Some things just aren't funny.
Al Franken has rarely let good taste dictate his comedy act over the years. And, even though he has tried his best to avoid taking responsibility for a lot of things, he’s starting to learn that his record is going to haunt him for a long time to come.
The fact is, some things just aren't funny.
Things like little kids getting sick. Things like rape. Things like jokes about race.
Things like using the "N" word. Those things are never funny.
Unless you're Al Franken, and you think you can get away with it because it’s “satire."
Franken’s willingness to use racial stereotypes in his writings and books, and his comedy, are becoming increasingly exposed as the campaign moves forward.
In 2000, on CNN, he attempted to make a point about what types of words could no longer be used in comedy by using the “N” word repeatedly, and then laughing!
Not funny.
I am sure Al Franken will do his best to say, “Hey, that was satire, I was merely attempting to make a point.”
Oh, really, Al?
How about we fast forward to the year 2004, when in your book "Liars and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" you wrote this following passage on Page 157 (of the paperback):
“Florida. November. A forty-three-year-old woman named Katherine Harris paced back and forth on a colorless carpet in an office that smelled of sweaty seersucker and day-old perfume. Nearby, a trim, goateed man was fanning himself lazily with a Panama hat while laying on the couch. ‘I swear, Katherine, I’m sweating like a nigger on Election Day. Can’t we crank up the AC in here?’”
Gee, Al, was that satire, or were you merely attempting to make a buck?
Look, I’m going to be upfront about this. I am the husband of a woman of Asian descent. I also happen to be the father of three of girls.
So, when Al Franken mocks my wife’s culture in order to sell his books by playing off of negative cultural stereotypes, I generally think he’s a creep.
When he makes jokes about drugging and raping women, or goes on his “public policy” radio show on “Air America” and imitates a guy bragging about having sex with a vomiting woman, I personally think he’s a freak.
But, when he decides to try to hide behind satire to defend his use of one of the most offensive words in the United States, then he is just simply an intolerant and abusive man who makes money off of degrading other people, cultures and gender.
Franken and his defenders are going to wring their hands and say, “Enough, it’s time to talk about the real issues!”
And, they are absolutely right. But Al Franken doesn’t possess the seriousness, respectability or the character to even be at the table with adults to be a part of this important debate about our nation’s future.
When all is said and done, Al Franken has nobody to blame for his freefall in the polls than Al Franken. The good people of Minnesota who are disgusted and put off by a man who not only offends people of different races for cold hard cash, but who attempts to laugh it off as satire.
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Mike Campbell
mikecampbellwork@yahoo.com
July 21, 2008
