Comedian or politician? It's complicated with Al Franken
By: Alex Park, Spotlight Editor
Issue date: 10/13/06 Section: News
Speaking with Al Franken, one gets the impression that he likes to laugh at you.
No, not in a really out loud kind of way (at least most of the time), but in a more subtle version of the kind of way he talks about his rivals, GOP candidates and anyone else inside the Beltway who doesn't vote Blue. It's the kind of laugh that gets under your skin, as if he likes to have you annoyed with yourself.
"Are you still considering running for the Senate," I asked, meeting him at the end of the stage in Kagin Commons following his closing speech at the Democratic rally.
"Yeah," he said.
"Is that official now?"
"You asked me a question, which was 'are you considering running for the Senate?' and I said 'yes,'" he said, laughing hysterically. "It's official that I'm considering it."
February 2006 marked the beginning of The Mac Weekly's on-again off-again fling with Al Franken--an incident, which, in its own right, serves to demonstrate both the uniqueness of his style and one reason why some have trouble taking the comedian-turned-politician seriously.
Following a speech in Minneapolis, Franken sat down to an interview with then Managing Editor Matt Stone. On the table were several topics, including the role of money within the Democratic Party, an issue brought to light by the Abramoff scandal, which was at its height at the time of the interview.
The interview was a bomb. Franken maintained staunch support for all Democrats, citing evidence that came off as suspect at first and turned out to be completely wrong by the time the interview was published. They weren't all "lying lies," to borrow a phrase from his first book, but at the very least it came off as incompetence on Franken's part.
The Right-Wing Blogosphere had a field day.
"Franken Takes on Interviewer, Lacks Facts," read a headline the following day on radio pundit Brian Maloney's blog, Radio Equalizer (and you thought no one but you reads The Mac Weekly). Maloney and others praised Stone for exhibiting the kind of journalistic integrity not seen in print media for years, standing in shear defiance of the perverted incursions of the "nasty bear" himself.
No, not in a really out loud kind of way (at least most of the time), but in a more subtle version of the kind of way he talks about his rivals, GOP candidates and anyone else inside the Beltway who doesn't vote Blue. It's the kind of laugh that gets under your skin, as if he likes to have you annoyed with yourself.
"Are you still considering running for the Senate," I asked, meeting him at the end of the stage in Kagin Commons following his closing speech at the Democratic rally.
"Yeah," he said.
"Is that official now?"
"You asked me a question, which was 'are you considering running for the Senate?' and I said 'yes,'" he said, laughing hysterically. "It's official that I'm considering it."
February 2006 marked the beginning of The Mac Weekly's on-again off-again fling with Al Franken--an incident, which, in its own right, serves to demonstrate both the uniqueness of his style and one reason why some have trouble taking the comedian-turned-politician seriously.
Following a speech in Minneapolis, Franken sat down to an interview with then Managing Editor Matt Stone. On the table were several topics, including the role of money within the Democratic Party, an issue brought to light by the Abramoff scandal, which was at its height at the time of the interview.
The interview was a bomb. Franken maintained staunch support for all Democrats, citing evidence that came off as suspect at first and turned out to be completely wrong by the time the interview was published. They weren't all "lying lies," to borrow a phrase from his first book, but at the very least it came off as incompetence on Franken's part.
The Right-Wing Blogosphere had a field day.
"Franken Takes on Interviewer, Lacks Facts," read a headline the following day on radio pundit Brian Maloney's blog, Radio Equalizer (and you thought no one but you reads The Mac Weekly). Maloney and others praised Stone for exhibiting the kind of journalistic integrity not seen in print media for years, standing in shear defiance of the perverted incursions of the "nasty bear" himself.
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