Al Franken's 'Comedic' Material Stuns Even Mainstream Media

CREEPED OUT

When Even MSM Is Stunned, Isn't There A Problem?







When the Washington Post feels the need to run an obscene content disclaimer at the top of a piece about your party's US Senate nominee, is it time to admit there's a problem?

Though Minnesota's DFL Party has designated alleged funnyman Al Franken its nominee, questions about his shady and downright creepy background continue unabated.

Why would any party want this weirdo to represent them in Congress?


(Images by David A Lunde for the Radio Equalizer)


First, it was his questionable antics while at Air America Radio, then his tax dodge and worker's compensation scandals, accusations of strange public behavior and now, lingering concerns over his infamous "Porn-O-Rama" Playboy column. Has any candidate ever had this much baggage going into an election?


Though Franken would like "Porn-O-Rama" to disappear, that seems unlikely anytime soon, especially with today's Washington Post piece by Michael Gerson. Take note of the disclaimer at the top:

Vulgarian at the Gate


Warning: The following contains extreme vulgarity by a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

In the razor-close and nationally important Senate race in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman is presented with a unique political problem. Should he raise in his ads the issue of comedian Al Franken's offensive vulgarity? Or would this risk a backlash against Coleman for coarsening the public conversation? Remember that when Ken Starr detailed Bill Clinton's most repulsive antics -- stained dresses and such -- it was Starr who was accused of sexual obsessiveness.

Franken's defenders explain that his edginess is the result of being a "satirist" -- a term he embraces. "My work, dare I say, is provocative, touching and funny," Franken has explained. "It sounds immodest, but I now have a brand name in political satire."


[...]


So what is Franken's "provocative, touching and funny" contribution to the genre? Consider his article in Playboy magazine titled "Porn-O-Rama!" in which he enthuses that it is an "exciting time for pornographers and for us, the consumers of pornography." The Internet, he explains, is a "terrific learning tool. For example, a couple of years ago, when he was 12, my son used the Internet for a sixth-grade report on bestiality. Joe was able to download some effective visual aids, which the other students in his class just loved." Franken goes on to relate a soft-core fantasy about women providing him with sex who were trained at the "Minnesota Institute of Titology."


[...]


"Porn-O-Rama!" is a modern campaign document every voter should read -- the Federalist Papers of lifestyle liberalism. It has the literary sensibilities and moral seriousness of an awkward adolescent nerd publishing an underground newspaper to shock his way into campus popularity. But, in this case, the article was written in 2000 by a 48-year-old man.

Franken's "brand name" includes other highlights. In 2006, after a long monologue about a dog and its vomit, Franken impersonated the deceased Sen. Strom Thurmond as saying: "Yeah, I screwed a woman who was vomiting once." He once proposed a television sketch about a female CBS reporter being drugged and raped. He has suggested that his next book title might be "I F -- -- -- Hate Those Right-Wing Motherf -- -- -- !" At an event hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation in 1999, Franken offered this thigh-slapper: "Why don't we focus on what Afghan women can do? They can cook, bear children and pray. As I recall, that was fine for our grandmothers."

Again, to the Democrats, here's a question they still refuse to answer: why do you want this creep in the US Senate? Is this really the best you have to offer?


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