Franken v. Coleman
Congrats to Al Franken on his victory.
Congrats, as well, to Norm Coleman who was gracious in defeat and in deciding not to press the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some of Coleman's supporters-- or more precisely, partisan Republicans across the country-- have not been as gracious, labeling Franken a clown, dismissing him as a joke, and so on.
This is regrettable for at least two reasons:
1.) It needlessly diminishes expectations of Franken who is surely a sharp character and whose politics can't be all that different from those on the left of the Senate. This is not politically wise.
2.) It inappropriately demeans the dignity of the human person. What has Franken done-- and what will Franken do-- that is worthy of derision and disrespect?
posted by Eric Schansberg @ 11:32 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
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I agree that it is appropriate to challenge a person's position - not attack their person just because you don't like their position.
I have not been following this closely, but wasn't there some concern about fraud or election "stealing"? This would be a legitimate cause for court intervention and could be why Republicans are upset.
Actually, I just bought Franken's book "The Truth" this past weekend. Can't say I'm a huge fan, but wanted to see what he had to say.
Hey - After reading your post and commenting, I went and got my Franken book.
I did not know he was the author of "Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right"
So, I thought about your comment on derision and demeaning the person vs position.
I guess just because he does "it" to them, doesn't mean they should do it to him.
Although I did not follow the case closely, the reasons for a court challenge seemed to be proper and significant. But the relevant courts ultimately failed to side with Coleman.
I guess I'm not even talking about how Franken will vote, but in calling him a clown, it's as if he will play the part of buffoon-- rather than being just one more liberal with whom one might reasonably disagree.
Putting it another way, Limbaugh is-- and Franken was-- an entertainer. Many people typically give Limbaugh leeway and they should extend the same to Franken.
In any case, it wouldn't surprise me if Franken is able to switch from entertainer to politician with little difficulty.
Franken's book, "The Truth" does publish an expletive reference to Bush on page 64. That could be viewed as crossing a line.
We'll see if he can make the switch to intellectual politician (oops, was that an oxymoron??)
- just a little joke! :-)
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