Morning News - Franken Declared Winner

I guess it’s good thatMinnesota finally has a second senator to represent them, but AL FRANKEN? Seriously? He’s a mean-spirited tax cheat. Jesse Ventura was one thing, but at least he was confinded to their state. Franken, on the other hand, is being forced upon the entire country.

Decisions that Franken makes as the 60th Democrat vote in the Senate will impact the entire county, not just the people of Minnesota. By electing him, the people of Minnesota have forced someone of his questionable character onto the nation scene, as opposed to Ventura, who was only elected governor, and so his decisions didin’t impact the whole country. In my opinion, he has shown himself to be a shrill ideologue in the past. Maybe elected office will chill him out a bit, though - at least I hope so.

Of course not, but do you really think we need another one? Norm Coleman is no great prize, but at least he’s not a jerk.

Mistress_Scorpio - And I bet the next two will result in a replay of 1994.

Yikes, that ended up really long! There was supposed to be better paragraph spacing… Sorry to anyone who tries/bothers to read my post.

I guess I’ll concede the tax issue to you, as you claim to know more about it. However, I still do take issue with your characterization of Franken has a good guy. His personal attacks, name-calling, and accusations against conservatives over the years are more than comedy or satire. They are questionable and mean-spirited and more than just passionate (recall the contents of his books entitled “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot” and “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them”). Comparing Rush Limabugh to Hitler and Newt Gingerich to the Unabomber isn’t something a “decent” man would do.

Anyone who is decent at all should condemn Rush Limbaugh. He’s a racist, sexist asshole, and though he might not be anywhere near Hitler’s level of evil, they DO share some ugly characteristics.

Amanda, we Minnesota voters get to elect our officials as we see fit. I’m sorry if you don’t approve of our choice, but you see… that’s how it works. We voters get to decide who represents us. Those of you who disagree get to live with it, or move to a country that doesn’t allow annoyances such as “voting” and “choices.”

oops *Your right to vote…

Amanda, the snarkiness probably stems from your comment that we’re “forcing” Franken on the rest of the country and making it sound as though he alone, in all his “mean-spiritedness,” has the power to sway policy (”Decisions that Franken makes as the 60th Democrat vote”). As a freshman Senator he will likely have little to do with major initiatives and policies, and his vote will just be 1 of the 100 cast on any given bill.

Besides, if you really want to take Minnesotans to task for forcing someone on the rest of the country, you should take a look at Rep. Michele Bachmann. Now there’s someone to be embarrassed about!

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you, Minnesota voter, but I don’t really mind Michele Bachmann and her eccentricities. And as for Franken being the 60th Democrat vote, that gives them a filibuster-proof majority, and that’s what I meant by that comment. For the record, I also think that the voters of West Virginia (Robert Byrd), Massachusetts (Ted Kennedy), Louisiana (David Vitter), Pennsylvania (Arlen Specter), Connecticut (Chris Dodd), and Vermont (Pat Leahy) have plenty to answer for too! ; )

And Rush Limbaugh is known well for his racism, but of course, you would attribute it to criticism of Obama. And *of course* you wouldn’t find sexism offensive. Look, I don’t argue with intellectually dishonest people, so either get acquainted with Google or stick your head back in the sand. With followers like this, no wonder the repug party is on the swift decline. I can’t wait until they nominate Palin… only then will the epic fail be complete!

On March 19, 2007 Limbaugh referred to a Los Angeles Times editorial by David Ehrenstein which claimed that Barack Obama was filling the role of the “magic negro”, and that this explained his appeal to voters. Limbaugh then later played a song by Paul Shanklin, “Barack the Magic Negro,” sung to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”.

Limbaugh is critical of feminism, saying that “Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”[61] He also popularized the term “feminazi”, referring to radical feminists “to whom the most important thing in life is ensuring that as many abortions as possible occur.”[62] He credited his friend Tom Hazlett, a professor of law and economics at George Mason University, with coining the term.

Some more quotes:

“Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”

“We’re not sexists, we’re chauvinists — we’re male chauvinist pigs, and we’re happy to be because we think that’s what men were destined to be. We think that’s what women want.”

“She comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her — guess what — she’s off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She’s smart enough to know she can’t feed herself. She’s actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn’t have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat’s taught me more about women, than anything my whole life.” –on his cat

“She sounds like a screeching ex-wife.” –on Sen. Hillary Clinton

“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”

“They oughtta change Black History Month to Black Progress Month and start measuring it.”

“Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”

“Sorry to say this, I don’t think he’s been that good from the get-go. I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” –on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, while working as a commentator on ESPN

If you aren’t offended by this man, Amanda B., that says awful things about you.

Amanda, I am far from being an extreme leftist. I do not think that those jokes are funny, but that is not a negative reflection on my sense of humor. I know you don’t care what “people like me” think of you - if you did, you wouldn’t be the way you are.

