JUST IN: Women staff of "Saturday Night Live" sign letter in support of Sen. Al Franken

[Honeycombe8]

21. Great! I know he's not a lech or a harasser, after watching him for years.

Comedians do over reach sometimes, reaching for the "gag." It's a personal thing with me that I give comedians a wide berth. The way a successful comedian works, and his mind works, is they go for the gag, push the envelope, and say and do things on the spur of the moment...which sometimes falls flat or is more offensive than they intended. Much of comedy is intended to be offensive about something. If they are too careful, they lose that edge that makes for a successful comedian or political satirist. Think of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Mahrer, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart. It doesn't mean they aren't unnecessarily offensive or don't cross the line and it's wrong. But I give them room to make that mistake because of the nature of what they do. For someone else in another line of work, it would definitely be wrong, and I would blame them.

I think things should be judged, also, for the era those things occurred in. This routine is pretty offensive and I doubt would fly these days.