7 Days: Franken on Franken, Air America, "Senator Maddow" & More
Sen.-elect Al Franken hasn't spoken to the national media since November, until now.
Here he talks about his suspended animation as an almost-senator, about a career arc uniquely going from satire to senate, and about how 42% plurality -- almost exactly what Lincoln, Wilson, Nixon & Clinton got -- means that he'll pursue a kind of Obamian bi-partisan tone.
GREEN: Ok, can you now finally admit that you miss your 12-3 pm Air America timeslot and regret leaving for a senate bid?
FRANKEN: Well, no I don't. I'm really looking forward to getting into the Senate, and it looks like it's going to happen, and I hope it happens soon. So no, I don't. If I had lost, I might regret it, but I don't think I did that.
GREEN: We talked before air about an election night a few years back when I spent two hours in an emotional deep freeze not knowing whether I had won or lost a close and big race. So how have you handled a three month -- and counting -- emotional deep freeze?
FRANKEN: Well, Frannie and I Iook at each other at night, usually right before we go to bed, and go like: "How long is this gonna go on?" But, it really looks now that it's going to get resolved in my favor, and soon, and so I'm actually excited to get there. So that sort of overcomes the frustration of: "How long can this go on?"
GREEN: What's the hold-up? Haven't you been certified the winner by the secretary of state of Minnesota?
FRANKEN: Well, I've been certified as the winner of the recount. So I just want to be fair to everybody. When I was certified by the state canvassing board as the winner of the recount, Coleman, as is his right, filed a legal contest contesting the outcome of the recount. And that was January 6th, the day that I could've been seated as the winner of the recount. Then we went to trial January 26th, and this is the fourth week. At the end of this past week, the judges issued a ruling, which we think is a great ruling, which narrowed the standards and scope of the absentee ballots that have been previously rejected...then the Coleman people kind of did a 180. They had not wanted these ballots included at all, but now that they're behind, they wanted them all included. The narrowing of the universe of these absentee ballots that could be counted is such that we really believe we're going to win, and we're going to win soon.
GREEN: I can't think of precedents for you -- an over three month counting delay in seating a senator...and also a comedian moving on to the Senate. Are there any?
FRANKEN: Comedy to the Senate? Well, there certainly hasn't been a satirist or a political satirist who's done that. So, that really was uncharted territory during the campaign. But I think it's a good thing. Some people thought that it was an odd career arc, but to me it made absolute sense. I had always been obviously interested in politics; DFL politics in Minnesota was when I was a teenager. And the reason I wrote political satire was because I thought it -- politics -- was important... that public policy was important. Then I transitioned into books, then into radio. So it all, actually, made total sense to me, as puzzled as many people were and continue to be.
GREEN: Was there a moment where you thought -- yeah, I can be the first to go from satire to senate, I can actually run and win and serve?
FRANKEN: I don't know about the moment when I first considered running, but I remember the moment where I pulled the trigger, where I said: "I'm gonna do this." I was in Iraq. And I had been sort of toying with the idea. I mean, more than toying -- really actively considering it.
GREEN: What year was this?
FRANKEN: This is right before I announced in December 2006. I'm weighing this, and I'm thinking, like: "Oh, what a tremendous burden on my family. This is going to be a couple years of me not having any income." Then there's a risk to it, and my reputation. And I'm in Iraq with all these guys and women who're there for their third tour, and their families are half a world away and totally anxious every day. These men and women are working their butts off and are in danger. And I'm thinking, like: "What am I talking about? What am I thinking about?" So, I said I'm going to do this. I figured that at least it would be over by November 4th, 2008, and I wasn't right. The point is is that, I've always been more of a policy wonk than people probably think a comedian would be. Before I even decided I was going to run, I would go around and campaign for DFL'ers in Minnesota, and just talk to people and hear their stories about kids not getting any healthcare, and the educational system not being what it used to be when I was growing up. The middle class squeeze, all the issues that we know are salient now in this country. I felt like I could do something, so here I am.
GREEN: Who do you predict might be the next U.S. Senator with an Air America pedigree? Reagan because of his somewhat recognizable last name or Bender, because he has the chops and the good looks?
FRANKEN: Yeah, Bender lost a lot of weight, huh? Is that what you're talking about? Well, I think Rachel. So, I think when you're talking about the next Air America senator, it would be Rachel Maddow.
GREEN: When you were campaigning, was your association with Air America a net plus or minus?
