Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken

In contrast, he mentioned Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who apparently didn’t “get” him at all. Before the 2016 primaries Franken told him “If you run for President, I will support you,” to which Graham replied, “That’s my problem.” He talked about his friend Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, who shares his sense of humor. “If you have no insurance at all, that’s the Cambodian system.” “Our system of Medicare is similar to the Canadian system,” Franken noted. Maron’s opening question to Franken was “How are you going to save us?” which instigated a lively discussion about the Affordable Care Act, the pharmaceutical companies, and Medicare. The audience, which apparently included a large assemblage of the Los Angeles community’s Jewish Democrats, laughed uproariously at the quips and erupted in riotous applause whenever Franken said something they agreed with (which was often). They spent much of the evening cracking each other up. Both are intelligent, insightful, hilarious, and Jewish. Polling has indicated a decline in Americans’ trust that the Supreme Court, with its nine lifetime-appointment Justices, is nonpartisan.įranken’s comments also come amid new scrutiny over the Supreme Court’s ethics standards after reporting from ProPublica found Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose a series of luxury trips he’d taken, paid for by Republican donor Harlan Crow, and revelations that the same Texas billionaire had paid for the home Thomas’s mother was living in.įor the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.Minnesota Senator Al Franken was in Los Angeles last weekend to promote his new book, “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate.” Taking advantage of his visit, Andrea Grossman, founder of the popular discussion forum The Writers Bloc, teamed up with The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Arts to sponsor two hilarious discussions between Franken and fellow comedian Marc Maron. “I think Roberts is much more the villain in this than people give him credit for.” “I think the Chief Justice is actually much more culpable for this division than people think,” Franken said, referencing some of Roberts’s decisions. Then, of course, Dobbs and abortion.”īalz said the court has “lost credibility” and has become “seen increasingly as one more partisan institution,” though he noted Roberts has tried to counter that perception.

“The way they didn’t take up Garland and on saying, ‘It’s an election year,’ and then they, of course, put in Coney Barrett like eight days before the election.

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken