Biden: Al Franken Is A “Leading Legal Scholar”

compared to practically anyone else in the Senate, Al Franken takes his job seriously enough to actually study the law. Still, Joe Biden needs to turn it down a notch or two.

than some people who have law degrees (e.g., Michele Bachmann). He graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in political science, and was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, so he's pretty well-versed in at least the aspects of the law that relate to politics and government. He's not a prominent legal scholar like, say, Lawrence Tribe, but he knows his stuff.

I am very glad we have Al Franken in the Senate.

"He's probably far more knowledgeable that many doctors as well with that degree..."


In regards to the law, most certainly.

It is not synonymous with being a lawyer. I think that Al Franken is indeed a legal scholar, but not a lawyer.

But then, not all law school graduates become lawyers. Different words, different meanings.

Al Franken is a legal scholar. He is studying the law in order to perform his tasks as a member of the Judiciary Committee. Listen to some of his participation in committee sessions and you will agree that Franken is a legal scholar -- one who is studying the law.

She is quite a sell-out especially to Indian business interests.

And no thanks to Obama/Clinton, but good luck on that.

I think he's a very capable public servant and was a good choice for VP. But he does have his faults.

especially for someone who's been at the higher-levels of Washington as long as he has and hasn't used his insider status to greatly enrich himself.

Since being placed on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Franken has been reading and studying the law and is, therefore, quite accurately described as a legal scholar.

The term legal scholar is not the same as the term lawyer. In fact some law school graduates might call themselves legal scholars but did not pass a bar exam and therefore are not lawyers.

Franken is far more intelligent and educated than most people realize and Biden's comments were appropriate, as well as humorous.

All politicians do it from time to time of course.

Did not know that...yikes.

Just raises my respect level for the VP.

He's left off Florida!!???

And he's also left off the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Just sayin'.

I have to watch again to see if he gets to the UP.

is hanging on down there, too.

would that we had about 50 to 60 of him...

I will stand with Biden and Turley should post a link to his original source so we can see the context. I'm tired of the Biden out of control poo.

Of course, not everyone is.

Being a "legal scholar" in my book would mean being one who is studying the law. It is not synonymous with being a lawyer. To the contrary, a law student would qualify as a legal scholar as did my ancestor who "read law" in the local courthouse just for fun.

Biden was probably gently joking as he is inclined to do, but he did not misstate any facts.

It is very apparent that as a member of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, Al Franken has taken his obligation to study the law, to be a legal scholar, quite seriously. Any intelligent person who has a good staff can become a legal scholar.

IIRC Lincoln was self-educated. We get too hung up on degrees and certificates, we believe they convey competence, a fiction that any professional can attest to.

. . . a standard meme of the VP's conservative critics.

It's always interesting to me how folks have to go to conservative sources for their material when dumping on this Democratic administration. Turley should know better. You? I think you should stuff your phony concern.

His "people in stock photos for Al Franken" is about the best fund raising hook I've ever seen.

You must be watching some kind of different TVEE then I. Maybe you can elaborate?

Also, why are you dissing two of our best?

Seems strange...but whatever.

As "Amtrak Baggage Handler #1" in the movie "Trading Places"

I can't imagine why!!!

I have a law degree. You learn about the powers of the Supreme Court in Constitutional Law and the powers of the different branches.

I took a course called Legislation. It is a course about how to write a valid and enforceable law. Most of the strange laws that Republicans are passing are either unconstitutional on their face, or void for vagueness.

Political science would be much more helpful for a politician. everything I know about Congress and legislatures I learned in high school Government class, and I've forgotten most of it.

Since Al Franken already has a political science degree, he can study the law and learn what he needs to know without going to law school. That said, there are far more Democratic politicians that are lawyers than Republicans. I think a law degree will usually help in understanding the legislative process.

"all the time" (:eyes, I wonder why those of us who like to tell ourselves we are concerned with what matters feel it's okay to jump on Biden for harmless statements.

And I bet he would give Jonathan Turley a run for his money if it came to a contest.

when he's on the Campaign Trail.

Just remember, though. Biden was complicit in giving us "Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court."

Biden seems a "good heart" who get's very misguided and thrown off message at many points in his career. Remember he's Senator from Banking State Delaware...where both Banks and Wall Street Firms and Others can sign up to get their verification. It's a cushy state ...where a Senator can feel they are "doing good for their own" and "look the other way" when things go badly.

He has a very mixed past as charming and clueless at the same time...he may seem.

Who's to say he isn't?!