Franken’s truths come with jokes in Burnsville
http://www.thisweek-online.com/2006/October/6tribfranken.html
Franken’s truths come with jokes in Burnsville
Liberal comedian, author speaks in Burnsville
Posted: 10/6/06
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
How can a liberal have peaceful conversations with conservative friends? Al Franken was asked.
The comedian, author, radio host and liberal satirist said they should accept their differences and needle one another, to a point.
“Then there’s the other theory: When one argues with a fool, there are two,� Franken told an adoring audience Tuesday night in Burnsville.
Franken, a St. Louis Park native who moved back to Minneapolis this year, was greeted with vigorous applause and rock-star whoops when he took the microphone at the Barnes and Noble Booksellers in the Burnhaven Shopping Center on County Road 42.
Franken drove up from Minneapolis to give a talk and to read from and sign copies of his 2005 book, “The Truth (with Jokes).�
It was a rare moment for the Burnsville store, whose book events are usually more subdued and less packed, said Kathy Kaysen, a Barnes and Noble community relations manager. Two Burnsville police officers stood at the rear of a crowd Kaysen estimated at more than 150.
“It’s exciting,� she said.
“There’s a lot of people in the store.�
Franken’s drawing power was likely boosted by the 2006 documentary film “Al Franken: God Spoke.� Franken also says he’s considering running in 2008 against Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, whom he called a rubber stamp for the Bush administration. Franken challenged Coleman to use his position as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to probe what he said is $8.8 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds unaccounted for by the now-dissolved Coalition Provisional Authority.
“There’s no question about this anymore,� said Franken, who drew frequent bursts of applause. “Whether you were for or against it at the beginning, they have prosecuted this war in unbelievably inept ways, and corrupt.�
Franken also said his Midwest Values PAC has raised $800,000 for Democratic candidates.
“I called it the Midwest Values PAC because I’m tired of Republicans claiming values for their own,� said Franken, who compared his late Jewish father’s religious views to those of the founding fathers.
“The Truth (with Jokes)� has three themes, Franken said: President Bush’s “fear, smears and queers� 2004 re-election campaign, Bush’s misreading of his mandate and the collapse of his second term.
“The truth is the nutrition, and the jokes are the candy,� he said. “It just makes it more fun to read.�
A questioner asked whey Bush’s approval ratings have inched back up.
The fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, Franken replied.
“9/11, as I say in this book, is his little black dress,� he said. “It kind of goes with everything. He can wear it everywhere.�
A questioner asked what the liberal Air America Radio Network, whose flagship show is hosted by Franken, needs to grow.
“We need money — we need capital,� said Franken, describing the network’s shaky beginnings under an original investor he said “was kind of a crook.�
“If anybody here has just a half a billion dollars,� Franken deadpanned, “we could buy some real stations and market.�
U.S. citizens are essentially liberal, Franken said, citing the cold response to Bush’s proposal for private Social Security accounts.
“We’re not far left,� he told his audience. “They’ve just disappeared off the map. It’s not conservative to invade a country when you don’t have to, when you’re unprovoked.�
Conservatives dismiss liberals as angry, Franken said.
“If you’re not angry at the waste of lives, what’s wrong with you?� he said. “It doesn’t mean you’re angry all the time. It just means you’re appropriately angry at things to get angry about.�
