Al Franken wins Minnesota Senate Battle

[devo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_el_se/us_minnesota_senate

Honestly, I had forgotten they were still contesting this thing.

 

[still fly]

I'm looking forward to watching Bill O'Reilly's head explode.

Looks like the Republicans are really a true blue minority party now. Almost an impossible notion looking back at the country earlier in the decade.

Well, there's no excuse for Obama now.....

 

[Czech]

I really can't stand Al Franken. Something about him has rubbed me the wrong way for quite a while. He's just unpleasant and mean, and not in an in-character way like other people whose job has been to be funny. He really seems genuinely shitty. I think part of it is his insufferably self-aggrandizing nature in spite of never really writing anything particularly funny. It's not a schtick I particularly appreciate. I'm also reminded of the time early on in Air America's existence, when some financial problems caused their Chicago affiliate to discontinue its carriage, and Franken threatened to slam a car door on the station owner's head. Beyond that incident, I always found his bevy of "no, I was taken out of context, you fools" gaffes rather tiresome (of which I'm sure the car door incident was one), and the overreliance on "Democrats are the real patriots for criticizing Bush" and "I perform at USO shows and you don't" gloating was pretty tacky. I know Norm Coleman wasn't the best, but shame on Minnesota for electing this asshole, and I hope they pay for it.

 

[Vitamin X]

Well, there's no excuse for Obama now.....

Yes there is. There's still a bunch of spineless DINOs who would block shit from getting done.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

I really wanted to post the "Al Franken Decade" skit from SNL, but no one has it.

 

[Shooting Star]

Poor Coleman. He can beat former Vice President's but not C-list celebrities like Ventura or Franken.

 

[still fly]

Well, there's no excuse for Obama now.....

Yes there is. There's still a bunch of spineless DINOs who would block shit from getting done.

I don't mind the Blue Dogs. Not everybody is progressive. Much rather have debate, then the majority party in Congress in lockstep with the President at all times. Look what happened to the Republican Party. GWB led them off to a cliff to irrelevancy in six years.

I'm as progressive as one can get, to get things but to get what we want like healthcare, clean energy etc it's going to have be done in moderation unfortunately. The voting populace is too damn fickle and short-sighted for a hard steer to the left. It's going to take time.

 

[snuffbox]

Being indebted to insurance companies is different than being not-progressive.

 

[Big Green]

Well, there's no excuse for Obama now.....

Yes there is. There's still a bunch of spineless DINOs who would block shit from getting done.

I don't mind the Blue Dogs. Not everybody is progressive. Much rather have debate, then the majority party in Congress in lockstep with the President at all times. Look what happened to the Republican Party. GWB led them off to a cliff to irrelevancy in six years.

I'm as progressive as one can get, to get things like healthcare, clean energy etc it's going to be done in moderation unfortunately. The voting populace is too damn fickle and short-sighted for a hard steer to the left. It's going to take time.

To be fair, even conservative Democrats are veering to the left in order to back Obama. Senators Kay Hagan and Kirsten Gillibrand are catching heat back home for going to the left in the Senate. Gillibrand more from her former district than the entire state of New York.

If it means anything though, Obama recently identified as a "New Democrat" (the centrist wing of the Democratic Party)
(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19862.html)

 

[BUTT]

I gotta agree with Czech on this one. I used to be a Franken fan because I was a young college student and, finally out of high school, I was free to admit that no, I don't support President Bush in every dumb decision he makes. But Al Franken is just SUCH a DICK, man. He's not really any meaner than Coulter (aside from his use of profanity which you don't see in many conservative authors lest it upset the more uptight members of their base) and his arguments have a bit more of an intellectual root than just calling someone a "homosexual," but he's not much better.

I'd like to know what Republican/SNL fan Bob Barron thinks of this situation if I haven't permanently scared him away from the board.

 

[BUTT]

Oh, and my dad used to listen to Air America and Jesus was it some bad shit

 

[Vitamin X]

Well, there's no excuse for Obama now.....

Yes there is. There's still a bunch of spineless DINOs who would block shit from getting done.

I don't mind the Blue Dogs. Not everybody is progressive. Much rather have debate, then the majority party in Congress in lockstep with the President at all times. Look what happened to the Republican Party. GWB led them off to a cliff to irrelevancy in six years.

There's also a tremendous leap in functional ability and intelligence between GWB and Obama, not to mention leadership ability. Bush was perfectly content to surround himself with intelligent minds, while Obama has shown he has guys on board who, despite seeming like a "team of rivals" are more or less in stride with his vision.

I'm as progressive as one can get, to get things but to get what we want like healthcare, clean energy etc it's going to have be done in moderation unfortunately. The voting populace is too damn fickle and short-sighted for a hard steer to the left. It's going to take time.

