Call to Sen. Al Franken

I recited the message below to Sen. Al Franken's Duluth office.  Supposedly, a call is more effective than a letter or an email.  Surprisingly, the office worker didn't take my name or address.  Maybe the caller ID on her screen showed that I was local.

I hope you can keep up your opposition to Donald Trump.

I hope you can convince some of your more realistic Republican colleagues that it is not in their interest to give Trump carte blanche.

I enjoyed your books “Lies and the Liars Who Tell Them” and “Why Not Me”.  When I finished the latter I thought that a comedian would make a far better President than a clown.

I hope you, dear reader, can think of something similar to send to your Representative or Senators.

I plan to call something similar Rep. Rick Nolan and Sen. Amy Klobuchar later.  It kind of exhausted me just to say the above.

See also http://magree.blogspot.com/2017/01/thousands-of-phone-calls-are-better.html.

Al Franken prescient about Trump?

"I think he's a joke, but maybe he's exactly the kind of joke the American people would like to see in the White House for the next four years."

- fictional Bill Kristol on fake "This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts"

"He" is Al Franken whose only issue is ATM fees in "Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency".

He followed "Kristol's" statement with one by "George Will": "Well, if he's a joke, he's a very bad joke."  And more about sex and drug use.

Franken's book is a very off-the-wall take on a very disorganized campaign in which he says what he wants and does what he wants.  He wrote it in 1999.

It is rather obvious that Franken didn't take himself seriously.  Sometimes Trump doesn't either, but that was early on.

See also "If a clown can be President, why not a comedian?"

If a clown can be President, why not a comedian?

Now that Trump with all of his distortions of truth has officially become the next President, we should consider having a comedian as President.  A comedian shines truth on the antics of the powerful.

Think Jon Stewart.  He got Obama to laugh at himself.

Better yet, how about two comedians on the ballot in 2020?  What about pairing Jon Stewart with Al Franken?

Republicans skewered Franken as a comedian, unfit to be a U.S. Senator.  Now they have turned around and supported a clown for President.  I think Republicans disliked Franken because he exposed their hypocrisy.

We just dug out of our bookshelves “Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right”, Al Franken, 2003.

Oh, yeah, he is still married to his first wife.

In 1999 Franken wrote “Why not me?: the inside story of the making and unmaking of Franken Presidency”.  I have ordered it from the Duluth Public Library.

When I had a telephone modem with unlimited access, I watched a lot of Jon Stewart on Facebook, I think.  Although his twirling his paper was tiresome, I found his skewering of the powerful, no matter their politics, delightful.  He used their own words to reveal contradictions.

If you want a sample how thoughtful Jon Stewart can be, watch his appearance on “CBS This Morning”, I think it was November 17, 2016.  See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUkv_jPgTeg.  Also look up on You Tube  his Twitter war with Donald Trump.

See also "Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?"

Jesters and columnists, clowns and politicians

Another note from my helter-skelter, written whenever pile is headlined:

Re Molly Ivins + Mark DePaolis,

and followed by a comment about jesters and one about clowns.

1) The purpose of the jester was to say things nobody else dared say.

2) We have lots of clowns in public office.  Why not have some who have something to say instead of mere posturing?

I wondered was this something they wrote or something I pulled out of my own thoughts.  After a search for their names, jester, and clown, I assumed it was something I wrote one day after reading them both in the Star Tribune years ago.

Ivins was noted for her acerbic wit; she did not suffer fools gladly.  The “left” loved her and the “right” hated her.  She died too early of breast cancer.

Although I haven’t seen anything in the paper recently by DePaolis, he is still practicing family medicine at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in the Twin Cities.

I did find some books by DePaolis available online; I’m sure you can also find Ivins’ books online.