Senator Franken

In the wake of Al Franken’s long-awaited Senate victory in Minnesota, Steve Young has an interesting insight in the Huffington Post that should shed some light on how Franken made the transformation from comedian with a conscience to US Senator.  After all, Franken wasn’t looking to become a politician a few years ago, but after he was moved to write a scathing parody ripping Right Wing talk TV and radio, something happened.

Young has this take:

 

The straw that broke the far right wing's back came in the form of a 2003 law suit where the right-wing elevated the comic/author Franken from comic and author to Michael Moore danger level.
 
Penguin Books published Franken's book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," which included a cover photo of O'Reilly and a chapter accusing O'Reilly of lying. The book had sold fairly well, but would have run its course until Fox News, pushed by O'Reilly taking the bait, sued claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase "Fair and Balanced." A federal judge found the lawsuit to be "wholly without merit" and Fox then filed to dismiss it. With the media attention drawn by the legal folly, Franken's sales and his public image went bonkers. He not only beat O'Reilly and made him appear thin-skinned and toothless, but his books and satirical approach taught the Democrats to fight back creatively. More importantly, he gave open-minded Republicans a bit of the truth behind far-right talk show zealots claims. Claims that had pretty much gone without scrutiny even by the so-called liberal mainstream media who were happy to book people like Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Ann Coulter to get their take on politics.  

(Bill Kavanagh cross-posts at (Buck Naked Politics.)