I have never seen a picture like this of any other politician. It is an embarrassment to the USA.

http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2009/01/glad-im-not-from-minnesota.html

Of all the writers with regular column, I can think of few more deserving of the title Hack than Conason. Al Franken, now Senator Franken, may drive right-wing entertainers into a frenzy but this bit of news is about as surprising as thunderstorms in July. That the less articulate right are willing to sacrifice a bit of truth for the Q-ratings, is beside the point, the point here is that once again the Democratic lapdog Conason, disingenuity is more offensive than right-wing nonsense. The pleasure in repeating their nonsense without fair analysis is just more another example of Conason compulsive onanism.

Conason knows that Franken's win was a result of more than the numerical fact of "more votes."

There was much more at play, and Conason should be enough of a man to acknowledge them.

Saying this, I don't have any quarrel with Franken's win—he was more savvy and his schemes and lawyering were more sophisticated than Coleman's schemes and lawyering. If Conason wasn't such a party hack, he'd call acknowledge it and admit, the power of the Democratic machinery, to say nothing of the voters the President brought to the polls, ultimately made Franken's win inevitable.

In closing, I ask again, why Conason is allowed a regular column; he is incapable of critical analysis, wit or even the occasional well-chosen phrase. Isn't it time the man was phased out? One day, he'll find a day job on some nitwit Congressman's staff, but until then it seems he'll have to play TweedleDee to Rush Limbaugh's TweedleDum.

What would you expect? Hannity would have you believe that he personally and of course 'the great one' Levin, (does he not just look like death warmed up?) know much better what the nation needs than the management group Obama has put together? Hannity thinks that a cowboy actor of many B movies was the greatest leader on earth so don't even check out his credentials. Did Reagan ever go to Walmart? Limbaugh says that he never ever went to a Walmart but tells his audience that they all have the same chances in this great capitalistic nation of being as fortunate as he and Reagan to be filthy rich. Tell it to all the actor/waiters eking out a meager living in LA and to all the youtube 'would be' talk radio hosts. What sickens me the most though as a Brit here observing Y'all for eight years is that you finance and fatten the pig with your bent up views and hatred for the opposition. In Britain your side loses the vote and you get 'on with it' knowing full well that the 'chicken coup' of the Houses of Parliament will only allow the best arguments to prevail for the next four years. Of course you guys have something different to worry about and even a Supreme Court that is notoriously one sided all the time. Oh well, I guess in ten or twenty years it will be predominantly one sided Hispanic/Black? Read what 'patrick lockyer' has to say on the Limbaugh matter on google or American Chronicle. Supporting Limbaugh is like the French Revolutionists supporting a fat Marie Antoinette filled with cake and bragging daily? What on earth possesses you to allow this fat 'plane owning' super star to belch out his rich pig hatred and lies of 'failed alternative nations' to capitalism or do you simply lack the 'savvy' of the average middle ages French Revolutionist? Just go figure Planetarians?

I have lived in Minnesota for 30 years. I have heard Franken speak in person and I am proud to have voted for him. While he may have made his living as a comedian at one time, he is a truly brilliant man with one of the best minds, I'm sure, in the entire Senate. (And when did a sense of humor become a bad thing anyway?) This whole eight-month "recount" was an embarrassment to all Minnesotans as we all knew on Nov 10 who had really won. Norm Coleman knew it too, but apparently felt it was his duty to his party to deny the opposition that critical 60th vote for as long as humanly possible. The fact that this left his state with only one senator for over half a year must have seemed a small price to pay. I just want to assure all of you out there who are not Minnesotans, and do not know Al Franken, that his conservative critics are all wrong. The Senate will be a better place with Al Franken in it. Anyway, forgive the rant. I just needed to set the record straight here.

Isn't it the Democrats that always have "Stolen Election Lawyers" close at hand, even for Democratic primary elections?

Just asking.

Another Al failed himself and the American people in 2000 when he let the neo-cons in the Supreme Court and the Republican Party steal the election in Florida. We see a man in Iran willing to stand up and opposed the corrupt machinery or government but in the USA we see Democrats in particular, gave in under the slightest pressure. Of course Fox News (Rupert Murdoch) and Limbaugh are furious at not having their bullying tactics succeed. Finally someone stood up to them and fought for the rights of the working people who seen to count for less and less with each passing year. It has nothing to do with right or wrong, only about winning or losing.

I am confused. Was Sonny Bono the perfect example of a 'serious' political statesman? I always liked him on the Sonny and Char Show. And . . . isn't or wasn't 'Gopher' on the old Loveboat series a respected republican statesman?

If I were to compare Al Franken - from a humor perspective - to someone on the right, it would be PJ O'Rourke. They are both intelligent men, dedicated to their own beliefs and how those beliefs color the landscape. They each maintain a distance which allows them to also make fun of themselves when appropriate and (as someone else stated) their humor is INTENTIONAL.

As far as Al Franken as a Senator...

I think he clearly understands that this job is not the same as his previous ones, and I'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does - as I would with any newcomer. My guess is that he will turn in a respect-worthy term. But we'll see.