General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFrom Al Franken with Thanks.
From his Facebook account, no link for those who wish to stay away from Facebook today! Hope this is OK:
Ive always really loved Thanksgiving. Theres the food, obviously. Franni makes her gigantic apple pie, and I make this great stuffing with wild rice the real stuff from northern Minnesota. And, of course, theres family. Franni and I have two beautiful kids (with two wonderful spouses), and weve been blessed with three perfect grandkids to spoil, with a fourth on the way. It seems like, every year, our table gets a little bigger.
But I also love Thanksgiving because I believe theres power in giving thanks. I know it sounds like something Stuart Smalley would say That attitude of gratitude it aint just a platitude! but taking a moment to be grateful really can make you a happier person. Also, a better person.
Last Thanksgiving, though, wasnt much fun. I tried to be thankful for my family, my friends, and my health, but those weeks were incredibly difficult for us Frankens.
Over the last year, Ive heard from so many of you kind notes, supportive comments here on Facebook, people coming up to me at the grocery store or the gas station or the Vikings game to say hi. And its meant a lot to me and my family. Representing Minnesota in the Senate was the greatest job Ill ever have, and I miss it more than you know.
Ive also spent a lot of time over this past year thinking about the broader conversation weve been having about the experience of women in this country. I know that, for so many people, this issue raises a lot of powerful and painful feelings. This conversation can also be incredibly complicated. I dont think its my place to weigh in on all the debates but I will continue to listen and learn.
What I will say, though, is that, after a year of reflection, Im finding it a lot easier to be grateful this Thanksgiving. Grateful for having had the chance to help make a difference on issues I care about. Grateful to all my supporters in Minnesota and across the country who made that journey not just possible, but joyful. Grateful to everyone who has reached out to wish me well and, more importantly, kept carrying forward the fights I was proud to lead as a Senator.
And, most of all, grateful to Franni, who continues to be a rock, and to the family and friends who have always been there for me in good times and in less-good times.
As we gather around the table this year, we have a lot to celebrate, including a whole bunch of thrilling Democratic victories. But we also have a whole lot to worry about when it comes to our country. For me, and for so many of you, politics has always been about the improvement of peoples lives, just like Paul Wellstone said. And theres so much more work left to do. I still miss being in the fight every day, and while Im certainly not running for anything, I hope that, in the next year, Ill have the chance to help make a difference again.
For a lot of Americans, this Thanksgiving comes during a time of real struggle. Men and women serving abroad are eating their turkey off trays at bases a world away from their families. Out in California, many victims of the horrible wildfires have no home in which to gather. And for some families, there will be an empty seat at the table.
So I know this isnt a happy holiday season for everyone. But regardless of whether this past year has brought you joy or pain, I hope youll be able to take a moment this Thanksgiving to tell the people around you that you love them and give thanks for the good things in life. Franni and I wish you all the best.
With an attitude of gratitude,
Al
hlthe2b
(101,534 posts)Thanks for posting.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)He was a prime target. A major obstacle that had to be suppressed at any cost. The woman who agreed to bring him down is in the same league as Lindy Tripp. A black hearted women who betrayed her unsuspecting young friend Monica Lewinsky. She will never live down a betrayal that is as evil as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. How many pieces of silver did the last bought and paid for betrayal cost the Republicans?
DemocracyMouse
(2,275 posts)We dont teach media and arts literacy in this media-saturated country. We are fat like the Christmas goose with music, film, fashion, video games, household product designs, etc. Yet we dont know how to understand or discuss any of it. We just grunt our likes and our dislikes and we zero in on whether we relate to the personalities involved. Theres little analysis of the form or content because we lack the linguistic tools. As students we rarely rehearsed the behavior of critiquing art, design and media.* (*see embodied cognition).
THEREFORE we are unable to see the difference between Trump ACTUALLY cheating on his wife just after his youngest son was born (and paying hush money to silence the story) and Al Franken MOCKING what soldiers might think about during a comedy tour. Trump actually transgressed. He scared one under-age girl from taking him to court. Al Franken was doing VAUDEVILLE when that photo was taken. The woman he was performing with had been literally slapping the ass of one of the musicians on stage. She grabbed another with her legs. Her actions were even caught on video. Again, Vaudeville. Its all satire, which in point of fact is a light-hearted CRITIQUE of the acts being performed.