Manjari: For the most part, I agree that the comments listed above are offensive and over-the-top. However, they are all things that have been reported in the media. Have you actually listened to Limbaugh, or do you read articles about him and decide “There’s no need”? (I’m curious, I’m not trying to be snotty asking this question.) I criticized Rush to some friends who are fans and they challenged me to listen to him. I actually did, once for about an hour or so after that. I found that I agree with his deeper points on many things, even though I can’t stand his rhetoric or the fact that he’s only different from Howard Stern, shock-jock, in what he peddles — politics, not sex. I don’t like how Rush sells himself, and I really don’t understand how people can stand to listen to him for hours on end, but I do think that some of his criticisms about society and politics are completely valid. I mean, what’s so bad about the quote above about Crips and Bloods? I’ve heard many, many people complain that the NFL is full of thugs, and the NFL doesn’t do much to challenge this image. Do you not like it because race is implicit in this criticism? As much as I hate to find myself defending ol’ RushBo, there is an actual context to what he says, and I think that yanking individual comments out of the full context is a cheap way to argue. (And, yes, I know that conservatives do it too.)

Knitty - You’re the one that implied that I have a problem with democracy and said I should leave the country for goodness sake for criticizing the election of someone I find distasteful. You took it to an irrational level, not me. Do you really think that criticizing the choice of the voters is out of line?

Ok, seriously, Manjari. STOP saying things like I think discrimination is “hysterical” or implying that I’m not a decent person because I disagree with you! By the way, if making jokes that involve race or sex is out of bounds than many comedians in America, including people like Chris Rock, are out of luck. Get over your self-righteous sanctimony, please, and leave me out of whatever rant you go one next about what offends you.

Geez, I just don’t like Al Franken. That doesn’t make me anti-democracy, racist, sexist, or indecent.

Fine, whatever. I’m a hypocrite and all the other things that all of you have been calling me this whole time. Expressing a conservative opinon here is pointless. I can’t stand Al Franken - that’s it. I think he’s a jerk, but I find Rush interesting, informative, and funny. I don’t view them the same way, and apparently that isn’t acceptable here, so forget it.

No one called you a hypocrite. The victim complex was expected though since Rush has been selling that pill a lot lately. Did you hear how he blamed Michael Jackson’s death on Obama? That’s so interesting, informative and funny. No, on second thought it’s kinda lame.

I’m sorry you’re feeling attacked, Amanda. Here’s the thing, though. You think Franken is a jerk - great, no one can argue with that and more power to you - but be willing to recognize that’s mainly because you can’t stand his politics. It’s a total double standard to find Franken so offensive and questionable yet defend Rush’s posted statements as jokes (I thought Franken was the comedian?) or taken out of context, and don’t be surprised when you’re called out on the discrepancy.

Also, I think it’s really funny that all the libs you listed are comedians/humorists/satirists (well, I guess one is now a Senator)… maybe it’s the cons who are humorless, huh? For the record, I’m not sure why you listed Kathy Griffin - I’ve haven’t seen her show and I thought she was more about calling out hollywood/celebrities. I don’t care for Bill Maher, but John Stewart (and Stephen Colbert) is freakin’ hilarious. All that truthiness tickles my funny bone.

I think the idea that Franken is being “forced upon the entire country.” was the part that got lost here. Nothing wrong with disliking Al Franken, or Norm Coleman. But Franken won an election. In a strange way, one could argue that his election is even more legit than any other contest in recent memory. I don’t know of an American election that took this long to decide. (If I’m wrong about that, I’m sure someone will tell me.)

Go back to my first post, and maybe you will understand what I meant. I contrast the election of Al Franken as a US Senator with the election of Jesse Ventura as Minnesota Governor. I simply meant that the election of Ventura was Minnesota’s own problem. As a governor, his decisions really didn’t have ramifications for the entire country. As a senator, Franken’s decisions have the potential to effect all of us. That’s it. If Minnesotans want to elect kooky celebrities, they should keep in in-house, in my opinion. I never questioned the fairness or legitimacy of his election, just the wisdom of it. I hope everybody gets it now.

And Knitty, if you would rather go after me personally, I guess that’s your thing, but I just think it would be better to discuss the actual issue in the blog. I don’t see how making it about me, instead of the guy actually in the news, is a good idea, but you can do what you want.

I’m not going after you personally. If I were, trust me, there would be no doubt. As for “kooky celebrities,” gosh, wasn’t your party’s beloved Ronald Reagan a retired actor? By your own logic, I suppose you conservatives should have kept him to yourself rather than inflicting him upon the rest of this country. But it doesn’t work like that, because… well, re-read the last two lines of Minnesota voter’s comment. Read it, then re-read it, then commit it to memory.

Knitty, don’t you get that any argument or commentary contrary to Amanda’s is a personal attack? Only by accepting what Amanda has to say without criticism will heal the wounds of not calling her a hypocrite. Now say five hail Rushes and an Our Coulter and all will be forgiven.

There’s a pattern here: every single time Amanda faces a logical challenge she can’t answer (”Voters shouldn’t be allowed in inflict kooky celebrity politicians on the rest of the country!” “Well, what about Ronald Reagan, wasn’t he a kooky celebrity inflicted on the rest of us?”) she immediately drops the subject and moves into her default stance (”Stop personally attacking me! You’re mean! You’re snide! Waaaaah!”) Rinse, lather, repeat repeat repeat. And repeat. Check here in three hours and you’ll see an Amanda B. post whining that this is unfair and meeeeeean, because all she meant to say was that MN voters shouldn’t have the right to elect our own senator and therefore have an impact on the country’s politics. How could we possibly have a problem with that?