Al Franken's Mental Disorder Given a Pass by Media?

Newsbusters ^ | January 24, 2007 | Warner Todd Huston

[Clintonfatigued]

"Comedian" Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota, this the media is happy to report. But, for some unexplainable reason, the media isn't so interested in reporting Franken's odd behavior. It seems that an ungovernable rage is always just under the surface with Franken, a rage that has several times broken free and resulted in assault and other violent or antisocial behavior. Why the media doesn't highlight this man's unstable behavior can only mean that they are lending him as much cover as they can to assist his campaign.

His unprofessional and intemperate language is well-known, of course. He has titled books by childishly calling people "big fat liars" and he has utilized his uncivil tongue as a talk-show, shocker. It all makes for a rather angry, uncivil fellow, but if that were all there were to it, one might at least be able to excuse it as mere bravado utilized to make some cash. Still, there is an always lurking anger that is detectable in his ranting. There is just something unstable about the man.

The most egregious example of Franken's crazy behavior happened during the 2004 election cycle as Franken attended a Howard Dean rally in Exeter, New Hampshire. A heckler was giving Howard Dean a spot of trouble and Franken strangely thought that he'd act the part of Hulk Hogan and bodyslammed the heckler to the ground. In any normal world this would have been called assault and someone who acted like this would not only be hauled away by the police but serious aficionados of politics would shun him afterward. Democrats, however, loved it... and that says quite a bit about them, doesn't it?

[Kryn-Man]

Al Franken is an idiotic, druggged-out joke. If we actually have to consider this nut as a realistic canidate for anything, we are hopelessly uninformed and stupid.

[DManA]

You gave him a great compliment and you are surprised he was nice about it? Am I missing something?

Surprisingly enough, he was very gracious about it.

[DManA]

Dry drunk?

[RichInOC]

“Mental disorder” implies that he has a mind to be disordered in the first place.

[BerryDingle]

Someone messed with Chairman Dean.

[rbosque]

Sad.

[Zevonismymuse]

Dry drunk?

Or has he replaced sauce with prescription drugs?

[null and void]

It seems that an ungovernable rage is always just under the surface with Franken

That seems to be a symptom of liberalism.

Seriously

It explains why they want such tight control of the people. They quite reasonably figure that if they are always on the edge of violence, (and they are the good and peaceful people!) then everyone else must be ready to explode at any moment.

Small wonder they want everyone disarmed!

[HHFi]

From the headline, I assumed the mental illness was delusions of funniness. He came up with one or two sketch characters that were moderately amusing, but his books are chloroform in print. And he's always been a nasty, arrogant SOB. Check out Jay Mohr's book about backstage life at SNL during his time there. He depicts Franken as a bitter egomaniac, seething that everyone he'd started with 15 years before had moved on to bigger and better things while he was still a writer and "featured player," i.e., still not ready to be a "Not Ready For Prime Time Player." He took it out on the younger writers by constantly belittling them, telling them he had to rewrite their stuff because they didn't know what was funny, and trying to insert himself into their sketches (Rob Schneider warned Mohr never to let Franken into one of his sketches if he wanted it to be funny).

Franken became the court jester for the Democratic Party because it was the ONLY way he would ever have broken through to become a highly-paid celebrity. He doesn't need to have any mass appeal because liberals snap up his boring books and pay him $25,000 for a 20-minute after-dinner speech full of nasty remarks about Republicans, and they don't even have to be particularly funny. It's his dream job.

[swatbuznik]

Sad thing is if Sen Coleman tries to talk about this *he* will be made into the bad guy.

The sad thing is Coleman is too much of a gentleman to say anything.

[TypeZoNegative]

Umm, no he’s not. Even with a Democratic headwind, Coleman is beating Frankenstein handily. We’ve had our fill of loudmouth celebrities in Minnesota politics.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Is a man who cannot even have a civil conversation with a mere college student the sort of unstable man we want sitting in the Senate of the United States of America?...it would seem to be a man who underneath it all doesn't think he's good enough, smart enough, or well liked enough to be able to risk exposing his beliefs to criticism from others or to consider with an open mind what they have to say for fear it might destroy all he is and stands for........

[MHT]

He has gone crazy against Bill O’Reilly. I wonder if he would do the same thing on the Senate floor if provoked. Would he make fun of a Robert Byrd’s shaking head? No, but he might mock a Southern accent. It has become obvious that he mocks people physically because he doesn’t have the intellectual depth to confront them on policy matters. He couldn’t get away with that kind of shallow understanding in the Senate. His appearances in hearings would be either silence, an embarrassment to himself and his state, or a joke. That leaves mocking and physical violence as alternatives. If he physically accosted someone, could he be removed from office?

[MHT]

Do you think that there are going to be debates? Also, is he already the nominee?

[Oldexpat]

Sounds like a Boardline case.

[Mr. Silverback]

He needs to stand in line behind Rosie, Joy Behar, Roseanne Barr, and Olbermann for a lobotomy. They’re all nuts.

I'll bring the ice picks.

[jurroppi1]

To my knowledge (admittedly very limited on this specific subject) he isn’t the nominee yet. I would imagine that there would be debates, but then again that would be tantamount to Coleman letting Franken drag him down to the level of sub-idiot.

[MHT]

Coleman is no intellectual slouch.

Liberals have a special way of arguing if they don't know what they are talking about. First, they repeat their idiotic (usually baseless) ideas more loudly than they did the first time. Then they interrupt the opposition and shout them down, usually with distracting questions. When that doesn't work they shut down and pretend that they have won the argument. Someplace along the line there is usually a personal criticism when a fact would work better. Franken is a master at this b.s.

I think in a real debate, which he really didn't have on Air America, he will not be as impressive. Even his Air America opportunity wasn't a winning venue for this bellicose style.

[jurroppi1]

Right, I agree that Coleman is no intellectual slouch - all I was trying to say is that Franken might just drag him down to his level and beat him with experience [you know the old axiom - never argue with an idiot...]

[ashtanga]

I think that these weirdos in speedos have in them the urge to kill the father. By this I mean a post-Freudian will to dismantle authority, logic, even sanity itself. The result? Self congratulations, a drug more powerful than crack itself.