Had Ameirica actually had an education system run by teachers instead of overpaid, profit-focused administrators, it would have never fallen for Roger Stones tricks. (He urged the co-vaudevillian to pull out that old snapshot and pretend it wasnt satire).
Maybe Mueller will expose these truths when he investigates Roger Stone. But the US public, Gillibrand, et al, should have seen the obvious: theres a difference between satire and the real thing. Even Frankens friendly squeezes during a photo op would be neutralized if schools still taught waltzing and other dance forms. Touching, even squeezing, a persons waist or shoulders during a photo shoot is a wholesome expression of group affection. Some cultures, like Frankens old-school yiddish theater culture, are more affectionate in these rituals than others. But even WASPS get touchy-feely on occasion. What have we become? Isolated pods sealed off in cubicles with nothing but simulated reality to impart a sense of humanity? Good grief, as Charle Brown used to say,
We have truly become the nation Mike Judge portrayed in his film Idiocracy. I recommend it as a delightful and edifying Thanksgiving entertainment.
Peace.
Remember the Native Americans.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)Republicans can be vindictive at best. She is of the same caliber as Linda Tripp. The media weighs everything on how will this affect my advertisers. It is all ways about the damn buck.
DemocracyMouse
(2,275 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)Zoonart
(11,704 posts)MIss Al so much. He would have made a brilliant President.
James48
(4,410 posts)I wish hed run.
marble falls
(56,029 posts)Zoonart
(11,704 posts)Trumpocalypse
(6,143 posts)And get some executive experience.
marble falls
(56,029 posts)fierywoman
(7,629 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)I love Al Franken - he was MY Senator.
I just can't get over what a travesty it is that he was railroaded out of the Senate. I will never forgive that.
a kennedy
(29,406 posts)calimary
(80,521 posts)Add me to the list of those who wish hed run again.
I still feel so bad about what happened to him. He WAS railroaded. And by Roger Stone (and an equally pathetic shabby excuse for a knuckle-dragger radio station desperate for Something/Anything to get attention and praying for rescue from their permanent spot in the ratings basement) no less.
He was a good man, whose random crazy comedy stunt was twisted so it could be re-used to screw him.
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)He must have been perceived as a huge threat given how quickly he was forced out.
Al Franken is the only candidate, outside my local candidates, I supported with contributions.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)Response to Guilded Lilly (Original post)
Post removed
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... he asked for an investigation, he deserved to have due process... but he saw the "torches and pitchforks" coming after him and he probably knew that battling for due process would damage the Democratic party worse than just "taking a hit for the team" and allowing others to bully him out of office.
We need his voice NOW more than ever. I hope he'll return to politics soon.
Trumpocalypse
(6,143 posts)would only determine if he had violated congressional ethics rules. It is not a finding of guilt or innocence. I really wish people would stop using this inaccurate talking point in regard to Franken.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Response to NurseJackie (Reply #18)
Post removed
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)dsc
(52,117 posts)the ethics violation he was accused of was having harassed women. Now, I will say no hearing would have been totally dispositive in all likelihood but we could have seen the evidence and made our own determination.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)marble falls
(56,029 posts)pazzyanne
(6,500 posts)I hope that, in the next year, Ill have the chance to help make a difference again."
Sounds to me like he is planning to run again. I hope!
marble falls
(56,029 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,053 posts)He'd make a great Press Secretary.
Buckeyeblue
(5,489 posts)I think there will definitely be a role for Al in the next Democratic President's cabinet, if he is interested. He may want to stay a private citizen at this point. It gives him greater freedom to express himself.
I also think that he could/should host a show. He is so funny and smart, I think he could provide excellent insight into the coming presidential election.
If I was Netflix I would sign him up and tell him to create a show about anything he wants.
karin_sj
(799 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,144 posts)I don't think he was prepared for the piling on by his fellow Ds whom he had great respect for. Their cold blooded denial of even an ethics review before publicly shaming him into resigning hurt him and I think that's the main reason he is hesitant to even attempt to re-start any process involving going back to the D leadership with cap in hand, and asking if he could run under their banner again.
Until Gillibrand and others publicly admit they made a hasty mistake, and apologize to him I don't think he will ever run again as a Democrat. And I don't see any indication that those responsible are humble or contrite enough to do that.
