GOP Senator Welcomes Franken By Calling Him “The Clown From Minnesota”
July 1st, 2009, 9:37 PM EDT
Unlike Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, Minnesota Senator Al Franken got paid to be a clown. Inhofe is supposed to be a respectful United States senator, and yet here is his statement on Al Franken to Tulsa World:
“I’ll tell you what a lot of people are thinking, and that is it looks like things are going to be over and we are going to get the clown from Minnesota,’’ he said.
Inhofe, a climate change denier, said no disrespect was intended.
“I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I don’t know the guy, but … for a living he is a clown,’’ the senator said.
“That’s what he does for a living.’’
No, senator, that’s what he did for a living. You once went to Tulsa Central High, but no one is calling you a high school student.
The US Senate used to be a legislative body where they at least pretended to be respectful to each other.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 am
are you kidding me Um Cara…have you ever read Websters 2nd reply to Hayne…dripping with sarcasm and content, and outright insults.
It’s a masterful speech…very very long and in obtuse language, but extremely enjoyable to read.
EricG Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:45 pm
So is a that representative can be a highly enjoyable partisan and highly intelligent obsructionism and all of a sudden it becomes useful to the people?
July 1st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Jim Inhofe and Sally Kern lead me to believe that the voters in the state of Oklahoma have the following standard: If you’re a Republican … you’re good enough for us!
July 1st, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Well, it’s really no different from Bush and Cheney standing on stage too close to a live mic and agreeing that a particular member of the press is a “major league A-hole.”
Takes one to know one.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Alan;
I guess you’re not happy till you can make people angry at each other. Perhaps, that’s the way you make money. You pit one party against the other even though you are perfectly aware that both parties have more than their share of arrogant, self-effacing, petty name-callers. With articles like this, all you do is lower the bar of public discourse by allowing jerks like Inhofe to set the tone of discussion.
I’m certain you know many of these men are self serving, pompous life-time, career politicians who have stopped serving the country long ago and now, are so out of touch with their original calling of political service and representation, they are not worth the time of day. They crowd both sides of the aisle and they should be put out.
Until the members of the media, like you, allow partisan politics to be subservient to the higher good of, “we the people,” we are doomed to have to fight to regain decency and respectability in the government.
I just wish we could get to some higher ground. Sir, I believe you are a better person than that and if you don’t lead in this venture, who will, Hannity? I don’t think so.
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:26 am
Helipilot,
I find much to agree with in your post.
Except……
I do not think that Alan likes people angry with each other. I could be wrong. Have you ever read some of his hate mail or heard some of the mean crap thrown at him on TV and radio ? I believe him to have a whole lot of restraint. It’s his superpower. I talk to my dogs, that’s my superpower.
Good post Heli.
What’s your superpower ?
Helipilot Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:36 am
Sir;
At some point, there needs to be a leader who is willing to stop the vicious behavior, minimize the effects of pointless political squabbling, or stop the fire of hatefulness. It doesn’t appear to be Alan who, like so many of the other pundits (who increase their notoriety and financial success by just such behavior) fan disagreements into bitterness.
I have decided that so much as it depends on me, I will try to be at peace with all people. I might not agree with you politically, but I will try, as God gives me grace (Oh, that’s my superpower) to try and work with those who want to arrive at a good decision for America.
I believe that listening to two or three sides and agreeing on the major points while compromising on the minor will make us great. We are on the same side because selfish politicians (we’re full of them!) use our fighting to distract us from the real enemy – them.
While we fight amongst each other, our Congress (Republicans and Democrats) and the administration (I don’t think it would make a difference who was President) are spending the country right down the toilet. We are printing money and enslaving the population to a debt burden that will last for decades and could destroy our very foundation.
There’s only one way to pay for all the stuff for which even our President says, “We don’t have the money.” That’s increased taxes. We should all be concerned – together.
I think our founding fathers called this, “taxation without representation.”
