Al Franken takes over the U.S. Senate floor to explain a newspaper cartoon to the waiting nation

All we can say is thank goodness Minnesota's newest Democratic U.S. senator, Al Franken, was on duty Thursday.

We were poring through one of America's most glorious man-caused treasures -- the 31 years of C-SPAN video archives, which The Ticket detailed with effusive praise here earlier this year.

And we realized suddenly that somehow we had inexplicably missed the comedian's detailed explanation of a newspaper editorial cartoon enlarged so that he could identify the symbols and characters in it so the elderly senators could see it. The current White House's pedantry is apparently infectious.

Additionally, Franken takes many moments to explain the drawing and its symbols as documentation for his argument for more government regulation of yet another part of the financial industry.

No, this is not a "Saturday Night Live" skit. This is the real thing from the Senate floor where the 100 members are paid $174,000 -- each -- for this work. The folks back home must be very proud of the honorable gentleman.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Video courtesy of C-SPAN

Comments

[TIDERGUY]

I can see NOVEMBER from my kitchen window!

[carlosinoxnard]

You gotta be a hardcore Democrat to claim that explanation made sense.
The real problem - fannie and freddie - is not being dealt with. In a free market, you shouldn't be able to get a home loan without a down payment.

[Minnesota Viking fan]

"He got in due to a former acorn worker who validates elections in this state, his good buddy, Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie. It was Voter fraud if there is any!!!!!

No Mickie
It's because he's such a swell guy that I voted for
him 20 times and some of my friends voted for him
20 times each too.

[Robert]

No, not drunk. Just another incompetent Hollywood has-been that thinks anyone takes him seriously. He was a lousy comedian, but he's an even worse politician.

[Larry D. Crumbley]

Hello,
This guy makes "BOZO" the clown look intelligent. He is from Minnesota, and I am so surprised at the people from there. They have got to be kidding. They just do not get it, and even though it is kinda of cold there, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM VOTING ANYMORE. It is necessary that they have more intelligent people representing them, and this man is a "FOOL", and a charlatan.
Does anybody want some "SNAKE-OIL". Folks get with it. He, and his friends are some of the most dangerous people in this nation. Get rid of the "PROGRESSIVES", up in Wacko-(WASHINGTON)-D.C. as soon as possible.

Thank you,
larry D. Crumbley

[Kauni]

God help us!!!!!!

[jim sullos]

how is using a political cartoon to make a point on the Senate floor any different than using an embedded video to make a point on a poorly argued newspaper blog?? Being the newspaper man that you are, perhaps you need to go back and educate yourself on the historical significance of the political cartoon in American politics and culture.

[KT from MO]

Can he explain Sunday's Family Circus to me?

[Vince]

Either he is grossly inarticulate or drunk - incomplete sentences, slurring his words. A real clown college dissertation.

[John L]

Malcolm you blathering idiot...remember that SNL skit? Really, contrary to your headline Franken actually took the floor to deftly explain yet another corrupt conflict of interest that is inherent in our financial system. The fact that he used humor, as part of his presentation, to make his point is certainly a foreign concept to the Republican Party and others that have no sense of humor or sense of outrage when it comes to Wall Street corruption.

[Rick]

Where is the cartoon showing the POTUS taking $1 million in payoffs/donations from Goldman Sachs? Where is the cartoon showing the POTUS receiving the largest number of $$$ in campaign donations from BP than any other politician? Would the tax-dodger/election thief from Minnesota kindly show us that illustration?

[Buford]

May God what a genius. He should be the President although right now both are about the same.

[Mark Shaheen]

I live in MN, Al is a Liberal, like you are. Why are you not celebrating him as a hero for this? Good lord, we could lend him to California and his policies and attitude would fit right in.

[Mark R]

Is Mr Frankenstein suferring slurr syndrome as a result of too much pot, downers or Martinis? Or was this the leftovers of his career in comic relief? To his point: Larger, Bigger,Smarter Government is the answer. More Maoist
Material for the Compost Heap in my opinion. I am sure he read his scripts much better for his television and movie work. Or at least he understood what he was reading back then. I hope SNL has a run at this one soon.

[Dave]

Remember, Jesse Ventura was Governor about the same time Al was going through the education system. Looked and sounded like a skit from SNL, but he does fit in with his associates in the Senate

[Racefish]

He is still a comedian, however, not funny.

[Guy]

Thank God, I am NOT responsible for this idiot in Congress.

[Irene Flick]

Is this guy drunk? He's slurring. Minnesota? Are you awake yet?

[Lazybum]

Is Franken drunk? he sounds drunk. Yeah, he has definitely been drinking. I guess since it is (barely) afternoon it is ok....Our tax dollars at work!

[ShakedownCrews]

I can't stand Franken, but seriously, are we going to get bent out of shape because he used a cartoon as a visual aid to explain his point?
This is nothing new. Cartoons from Dilbert, The Far Side, and many others have been used by professors, teachers, and I assume representatives to make a point.
Aren't there more important issues to worry about than this?

[K Black]

A CARTOON! Glad he explained it so well. CONGRESS OUGHT TO TAKE THE SAME ADVISE ABOUT CONFLICT OF INTEREST WITH LOBBYIST.

WHAT A JOKE!!!!

[Lionel Washington]

Franken is a Joke. The fact that Minnesota elected the Joker is a testament to how far even middle America has gone down the tubes. Franken was the deciding vote on the disastrous health care bill and will become the deciding vote on cap and trade and illegal immigration. The difference between failure and success is a hairs breadth. Franken about lost his election by a few contested votes. Due to him, other contentious, bankrupting policies will no doubt make it through Congress before the November elections sending us on a guaranteed course to Greece's demise. However:

#1 The Federal Government is not too big to fail.
#2 Obama has moved the bubble from the banks to the Fed where...
#3 There is no bailout plan on earth that can "payoff" Obama's 15 trillion spending spree.

However, this generation will learn great, important lessons from our own burst bubble created by Bernie Madoff's mantra - "Give me everything you have and everything you are and I will take care of you from cradle to the grave".

This is what Obama promises and of course, the American tax payer cannot deliver. Our demise will be laughed at by the rest of the world because we were never successfully invaded but brought our own collapse by the 2008 elections. If we do not wake up and smell the coffee in November, the far left (like Franken) will have declared themselves Napolean and tax and spend themselves into enormous wealth while bankrupting and dividing the remaining 50 states and leaving 300 million otherwise good people living in tent cities and foraging each day for food and fresh water.

[Craig]

I don't understand your concern. Sen. Franken spent all of one minute explaining the cartoon, as an illustrative part of his comment on a bill. Is that really the most egregious example of Senate floor discussion you could find? I think you should be looking a little harder.

[Bernie]

The only way to get a real rating is to require a review of each rating by the unpaid several other competiting credit rating firms. I know of one rating firm that hires only from a pool of people with degrees in music.

[James Thomas]

Franken wasn't funny on Saturday Night Live, and he is certainly not funny now!

[Greg]

What a shock! Al Frankin is a dumb senator.

[hbdavis]

I know I'm good enough, smart enough, and dog on it, people love me!!!!!

[Maury]

I don't like Al Franken. He's hyper partisan and mean-mouthed.

That said, he makes the point very well, and I agree that we need to change the rating methods. Change who pays the raters, and you'll change the system. However, do it overnight, and you'll crash the markets.

[DazzRat]

I don't know what's more pathetic -- a rambling, self-important, utter jackass of a US senator parsing a CARTOON, or the lib zombies commenting here trying to defend it under one asinine pretext or another.

Hey libs -- why is it a point of obsession with you that you must support ANY leftist Democrat hack unconditionally? You might try to work on that "issue." It ain't healthy. It ain't in our nation's best interests. And it's dishonest.

[Chris]

I think this is great. He's engaging, and entertaining in the way he brings to light a serious problem with the banking system, and on this issue he is right on the money. Most of his other liberal ideas are crap, but that dosen't mean he's not a fun guy with a great personality.

