The Franken vs. Lieberman Smackdown: A New Trend?
The United States Senate has a reputation as the home of the “adults” in legislative circles. Readers who share an unhealthy obsession with American politics and watch far more CSPAN than is good for them are already familiar with the process. Combatants from the opposing parties will show up on Sunday morning talk shows, in town hall meetings, or at tea parties and hurl thinly veiled barbs at one another.
But when you move these same officials to the floor of the upper chamber a nearly miraculous transformation takes place.They refer to each other in glowing terms such as “distinguished senator” and “esteemed colleague.” The real currency in the Senate is time, and the members frequently struggle to outdo each other with their generosity, surrendering the “remainder of their time” to the next honored speaker, even if it’s the same person they were sniping at on Meet the Press the previous weekend.
But last week the wheels briefly flew off of the collegiality cart when newly minted Senator Al Franken temporarily took the gavel to preside over the health care debate. Joe Lieberman — frequently a recent target of progressive ire — was concluding his remarks when he was abruptly informed that his allotted ten minutes had expired. Using a procedure common to all members, Senator Lieberman requested unanimous consent for “a moment” to wrap up his statement. Franken, in his capacity as the “senator from Minnesota,” took this opportunity to grab a few headlines with two simple words: “I object.”
The resulting media circus would lead one to believe that the former Saturday Night Live star had thrown a custard pie from the bench. And it was a rather startling breach of normal protocol, but hardly the first time that decorum has taken a backseat on that floor.
Back in 1954, the Senate was witness to a series of shouting matches between Senator William Knowland (R-Calif) and Senator Wayne Morse (I-Oregon) during the debate over President Eisenhower’s so-called “Atom Bill.” The argument dragged on for thirteen days, burning up more than 160 hours of what the Rome News-Tribune charitably called “acrimonious debate.” This too concerned a major transformation in American policy which generated heated debate across the nation, moving nuclear power into the hands of the private energy industry.
Mr. Lieberman is a good but weak person. Republicans should stop hoping for him to save our bacon(no pun intended). He is mocked by the liberal base but he always goes back to them when it counts. Democrats should never be in charge of anything important.
Something is terribly wrong when a character like Al Franken
can end up in power , in a chairmanship position , with a gavel in his hand.
We are watching and have taken note.
You know, I must be one of the few people who believes we need more of the British-style House of Commons in the Senate than what we have now. The Senators standing up there, from both sides of the aisle, seem more bored than passionate about anything. I really think we need more of that famous incident from 1856, when Senator Preston Brooks from South Carolina hit Senator Charles Sumner over the head with a cane over the issue of slavery. Now THERE were guys who were really passionate about something! Today, one Senator does not receive an extra two minutes to debate and you’d think a duel had taken place on the Senate floor. I say bring back the days of the cane! If you really believe in what you are saying, be willing to stand up to any verbal attack, any political insult, and tell people in no uncertain terms why you think your opponent is full of junk. It makes no sense to maintain this artificial sense of civility when, deep down, you want to tell the other jerk what you really think of them. People see this for what it is, a lie, so why play into it? Take a stand and be willing to back it up with your life, if necessary. Anything less than that shows that you’re just another political hack willing to say anything to hold on to your job.
This is even better than hilarious.
A huge blob of mealy mouthed know-it-all blow hards; every last one of which have told the American people to shove their concerns where the sun doesn’t shine, are all indignant and upset that one of their own sniped at another.
Elections Results 2008. Garbage in garbage out, we won, you trash, get used to it.
There is very little to respect in either the House or the Senate, and I, for one, would like to suggest that each candidate, before he or she runs for office, have to take an I.Q test. Lets make that the next “big reveal”. This small group of people have the power, if not the judgement, to make life or death decisions for us and actually, none of us knows if they even have the mental capacity to handle the job. So, pass out the forms, and sharpen the pencils!
You mean garbage won?
Franken is a moron!
Pedrosito: Yes, garbage won, losers are trashed, so it is, life in the big city, get used to it.
You read it Pedro! GIGO is what the man said.
Loved the Franken smack down. Loved the McCain bewildered objection. Loved the audio of McCain doing EXACTLY the same thing to Dayton (as mentioned). Loved O’Reilly “reporting” the smack down without mentioning McCain’s guilt. (Primarily because Franken smacked down O’Reilly in his book, and when O’Reilly sued, the judge literally laughed O’Reilly and his Fox Snooze lawyers out of court saying their suit was, “Wholly without merit.”)
This was no “rookie mistake.” It was a bitch slap – well deserved and well delivered.
Hey, Minnesota, are you proud of sending a monkey who escaped the zoo to represent you in the Senate? For shame, people.
Senator Charles Sumner: Now that was a smack-down. Franken v Lieberman is nothing.
I thought the people in the Midwest were a little more staid, thoughtful – and yes, possibly brighter than the rest of us.
I guess not.
#5 Joe: No less than the distinguished Senator Mark Pryor (D, AR) stated that “you don’t have to pass an IQ test to be in the U.S. Senate”, in an exchange between him and Bill Maher, at which point Pryor lost the discussion. Check it out on YouTube. Pryor couldn’t (or wouldn’t) articulate his personal religious beliefs. I have often wondered what is the collective IQ of these people who, as you say, have life/death decision-making authority over us. I wouldn’t trust most of ‘em to make decisions affecting my dog!
Franken has already proven himself unworthy of being in the public arena with his book about Rush Limbaugh (“A Big Fat Idiot”) by the fact that he is uncapable of having a dialogue without resorting to name-calling, the last refuge of the intellectually vacuous.
FIRE CONGRESS 2010!
Blame Minnesota voters (real or imagined) and ACORN operatives for putting Franken in office. None of his nonsense should be a surprise.
“The Senate was always intended to be the more deliberative of the two chambers, where heated rhetoric could be cooled and populist rushing to folly might be tempered. ”
I beg to differ: the Senate, as created by the Fore Fathers, was intended to be manned by the appointed representatives of the several States whose job it was to be to ensure that the central (or Federal) government didn’t encroach on the prerogatives and jurisdictions of the States, with the Federal role defined (and LIMITED) by the Constitution. States’ rights, y’know?
Nice try, though.
We all knew that Senator Al Franken would behave like he did in his tasteless SNL skits. The only difference between him and the former Governor Ventura (Jesse) is it took over two years before the former governor started to act like he was doing comedy. The loss for Minnesota is integrity. So very sad.
When it comes to scum like Al Franken one yearns for a return to earlier days when he would have to back up his insults on the duelling ground. If he could get his wobbly legs to propel himself out there. His second would have to bring an ample supply of Depends, too.
Oct 10, 2002… McCain did the same thing to Sens. Dayton and Byrd.
Lets not pretend like this is something new, its not becoming.
If I recall, there was a time in the 19th century when one Senator nearly killed another Senator on the Senate Floor. Yes, there is quite a fraying at the edges today–but let’s hold off judgment until they at least start throwing physical objects at each other. And Jim Bunning retired? Could have been exciting.
As a minnesotan who is helpless to stop the democrats from placing angry clown al franken in national office, I will point out that he did receive far less than 50% of the votes in a three candidate contest, and he initially lost until liberals running the election process “corrected” a number of alleged arithmetic and clerical errors while our local courts dealt with missing ballots and all manner of election process ineptitude.
He ran against a new york liberal, Norm Coleman, who had been purchasing votes with government spending for some years under the partisan designation “republican”. I voted for the third party candidate, but most were forced to choose between a childish and rude liberal and a slick and polite one.
Mr. Shaw:
“But when you move these same officials to the floor of the upper chamber a nearly miraculous transformation takes place.They refer to each other in glowing terms such as “distinguished senator” and “esteemed colleague.””
What is missing from your observation is that the genesis of the Senate’s courtly manners stems from the time in American history when dueling was an accepted, and even popular method of gentlemen settling disputes.
You were scrupulously polite in your political discussions, or you were a very good shot with a dueling pistol…and even then.
I believe it was Andrew Jackson who carried an opponent’s bullet in him until the day he died.
I, for one, think that a return to the practice of duelling among our legislators might benefit our republic greatly.
It would certainly be more seemly than this rush to the media to stir the masses up into a hyper bitch-fest.
And it might raise some badly needed revenue from the PPV proceeds.
This is obviously a very bad play about Alice and wonderland…Franken the ugly king has too damned much power for anyone, questionably elected at that!!
Lieberman is a wiener. A nice guy, but a wiener.
Too bad Franken’s next election is so far out…We need to start on finding a candidate to run against him. He’s an ugly little man that really never amounted to much. Now he has his Napoleon complex in full swing. Little dog with a big bark. Needs a muzzle, or a boot.
23. Carol b.:
“really never amounted to much.”
Harvard grad. Successful comedian. Actor. best-selling author. Proud father of two successful kids. Married for 33 years. U. S Senator. Granted, he’s not a thrice divorced oxycontin addict, but then, who is?
So, what exactly have you “amounted to” in your life that allows you to judge Mr. Franken?
Oh yeah, and he did this:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/21/obama-franken/
Now, let’s talk about who was hanging out with who, let’s talk about sweetheart deals, let’s talk about character and supporting our troops and standing up for what’s right in the prior administration, shall we?
Spavined little monkey.
Clown King, now a clown Prince. Whatever is tolerated you can be sure there will be more of it. I like the idea of dueling pistols at high noon on c-span. That won’t happen and it’s too bad. Words mean something, so does honor and character, at least they used to. Now these things are in short supply. The recompence it seems will come later at a much steeper price. The National idea that one can say whatever they want without owning up to the content of the words is like buying fools gold. One day we’ll all wake up broke with a huge debt to pay off.
We don’t need more lying fool politicians but because we tolerate them we’re going to get more of them and suffer the consequences.
You lie! You all lie!
Al Franken…seriously..?
Dennis Hastert and his buddies, GOP and DEMO, are laundering Millions through terrorist groups, and your discussing Al Franken.
Dont complain about the state of affairs when you cant pull the wool off your own eyes.
Even a “New York liberal ” Republican is preferable to Al Franken who is not even a good comic. One wonders about the mental ability of Minnesotans. IQ tests should be a part of voter registration.
What you people never understand is that this sort of pearl clutching drama is exactly what makes teabagging unpopular. I think any one can make up their mind after having watched this; its a nothing story, except for the girlish shrieking of apparently emotionally fragile men. A Senator later came on to note that the same thing had happened earlier and no one had complained. Try again, losers.
Now and Then:
Best selling author? Of what? A book of name-calling? Did he even write it himself?
Harvard grad? Shows that they’ll let anyone in these days–or even back then! Wonder who his folks had to bribe to get him in.
Successful comedian? Right, that’s just what we need in a US Senator. Note that you stopped short of calling him a successful radio talk show host. We know how successful Air America was, don’t we, and who had to come to its rescue and the questionable manner in which that was done too, don’t we?
Let’s talk about sweetheart deals? Let’s talk about who stole the election.
I met Al Franken once and I can tell you he’s just as big an asshole one-on-one as he is as a US Senator.
32. sestamibi:
“Best selling author?” YES.
Harvard grad? YES
Successful comedian? Right, that’s just what we need in a US Senator: BEDTIME FOR BONZO.
“Stole the election.” IT’S ONLY STOLE WHEN YOU LOSE.
I met Al Franken once: AS DID I AND FOUND HIM CHARMING AND FUNNY.
Don’t be bitter. It’s unseemly, speaks to low self esteem.
Happy Christmerries.
If you’re looking for someone to blame for Sen. Al Franken, look no further than Norm Coleman.
Coleman holds the dubious distinction of losing to a pro wrestler for governor and a comedy writer for senator.
I hear Coleman’s thinking of running for governor again. Prince could probably beat him.
As time goes by, people will begin to realize that over 300 million lives are being ruined by a paltry 300-400 people. It’s not difficult to push back.