Al Franken: Cokehead Senator?

Delusional: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"



The 2008 campaign lineup is taking shape.

It looks like past pothead and cokehead candidates will figure prominently.

One high profile former drug-using/abusing lib is that storybook character Barack Obama, the "first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," according to Joe Biden anyway.

Another candidate has thrown his paraphernalia in the ring -- the far Leftist, former Air America host Al Franken.

WASHINGTON -- Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2008, a senior Democratic official from Minnesota said Wednesday.

Franken told the official, who did not want to be identified because Franken has not made an announcement, that he had decided to run in a recent conversation.

...The news was not unexpected. Franken has been calling members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to get their input on a run, and he announced this week that he would be leaving his show on Air America Radio on Feb. 14. He told listeners he would be making a decision on a race soon.

...Franken, 55, was born in New York City, like Coleman, but grew up in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. He was a performer and writer on television's "Saturday Night Live" before writing best-selling books combining humor and politics.

What a nice write up from the Associated Press!

Very kind.

In addition to his Air America stint, he's a best-selling author.

Impressive.

Franken was a performer and writer on Saturday Night Live.

Also impressive.

Yes, Franken worked on the show in its infancy, during its especially creative but devastatingly destructive drug-crazed years.

He reminisces fondly:

NBC brass were consumed with nervousness about the content of the show - about giving ninety minutes of network time a week to Lorne Michaels and his left-wing loonies.

So, who is this Al Franken, besides being a left-wing loon as he calls himself?

He's a man with a plan.

It seems that his decision to run for the Senate has been well thought out. He's been laying the groundwork for some time.

For instance, Franken may be anti-war and anti-Bush, but he can claim to support the troops.

Few celebrities have made the trip to the war zone with the USO. However, Franken has gone on a few tours to entertain our military personnel.

Certainly, that's a plus. Franken has shown that he's not just talk when it comes to supporting the troops. But it's not that simple.

Sure, Franken has done more than other celebrities. But he also has no qualms about bashing the Commander-in-Chief day in and day out on Air America. He doesn't have a problem with undermining the troops' mission and coddling the enemy. Basically, Franken is a Bush-hater.

It's hard to make the case that Franken is for the troops when he doesn't at all support what they're doing, as if they're mindless robots and victims of the evil, oil-loving, imperialist, terrorist Bush. Kind of condescending.

Franken also has a closet packed with skeletons. Actually, they're not in the closet. His less than honorable past is well-documented.

Some excerpts from Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller reveal that wannabe Senator Franken has a history of illicit drug use.

DICK EBERSOL: My office was on the fourth floor. The writers basically never got there before one o'clock in the afternoon - ever. We had so little space. Herb Sargent was back in a corner. In the hallway to Herb's office were like Franken and Davis and Alan Zweibel, the three apprentice writers. Al and Tom had bought their first-ever cocaine, and they had it all out on the desk. First time they were ever able to buy any. As apprentice writers, their pay was, I think, $325 a week. So they have the cocaine on the desk, they're like literally staring at it. I'm off in the distance. I'm in a tough place because I'm supposedly the executive, but I decided it wasn't my job to play the policeman. Suddenly this figure comes roaring through the room. Unbeknownst to us at the time, he had a straw in his hand. He gets to the table, and he has half of that stuff up his nose by the time they knew who it was: Belushi. They didn't know whether to be thrilled that Belushi had just done this to their coke or be absolutely decimated, because that represented about half the money they had in the world at that time. The drugs didn't bother me, yet I knew they could be the end of the world for the show.

NEIL LEVY: Franken and Davis I think shared an apartment, and they threw a party so we could get together to watch Howard Cosell's Saturday Night Live. It came on before us, which is why we weren't allowed to call our show Saturday Night Live at first. We wanted to see this other Saturday Night. All the writers showed up, Michael O'Donoghue, Dan Aykroyd. They were passing around these joints. I had never smoked before, or not really gotten stoned, and I didn't want to seem like "the kid," so I started smoking. This pot was from Africa or something. You didn't even have to smoke it; you just looked at the joint and you were unconscious.

The book is 566 pages.

There's A LOT more.

I assume that Franken will have to address his drug use/abuse.

Frankly, I doubt that his base will care. They probably find Franken's past endearing. I don't think it will be a factor in the race.

If Franken was going to run as a Republican, it would be a completely different matter. The standards are so different. Character counts with conservatives.

The Dems, on the other hand, will welcome Franken with open arms.

Al Franken a U.S. senator?

Pathetic.



"I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, and doggone it, people don't like me!"


DON'T DO THIS TO AMERICA, MINNESOTA!