FRANKEN: It was a net plus, there's no doubt about it. It was a net plus for a number of reasons. One, people in Minnesota who listened to Air America could testify that I was someone who was serious, someone who cared about people, someone who got his facts right , someone who worked hard, so that was good. Secondly, I had a national audience, so that helped, frankly, in terms of fund raising and other kinds of things. The only downside was, you know, the Republican talking point that I was a communist or a socialist or something like that on A ir America, that I was the same as Rush Limbaugh. I would answer: "No, I'm the opposite of Rush Limbaugh." I'm not the mirror image, I'm the opposite.
GREEN: Given your famous spats with Limbaugh and O'Reilly, what have they been saying about your success, or do you now tune them out?
FRANKEN: Well, you know what? I've already been doing that. I don't know what they've been saying. I really don't. I haven't been paying any attention. That is the great thing about doing this. You really stop paying attention to that. On Air America, part of the three hours a day is debunking the right and that kind of thing. But, when you're faced with actually trying to help folks, you know, the past couple of days I've been going around talking to mayors in Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota, the mayor of Champlain, the mayor of St. Paul, the mayor of Rochester, county commissioners, etc., trying to figure out how they can get access to the stimulus package, and what they need. That's seems much more productive than trying to listen to Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly and hear what they think about me. Actually, that was one of the nicest things that happened to me once I left the radio show -- I stopped paying attention to them.
GREEN: Now that you're paying more attention to Obama than Limbaugh, what do you think about the Stimulus law and the proposed new bailout proposal?
FRANKEN: Well, the stimulus and the bailout are apples and oranges to me. You do hear some Republicans now say: "Well, favor a stimulus package, but not this one." That is, I have to admit, something I said about the bailout. I really didn't like the [original] bailout because it didn't have oversight, it didn't have transparency, and also it didn't seem to do anything about the foreclosure crisis. There were just all kinds of different reasons why I didn't like it. I think I was kind of right about all of that. But, nevertheless, the stimulus package is something that I definitely would've supported and voted for. We need this. We need to jump-start the economy. We're in a classic, deep recession where the government, i n a very "Keynsesian" way, has to be the spender of last resort. I think that if I had been there, there would've been a different dynamic (because he would have been another Democratic vote for it).
GREEN: Should Obama in your view be playing the bi-partisan card as hard as he is -- or should be more partisan and legislate based on his Democratic majority?
FRANKEN: Well, I think there are two things going on. One, obviously, the votes were very partisan. But I think, at least, the rancor isn't as bad as I've seen. And I think that as long as this President continues to reach out - I think the American public pays attention - maybe there wasn't bi-partisanship in the Congress, I think there is in the American people. I think there's some bi-partisanship among Republican governors. I don't know how long these Republicans in Congress can continue to do this. I think the President is right to do this. I mean, I think that there are going to be bills that are harder to pass than this one, and we may need to work across party lines to get their votes. Now, if every Republican in the House is going to vote against ever ything and then throw a party afterwards, then I don't know what to do about that. Certainly the Senate is a different thing, a different kind of body. My intention when I go there, and Mark, you know, I'm in this recount because I only got 42% of the vote. So did Norm Coleman, and then there was an independent who got 15% of the vote. I'm going to have to work on behalf of everybody in Minnesota. My plan is to try to solve problems and help the people of Minnesota, so I'm going to be working across party lines.
GREEN: The President this week said that he's sending another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Is that something that you would favor? You were an early supporter of the invasion of Iraq, but then became a vociferous, eloquent, critic of the war. What about Afghanistan?
FRANKEN: Well, first of all, as far as an early supporter of the Iraq war, I was really on the fence in a way where I neither spoke out for or against it, which I regret. I wish I had been one of the wise people who had spoken out fiercely against it. But as soon as it became evident that there were no WMD and then as we were conducting the war and the bon eheaded way we were doing, I was, as you say, a daily fierce critic on Air America of the way the war was being done, that it was a horrible mistake, and that we were essentially lied into this war. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, part of the damage from Iraq was that we took the focus off Afghanistan, and obviously, that is where the attacks on 9/11 came from. Afghanistan/Pakistan is now an incredibly difficult problem. We're changing our policy there. It looks like we're putting less stock in Karzai, and taking a different approach there which has to do with paying more attention to the tribes and hopefully doing some kind of Afghan version of counter-insurgency doctrine that we adopted during the surge in Iraq. I support putting more troops in there, but this is not going to be solved very soon, and this very difficult. I'm glad we have Holbrooke there. We obviously have to combine Afghanistan with Pakistan. This is going to be a long, long deal.
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"somebody who got his facts straight" and you say the 9/11 attack obviously came from Afghanistan?
Al, here are the facts: The 9/11 invading airforce consisted of 19 people, 15 of whom were Saudi, 2 UAE, 1 Egyptian and 1 Lebanese. No one from either Iraq or Afghanistan. The planes were ours and the "invaders" were planning the attack in Germany and being trained to fly in the U.S. On 9/21/01 the Taliban told Bush if he would provide evidence that bin Laden was responsible it would turn him over to the U.S. Instead of providing such evidence which Bush probably did not have, Bush ordered the U.S. to invade Afghanistan and 8 1/2 yrs later we're still there and dying.
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning. If I had a predator drone, an A-10 warthog and a B-52 I's shock and all all day. I'd obliterate tribesmen, I'd agent orange their agriculture, I'd make it nearly impossible to transfer their produce to market...a
Afghanistan will be Obama's Viet Nam. LBJ did exactly the same thing when he took office -- dumped a bunch more troops into Viet Nam. That was the beginning of his end.
"Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it."
This President is too wise to allow this to become another Viet Nam. Why not give him some time? Gee he's only been in office a month.
[edit] Retreat and massacre
Main article: Massacre of Elphinstone's army
On 1 January 1842 following some unusual thinking by Elphinstone an agreement was reached that provided for the safe exodus of the British garrison and its dependants from Afghanistan. Five days later, the retreat began, The departing British contingent numbered around 14–16,000, of about 4,500 military personnel, and over 10,000 civilian camp followers; the military force consisted mostly of Indian units and one British battalion, the 44th.
As they struggled through the snowbound passes, the British were attacked by Ghilzai warriors. The evacuees were harassed down the 30 miles (48 km) of treacherous gorges and passes lying along the Kabul River between Kabul and Gandamak, and massacred at the Gandamak pass before reaching the besieged garrison at Jalalabad. The force had been reduced to fewer than forty men by a retreat from Kabul that had become, towards the end, a running battle through two feet of snow. The ground was frozen, the men had no shelter and had little food for weeks. Only a dozen of the men had working muskets, the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords. The only Briton known to have escaped was Dr. William Brydon, though a few others were captured.
Just another republican strategy to keep the senate majority down for the dems....so obvious it should be a no brainer to say "enough is enough!"
If Franken were a Republican he would have been flown to washington and sworn
in months ago.
Best Joke I have heard all day.
Why, bush was sworn in even when it was proven that he did not win florida.
I hope Franken gets seated soon. I would love to see Rachel Maddow run for senator. She is probably more qualified than 90% of those in power. She's easy on the eyes and ears as well.
Franken always followed the old Stalin quote, "It's not who votes, but who counts the votes!"
Yes, every election Franken has run in has ended in controversy. That is historical fact, look it up. You are right on target!
Al, I need to disagree with you: "...puttin
But good on you for your committment to Minnesota! I will defintely miss your work at your old day job, though.
Is Air America still on? last time I checked here in NYC, it was moving up the AM dial so far, you needed a ham radio to receive it.
Air America is on 1600 AM, it has been for over 2 years now. My only complaint is that NY doesn't carry Thom Hartmann's program, which may be the best show on Air America.
Thom's leaving Air America at the end of the month and will be distrtibuted by someone else. Check his web site, who knows, he may even turn up in NYC again.
I think Al is going to make a fine Senator and should be seated right away the thing I find funny is it has torn up the Republicans that Coleman lost the election so bad they have lost their cool. It is not easy to beat a incumbent Senator but Al has done it.
It helped that Coleman was incompetent and only cared about the rich. Those day are over for now.
The Senate has always been full of jokers, now we'll finally get one who's occasionally funny.
With Al using Air America to get his message out he should be a shoe in. Oh, sorry, I forgot A.A. is only on in 61 cities across the country!.
Yeah conservatives dominate talk radio. Meanwhile the democrats have the presidency and a majority in both houses.
I agree! Both undisputeable facts.
I think that's because Americans have finally realized that what the right-wing talk shows offer are no more based in reality than Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds" broadcast was. People bought that at first too.
http://en.
Al Franken left Air America almost 2 years ago to start his campaign for senator. Besides, democratic elected officials do not use Air America to push their agendas, but republicans have been usign Fox News and other right wing media outlets to push theirs.
My point exactly - nobody will waste time on a network that nobody listens to, nor pay for advertising on same.
Democrats believe in doing something constructive. Thats why there are more of them sitting in the house, senate and in the White House. Republicans prefer to sit on their fat buts in their own house along with Rush and listen to the radio all day long
I believe Franken is responsible for this delay on purpose so he wouldn't have to be sworn in by Dick Cheney!
That's as good a reason as any.
Wonder if Sen. elect Frankin will be allowed to extent his term to match all the time wasted by delay's and Republican stall tactics?
But, Sen Franken. You won already, didn't you?
Don't do it Rachel. You are too fine a human being to be corrupted in the Senate. You are beloved as you are.
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