Have you watched these debates? To get those things, the only way you're going to do it is riding roughshod over the other party, which we voted down to irrelevancy for a reason. The fact that they are fickle also means that they want to see results as soon as possible- you're not going to see that when you have only 58 or 57 of your guys on board.

Now I agree with you to a certain extent, but to say that Obama doesn't have an excuse because he has a filibuster-proof majority doesn't excuse the DINOs who, as snuffy said, are indebted to insurance companies.

 

[bigolsmitty]

I am getting really frustrated with how difficult it is to enact reform that bothers any corporate or parochial interests. Congress seems to be becoming increasingly structured so as to represent the interests of, for example, the farm lobby or the defense lobby or the insurance lobby over the national interest. So, for example, we have agricultural committees in Congress that are way more in tune with the whims of agribusiness than actually crafting good food policy. This is also evident in the current pending climate and healthcare legislation.

Part of my thinking on this is that a neo-progressive (both liberal and good-government conservative) is going to have to emerge pushing for systemic reform, no matter how boring that shit may be. It would harken back to the original (and very imperfect) progressive movement of the early 20th century.

 

[snuffbox]

Al Franken didn't behave at all like his former self during his campaign or during its fallout.

A note to the GOP: The same kind of rhetoric was tried by the Democrats to paint Ronald Reagan. It didn't work because Reagan was not the same kind of person that he portrayed in movies, etc, and he was able to grab hold of the angrier side of his personality to avoid too many "too many trees" gaffes on the national level. No, I'm not saying Al Franken is the next Ronald Reagan. I am saying that the rhetoric, and the thinking behind, doesnt necessarily have to pan out. And it is entirely in Franken's hand whether or not it does. He has shown that he can maintain a kind of high road, as it were, and if he can continue to do so it will be the GOP that looks like tried-too-hard failures.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

I gotta agree with Czech on this one. I used to be a Franken fan because I was a young college student and, finally out of high school, I was free to admit that no, I don't support President Bush in every dumb decision he makes. But Al Franken is just SUCH a DICK, man. He's not really any meaner than Coulter (aside from his use of profanity which you don't see in many conservative authors lest it upset the more uptight members of their base) and his arguments have a bit more of an intellectual root than just calling someone a "homosexual," but he's not much better.

Comparing Franken to Coulter is like comparing acne to skin cancer.

 

[KOAB]

I wonder who has the bigger balls between Al 'n Ann

 

[snuffbox]

Ann. The Adam's Apple is the new feet/hands.

 

[sbofn]

I like Al's books, but I found him annoying in the documentary "And God Spoke." Apparently, give him a slew of Harvard undergrads and some time to actually put his case together and he does really good work. Making him a senator is a much better use for him than getting to talk extemporaneously for hours on end.

(A slew of undergrads and some time to put one's case together makes for better work for anyone, but I think it's an exceptionally dramatic improvement in Franken's case.)

 

[NoCalMike]

I am getting really frustrated with how difficult it is to enact reform that bothers any corporate or parochial interests. Congress seems to be becoming increasingly structured so as to represent the interests of, for example, the farm lobby or the defense lobby or the insurance lobby over the national interest. So, for example, we have agricultural committees in Congress that are way more in tune with the whims of agribusiness than actually crafting good food policy. This is also evident in the current pending climate and healthcare legislation.

Part of my thinking on this is that a neo-progressive (both liberal and good-government conservative) is going to have to emerge pushing for systemic reform, no matter how boring that shit may be. It would harken back to the original (and very imperfect) progressive movement of the early 20th century.

This is why campaign finance reform should be the first issue fixed. Until we ban the money from politics, then the interests will always be on how to raise the most funds in order to either stay in office, or leave office with a big pay grab.

Also, the supreme court is about to hear a case regarding corporations giving soft money to candidates/campaigns. Up until now this has been banned, but since the Supreme court leans conservative 5-4, and has guys like Roberts on their who made his career as a corporate lawyer, I have my fear this will be overturned as well, and the movement starting in the early 80's by Reagan will be complete.

All eyes are going to be on the Dems now, with Franken being seated, they have the 60 member super majority that they have been whining about not having since Obama was elected. If they can unite on issues they will pass them, regardless of what the republicans have to say. So they question now is, which Dems will buckle under the pressure of corporate interests/money.

 

[Czech]

I'd say all of them, in one way or another, except Russ Feingold.

 

[snuffbox]

I'm not even confident in him after he fell for the unrelentingly ridiculous "destroy our towns/rape our children/burn our kitties" scenario for moving Gitmo detainees earlier this year.

 

[bigolsmitty]

Actually, Feingold's explanation for that vote makes some sense to me.

http://www.metromilwaukeetoday.com/senator-feingold-writes-a-letter-to-president-obama-regarding-guantanamo-bay/