Al Franken is "going to take to task" Greg Palast for.....

[PROGRESSIVE1]

critical remarks of Reagan in the next segment.

Gee, Al, maybe the it's the FReepers listening to you bash we Libs. Maybe that's why you're rating are so high.
The last thing we need is another news outlet worshiping RR.

:eyes:

[kofijoe]

1. I'm not listening...

.. but could it be he was being sarcastic?

[bpilgrim]

3. lol

with al being sarcastic most of the time it can be very hard to tell ;->

peace

[tom_paine]

4. I'm betting he wasn't

Al is a DLC-Type yet Liberal. He is considering a Senatorial Run.

Oh my yes, I think he was quite serious.

By the way, I happen to like Al Franken whatever his faults or flaws.

[K-W]

10. Al is not a DLC type, he is a Wellstone Democrat

He just tends to be more moderate than your average DU'er which apparently makes him a conservative. He is a public figure, he has to be a little bit of a politician and make sure he frames his views right.

We need to allow our public figures to be more moderate, its the only way we can ever have power in the public forum.

[DNA]

19. Internal contradiction in your post

A Wellstone Dem is NEVER under any circumstances a "moderate."

[sangh0]

31. So Wellstone was a radical?

What did Wellstone ever do to earn the term "radical"?

[DNA]

32. I didn't say he was a radical.

I said he was not a moderate. Or, as he himself put it, he was from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party. That certainly doesn't sound like someone striving for the middle-of-the-road position.

[Q]

33. Some seem to think that if you're not a 'moderate'...

...then you must be a RADICAL.

- Just more DLC propaganda.

[Stephanie]

42. I'm glad that Wellstone Democrat is a category

That's the kind of Democrats I want us to be.

[HootieMcBoob]

5. He is being sarcastic

And it is an excellent show today. Bob Weir was on the first part and The Dead are registering deadheads to vote all over the country on their summer tour!!! There are a hell of a lot of deadheads out there! Go Bob!

[Emboldened Chimp]

6. Weir was on? Shit, I missed it!

:grr:

[truthspeaker]

9. I'm seeing the Dead in a few days!

www.bonnaroo.com

[HootieMcBoob]

14. It was very cool

They played name that tune with the Grateful Dead bumper music. It was a contest between a couple of callers and Bob Weir.

Also, the registration thing their doing is called headcount. Weir said if all of the deadheads had voted in the last election it would be a different world today.

[tom_paine]

11. Good. I'm glad to be wrong on this one

[playahata1]

12. WHAT?

Not hijacking the thread here, but the Dead are still performing WITHOUT Jerry Garcia? Amazing.

[HootieMcBoob]

18. They're not Grateful anymore

That's what Weir said. Just "The Dead" He said over half of us are dead now so let's just call a spade a spade. He also said that he talks to Jerry daily and that Jerry answers back. It was a reference to the way they used to improvise together, it was a very cool conversation.

[bpilgrim]

2. he's got a good show today

:toast:

peace

[K-W]

7. Greg Palast can take care of himself. Maybe you shouldnt overreact?

God the second a liberal veers a little away from you you are ready to crucify him. Why dont you show some respect for your fellow liberals and allow people who think respect must be paid immediately following a death thier opinion. It is a perfectly valid opinion and not at all a sign that someone is a conservative.

Im sure there is something you believe in that would make someone else on this board role thier eyes, lighten up.

[lanparty]

16. Greg would annhialate ...

... any and all conservative pundits with one hand tied behind his back. He's a world traveler and knows all the shit that goes down first hand. He is part of a DYING BREED of actual genuine JOURNALISTS. You know, those people the legends speak about!!!!

[hlthe2b]

22. Yes... The reason Al is so effective, is his ability to blend humor with

very serious pointed discussion. I couldn't respect Palast more, but don't disagree that his very valid points could have been more effective, had it not come so directly on the news of Reagan's death, or been tempered a bit. Being so much more like Palast than Franken myself (in temperament), I know how easy it is to go with my first inclination and the unbalanced media Reagan worship those first few hours/days was pretty hard to take. But, I do believe Franken is correct in pointing out "timing and tone" could be important strategically to getting these points out there. It is, after all, the moderates we'd like to reach and turning them off with perceived disrespectful strong rhetoric is not the way to do so.

That having been said, clearly Franken's reproach was pretty mild and not one that should have Dems/progressives jumping down his throat, IMO. We are the party that does NOT walk in "lockstep," after all... Right?

[demnan]

8. Al Franken has a much more subtle form of humor

than most of these radio talk shows.

[DinahMoeHum]

15. I think he and Kerry are just gonna let the people compare

Reagan with Reagan-pretender Bush; and they'll see that Bushie-boy ain't no Reagan. Heck, he can't articulate like Reagan.

Then, they'll see that Kerry LOOKS like a younger Reagan in some ways - broad shoulders, athletic, accomplished in other fields before politics, etc., and that he has far more gravitas to be POTUS than the pathetic little usurper we have now.


:kick:

[lanparty]

13. Al likes to play "Devil's Satirist" (nm)

[kofijoe]

17. Speaking of Radio talk show hosts

I tuned into Mike Gallagher for a few minutes this AM (yes, my massochistic tendency has me occassionally tune into Ingraham, or Gallagher, or evil Medved, etc), and he was bitching for an entire segment about how Kerry "cut in line" at the RR memorium. Just bitched and bitched about the fact that others had to stand in line for 10 hours while Kerry pulled up in his limo and got right in. A caller said that any Senator would have done that and Mike's brilliant response was that "Kerry is not just any other Senator." Said he would have had almost no complaint if Kerry had waited in line for 10 hrs as a photo-op. Yeah right. Jeez...why do I do this to myself?

[LTR]

27. They moved all dignitaries to the front of the line

Including Mitt Romney. And he's just a governor. Of freakin Massachusetts.

I wonder what he thinks about that.

[Octafish]

43. Very telling --Trickle-Down Mourning in America.

Like the photo of Bonzo and Smirko. Beautiful soulless mates.

[seabeyond]

20. since when franken oppose truth

no franken, no dont go to the dark side...........can do truth in respect

[Emboldened Chimp]

21. I still hate his co-host

She sucks. Her voice is grating and her 'hurry along' comments irk the shit out of me. Franken needs to cut her loose.

[DarkPhenyx]

23. there is a difference between worshiping RR...

...and being decent human beings. People he hasn't even been buried yet. he hasn't been the enemy for a long time. We can at least wait to start tearing him apart.

[Tansy_Gold]

24. It's a question of timing, I guess

I guess the comments coming from folks like Palast wouldn't have received any attention a month ago, so the only way to get that attention is to shove them out while everyone is actually thinking about the dearly <gag> departed. Unfortunately, that also arouses the horror of those who try to sustain the usual proprieties.

Derrick Jackson's column in today's Boston Globe is only a little less shocking than Palast's, and they aren't the only ones.

Reagan was not a nice person, to put it mildly. To ignore the rot behind his mask is to condone it. While I think a lot of the explosive and excessive vitriol is a waste of energy, I don't have a problem with anyone pointing out the truth.

But that's just me.

[DarkPhenyx]

26. Yes, but...

...a time and place for everything.

[buycitgo]

28. re: Jackson

was that the one in which he brings up the death squads in Guatemala and El Salvador, the contras, etc?

that was in yesterdays Chicago Tribune

can you link it, please?

start a thread with it, acually, as it's an excellent counter to all the hagio BS being spewed

if I can pull it up from Trib, I will

powerful column

[stopbush]

25. No, Al wasn't joking. He took Greg to task on his "Coward Gipper"

column.

What I found disturbing was that Al and Katherine pulled out page one from the RW interview book and kept interrupting Palast and talking over him when he tried to reply to their criticism.

I agree with what Palast wrote. Reagan was a murderer of nuns and kids in Central America and AIDS victims at home. For Franken to throw FDR/deaths in WWII/Boatload of Jews Turned away into the mix when talking about Reagan/death squads/illegal covert wars was both ugly and cheap.

Not Al's finest hour, IMHO.

[buycitgo]

29. jesus......which hour was that in.....will listen to rerun tonight

disturbing to hear them treat one of the few remaining journalists like that

especially when he's absolutely right

thanks for that last explanation.....rest of thread should have had info like yours

btw.....how come Robert Parry is NEVER on anywhere? even on AAR?

he's one of the other few heroes of journalism

http://www.consortiumnews.com/

[bpilgrim]

34. damn

i really thought he was joking... i'll have to listen again tonight but that is the only thing that i don't like about their show is that when he isn't joking he's upset with someone on our side :crazy:

but oh, well, i'm just glad he's on ;->

peace

[evil_orange_cat]

30. I'm disappointed in Franken... glad I missed the show today!

Greg Palast should be given a medal or something from Franken... not scolded for telling the truth.

[newsguyatl]

35. i think i'm one of the few posters here who doesn't like franken

he's NOT a liberal, folks.

he's a dried out MODERATE -- at best.

please remember, he supported the iraq war, big time. doesn't matter how he feels about it now, he supported it THEN. no one in that boat gets MY respect (or listener support)

[bpilgrim]

36. he's an entertainer

and don't you think his msg has a good chance of getting more wide spread coverage?

i like him, don't agree with everything he says but it's another sign of the times we are living in that we have to get most of our real 'news' from comedians :crazy:

just imagine you could only listen too what else is on the airwaves ;->

i just wish he would hire Mike Malloy or Peter Werbe for the Grave yard shift at least, sheesh whats the DEAL?!

i think it's probably the marketing genius :crazy:

peace

[newsguyatl]

38. mike malloy, yes!

there IS no other mike malloy.

now, THERE'S a liberal, folks.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

37. Gephardt with a sense of humor.

[Forkboy]

39. lmao

that's gotta sting :)

[newsguyatl]

40. Good one!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

41. To Fb as well.

Much like this election, one takes what one can get. If we can get this ship angling to port, I guess I'll take it. Iow, I can just stomach a funny centrist but I'll have bubkas to do with an unfunny one.

Note: Eyebrows are important, too!