The Savage Republican

MDE points up to this interview in the Mac (Macalester College) Weekly. In it Al Franken showed (again) just what kind of a grasp on the facts that he has.

AF: I think that there are so many that are so important. Health care; the widening gap between the haves and have-nots; the government operating on behalf of special interests, not the public interest, and all that impacts everything. It impacts health care, impacts education, impacts environmental concerns, impacts energy policy. That’s why I’m so disappointed that Democrats aren’t using this Abramoff scandal to talk about ways to get money out of politics.

MW: About that, why would they if so many Democrats are connected to Abramoff?

AF: They aren’t. Why do you assume that? Why do you say that?

MW: Because [Sen.] Byron Dorgan from North Dakota was found to have connections with the Indian tribes and he was advocating on their behalf with Abramoff.

AF: Yeah, but they live in North Dakota.

MW: It was an Indian tribe from Massachusetts.

AF: An Indian tribe from Massachusetts gave to Dorgan? (emphasis mine)

Remember, this is the man that assures his listeners that he subscribes to an incontrovertable standard of truth because he Googles facts before announcing them on the air...

AF: Well connected doesn’t mean anything. Tell me if the Indian tribe from Massachusetts gave Dorgan money. (emphasis mine)

MW: I’m not certain. [The Mac Weekly later sent an article to Franken detailing Dorgan’s connection. See the editor’s note below.]

Sigh.......Then Al launches into a tirade against lobbyist paid trips...

MW: You know [Rep.] Michael Capuano [Democrat] of Massachusetts, a Congressman, recently got back from a privately funded trip to Brazil funded by what seems to be the sources you’ve been alluding to.

AF: And who paid for his trip?

MW: Well, it was interest groups that you’ve been alluding to.

AF: Can you tell me who? I’d like to know.

Editor’s note: The Mac Weekly later sent Franken two newspaper articles.
One, published by the Associated Press in December, detailed Sen. Byron Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) connections to the Mashpee Tribe of Massachusetts and its donation of $11,500 to Dorgan through its representative Michael D. Smith, Abramoff’s partner who pleaded guilty this fall to charges of conspiring to bribe a congressional representative.

The article also revealed a fundraiser hosted for Dorgan by the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe in Abramoff’s arena skybox where Washington power players were commonly wined and dined.
The other article, published in January by The Boston Globe, detailed a trip by Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) to Brazil. The trip, worth $19,403, was funded by a non-profit business organization financed by the lobbyists and company representatives traveling with the congressman, the Globe reported.

Al, Al, Al....you know it's bad when a college newspaper has a better grasp on the facts on the issue than you do. Maybe the kid that interviewed you for the Mac Weekly should be the one running for Senate.