Franken urged to reverse his resignation

[DFW]

15. There's this one guy

If I didn't know him personally, I'd probably contribute to a fund to have him locked up and spread out under a watered bamboo tree waiting for him to be slowly skewered. He is an absolute right wing nut case, has done more damage behind the scenes than anyone can imagine, helped Reagan get elected way back when, and has only gone rightward since then. The trouble is, he's a perfectly nice guy, smart (unfortunately) as can be, and politically the Prince of Darkness. Whack job insane (he considers me to be the same, of course). He also happens to be an incredibly nice guy ("I know when to leave my guns at the door" ), and it drives me nuts that I get along with him as well as I do. He's "shoot-on-sight" extreme right wing, and I still can't believe I'm friends with him.

But that's DC for you. My dad learned early. A lifelong Democrat, he became friends with a right wing whack job who arrived in DC in 1957, 7 years after my dad did. He knew he was green (he was from Chicago), and asked who he should see about learning the ropes in Washington. He was directed to my Dad, and they became lifelong friends, all the while disagreeing on EVERYTHING. His name was Bob Novak. An absolute jerk politically (though nowhere as extreme as my friend described above), but a nice guy.

But it's not always opposites that attract. I still remain friends with very sane political brothers like Jerry Nadler and Howard Dean. So, there are never any stereotypes that can be counted on in DC.