Al Franken's Not-So-Serious Moments
Minnesota voters took comedian Al Franken seriously when he ran for the state's U.S. Senate seat in 2008. After 238 days of recounts and contested ballots, Franken was sworn in last July. As Franken wraps up his first year as a senator, we bring you some less-than-serious moments featuring the political satirist turned politician.
Franken is absolutely serious in this moment during the health-care bill debate on the Senate floor, when he denies Sen. Joe Lieberman an "additional moment" to speak because he had reached his 10-minute speaking limit. Maybe Franken was just following the rules, but Lieberman's reaction to the denial is surprise and he actually laughs at Franken, responding, "Really?!?"
The Full Ginsburg responds:
Jared Bloom: This is the moment where I think Al Franken earned his stripes. Hating on Joe Lieberman is almost a bipartisan right of passage in the Senate. By the way, this video is way more fun when you use YouTube's new vuvuzela feature every time Lieberman tries to speak.
Eric Cunningham: I love this too - with or without vuvuzela. I guess it boils down to this: Lieberman, you're dealing with Saturday Night Live's Al Franken. Have you ever seen an SNL sketch go on for longer than ten minutes? No! America doesn't have the attention span for it. I mean, I didn't have the attention for the thirty seconds of Lieberman's speech in this video. Franken basically did the Senatorial equivalent of the old vaudeville hook on Lieberman. Well-played.
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