Perhaps he could run as an Independent in a district that is held by Republicans. That way he wouldn't be threatening a D seat. I think he could get a few votes even from R's and I's that might not want to vote Democratic, and are sympathetic to him. Once elected, work WITH Democrats, without an official membership, like Sanders. Maybe that would be sufficient face-saving for Gillibrand to swallow.
Jakes Progress
(11,121 posts)I've never been as ashamed of the Democratic party as I was then.
I'm with you on the need for public apology and admitting to being duped. Just like Biden can't consider running without offering apology to Anita Hill and admitting he was so terribly wrong, those that piled on the Franken-busting wagon shouldn't expect to move up without the press calling them out. I like to think they are decent enough people to feel gut-wrenchingly guilt about their actions.
The Wizard
(12,467 posts)railroaded by Roger Stone and buried by a spineless Democratic leadership.
Trumpocalypse
(6,143 posts)But saying he was a great Senator is a bit of an overreach. He was a good progressive Senator but other than getting Sessions to recuse himself Franken really didn't have that many accomplishments.
PatrickforO
(14,479 posts)You didn't see it, because he didn't beat his chest about it. But he really helped some of his people.
Now, as to greatness - I'd have to say that rests in potential in Franken's case. But his post today - that was great. You'd NEVER hear something like that from Trump, would you? Or Louis Gohmert. Or any number of disgusting personages.
Franken could have been a great US Senator, but alas...
zentrum
(9,865 posts)We really need you.
MrGrieves
(315 posts)I am from MN. I miss him. He is a wonderful person. I got a chance to meet him and snap a picture of him last year at the Vikings game in DC. As a MN resident my senator was taken from me.
[link:|
mountain grammy
(26,553 posts)karin_sj
(799 posts)It's a huge loss for the Senate. And yet, look at some of the Republicans elected in the last primary: a dead brothel owner and two indicted congressmen. The hypocrisy is beyond stunning.
Bleacher Creature
(11,230 posts)Either that or she can find a job for him in her cabinet.
LakeArenal
(28,673 posts)BlueInRedHell
(100 posts)riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Klobuchar for Attorney General, Franken can have her seat.
ThingsGottaChange
(1,200 posts)gademocrat7
(10,615 posts)His absence is missed.
Greybnk48
(10,144 posts)You'd win in a landslide!
LakeArenal
(28,673 posts) Cept to say: WE WAS ROBBED
And I for one wont get passed that list of Senators until each one makes some statement, gesture or appointment in the direction of personal responsibility for the Franken Railroad.
Fuzzpope
(602 posts)He was formidable.
: (
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,480 posts)And, a healthy and prosperous future to you, your family and friends.
May we be blessed by your presence in the public sphere for many, many years....
LAS14
(13,741 posts)PatrickforO
(14,479 posts)This post, I think, shows his character.
As a US Senator, he was kind, compassionate, and really cared about his constituents. In addition, he took the time to find out about issues so he could vote intelligently. Lastly, he was, and still is, actually, a mighty voice for Democratic values - that same compassion, empathy, caring, intelligence, and thoughtfulness.
Used to be those were American values, you know. But I ain't seeing it from about a third of the population - the kluxers, white supremacists, nationalists and various drooling phobes.
DFW
(53,930 posts)If all goes well, I will have a concrete word in late January if not sooner, though whether or not it will be "on the record," I don't know. We have all seen what a haphazard smear campaign made up out of thin air can do if timed right and blessed (if you can call it that) with a little luck and some shamefully spineless behavior by some of our (otherwise-) best Senators.
My ideal solution would be for his stand-in, Tina Smith, to resign, and for the Governor of Minnesota to appoint Al for the rest of "her (really his)" term (or until the next special election, whatever the Minnesota State Constitution mandates). I will pass on the universal-but-one good wishes from this board, anyway.
BootinUp
(46,852 posts)oasis
(49,108 posts)Eric J in MN
(35,619 posts)I liked his show on Air America.
There is no more Air America network, but some of the liberal talk radio stations which used to play Air America content still exist, including the one in MN.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)As usual.
Cha
(295,530 posts)Very Inspiring and Encouraging!
Niagara
(7,245 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,368 posts)Trading Places and The History of Comedy. It made me so sad, then really pissed fucked off. I sure as Hell hope he runs again!