's Almanac...

[marmar]

3. Call me a masochist...

but I enjoy his arguments with the dittohead dummy.

[demjuli]

4. It's very frustrating to listen...

to the moron dittohead trying to explain Limbaugh's positions. He says "regular listeners know what Rush means" like it's some secret code for morans. I don't know why Al bothers reasoning with the fool.

[quisp]

5. yeah, Mark Luther does get VERY TEDIOUS...

but he is Al's old friend. I wonder how much he is getting paid to do this.

The worst thing about it is Mark's only reponse is to explain that "regular Rush listeners understand what Rush is saying."

He has reduced the amount of time Mark is on.

[trogdor]

28. Has anyone seen a picture of Mark Luther?

Could he possibly be one of Al's schtick personas? He does these kind of characters very well.

[NYCGirl]

33. Here's a link for Mark Luther's Fiddle Camp. It's very real and so is he.

He was on one of Al's live shows broadcast on the Sundance Channel.

http://www.rmfiddle.com/

And here's Mr. Luther:



from this page:

http://hometown.aol.com/neumluth/page1.html

[FormerDittoHead]

6. A lawyer never asks a question he doesn't know the answer to...

I agree that unless Franken can ask his "friend" questions that will end up making his friend look stupid, he shouldn't even have him on.

I know Franken's goal is to show how the left can engage in civil discourse, etc but Franken "respects" his friend too much, IMO.

People are "entitled to their opinion" yadda yadda yadda but if their opinions are based upon a combination of lies, racism, sexism and greed then NO, I ***DON'T*** "respect" their opinions...

[safi0]

9. The reason why

Al doesn't just scream over him or not let him talk is two-fold. One its his friend and he respects him as a person, not his political beliefs. But also more importantly Lee Atwater used to say(paraphrasing) if someone is hanging themselves just get out of there way.

[izzybeans]

7. Franken actually had listeners vote on how often to bring him

on the show after the first year. most people wanted him back it seems. I find him to be good lesson as to what the world of reason is up against, either that or the whole thing is some elaborate sham, because nobody can be that incredibly stupid, can they?

[Surya Gayatri]

12. True, true...Know thine enemy...

But, I agree that Franken isn't incisive or pointed enough with him. Can be pretty tedious and sooooo predictable.

[izzybeans]

16. If they are really friends then i imagine the "debaathification" of a

dittohead must be very delicate. He does get the guy to relent pretty much everytime, but I like many have quit listening...for reasons unrelated, so maybe this shmuck is staning his ground.

"debaathification" meaning deprogramming and probably a poor attempt of irony.

[Surya Gayatri]

19. "Guy relents"--Yeah, but does it make good radio?

I find myself cringing with embarrassment sometimes--either for Franken and his sort of whiny cajoling or for the ditto's utter stupidity.
Lesson? Don't use your 'friends' for a cheap slot on your show. Why not have a more formidable neo-con on? Because Franken's debating skills aren't up to it, I fear...

[izzybeans]

25. I do agree its bad radio, I was outvoted by a large margin, because

I checked something like once a week or once a month or something.

That "using of friends" makes me think sometimes the guy is just faking it because they think it makes good radio. I know I'd eventually tell Al to shove it if I really felt strongly about what I was being ridiculed about.

[DemonFighterLives]

8. I like those segments

It was voted on whether to keep it or not and the majority wanted the dittohead part to continue. I don't know if he is making any progress with Luther, but Franken doing Rush is pretty funny. Usually ends with Franken the victor and more Rush lies exposed.

[KittyWampus]

10. I Can't Take Whining/Bitching DU'ers Anymore. We Finally Get A Radio

station and I have to listen to DU'ers bitch and moan about the talent... especially the talent that gets GOOD RATINGS.

[Cyrano]

13. There's a difference between whining and moaning, and making

what I consider to be a valid complaint about "our" radio station.

And being impolite to me doesn't invalidate my right to make that valid complaint.

[Surya Gayatri]

14. GOOD RATINGS...that's apparently true, too.

At least in some markets, Franken has Limpballs running scared. And I also agree that we shouldn't trash Al & Catherine too much. Somebody out there likes them...

[La Coliniere]

17. Your point is valid.

18 months ago we had no voices on the airwaves. I'm overjoyed that we now have a range of opinion that reflects the span of progressive thought. Personally I like Al and Kathryn, although I don't agree with all of Al's opinions, especially his stance on Iraq which seems to mirror Dem "leaders" like Biden and Clinton.
He is great at pointing out hypocrisy and exposing the nut jobs for what they are. He's funny to boot as well.

[nini]

20. I agree

some people are never happy.

Of course you're not going to agree with EVERYONE on EVERYTHING - this applies to the radio hosts too.


I think the Mark segments show what an idiot the other side is.

[CatWoman]

23. A fucking Men!!!

[derby378]

26. Janeane Garofalo, however, has a point...

Why give these knuckleheads airtime on Franken or Randi or Guy James or Democracy Now when they have so, so, so many outlets in the media through which they can channel their slime?

[0rganism]

11. I found those segments to be potentially educational

It's not often I get to hear a rightwing shmoe defend the words of the conservapundits "real time". More often than not, at least in the segs I've heard, Mr. Luther ends up apologizing for Limbaugh's bullshit. And there are probably listeners who need to hear how to talk to a RW apologist and think critically about propaganda.

So there are a few reasons I don't listen to Franken much, but the Luther bits aren't part of them.

[King Coal]

15. Cyrano, is the dittohead convincing you?

Do you think he is convincing to others? Do you really think Franken is trying to serve KoolAid, or is he trying to prevent its consumption?

[CatWoman]

24. TRUTH BE DEMAND!!!!!!!

:hi:

[King Coal]

27. Serendipity happens.

Hi Cat!

:hi:

[no_to_war_economy]

21. welcome to the FU Franken club

what do you expect from a DLC democrat, give me Mike Malloy and Randi any day

[Adams Wulff]

22. IMHO...

You can't debate the vulgar pigboy on his own show, so this is as close as you can get. I see a value in that.
Oh, and BTW, Mark Luther, outside of his radio show tastes, is a very nice guy, who does great work with musicians in the Denver/Boulder area.
I see value in this as well.

Franken is promoting discourse in the political arena. A worthy, yet rare occurance in the political landscape these days. It is a civilized and Democratic ideal that you won't find in the republican playbook. I admire and support Al's efforts.

[Iris]

29. Franken polled his listeners, and the majority liked this segement, so

he keeps it on.

[Ian_rd]

30. The dittohead is vital to the show ...

... Not only does it illustrate how Rush listeners are choosing to be ignorant, it's a perfect pitch to passing listeners on why they should not be tuning in to Rush.

Also, anyone who hears this segment of the program is far more likely to be skeptical of Rush the next time they hear him.

This is one of the most important things Franken does and he should do it forever - until Rush is gone.

[Strelnikov_]

32. You Pegged It

However, even considering the 'good' it is doing, the segment still makes my brain hurt.

[Cyrano]

31. Okay, I surrender for now. Most of you seem to have a different opinion.

However, almost driving off the road listening to Al's pal, is not a pleasant experience.

And yeah, I understand that listening to the opposing point of view and honestly refuting it is what we Dems are all about.

But what won't go away is that the "opposing point of view" is no such thing. It's malicious, despicable propaganda, pure and simple. And maybe I could put up with Al if he'd just say those words to his friend, and be a bit more direct in telling his friend what a fool he is to buy into it.