Al Franken...is this for real?

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Stevens was in congress for 40 years, and like most (all?) of those long-timers he felt he was entitled to any perks he could get away with. It's very hard to prosecute these clowns because of the power and connections they have. Witnesses are intimidated, and usually covering their own ass, so to build a case prosecutors usually have to nail the witness and offer a plea bargain to get them to testify. That frustration on the part of the prosecutors sometimes makes them over zealous feeling the end justifies the means, and that's not right either.

If the damn voters would do their job we wouldn't have this problem.

It's Alaska. They voted for Palin. What do you expect?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Palin certainly wasn't ready for prime time but for Alaskans she was the lesser evil. She did OK by them for the most part, as they weren't affected by her very much in their day to day lives. Alaskans have daily concerns that make crooked politicians pale by comparison.

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Palin certainly wasn't ready for prime time but for Alaskans she was the lesser evil. She did OK by them for the most part, as they weren't affected by her very much in their day to day lives. Alaskans have daily concerns that make crooked politicians pale by comparison.

Volcanoes, for example?

TGRR,
Reasonable certain Bobby Jindal isn't "Mr Popularity" around Mount Redoubt.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I think I'd be safe in saying, to Alaskans, Mt Redoubt is orders of magnitude more of a concern than Jindal.

[TGRR]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I think I'd be safe in saying, to Alaskans, Mt Redoubt is orders of magnitude more of a concern than Jindal.

Kind of. Jindal wanted to cancel the volcano monitoring that saved lots of lives around Mt Redoubt. He said it was a boondoggle, a day or two before the first warnings went out.

[xoxoxoBruce]

OK, I'd missed that, thanks.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

My thoughts as well. He was an asshat and a half assed commedian and remains the same as a politician.

Three little words - "Bedtime for Bonzo".

[Jill]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

It may be the Democrats in the Senate have their reservations about whether a professional comedian -- and that's the bulk of his resumé -- would amount to an asset to their party if actually sitting in Congress.

Al Franken is a cum laude graduate of Harvard with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. He's a four-time Emmy winning writer and six time published author, as well as a radio host and television and movie producer. Calling him nothing more than a "professional comedian" is more than a bit disingenuous.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

It may be the Democrats in the Senate have their reservations about whether a professional comedian -- and that's the bulk of his resumé -- would amount to an asset to their party if actually sitting in Congress. They're not finding the time to beat the drums either for Franken to step up or Coleman to sit down.

Why? Minnesota also elected a wrestler as governor.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by classicman

I don't know what to think about that situation. I find it odd, to say the least. It appears that he may be "getting off" because of some technicality. Ugghh, I hate that.

On the other hand, maybe what some of the reports are saying about the FBI agent and her "special relationship" is true - Could it really be that this guy was framed or whatever? I personally don't think so, but....

I agree. It always sucks when guilty people get off because of prosecutorial misconduct. Just because the charges were dropped, that doesn't mean he's innocent. So a person who's guilty of misconduct gets off... because of misconduct. Brilliant.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Jill

Al Franken is a cum laude graduate of Harvard with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. He's a four-time Emmy winning writer and six time published author, as well as a radio host and television and movie producer. Calling him nothing more than a "professional comedian" is more than a bit disingenuous.

Jill, disingenuous is being too kind, that's the way UG rolls.

Originally Posted by richlevy

Three little words - "Bedtime for Bonzo".

As well as a Cooter (from Dukes of Hazzard) and a Gopher (from Love Boat) elected to Congress.

[Jill]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Jill, disingenuous is being too kind, that's the way UG rolls.

Heh. Well, being a relative noob around here, I thought I'd wait until I know him better before I call him a moron.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Redux

As well as a Cooter (from Dukes of Hazzard) and a Gopher (from Love Boat) elected to Congress.

Fred Grandy (Gopher) served 4 terms as a congressman for Iowa. I saw him once on C-Span in a committee and was not really impressed.

Originally Posted by richlevy

Fred Grandy (Gopher) served 4 terms as a congressman for Iowa. I saw him once on C-Span in a committee and was not really impressed.

Gopher did a reverse Frankin.

He is now a political talk radio guy on a local show in DC...same station as Rush and Sean.

Whoa...Gopher was also a cum laude Harvard grad with a sense of humor:

Born into a family of practicing Caucasians, Grandy survived a turbulent childhood in the tough Sioux City ghetto to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard University....

...At the height of his show business success Grandy abandoned the high life of Hollywood in 1986 to return to his ancestral homeland in Iowa to seek a seat in Congress. No one including members of his immediate family gave him much of a chance. Yet he prevailed in a closely contested election and went on to serve four terms in the U. S. House of Representatives where he earned a reputation as a thoughtful legislator and chick magnet.

In 1992 he challenged his state’s incumbent governor and narrowly lost a Republican primary the outcome of which was later discovered to be influenced by a little known group known as Al Qaeda of Iowa...

http://www.wmal.com/showdj.asp?DJID=39380