RDM Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:56 am
Helipilot…well said.
The Senate, the House? Why bother reading bills you’re voting for? It defies logic.
Maybe they will fall into a pork-induced coma, but no; no luck there. The private sector is close to 15 million in lost jobs,
Anyone know how many government jobs have been cut?
placefield Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 am
“pork-induced coma”
Now you are making me hungry for BBQ.
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Some good thoughts there Heli,
I don’t agree with all of them but, appreciate and will try to consider them.
Here’s to mutual respect !
Whenever possible be at peace with all people.
Grace is an awesome superpower !!
Take care bro.
EricG Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
“You pit one party against the other even though you are perfectly aware that both parties have more than their share of arrogant, self-effacing, petty name-callers. With articles like this, all you do is lower the bar of public discourse by allowing jerks like Inhofe to set the tone of discussion.”
You would have a lot of ground to stand on and a lot of great points in this except for one thing …
That’s what the right wingers on FOX News do to liberals and Democrats every ten minutes.
Lower the bar of public discourse with every single installment of ‘Hannity’ and ‘The Factor.’
So I say:
Go, Alan! Go!
July 1st, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Inhofe calls Franken a clown? Takes one to know one.
Teo Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:08 am
Wow! Incredibly thoughtful insight. Thank you.
Montana Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
Thanks for agreeing. Your pointy hat must be just like mine.
RDM Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 am
What will that Kwazy Wabbit Bahney Fwank have to say?
TDro319 Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
What’s with your fixation with Barney Frank, RDM? Did you want a date with him or what?
RDM Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
No, but if you feel froggy….go ahead.
TDro319 Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
No thanks. I’m not into men (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And besides, I wouldn’t want to move in on your territory.=)
RDM Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Liberal culture is pretty much the name of the game these days, and in DC the House and Senate are pretty much Democrat. So it is, so… Not my territory. Radical Liberal Sugar Daddy’s aren’t my thing.
Enjoy
July 1st, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Al Franken has a degree in Government from Harvard and he’s funny..when he wants to be. I think Infohe and the Repub’s should be careful or they may get skewered by this ‘clown’.
Southern Girl Lib Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:53 am
Amen to that. Franken’s books are not only hysterically funny, but he backs it up with facts.
“The truth has a liberal bias.” ~ SGL 7/2/09
Daddio Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Mornin’ Southern Girl.
Ever read Rush’s books? They are really funny also. And he backs his up with facts too.
But the conservatives have the best comediens. :)
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:39 am
Hey Willio,
I read the first one back in the 90s.
Look at the mess that kind of thinking got us into.
The second book ‘See I told you so’, well, I’d be embarassed if it were my book.
What conservative comedians ? The blue collar guys? I don’t think they’re very funny, but hey, I detest modern country music too. I’m more of a Sex Pistols–Beethoven–Johnny Cash kind of guy.
Elitist I know but, what can I say ?
TDro319 Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 am
“And he backs his up with facts too”.
Here are a few of Limbaugh’s “facts” and just below a list of the true “facts”
LIMBAUGH: “The poorest people in America are better off than the mainstream families of Europe.” (Radio show, quoted in FRQ, Spring/93)
REALITY: Huh? The average cash income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans is $5,226; the average cash income of four major European nations–Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy–is $19,708.
LIMBAUGH: “There’s no such thing as an implied contract.” (Radio show, quoted in FRQ, Spring/93)
REALITY: Every first-year law student knows there is.
LIMBAUGH: “It has not been proven that nicotine is addictive, the same with cigarettes causing emphysema [and other diseases].” (Radio show, 4/29/94)
REALITY: Nicotine’s addictiveness has been reported in medical literature since the turn of the century. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s 1988 report on nicotine addiction left no doubts on the subject; “Today the scientific base linking smoking to a number of chronic diseases is overwhelming, with a total of 50,000 studies from dozens of countries,” states Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1987 “Medical and Health Annual.”
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 am
TDro,
Thanks for the facts, there’s lots and lots more, but I’m unwilling to spend time there.
Wrong is the most accurate description of Rush, in my opinion.
Southern Girl Lib Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:28 am
Yes, but in order to be funny, Franken doesn’t have to make fun of poor people, minorities, and people with parkinson’s disease.
And Franken’s not a thrice married drug addict who loves to travel to the Dominican Republic.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 am
SGL…obviously you havent’ seen much of Al Frankens work…he’s made fun of lots of people for a many various reasons many of which you would probably be ashamed of.
flap Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 am
“Truth is not truth if it is biased.” ~ Flap
Daddio Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:09 am
“What is truth?”
flap Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:21 am
“You can’t handle the truth!”
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:41 am
Truth is truth.
placefield Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:24 am
Truth may be subjective.
Depending on how you interpret the facts.
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:27 am
That’s your opinion.
He he he
placefield Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 am
And that’s the truth!
EricG Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
“Truth may be subjective.
Depending on how you interpret the facts.”
Truth is subjective, facts are not.
One must reject facts to accept certain conclusions.
That’s all I’m going to say.
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:21 am
and eric misses the joke.
jasperjava Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
I can imagine Al Franken on a Senate committee skewering some pompous witness with biting, sarcastic questions that would make ‘em squirm. Al Franken isn’t going to be a toady to big business. He’s fearless, honest, and full of himself: he’s not going to be deferential and timid, and he’s going to put clowns like Inhofe in their place. He’ll be dynamite.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:24 am
It would have been funnier if he called him the Senate Jester or some variation of that them.
Franken is a comedien, calling him a clown isn’t all that disrespectful or over the top.
average james Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:19 am
I don’t think very highly of Inhofe, as a person or a senator.
On the other hand, I find Franken to be both funny and insightful. I think he has potential to be a fine senator.
I wonder if senator Inhofe is the kind of man who only respects those with which he agrees.
flap Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
“I find Franken to be both funny and insightful”
Franken is a punk. He’s hilarious as a comedian, but still a punk. Similar to Alec Baldwin. He has no business being in the Senate, but Minnesota also made Jesse Ventura governor. I think of him highly as a comedian…that’s about it.
TDro319 Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, Flap. The people of Minnesota like him and that’s all that matters.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:07 am
No comment. Had a couple of thoughts. But I’ll bite my tongue. Hee, hee.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:38 am
A member of the Senate? Calling their newest member from Minnesota a clown? That’s laughable, isn’t it.
libpatriot Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
You’re right, RDM, we should just savor the irony!
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:50 am
It is all a joke – what was thought to be a good thing AKA the change America needs – is a costly mistake.
I use to believe that administration may be beneficial – but it is clear that “OBAMA’s CHANGE” is not good for the nation, not good for the people, not good for our person financial well being.
This CHANGE must be stopped at once ~ to protect American’s. Perhaps the motivation and outcome of this change should be reviewed – before – the damage is done.
I heard recently that Obama has refused or failed to provide his birth certificate to verify that he was born in the USA, is that correct?????
Smith Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
that is personal financial well being – not person,
my error!
EricG Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
” but it is clear that “OBAMA’s CHANGE” is not good for the nation,”
Says a Republican who voted for McCain Change!
Those of us who are not deluded into hating the president because of massive propaganda and unintelligent, uncivil debate being a ’standard’ of conservative media know that we elected a liberal who is ruling like a centrist.
“I heard recently that Obama has refused or failed to provide his birth certificate to verify that he was born in the USA, is that correct?????”
Will you ever grow up and be an American with the rest of us?
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
There’s a comedian in Minnosota all right and it ain’t Franken.
~ Bachman/Palin 2012
Because the raped must birth
blissfulconservative Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
You mean, the raped must abort? Been to any fetus showers lately?
EricG Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Been to any militia rallies to round up all the aborion mothers lately?
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm