Senator Franken?

Actually, 2008 makes a lot more sense to me. He'll get to participate not just in the Senate race, but also the Presidential one, in a key region.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_el_se/franken_senate_5

that's quite some low you're talking about.

-- nabisco (--...), February 1st, 2007 10:36 PM. (nabisco) (later)

roffles!

http://www.linternaute.com/television/actualite/06/que-sont-ils-devenus/croisiere-s-amuse/gopher.png

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/14/ventura.senate/index.html

(CNN) -- Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has decided not to run for U.S. Senate in that state, he told CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday night.

Jesse Ventura says he decided not to run in part because he didn't want to submit his family to media scrutiny.

Ventura, an independent and a former professional wrestler, said he was "close" to running but decided against it in part because he didn't want to submit his relatives to the kind of media scrutiny he says they faced when he was governor.

"Nothing is off-limits today in the world of politics. These are some of the dilemmas that I go through: Do I want to put my family on the firing line again?" said Ventura, who turns 57 Tuesday.

However, he noted he has until 5 p.m. Tuesday -- the deadline to file for the race in Minnesota -- to change his mind...

"SPARE" US FROM "THE NORM"

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2801056162_946d42471b.jpg

o_O

This is probably one of the ugliest campaigns I've ever seen in Minn. (Though most of the evil stuff is coming from Coleman's camp.)

i'd vote for him if tom davis got to be co-senator

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/11/19/182631/26/16#c16

215 votes! Coleman leads and recount is GO.

Britishes, he is totally unfunny but separated at birth from this man and Smashey/Nicey teeth only emphasise it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/showbiz/images/paul_whitehouse200.jpg

They always described Al Franken as a comedian, but I've never actually laughed at anything he's done. I do know that he isn't particularly fond of Rush Limbaugh.

They always described burt_stanton as a troll, but I've never actually given a fuck at anything he's done.

Sorry if I called into question one of your beloved figures, Noodle Vague. I'm sure he's fine without you defending him, though.

Easy zings and the easy zingers that zing them.

al franken was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to burt_stanton.

franken gains 28 votes in one county http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/34736454.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUs%22

the numbers aren't really worth paying attention to until next week

Do we want either of these guys winning? I voted for him and am feeling sort of guilty now that it's this close. Like seriously I only voted for him because my friend is his personal assistant! Why did I do that!

i saw franken speak once at a DFL fundraiser...he was actually pretty charming and very sincere, he got really choked up talking about what a mistake the the war was...gave me a better impression of him than this campaign.

I voted for him happily based on his not being Norm Coleman and because his cool left-wing photographer brother that used to drop in to my old school to introduce us to Greens etc in the '80s shows me they thought about politics chez Franken a LOT back in the day.

pretty much thought he was a smug, unfunny prick (i guess he did some decent writing for early snl??) for the most part, but caught his radio show a few times on Air America and was kind of surprised at how thoughtful/sober/informative it was. Randi Rhodes can suck it tho.

Go Franken!!

http://kushman.net/discz/picz/RandyRhodes.jpg

TOO SOON

Feeling very slightly better about my completely uninformed vote.

http://i33.tinypic.com/sd0a6h.jpg

Lizard People Camp: Franken, Coleman Lead Now Less than 6,000,000 Votes

http://laweekly.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451afa369e20105361915eb970c-400wi

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/23/so_why_would_someone_for_the_lizard_people/?refid=0

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2008/11/23/20081123_lizard3_33.jpg

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15904.html

sloppy dems, the liberal manwich

That's the latest Of Montreal album, yes?

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Franken_camp_finds_6400_uncounted_absentee_1125.html

Board keeps faulty ballots from Minn. Senate count

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — In a blow to Democrat Al Franken, a state board ruled Wednesday that absentee ballots that were rejected by poll workers won't be included in Minnesota's Senate recount.

The five-member state Canvassing Board denied a request by Franken's campaign to reconsider absentee ballots it claims were excluded from the initial vote count because of technicalities or administrative errors. Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign maintained the board lacked power to revisit those ballots.

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9152/tiredfb2.jpg

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/minnesota-canvassing-board-punts-on.html

he's got options

minnesota star-tribune is projecting franken to win by 89 votes.

The Worst Ballot Challenge Of Allfrom TPM Election Central by Eric Kleefeld
Looking back over today's meeting of the Minnesota state canvassing board, it's become painfully clear that Norm Coleman's big problem is that his ballot challenges are made up almost entirely of brazenly frivolous attempts to get votes for Al Franken thrown out. During the recount proper, that puffed up his apparent lead.

But now we're at the point where all those challenges are resolved -- in other words, he can't hide behind these tricks anymore. To be fair, Franken had his share of hopeless tries to toss Coleman votes, but it was nowhere near this bad.

This one might just be the worst of all. The Coleman campaign tried to get a vote for Franken thrown out because the voter had written on the ballot. What'd they write?

Thank you for counting my vote

Is there anything more that needs to be said?

I nominate this for: Individual posts that effortlessly sum up the Republicans in 2008.

Minn, you are Funniest State of '08

I fear this farce isn't over by a long shot.

Some of Franken's vote challenges have been pretty shitty too, let's not whitewash that.

Minnesota is actually better at this sort of thing than other states -- I'd hate to think what would happen if this had gone on ahead in elsewhere. Also Coleman deserves everything nasty he gets.

I was disappointed that Lizard People was rejected, myself.

i was hoping lizard people were gonna win it

my friend worked on the recount and generally said positive things about how it's being conducted.

The first day of the canvassing board on challenged ballots was a slog, but they've definitely picked up the pace.

Minn, you are Funniest State of '08

the election is definitely the funniest thing al franken's been in in a long time.

Highlights of the Mn senate recount:

The up to date tally is available at the Star Tribune's website. At the moment its Franken +266

Sec. of State says they will deliver recount results on Monday saying that Franken won.

Woot! So that's the day Billo's head explodes?

hammer_dance.jpeg

ah whatever - both franken and coleman need to get the fuck out of my life and off my internet stat

its funny how quickly this ordeal transformed fivethirtyeight from 'highly readable' to the opposite

Yeah, I've been skipping over all the Franken/Coleman-related posts whenever I read 538.

Election result certified!

2010s To Be Franken Decade.

Franken's an old bag of wind. I used to listen to his show and he had NO--i repeat NO, original ideas or thoughts. He's a typical knee-jerk liberal whos brand of close-minded partisanship is exactly what this country does NOT need right now.

franken probably did get more votes but that recount was some kind of bullshit

Oh come on you can challops harder than THAT can't you? (xp)

"He's a typical knee-jerk liberal whos brand of close-minded partisanship is exactly what this country does NOT need right now."

Yeah Norm Coleman is the answer!

"franken probably did get more votes but that recount was some kind of bullshit"

Unlike the election itself?

The challenges are kind of embarrassing to both candidates, Frankenly.

i don't see anything in my orig post that would indicate the election was non-bullshitty

The whole challenge system is embarrassing, Frankenly.

Flyoverist.

Sec. of State says they will deliver recount results on Monday saying that Franken won.
― Eric H., Sunday, January 4, 2009 12:29 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

when will the original counters be called out all over national news for cheating in the first place though, sigh...

Sec. of State says they will deliver recount results on Monday saying that Franken won.
― Eric H., Sunday, January 4, 2009 12:29 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

when will the original counters be called out all over national news for cheating in the first place though, sigh...

DAMN YOU COMPUTAR

He's a typical knee-jerk liberal

No, worse; a knee-jerk Clintonite.

Saw the humorless, droney 'victory' speech on C-SPAN complete w/ wifey looking on adoringly. Congrats on becoming everything you once loathed, Al.

why don't you follow through on your many promises to shut the fuck up about politics

no, I just promised to shut the fuck up about the Savior-elect.

The thing is you same the same fucking thing about everyone all the time with no actual content associated with it, so why even fucking bother?

I'm waiting for Morbs to have beef about the late Paul Wellstone, without whom there would be no candidate Franken. Then I will POUNCE.

you guys just same the same on the "other side."

Yes but Morbs for you the other side is the entire human race.

The only thing I couldn't figure about the otherwise estimable Wellstone is why he voted for the Patriot Act.

xp: That's probably worthy of one of those ILX memes I don't care to understand? challops? or Godwin's Law.

ive been mostly staying out of this, but as a mnsotan, i am A) glad this bullshit is over B) looking forward to when we can vote this lying scumbag out of office, much like i would have been looking forward to voting the other lying scumbag out of office.

honestly, anyone who didn't have to watch the carpetbagging "hey these dumb yokels will believe whatever we tell them" commercials from these two assholes can't even begin to comprehend how awful these candidates were.

The only thing I couldn't figure about the otherwise estimable Wellstone is why he voted for the Patriot Act.

And DOMA, don't forget DOMA.

I am faaaaaaaaaaaar less proud of living in a state with a Sen. Franken than I am about living in a state that had a Sen. Wellstone, though. Hell, I'm probably more proud of living in a state that had a Gov. Ventura.

But Norm Coleman hadda go. He hadda go.

You're right, I was probably thinking of DOMA (but obv since he wasn't Feingold he voted for USAPatriot too).

With respect: what the fuck is it about Minnesota

lots of answers to that

Could a HOOS be more specific in his question?

It's just strange to me that there have been so many prominent outsiders (Wellstone, Ventura, now Franken) that have been hanging out in the MN. Do they appeal to that rugged MN spirit or what? I've got fam up there and they've all got ridic huge beards so my conception is mainly based on that smidgen of non evidence of anything in particular.

Ventura is a one-off.

I have lots of theories myself, entirely subjective of course, but our pols are pretty accessible and accountable...for the most part.

With respect: what the fuck is it about Minnesota

― A certifiable Texan (Rick Perry is my Governor), Tuesday, January 6, 2009 12:13 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

guuuy

With respect: what the fuck is it about Minnesota

― stop HOOSing a boring tuna (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Tuesday, January 6, 2009 6:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lots of answers to that

― virgin mary on the halfshell (John Justen), Tuesday, January 6, 2009 6:20 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^OTM.

minnesota is a weird state in a lot of ways.

the jesse thing was a once in a lifetime thing that seemed surreal even when it was happening.

wellstone i didn't really see as weird in the context of old school MN lefty stuff, he really goes back to the tradition of Hubert Humphrey.

Franken had the luck of running against perhaps one of the biggest asshole douches off all time.

And beating him by only 49 votes. Says worlds about Franken more than about MN.

i think a generic democrat would have clobbered coleman, the venturist candidate pulling 15% is crazy to me

Saw the humorless, droney 'victory' speech on C-SPAN complete w/ wifey looking on adoringly. Congrats on becoming everything you once loathed, Al.

― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, January 6, 2009 8:39 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

i cosign this controversial dr morbius post

announcing self as winner, expressing humility, hoping that the 'time of transition' goes smoothly, even tho everyone knows there are lawsuits and senate seating fights to come = telling coleman to stfu and go home already

norm, back when he was in the stooges:

http://wonkette.com/images/thumbs/e9a2b88cb6a33f9dfbab0ed24c658644.jpg

Do not besmirch Stooges on this sad day.

Barkley has been quietly led away from several Larry Craig-type scenarios over the past few years.

Coleman: not ready to be done yet.

http://wcco.com/breakingnewsalerts/norm.coleman.senate.2.901303.html

The title former Senator Norm Coleman, though accurate, is still kinda strange to read.

Republicans hellbent to keep Franken from being seated?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/nichols

"great communicator"

where have i heard that before

Stuart Saves His Family isn't anywhere as good as Kings Row

I really hope the Republicans do try to keep Franken from getting seated. More of this please.

Recall election?

no no, make asses of themselves.

"Franken >>>> economy" is exactly what Americans need to see in the GOP right about now

http://www.11points.com/images/animatedgifs/drudgesiren.gif
coleman concedes! DEVELOPING...

YAY

minnesota is so weird. first jesse 'the mind' and now al franken, in the senate. i bet my dad is at least happy about this one though.

“Ours is a government of laws, not men and women. The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken and I respect its decision and will abide by the result. It’s time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward. I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest United States Senator – Al Franken.

“Just a few last words about my legal challenge. Sure, I wanted to win. Not just for myself but for my wonderful supporters and the important values I have always fought for. I also thought it was important to stand up for enfranchising thousands of Minnesotans whose votes weren’t counted like the others were. After all, issues and politicians come and go, but voting is fundamental.

“It is the essence of democracy so I knew we needed to do everything we could to get it right.

“I am forever grateful and humbled by the people of Minnesota who have given me the honor to represent them – and even more grateful for their wisdom, courage, patience and understanding over these past several months.

“The path that I take in the future is not nearly as important today as the path that we must now — all travel on together — to strengthen our state and our nation.

“I have never believed that my service is irreplaceable. We have reached the point where further litigation damages the unity of our state, which is also fundamental. In these tough times, we all need to focus on the future. And the future today is we have a new United States Senator.

“I congratulate Al Franken and his victory in this election. He now enjoys the advantage that our Congressional Delegation has over the other 525 people on Capitol Hill: he represents Minnesota.

“I know the great ideas, the amazing work ethic and the historic ability to come together to get things done in this state will help him greatly, as it has me.

“Speaking of which, I think we all should take a moment to thank Amy Klobuchar and her staff. They have done a great job of carrying the burden of two Senators these last six months. She is an extraordinary public servant.

“I don’t reach this point with any big regrets. I ran the campaign I wanted. I conducted the legal challenge I wanted. And I have always believed you do the best you can and leave the results up to a higher authority. I’m at peace with that. As to my future plans, that’s a subject for another day.

“We live in a great country and a great state. We can all have confidence that by some path we don’t yet know – one which we can all come together to lay out – we will arrive at the better future we all seek.

“Thank you and may God bless Minnesota and America.”

Pretty classy concession speech. Good on him.

And from an expected source:

Coleman Is Conceding .... [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

... and now for my last post-election 2008 sigh of resignation ....

This is like Bremner, Bird and Fortune joining the front bench, right

Haha, kidding. I read that Liars book and it seemed very thoroughly-researched and sensitive to hot issues. His intensity of will and political acumen struck me far more than his humour.

Hot issues would make one's skin sensitive.

yay the less objectionable douchebag won

/morbs

You need to run next time.

ned where is that statement from? google is failing me

The NRO, land of sweetness and light. (Same thing as the Lopez link.)

senator gabbneb?

sry still bitter about franken steamrollering a far better alternate dem candidate because famous dudes win elections and stuff xposts

Would the better candidate have beaten Coleman?

i do!

IMO absolutely yes

08 was a dem blowout nationwide, minnesota trends strongly blue and franken limped to 42% against a none-too-inspiring gop opponent, that's weaksauce. granted there was a venturaist spoiler candidate in the race too but cmon. a generic democrat always polled better against coleman than franken did.

“Ours is a government of laws, not men and women. In this case. For now."

yeah honestly franken was like the worst candidate i've ever seen.

but norm is a creepy piece of shit. man i will be glad to be done with him and his fucking "national ambitions"

governor hockey, kindly tell me how my ass taste

lol i guess i come across as hella naive upthread about a dude who knows how to play the PR game if not how to represent a state

What is so bad about Franken? I didn't follow the election except as a horse race. Used to find Franken moderately palatable on Air America.

i think a lot of people mistook being a smart liberal with name recognition for someone who knew how to run game. you don't run somebody totally green for the US senate and that's what he was

in six years none of this shit will matter tho ha (probably)

But McCain did that with Sarah Palin – oh wait...

still bitter about franken steamrollering a far better alternate dem candidate

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer? Real talk. Great guy. I went to a block party/fundraiser and plunked some bucks into his campaign, and feel like I should have done a lot more.

famous dudes win elections and stuff

^^^ this.

I'm very happy with my new senator and homeboy. That dull whining noise Minnesotans might hear emanating from the St Louis Park area is probably not a chemical spill or an emergency, but my mother, kvetching.

some 8-month anticlimax.

Now the DEM PROGRESSIVE MILLENNIUM ARRIVETH! whooo-whooo

This is ridiculous and funny, but yay, I guess.

Few people I have ever seen on television make my skin crawl like Norm Coleman. Something about him is just wrong. Like maybe he's a pod person, or worse. I just imagine the voice over on CNN: "America is still reeling from last week's gruesome discovery at former Senator Norm Coleman's home..."

Then again, I'd probably feel that way about a lot of Senators if I got to know them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne0drDwkXU0

Nice job, Al

that's a great video, I saw that this morning. he's so straightforward with people.

I like that he obviously read this New Yorker article.

feel good about my vote right now.

They needed to caption it 'healthcare on a stick.'

Me too. There's a 500-post long Kos thread I haven't touched yet that looks like it's gonna be a scary love-in.

i got phone-polled, for the first time in my life, by one of franken's opponents. it was weird how their questions were so transparently collecting data on what lines of attack to exploit in ads / defend themselves from, and barely at all on, like, things people think about, like, issues of governance and representation. sigh.

'al franken has a problem with women!!' still tempting for 2014 republicans apparently.

Gotta say this dude has faaaar exceeded my expectations. Still stand with a lot of what I said up there, but willing to agree that he stepped up more than I thought he would

acc to the NYTBR, Franken's angle in his new book is that he has to pretend he's given up his Harvard-brat sensibility in order to remain politically viable. His staff has to stop him from doing things like sending a note to a centenarian constituent reading, "You have a bright future."

afaik he's been a fairly decent senator and he wrote some good stuff for classic SNL, but i suspect he's kind of an asshole.

Surprised he's a huge Deadhead

He and Davis wrote and starred in a movie called One More Saturday Night!

Franken's angle in his new book is that he has to pretend he's given up his Harvard-brat sensibility in order to remain politically viable.

Hmm. In the interviews I've heard he's been saying that he learned that he had to get the fact that went to Harvard out because focus groups said it made him seem smarter.

Which he found odd since he thought people in Minnesota would recoil from bragging about Harvard

He definitely seems sort of Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer about things sometimes.

you don't run somebody totally green for the US senate and that's what he was

who's green now, motherfucker?!???

He definitely seems sort of Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer about things sometimes.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, June 13, 2017

weird because he's not a lawyer

Harvard asshole comedian snl no kidding

yeah by Harvard brat i meant "the kinda guy who pitched a Lesley Stahl rape joke at SNL."

he also claims to be friends w/ Sessions, and has made McConnell laugh out loud. "Try to picture that! You can't!"

"I am not a lawyer. I've been frozen in ice for thousands of years. Cars scare me, and I don't know what electricity is. But even I can see that ..."

xp yeah it's always a great idea to antagonize your co-workers

i love how ppl constantly take issue w/ things i haven't said

someone said he made fun of gays

everyone should

I guess he is gay

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/251090-israeli-newspaper-calls-sen-al-franken-gay

yeah it's always a great idea to antagonize your co-workers

He'll do it for the right joke:

"I like Ted Cruz more than most of my colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."

Cmon, Ted Cruz doesn't count

nevermind xp

okay lol

But his grasp of anatomy!
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, February 10, 2005

Prescient!

https://www.vox.com/2019/7/22/20703617/al-franken-jane-mayer-resignation

I haven’t yet read the mayer NYer article, but the case that yglesias makes here strikes me as flimsy and specious, resting heavily on the convenience of hindsight. and assuming for the moment for the sake of argument that the allegations are unfounded, I am not sure that political expediency is our ideal justification for removal of someone from office when the facts are still very much in question. but maybe I’m naive and that’s part of the contract you sign when you enter willingly into electoral politics

The facts were in question? I haven't read the article, but Franken was right to resign when eight women accused him. Being in the Senate isn't a job, and Chuck Schumer ain't his boss: he resigned because he knew one or more or all those allegations were true. If you wanna be cynical, we wouldn't have won the Alabama seat had Franken stayed. Finally, Tina Smith has been a fine senator. He was expendable.

The story persists because assholes wanna keep talking about it (I'm not shading you, k3vin).

the article = Yglesias

by the time i actually read the jane mayer piece i'd seen about 10 ppl on twitter blasting it, so i was surprised to find it...i don't know, pretty reasonable? at least compared to what i was expecting. she was obviously sympathetic to franken but she clearly talked to plenty of ppl who were critical of him, it struck me as a fairly balanced piece.

I read the NYer article and I thought it made a pretty convincing case that Franken was a Joe Biden style clueless old guy who is huggy in a non-sexual way and too oblivious to realize that he's making other people uncomfortable, rather than a perv using his position to hit on women. Still right for him to resign under the circumstances though.

the facts are still very much in question

some of what Leeann Tweeden said seems to be inaccurate but otherwise there doesn't really seem to be much disagreement over the actual facts - it's stuff like Franken putting his arm around someone, them later saying it made them uncomfortable, him saying that there was no bad intent - there's nothing to indicate that an investigation would have made things much clearer

honestly I’d forgotten exactly what had happened with franken, it seems like eternities ago

like I said I haven’t read the mayer article yet, I was just sort of bristling at yglesias’s ethical case, which rested not so much on resigning being the right thing to do morally (though there was some of that) but politically usefully

idk it read like a closing argument in the defense's case in trial. Even admitting to the weakness of Tweeden's evidence, seven other accusations are out there, and Mayer doesn't use her considerable power to explore them.

someone on The Corporatist Gay Dem blog was mourning Al as "the leftmost senator," and I just laughed and laughed.

npr interview implied unwillingness of accusers to go on record prevented her from pursuing those stories. does she not deal with anonymity ever?

hmm pretty sure some others did go on the record already:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/i-believe-frankens-accusers-because-he-groped-me-too/547691/

I knew of one assgrabbing campaign event incident before the Tweeden stuff came out. And of course who doesn't want their entire life overturned for sharing someone else's bad behaviour.

Why would anyone break their anonymity for the sake of an article defending the guy who groped them?

To undercut the defense?

are they giving him his job back or something?

How do you undercut the defense by giving them the power over your story?

I assume Mayer, a respected journalist, did not pitch the story as a defense, but who knows what kind of story she would have written (or if she would have written or published it at all) if more people went on the record. I don't know her standard.

Seeing as she didn't do that much with the majority of the accusers who actually are on the record, I think it's honestly fairly easy to know what story she would write with a few more.

Yeah, I dunno. I haven't had a chance to read it yet because my issue hasn't arrived yet. It's just out of character for her, isn't it? She didn't sound like she was on a mission this morning, though she did acknowledge the piece was like kicking a hornet's nest.

I assume Mayer, a respected journalist, did not pitch the story as a defense

Why would you assume this?

iirc Mayer worked on the Weinstein story, afaik she doesn't have a reputation for protecting or justifying bad-behaving men.

the stuff about how the allegations moved through the conservative media world was interesting. Like I didn't know that Hannity knew about the USO photo back in 2006. And how O'Reilly was telling people years ago that Franken would be going down.

Didn't she also write a or the definitive Anita Hill book?

iirc Mayer worked on the Weinstein story, afaik she doesn't have a reputation for protecting or justifying bad-behaving men.

― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Tuesday, July 23, 2019 11:23 AM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

right, the assumptions being thrown around seem a little careless

Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing, and yes. Also: Dark Money.

Kevin k, did you read the piece President Keyes linked?

Mayer writes about Dupuy's story a bit, but mostly just quotes one of Franken's people calling it dumb

This piece encapsulates my feelings on the whole Franken thing pretty well.

Jane Mayer is a great journalist — in my view she’s the best investigative journalist in America — but I think she got tripped up a bit by a couple of endemic risks to doing long-form investigative journalism.

The first is the tendency to make something more of a story than it really is because you’ve put so much time and effort into it.

...

The second is made up of the many powerful incentives to focus on a subject for reasons that have no justification beyond the purely pragmatic and commercial judgment that people want to read about it.

The Al Franken story gets 12,000 words in the New Yorker because its subject is Al Franken, former SNL star and beloved figure among the donor class, rather than former Sen. Joe Smith from Flyover who Nobody Who Matters has ever even really heard of.

...

Yet a third factor is that, as a stand-alone piece, Mayer’s story can be read as a sympathetic-towards-its subject yet ultimately descriptive, rather than normative, comment on that subject’s relation to a particular social moment. But again, the imperatives of the genre more or less require a kind of social media meta-framing in which the story is an expose of the grave injustice done to Al Franken, even though Mayer’s own story doesn’t really support that framing. (I.E. why am I supposed to read 12,000 words about this guy again?).

why am I supposed to read 12,000 words about this guy again?

one could choose not to, i suppose

are they giving him his job back or something?

^ this otm

Lawyersgunsmoney guy is correct to point out that the editorial decision to print this as 'investigative journalism' elicits a tacit understanding on the part of the reader that, by exhuming a story that reached a clear conclusion a year or more ago, the story in some way must dispute or contradict the way the story was told in the media back then. Otherwise, why bother to bring it back up at such length?

But the real reason it got printed is because people will read it, no matter whether it says anything new or worthwhile.

Yep. Starting the story with Franken at home padding around on stocking feet is not the way to go.

A comment:

Al Franken won a close election in '08, and was a good Senator. Better than was expected from a former SNL writer and performer.

Al Franken won a second term in '14, and he was a better Senator, better than expected from a former SNL writer and performer.

Al Franken resigned the Senate in '18, and was replaced by Tina Smith, who has been a good Senator, despite not being a former SNL writer and performer.

... and today, that is all that there is to this story.

The Al Franken story gets 12,000 words in the New Yorker because its subject is Al Franken, former SNL star and beloved figure among the donor class, rather than former Sen. Joe Smith from Flyover who Nobody Who Matters has ever even really heard of.

so it got 12,000 words because its subject is...uh, newsworthy, as opposed to some hypothetical senator who didn't do anything of note?

a senator resigning because of a scandal is a fairly rare event, and arguing that the new yorker shouldn't have run it because it supposedly wasn't newsworthy or interesting to anyone is pretty disingenuous

as far as i know this is the first time franken has spoken to anyone on the record about what happened since resigning, so opening the story with that coup is understandable even if mayer's description of him errs on the side of too sympathetic*

*: or maybe not, i did laugh when she described his mouth as "froglike"

The senators quoted in the story regretting their roles in ousting Franken sound like such idiots

Mayer writes about Dupuy's story a bit, but mostly just quotes one of Franken's people calling it dumb

― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Tuesday, July 23, 2019 4:56 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've read Dupny's own account and I honestly can't see what Franken is supposed to have done wrong there, she says she asked him to take a photo with her, he put his hand around her waist and that's it? this makes me feel crazy because it seems like everyone else who has read it comes away with a different impression. if multiple women are saying they felt uncomfortable after interactions like this with him then obviously he is/was doing something that he needs to change and needs to be more aware of other ppl's physical boundaries - but I don't understand how Dupny gets "he knew exactly what he was doing" and "He wanted to cop a feel and he demonstrated he didn’t need my permission" from her own description of the incident

she says in that article that she doesn't even let her husband put his arm around her in public, which uh puts it in some context i guess. my feeling is that dupuy's story would not have gotten published if there hadn't already been other accusations against franken.

This was a huge crazy news event that occupied the entire country for like 2 weeks, overlapped with two of the defining stories of the era (the appointment of Mueller & #MeToo), and then everybody moved on to the next thing and mostly forgot about it. Setting aside Mayer's motives & approach, Franken's guilt, whether or not you agree that theres 'unfinished business' to the story or not, etc etc, the commentary that this isnt a topic that "deserved" to be written about is silly to me. Stuff like that is p much exactly what I'm looking for in longform journalism & serious weekly magazines - taking news events that are out of the headlines but still in the recent past and spending a little more time on them than when they were the big headline of the moment. Whether or not you agree with where Meyer went with it, saying stuff like it was only greenlit bc Franken is "beloved by the donor class" or just got printed bc its salacious and "because people will read it" like its some kind of #slatepitch hot take is bad faith imho.

The Al Franken story gets 12,000 words in the New Yorker because its subject is Al Franken, former SNL star and beloved figure among the donor class, rather than former Sen. Joe Smith from Flyover who Nobody Who Matters has ever even really heard of.

In addition to the reason J.D. pointed out, this is also offtm bc the NYer writes shit like that all the time.

We posed for the shot. He immediately put his hand on my waist, grabbing a handful of flesh. I froze. Then he squeezed. At least twice.

It's the squeezing that's completely out of bounds.