[Willy Brown]

A little too much sauce AL?

[Matt G.]

I'm not one of his constituents, but yes, I am extremely proud of Franken. I wish there were 99 more of him so we could fill the Senate.

[CJ]

Can't we all just get along? Personalities are different. And Fraken is different but makes the point Hypocrisies from Dodd are tainting the process, however!

[Changeling48084]

Thank Heavens for ACORN that Al is on the job in the Senate!!

[Dennis D]

Conflict of interest? Like Chris Dodds Mortgage from Countrywide?? Franken is a joke and an embarrassment to the US Senate.

[CrackedUp]

It cracks me up that we have politicians lecturing Wall Street about monetary ethics and responsibility.

If any private company ran the way our government does, it would take approximately 1/2 day for it to go out of business. SO....Since the Demwits seem to want more of our circulated wealth controlled through their own ranks, I would hope they would have the courtesy to deal with their own warts first....(anybody ask why they never mention Fanny/Freddy as fat cats? You seen their bonus payouts?)

That said, I have no problem with Franken using the illustration of a comic. He was moron without that.

[Mepachum Bauer]

What a lot of you are missing is that once he started making his point, which can be cansidered valid, regarding the bill, he lost a lot of credibility or people taking him seriously once he used a political cartoon to explain his point. As this is a very serious matter he should have used a more appropriate manner to get his point across.
The way he presented it made him look very condescending and was sending the message that everyone except himself can't understand his point and that the only way to get everyone else to understand it is by showing a silly cartoon.

[Tom Sheehy]

Kudos. This guy made a living as a clown and will always be nothing but a clown. Minnesota gets what they deserve, his election was stolen anyway. How about Franken (Smalle)/Ventura for the next Democratic ticket?

[Curtis]

Al is spot on!

[RPM]

I think you are all missing the bigger issue. It does not matter which party the idiot in office is from. The bigger problem is that we, as American Citizens, voted them into office. What does that say about us? Makes us all, Republicans and Democrats, look pretty stupid.

[Leon Clifton]

People of Minnesota elected a buffoon to the Senate. The fix was in the recount and Norm Coleman being an honorable guy did not make an issue on it. Stu Smalley brings his "Minnesota Mean" to the state known for "Minnesota Nice". A vicious, surly guy.

[Galvanic]

An amendment offered by a professional comedian using a political cartoon as a teaching aid to explain are ridiculously cumbersome regulatory scheme.

Are we sure this isn't an old SNL skit re-enacted on the Senate floor?

[scotus]

It's funny

[la]

He sure is slurring...

[From a Minnesota Resident]

Al is just reveling what a simple guy a simple guy he really is. The gig at SNL fit him so well, but I do wish though, that Al could find the time to remove the diapers that made him so famous.

For Al to be getting advise or promoting any of Dodd's financial agenda is like Catholic priests looking out for the best interests of alter boys. "In the end", we the tax payer, will all be screwed, literally and figuratively by these clowns (Sorry Al), as they spend their way out of a recession. Greece has been trying that for years.
LOL America!

[Tomas O'Brien]

The young lady to the left and behind the cartoon board unknowingly expresses the majority during Mr. Franken's presentation. She looks down in embarrassment and has trouble not laughing out loud.

[Josh]

So he makes a good point in a creative way, and you think that's a bad thing?

This is sort of how debate works. So he's doing the job he's being paid to do, and he's doing it well.

What is wrong with you, seriously?

[RBMjr]

NOW I get it!

[Dan]

I'm a Minnesotan and not really a fan of Al... but I actually thought this was very good way to make his point. At least I'll remember it longer than if he blathered on.

[guest]

the cartoon is actually very powerful--it captures the problem more clearly than frankens speech. the scary part is his solution--a government appointed "board" of "experts" that will award business to ratings agencies. Rather than adding another level of government/regulation, wouldn't it be easier to simply have the investors pay for the rating?