Franken sworn in as Minnesota senator

[onehandle]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – Comedian-turned-politician Al Franken is now a senator. The Minnesota Democrat was sworn in Tuesday, ending an eight-month political and legal struggle.

He gives the Democrats 60 votes to thwart possible Republican filibusters.

Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath. Former Vice President Walter Mondale accompanied Franken.

Franken took the oath on a Bible that belonged to the family of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090707/ap_on_go_co/us_franken_senate

[Skinner]

1. Woo-hoo!

60!

[MessiahRp]

15. If only that number actually meant anything

60 Democrats in the Senate still means 15 Republican-lites to hold up legislation.

Rp

[Jackpine Radical]

21. Ainnit the Goddam truth.

The Unholy Coalition of Republicans and Dinos still controls the Senate.

[happygoluckytoyou]

91. can only hope that GOP Snowe counteracts DEM GONE SOUR Liarman

[sandyd921]

104. Are you talking about the same Olympia Snowe who is more concerned

about the public health care option having an "unfair advantage" over for-profit insurance companies than her constituents having access to health care?

Sez she:
"If you establish a public option at the forefront that goes head-to-head and competes with the private health insurance market the public option will have significant price advantages."

Not much of an improvement over Liarman there...

[Dangerously Amused]

40. If nothing else, at least the spectre of the 60 seat SM will freak out the fundies.

That's gotta be worth something.

[No Elephants]

43. If the DNC and all the other Democrats in Congress combined cannot even

figure out a way to make the Blue Dogs vote for cloture--just cloture--then the Democrats are more over than the Republicans, IMO.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Congrats Senator Franken! - nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. I wanna see a picture of the swearing in... n/t

[Lochloosa]

13. Not a pic but here is the video

http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&p=&f=TXWIC&g=0707dv_franken_senate

[Cha]

14. Thank

You!

[checks-n-balances]

16. That video is actually him speaking to the press the other day

Unless I missed something, I don't think his swearing-in video is out there yet.

[MaineDem]

19. Here's the video

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/07/al-franken-now-a-senator/

[checks-n-balances]

53. Thank you!

[wroberts189]

106. that was great thx.. nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. Thanks! Daily Kos has a snapshot...

[JDPriestly]

39. Franken will be an effective voice for the Democratic Party

He has a sense of timing in his speech. He can pace an audience. He never speaks over his audience. He is, in short, a "Mensch." The Republicans in Congress will end up loving him as much as the Democrats. He will make a good buddy for all the members of Congress because he has tremendous compassion.

[Ian David]

4. About time! n/t

[Hulk]

42. ditto!!

F*cking neocon/fascist repukes managed to deprive the citizens of Minnesota of their legal representation for six months. Nice going....ass hats.

[No Elephants]

55. Remember, it was Coleman who won on Election Day and Al who challenged. To be fair, if

I were in Coleman's shoes, I would have fought, too. The courts could have been faster, though.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

63. Actually, Franken did NOT challenge ... state law required a recount

Fortunately, I live in a state where there is a paper trail to recount and I am more than willing to take the time to get it as close to correct as possible (regardless of who eventually wins). Our set up and process (Minnesota) isn't perfect, but it's not bad and because of this case, there will continue to be improvements.

[kenfrequed]

66. uhm

Minnesota state law REQUIRES a recount if the margin is that close. The only thing of substance that changed was that the ballots that had been disqualified without a reason being given were re-examined.

Coleman started out saying that it was over and that a recount was a waste of time and then later changed his tune to count everything. Al was consistant.

Let us try not to sympathize to much with the devil.

[HERVEPA]

68. Bull! He fought long after the result was clear,...

and went to MN Supreme Court when it was clear he had no case!

[yellowcanine]

76. Correction: Coleman was ahead in the vote count on Election Day.

He never won. It is an important distinction to make.

[Clear Blue Sky]

5. Bout time...nt

[Starry Messenger]

6. 5th rec!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. Happy Day!

I still say it was insane that it took this long for the will of the voters to be instilled, though.

[Carl Skan]

8. Agreed

But if it didn't take this long, the will of the voters wouldn't have been enacted.

[sofa king]

9. Congrats, Al. Here's to the next 5 1/2 years.

[sellitman]

10. Better late than never.

Coleman......bite me!

[starzdust]

11. Great, now lets get down to business

and swamp Franken's phone, email, snailmail, what ever to push for a single payer health care bill

[Gman]

12. I don't think you need to worry about Franken and single payer

or public option. There's others that need to be focused on. Franken is probably the last one you need to worry about.

[Bushknew]

17. I bet I won't have to send him emails. OH please, please do the right thing on xxx.

[Dogmudgeon]

18. How long until the first 100-post thread ...

... screaming "WHORE! TRAITOR! DLC! CORPORATE!" -- ?

It is CERTAIN to happen -- just as it has with Obama.

Note to thin-skinned, self-pitying über-rads: I'm not talking about reasoned criticism. I'm talking about screaming "WHORE! TRAITOR! DLC! CORPORATE!"

--d!

[Jackpine Radical]

28. WHORE! TRAITOR! DLC! CORPORATE!

There. Now it's happened. You can relax your vigilance.

[Dogmudgeon]

30. Twenty-two Minutes!

:woohoo:

And so, the Al Franken (Legislative) Decade begins ...

--d!

[No Elephants]

56. Flame much?

[subcomhd]

65. and what has he done?

so far I can't tell him from Norm Coleman - or Rush Limbaugh! LOL

[kenfrequed]

67. You should take a break

Building strawmen must be very tiring work.

[barbtries]

20. i am so happy about this

even though i've never been near MN. congratulations progressive Minnesotans! :applause::applause::applause::applause:

[Deep13]

22. Try to keep one point in mind...

Rush Limbaugh is a big, fat idiot.

Just sayin'.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

82. So, now the personalized copy of "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot" on my shelf ...

... is signed by a U.S. Senator. Sweet!

[Initech]

24. Because I'm good enough I'm smart enough and doggone it people like me.

[sueh]

25. It's a great day for Minnesotans and for our nation.

Love you, Al. And remember, we're here for you!
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Venitnarg]

78. It's a great day for Minnesotans and for our nation.

I only hope he doesn't leave his jokebook (I mean playbook) back home in Minnesota.

[Deep13]

26. In a completely unrelated story, Bill O'Reilly's head exploded. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

33. When's it gonna be up on da YooToob thingie?

[DFW]

35. Yeah, but no one was injured

It turned out there was nothing but compressed hot air inside.

[Hippo_Tron]

48. Hey BillO it's SENATOR Al Franken to you...

[Deep13]

72. *BOOM*

:nuke: Oh well, no brain, no pain.

[No Elephants]

58. Imagine the head of the big fat idiot!

[Deep13]

73. I don't have to imagine it.

I see it bobbing around every night on Olbermann.

[PSzymeczek]

79. That's not the only thing bobbing.

I fear the MOOBS!:puke:

[graywarrior]

27. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

:applause:

[AlbertCat]

29. If the GOP hadn't made such a steaming mess of this...

....this would be relatively minor news. But the obstructionist process the GOP put into action just shown a huge light on the whole thing. It looks like....and this is solely because of the GOP....that our 60 member super-majority was fought for hard and long and is well deserved.

Talk about backfiring GOP foolishness! All eyes are on their demise!





Now if the Dem Majority would just accomplish something......

[blackbooks]

31. "Stuart Saves America" and the Wellstone Bible

"Franken took the oath on a Bible that belonged to the family of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn."

Nice touch, but carrying on Paul's work will be a far greater tribute.

Time to start annoying all the right people, big man.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

34. Coleman was stinking up Wellstone's seat for 6 years. Wonder how much

air freshner it'll take to get the Coleman-Repug stinch out??!?!

[No Elephants]

60. I think the bible is intended to convey that-- that Franken sees himself as

Wellstone's successor and therefore he does intend to carry on Wellstone's work.

[renate]

71. it's incredibly touching, isn't it?

:loveya:

It's wonderful that Wellstone's work will carry on from here, after a nearly 7-year hiatus.

I see from your profile that you've been here for several months and that you're from Minnesota, so instead of "Welcome" I'll say "post more often!" and "Congratulations!"

[blackbooks]

74. A good day for America and a great day for Minnesota

And thanks for the kindness. The last time I posted anything was when Bachmann got reelected. It's nice to have something to celebrate for a change.

[Kajsa]

32. Congratulations, Senator Franken!

I like the way that sounds.:D

:applause:

[avaistheone1]

36. Congratulations on a hard won battle Senator Franken.

ONWARD!

[snappyturtle]

37. I just e-mailed with a congratulatory message:

[e-mail]

[proud patriot]

38. Right On Right On

:bounce: :woohoo: :bounce:

[tomreedtoon]

41. Will people stop calling him a COMEDIAN???

It was obvious that he ran a competent, serious campaign as a politician. He is now a senator. Can we please drop the "comedian" label?

You don't hear about "manure salesman-turned-Senator Tankerbell" or "child molester-turned-Representative Wankerman," do you? The only place where such a title is where the person is still in that profession, as in "comedian Rush Limbaugh."

[blackbooks]

44. I agree, mostly.

He's a Senator now and that should be all that matters.

However, I'm not prepared to concede that being a comedian (or a manure salesman, for that matter) is somehow shameful. It's only shameful if you're a bad one, like Limbaugh.

And isn't it usually Representative-turned-child molester and not the other way around? :)

[tomreedtoon]

49. It takes time to become a child molester.

Anyone who's been doing that in Congress has to have gotten a lot of practice before their political careers began. Child molesters are made, not born. And we can be proud that they're made in America - perhaps our only American-made product left.

[blackbooks]

57. Well, at least we didn't outsource everything. n/t

[No Elephants]

59. See, and I thought Limbaugh was a good manure salesman. He's gotten a lot of

people to buy into all the sh*t he shovels incessantly.

[blackbooks]

61. In the words of the immortal Ron Bennington...

"Rubes go out of their way to find the carnie."

It's not selling if they're dumb enough to buy whatever you give them. :)

[blackbooks]

45. And am I the only person hoping for a Tankerbell/Wankerman ticket in 2012? n/t

[tomreedtoon]

47. According to "Mr. Show," Tankerbell is a ball of light now.

Which means he can't have sexual affairs, or eat at fundraising dinners, or push the buttons to vote. So he's free to propagandize all his anti-sex-education talk, but he can't do anything about it. Hey...maybe Tankerbell could be an assistant to Limbaugh!

[No Elephants]

46. For me, calling Franken an intelligent comedian is higher praise than calling him a Senator.

We have 100 Senators and thousands who could perform their jobs as well or better than they do.

How many Al Frankens, Bill Mahers, Jon Stewarts and Stephen Colberts do we have?

[subcomhd]

69. very good point ne

[eauclaireliberal]

83. delete

posted to wrong reply

[Vidar]

50. Kudos to Al for sticking it out.

[Mad_Dem_X]

51. At long last!

SENATOR Franken! :woohoo:

[LynneSin]

52. Because he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it...

He's Senator Frankin

:woohoo:

[aquart]

54. At last.

[xchrom]

62. ...

:woohoo:

[No Elephants]

64. Beside myself with joy.

[winyanstaz]

70. YOU GO SENATOR AL FRANKEN!!

Yaaaay!
Now lets get busy and seat a whole lot more of REAL Democrates this next election and throw OUT the Dems that have sold us out!!

[Piewhacket]

75. THANK YOU AL!!! We like AL! GO GO AL!!!

[catgirl]

77. What a great day!!

What an emotional response. So many hugs. Al's feeling the love!!

[mvd]

80. Yea! Best wishes to Senator Franken!

:woohoo:

[Odin2005]

81. In other news, Bill O'Rielly found dead from his head exploding.

:woohoo:

[Zambero]

86. Senator WHO?!!? %$!%$@$#% ??!!??

You actually want me to REPORT this SHIT?!? O.K. THEN F**K IT!! WE'LL DO IT LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Head Explodes)
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[VaYallaDawg]

84. Welcome Sen. Al!!

[Dinger]

85. Wellstone *Sigh*

Franken took the oath on a Bible that belonged to the family of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.

Very cool:)

[myrna minx]

87. I finally have two Senators!

:woohoo:

[Turborama]

88. K&R

:applause:

[shireen]

89. why is Ed Schultz so mad at him?

i'm listening to Schultz, and may have missed him mentioning the reason. What's up with that?

[Optical.Catalyst]

90. 60 Democrats with Al Franken! It is time to put the steamroller in gear and flatten the Republicans.

We have a clear shot at it now.

Supreme Court nominations? Bring them on.

Environmental Policy? Undo what the Bush Administration forced on us.

Health care, gay rights, tax breaks for the rich? The Democrats are on the job now, the Republicans will just have to sit and watch.

[glitch]

92. Tearing up a bit on this. :) K & R nt

:applause:

[Xenotime]

93. We have all the power now!!

Palin is gone. The GOP is about dead.

[susanr516]

94. Congratulations, Senator Franken! n/t

[Richd506]

95. HOORAY!!!!!!!!

[Politicalboi]

96. Who?

LOL! He should have got sworn in at the Staples Center. LOL!

[MNBrewer]

97. Let's hope Franken does better than Wellstone on DOMA.

I voted for him... he OWES me! :)

[ObamaKerryDem]

98. FINALLY!!

:bounce:

[Wednesdays]

99. K&R

:kick:

[mistertrickster]

100. Thank goodness, maybe his people will quit calling me for money.

I gave twice and they were on me like white on rice.

Oh, well. MAZELTOV!

[Kurovski]

101. Can we get 60 votes?

K&R!

[Yavin4]

102. The Late, Great Sen. Paul Wellstone Would Approve

RIP Sen. Wellstone.

[mdmc]

103. YES!

[sandyd921]

105. Hip, hip hooray!

Now, go and make us all proud Al!!!!!!!!


:applause: :woohoo: :yourock: :fistbump: :bounce: :party: :applause: :woohoo: :yourock: :fistbump: :bounce: :party: