The Rude Pundit: Al Franken Lives For Our Sins

Let's face it: back in 2000, most of us were pussies. We knew, fucking knew, that the presidential election was being stolen as we watched. And we didn't riot - we didn't explode into the streets in a flare of anger and righteousness and shut shit down, demanding that the Supreme Court and the Republican Party back the fuck off. We didn't head to Miami to block the right wing thugs who were stopping the recount at the canvassing board. We didn't go on a general strike to say, "Count the votes."

And Al Gore fucked it up, too. He didn't tell us to do it. He didn't lead a movement. He could have said that, at the end of the day, democracy fails when you say that voting is just an exercise, not a right that people were killed for. Instead, we behaved like end of the millenium Americans, going about our business, thinking, in the long run, it wouldn't matter, anyways. (And to any conservative wad of fuck that thinks we need to get over 2000, look at your granny's retirement account.)

Jump to 2004, and second verse, mostly the same with slight variations: the Johns, Kerry and Edwards, promise to count all the votes, yet, when Ohio is a clusterfuck of irregularities that'd make Boss Tweed go, "What the fuck?" and walk away, they throw in the towel for the good of the nation or some such shit, when, all they did was consign us to our own degradation for the next four plus years ('cause Obama's inauguration ain't gonna make it all shiny and good for a long time).

When Al Franken decided to run for the Senate in Minnesota, it was as one type of crusade, to redeem the seat of Paul Wellstone, ripped away by Wellstone's death in a plane crash and then by Republican subterranean ratfuckers, who manipulated Wellstone's memorial into some kind of anti-American face fart. Franken, who has talked repeatedly about this as another kind of scar, went into the election to take down Norm Coleman, the slick as shit huckster who was elected over Walter Mondale, the Wellstone surrogate in 2002. There was redemption to be had, and someone with celebrity and name recognition and deep pockets was the person to do it.

What the election turned into was another kind of redemption for Democrats. 'Cause, see, when Franken didn't concede the tight race back in November, he finally stood up and said let's see what happens when you actually fight for all the votes cast. When he decided not to be a mensch, like Gore and Kerry did with their tails between their legs, he demonstrated that Democrats can get into the kind of bare knuckle fight that Republicans have challenged them to time and again. And win.

Yeah, Coleman might fight, but he'll lose. The Republicans are gonna be fucking pieces of shit about Franken's election, but that's what Republicans do. They'll lose, too. So now there's someone heading to DC who is a wholehearted liberal, someone who learned from 2000 and 2004, put on his brass knuckles, and said, "Let's go."

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

Cleanest I've seen him in a long time.

He nails it as usual.
K & R

He's right about Franken -- at least Al is willing to fight for his seat, which makes for a refreshing change of pace.

Bake

all of it. About time someone on our side fought.

"I resolve to hold President Obama to his promises so we can get over the last eight years."

Good one. I second the motion.

If Kerry and Gore had the fight in them that Al has Bush would not have prevailed.

somebody stood up and said the Emperor has no clothes!
Hopefully he'll get the Dem leadership in the Senate to see the errors of their ways and grow some of the same ba--, er, courage!

Way to go, Al!

:patriot:

Especially if he is passing out brass knuckles for the rest of us as well. I am more than willing to put a pair on. One man shouldn't have to bear the entire burden for all of us (in the larger scheme of things of course).

Can't wait to see Franken sworn in.

Sid

i was going to riot, and then i realized that my playstation wasn't going to play itself.

gotta prioritize. :sarcasm:

K&R

The cost of not taking to the streets over that theft was high, very high.

It was heartbreaking to see how those elections unfolded. It was beyond belief to me that no one cared enough to stand up.

Now we have Al and Christine who stood their ground. We also see how weak republicans come off with their blustering and ridiculous arguments in front of the court.



Cher

He's going to be a great Senator.

well said :kick:

with reference to wellstone's memorial, and came up with this:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/reflections-on-the-wellst_b_15459.html
good read. i hadn't known about the memorial until today.

Tells is like it is!

:hi:

I am so happy about the new Senator from MN that I could just scream, again. ;)

determination to get the votes counted in his Senate race.

I love Al, but he did bury his head in the sand a long time about election irregularities.

True, Franken could have said not to bother, but really all he had to do was sit back and let the SoS do his job.

Al Franken Lives!

he actually called Bush to retract his concession.

DiFi. He might actually shake up those complacent DINO's.

Well said.

First, he's a Jew.

Second, he's free of the sin of associating with the lunatics who rant about stolen elections, and those who decry the elections as corrupt and the government as being beyond redemption.

And third, his political birthing called forth a careful accounting of all sins, and brought the system back into balance so that it could validate the ultimacy of the will of the people.


Thank you, Al baby.


Oh, and sorry about the Jesus comparison, Al. No offense intended. I know he's had some bad publicity too.

:thumbsup:

but just not all that bright. There were no bare knuckles from this guy...Coleman was just a corrupt bastard and the real good about Franken is his honesty. He really had nothing to lose and everything to gain by pushing the recount but far from some national hero. Geez what hype.

If Al.1 (Gore) had the guts to do what Al.2 (Franken) has done, we wouldn't have had these last 8 years. Gore is a favorite of mine, but he wimped when he should have whopped. He should have run this time. I like his views, but wish he put together more than a slide show to make things happen.

Happy 2009 meegbear :hi: :pals:

a major apologist in 2000 and 2004. Then the same thing happened to him. Al Franken's god truly has a sense of humor.

refused to back down to Republican bluster and won because the votes were counted. If Harry Reid can't lead the Senate Democrats like he has a substantial majority, then he should cede power to someone who isn't afraid to lead. Someone like say, oh, Al Franken.
The Democratic leadership should brass knuckle Republicans at every turn. Republicans deserve to be driven into the depths of despair for enabling the most degenerate administration to loot the treasury, bankrupt the economy, and compromise our national security.

Gore fought the results of the Florida vote, for his right to a recount, in numerous court cases for over 30 days. He didn't concede the election until after the US Supreme Court handed down their decision. He probably made some tactical mistakes, but he fought the results until the Supreme Court stopped the counting.

The USSC decision was a terrible one -- possibly the worst in US history. And I'm not saying that Gore was right to concede, even at that point. But his options were quite limited at that point.

Franken asked for a recount, he got it, and in the recount he took the lead and was certified the winner. Gore asked for a recount, won his case with the Florida Supreme Court, and the counting was well under way when the USSC terminated the counting. It also didn't help that the Florida election was run by a corrupt Republican Secretary of State, whereas the Minnesota election was run by a Democratic Secretary of State who, as far as I can tell did what had to be done to run a fair election.

I'm so proud of Al Franken.
From the very idea of Air America, he's been the one true north. Not perfect, but steady.
And they can laugh all they want.
Nothing wrong with laughter.
AND... he's a winner.

Winning has made a lot of these eejits IRRELEVANT.....

wrestling mojo kicked in and he's gonna help slam the fucking Mitch McConnell tag team, every
last one of those assholes. Thanks, Minnesotans!

Did you hear the one about the 700 billion wall street bailout?

How about the crooks that torture and are not impeached?

How about wars of agression built on lies?

How about two tier Justice with Madoff in a million dollar mansion, any other crook would not get house arrest for billion dollar theft.

How about all the other things we say our wrong, then we pony up our taxes, and continue to work to continue.


Whimps you say, yup, but not sure if you got the year correct.

I do not comment on those that make a great deal of money, many are good people, I comment on how our justice system does not apply the law equally. But I think that is part of the intent.

Getting common people mad at the rich, or protesters mad at police, or democrats mad at republicans, is actually a very old idea to maintain control over a population. Aristotle spoke about it. Keep people fighting each other. Keep people in stress and poor, to busy to think, or discuss life with others. And maintain war. Spy on everyone. These are not new themes.

But they are themes that even though they were written down thousands of years ago, specifically describing how to be a tyrant. And even though these are the vary actions we have seen over the last 8 years, or more. These very themes are never talked about on TV.

If people are to know what is being done, people must speak in person, with friends and families, find the blueprints of tyranny described and used by so many over time. And demand a media/education system where these things can be taught as a warning to everyone, a warning of what to avoid, and what to not allow in a free society.

LOVE the Rudepundit