Anyone agree with me that Franken's shows......

[dennis4868]

since the election has really sucked...they are boring with no passion. Franken also does not think there was any voter fraud in last Tuesday's election. It just seems that the air has been taken out of his show and he has nothing left in the tank. The show is a real bore right now.

Anyone agree with me?

[DireStrike]

I never liked Franken.

He has the perfect voice for radio. /sarcasm

He should be a writer or something... I dunno how you would work that on talk radio though.

[Mojambo]

1. I disagree

His interview with Tom Oliphant today was quite good.

He disagrees about the voter fraud. I'm disappointed, but it hasn't affected my enjoyment of his show in the least.

[dennis4868]

8. I agree.....

that his interview with Oliphant was quite good and interesting....Oliphant has an interesting take on Kerry since he has known him for so long. That was the first good interview since the election....with regards to voter fraud....i dont think there is slam dunk evidence of it but only circumstantial evidence at this point. But I do believe without a doubt that there was voter fraud because I do not trust the thugs in the WH and their ability to get whatever they want, whenever they want it. I would not trust them with a nickle or dime...they are skunks and I am sure they cheated to win the election...I only hope we can find bullet proof evidence of it.

[GDoyle]

2. No

No more so than any other Democrats air was taken out. Al does a great service for us. I like his show.

GDoyle

[RyomaSakamoto]

3. he was planning on everything going back to normal after the election

welcome to the new normal :scared:

[alittlelark]

4. to be polite about it.... THEY SUCK!!!

I can't pretend he is funny anymore.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. Rhodes, Schultz, and Malloy are much better!!!

[autorank]

16. Agree and Schultz is a real trip. Our entre to Redland.

Corporate America controls the media and we get manufactured news.
Corporate America now controls the voting machines and we get manufactured elections.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[Daisey Mae]

30. Agree

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I thinhk he is beuing very carefull

and trying to line all duckes in a single row before commiting

He is on ALL markets, so I can understand this to a point

Also ... and this is going to sound crazy, you raelize how many people outside of DU really are having a problem admiting fraud may have hapepend?

For that matter many here doubt this, defense mechanism IMHO

It will take something the size of Watergate for some to make the leap... so give hiim some time, today he was a little better about it, and by the way Shultz is having teh same problem

[LittleClarkie]

15. Most of the Kerry supporters in my neighborhood

that I have asked think he did the right thing in conceeding. Even the few who believe in the fraud don't think he had much choice, as the BBV didn't leave much hard evidence. You can't take circumstantial into a courtroom. They're just depressed mostly.

Most aren't giving him flak. I hear that Madison is a different story though.

[mountainvue]

7. Yup. n/t

[NJ_Lib]

11. I can deal with Al not committing to fraud yet but,,,

Did he have to say: "I don't believe it happened"... I thought that statement was a bit premature... He must be hanging out with Kerry...

[mountainvue]

20. Did he come right out and say it?

I am having a hard time listening to his whole show.

[Cleita]

9. Franken is our conservative. It's the Jewish in him.

I appreciate his caution in making sure of the facts before he commits. It's a balance to Randi's passion. They both are necessary, because basically they know something isn't right, like the rest of us.

[dennis4868]

12. It's the Jewish in him?

what does that mean? I am jewish and could not be more liberal!

[Cleita]

24. And neither could Franken be more liberal but

I think the OyOyOY show says a lot about the side of him that feels caution keeps the fall from falling.

[Maat]

10. I agree ... reluctantly.

Maybe he will get his fire back later. I think he kinda' gave up his life (and the many other ways to make money) and dedicated himself to getting Bush out of office (over a year ago).

I share the mourning with him. And we DUers as a group sympathize. Perhaps we should all give each other a bit of time.

But when he has Mark Luther (the Dittohead) on, or one of his other Rethuglican friends, I turn it off. We are way past polite debate here... those f*ckers are playing with my future and laughing about it. I'm not in the mood to listen to sadistic, twisted self-loathing Rethugs.

Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy, along with the Rachel in the morning are what I want to listen to.

[dennis4868]

14. I agree.....

I feel like I lost a close relative last Tuesday night...I feel dead and beaten and the fuckers in the red states have truly fucked up this country big time....they have allowed a man who lied us into war and not plan for post invasion to continue his criminal conduct for another 4 years.....everything has been taken out of me.....therefore, I dont need to listen toa ditto head on a liberal radio show!

[LittleClarkie]

17. I sure cried like I'd lost a relative

I'm still prone to the occasional breakdown. You know, the way you will proceed with your life, and then have it hit you anew. I've had to make one or two mad dashes for the ladies room in public places.

[dennis4868]

22. I know what you mean....

it's like I will not allow myself to be happy....if I begin to get ina good mood I start thinking about Bush and another 4 years of his high crimes and misdemeanors and then there goes the happiness! I am in a rut right now and not sure how to get out of it....I was so sure that the american people would not take anymore of Bush and his thugs....that we as a people would stand up and say it is our time and we want our democracy back and have a government for, by, and of the people!

[LittleClarkie]

29. Tell me about it

I was going around yelling "Landslide" for Pete's sake. I look like quite the shmuck right now.

[NJ_Lib]

38. LittleClarkie, not to us you don't, it WAS a LANDSLIDE! n/t

[Lostnote03]

13. Franken will be running for office.....n/t

[mitchum]

18. Yep!

[laheina]

19. I dunno; I can't really see him in the Senate.

[hlthe2b]

21. He is totally restrained..terrified of being "painted" as a conspiratist.

I always knew he was cautious and that's fine, guess, but yes, I think he's just going through the motions.

He made me so mad today i was spitting nails--spent more than an hour crafting an email to him to try to constructively let him know why his dismissal of vote irregularity investigations and discounting out-of-hand, those who are so troubled, they are thinking expatriation is their only course--is so WRONG. Ironically my computer locked up and I never was able to send it... He cut off the guy who felt Canada was his only option basically by telling him to "buck up." He was rude to Mark Crisipin Miller, today, I believe because Mark will not discount fraud as a possibility.

I'm afraid it only goes to show that he is as out-of-touch as the DNC/DLC leadership.

Part of me died November 2-- a piece I kept alive for four years solely on hope and my very best efforts to effect a democratic election. I won't ever be the same and I dont think many others will, as well. I'm sad that Franken can't see the value in focusing our pain and anger towards investigating voting problems and inconsistencies--even if he remains convinced there was no intentional fraud. But, he is visibly annoyed that he has to address it at all, and is extremely patronizing towards us, IMO.

Small wonder we feel so abandoned. With the exception of fellow DUers, we largely have been.

[dennis4868]

23. well said my friend

[Maat]

25. Hang in there, Gang!

First, we do not have to move to the Center to Save the Party.

Second, we need to stand by our principles.

Third, we need to move on with our lives. You will find out that the idiots that will get hurt the most are those that voted for *.

Fourth .... thanks for being DUers and understanding, and for tolerating my rants.

I know how you feel.

[RyomaSakamoto]

28. he doesn't want to accept how bad it is

who can blame him but he has to take a STAND or his show is just another parade for the masses... i thought he expected more :shrug:

[Kipepeo]

43. sad, this:

"Small wonder we feel so abandoned. With the exception of fellow DUers, we largely have been."

True, but I would add that my friends and co-workers outside of DU feel the same way. It's just the Democratic leadership (funny, that word 'leadership') that seems to be quiet.

[NightTrain]

26. As a 17-year radio veteran, I can tell you that...

...all radio personalities--particularly those with talk shows--go through periods of creative burn-out. Could be Franken is simply going through one of those periods now. With any luck, he'll pull out of it soon.

[napi21]

31. I'm sure you're right about burnout, and I still enjoy his guests.

Does he do some dumb things, sure, but don't they all?

As to Randi, I feel the same. Sometines I enjoy listening to her, and sometimes I don't. I prefer Ed Schultz, and when I'm home, he's the one I have streaming.

[RyomaSakamoto]

34. it's tough being 'ON' for 3 hours a day 5 days a week

with all the BS thats goin on... i know i couldn't do it.

but he needs to prepare for the marathon and realize he's already cast his lot and now is not the time to imitate another hip NPR.

though i am still very glad we have such a brilliant, funny guy on our side.

[Daisey Mae]

27. I love Frankin for all he has done for our cause BUT

you are right that He has an empty tank when it comes to seeing the truth.... HE WOULD LIKE TO run for Senator from Minnesota to replace Coleman and bring back Wellstone's seat to our side where it belongs... HOWEVER THIS IS NO TIME TO BACK OFF THE EVIDENT TRUTH THAT OUR DEMOCRACY IS IN GRAVE DANGER if the Ass h-oles get away with this.... The Fascists have taken over and become the United States of Corporations and Rich White men. No rich white Gays need apply.....Everyone will have the Bush brand of Jesus crammed down our throats while they do away with education for anyone rxcept rich white men....The FACT the EARTH IS FLAT WILL BE TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS AS WELL AS CREATINISM....and there is no global warming..... and Jesus only talks to the Bush Family therefore they will be crowned King of JESUS LAND which will become the new name for our country.... Our new Motto is GOD - GUNS-AND KILLING.......Welcome to the New Christian Taliban.....We are the TERRORISTS

Al is in shock and is refusing to see this tragic picture .... I Hope that HE comes around.......

[NJ_Lib]

35. I hope that's shock I'm sensing in Al and not

the transition from one of "us" commoners, to one of "them" fatcats... In training for Senate?

[Fleurs du Mal]

32. No two ways about it...

if you saw him watch the concession speech, you know his heart is broken. He'll come out of it.

[Zinfandel]

33. Malloy would be controversial and kick ass in that gravy time slot.

The national press would be blown away at Malloy's numbers in that time slot vs. the pigman Limbaugh!

Malloy could compete against anyone in any time slot...Frankens dry, boring delivery and his left side of moderate approach, has ALWAYS tunned me off...that stupid shit when he talks to his dittohead friend.

I would NEVER EVER have a dittohead friend, I dropped those arrogant, blind, selfish bastards years ago.

[NJ_Lib]

37. We're still very grateful for everything Al has done

to further our cause and fight the good fight but there does come a time when you must take a stand and rock the boat...

It's OK if he doesn't want to climb on board yet, to each their own breaking point, but does he have to sound so shocked and appalled by the mere mention of the f word? I almost feel like I'm speaking to one of "them" when the issue comes up... But I'm cutting him some slack... We're all off our rockers right now...

[LTR]

41. Malloy is better at night

Some shows just seem to fit their time slots better than others. Malloy is the type of host that sounds pretty cool at night Daytime is a completely different thing.

[LaPera]

44. Malloy was great on i.e. America in the afternoon (Pacific Coast).

He could relate and kick ass in ANY time slot, the dude is a radio pro.

You don't think Malloy would whip ass on the pigman? Get real!

[bobbieinok]

47. I think Malloy really WANTS nite slot

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

36. I'm sticking with Al

I feel sorry for him. We mostly get to mope in private while he's gotta put it out there day after day.

The harder you work, the bigger the blow when you fail. Al did much more than just his show during the run-up to the elections. He campaigned for a lot of Dems, did benefits, guested on other programs, and rallied the troops as much as he could.

Franken is being cautious about voter fraud. He is at the moderate end of AAR's spectrum, and I appreciate his caution and moderation because when he takes the side of an issue, I can be reasonably sure what he's saying is factual. I have heard misleading information and complete falsehoods from others on AAR (not regarding vote fraud) so, unfortunately, I must take everything they say with a huge grain of salt.

Al's in a funk but he's okay by me. I was more disappointed hearing Malloy say last night that he would get behind Nader, than by anything Franken's said.

[Sparkle]

39. I've been listening to more AAR since the election. No more cable news

(except Keith Olbermann.) What is this "oy" crap? I don't think that's funny at all.

[LTR]

40. On the other hand, Ed Schultz has been doing some great shows lately

His shows in the aftermath of the election were excellent. Very informative, and he really connected with the listeners and callers.

I like that he's picked up by many AAR affiliates. I always felt that liberal talk has the best chance to succeed when stations pick up the best that the format has to offer, rather than just go down the line of nothing but AAR. The mix of AAR and Jones (Ed's syndicator) shows creates a liberal talk dream team, so to speak. Now, if these stations could find a way of fitting in underrated talents like Thom Hartmann and Peter Werbe, that would be a great lineup. Perhaps if Franken throws in the towel, AAR could snag Hartmann for the time slot he's already doing. Hartmann does have fairly wide appeal, and is a very intelligent and interesting host.

[azstefano]

42. Franken remains best on AAR

I'll agree that the wind was knocked out of him (and me), the rest of that depressing week. But Franken has made a point of being a meticulous fact checker: it's a sub-theme of his show. It's why his show is my mandatory listening. Fact checking is not for everybody, but I'm guessing it's the preferred mode for a "reality-based" DU community.

He has a very good point that we have to be correct about the precinct irregularities; for instance, the Cuyahoga county folks are saying that their "votes more than registered voters" is due to absentee and provisional votes. We should require proof that this is true, and why, but this is an example of an apparent impossibility with a (questionable) chance of being plausible.

The stats from FLA disturb me, and I think our Texas despot and crew belong behind prison bars, but we need to be right about the miscounts, with the understanding that the Electors meet in December.

If Franken jumps to conclusions and then is proven wrong, it risks making AAR seem like the polar opposite of Right-wing hate radio. AAR is better than that: it is above the shouting match.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't protest despotic government, and demand accountability.

Stefano

[LaPera]

46. Obviously you haven't listened to Malloy.

[azstefano]

50. I'll agree AAR has diverse talent

I shouldn't have claimed "Franken rules." And I don't listen to Al just for his fact checking: I like his sense of humor and the guests he brings to AAR. While I have listened to Malloy, he's usually not on when I can tune in - I remember he did impress me. Ed Schultz is not my style: he's more phone-in oriented than guest-oriented. I do like Flanders on the weekends.

The point I wanted to make was not "Franken's the best," but that I agree with him that we need more evidence in the voting irregularities. The original post was criticizing him for discounting fraud, but I remember him saying he'd follow the story. I think it's probable there was fraud - maybe enough to turn the electoral or even the popular vote (see Florida's stats on ustogether.org), which means we should be vigorously pursuing Bev's FOIA requests and talking to our County Recorder for precinct tallies.

But no evidence public on the web so far turns the election. Stats which seem clear can have counterintuitive factors. At this stage we need to be communicating with our county officials (or higher if they're uncooperative) to gather evidence. I want to see Rove before a Grand Jury, but we don't want to make fools of ourselves in the process.

stefano

[Liberal In Texas]

45. Al

He's (Al) has disappointed me. He should be as MAD AS HELL AND CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!
`
FIGHT! Damn it, fight.

[Must_B_Free]

48. Oliphant was wonderful today

Franken is great. He might need to try some new crazy stuff...

[Cat Atomic]

49. Not at all. Franken's show is still my favorite on AAR.

I also like Pacifica and... yeah, NPR. Malloy isn't bad, but I can only take both him and Randi Rhodes and small doses. There's something to be said for restraint and caution. Hasn't Randi Rhodes been going on about the Florida counties? The ones that went for Bush in 2000, and really shouldn't be part of the vote fraud argument anyway?

Correct me if I'm wrong- I'm not positive that she's been using that point or not.

[jmatthan]

51. I am glad I have a great alternative during the Franken time slot

I listen to a more well-informed, and as Randi herself has said, one of the greatest of Talk Show hosts - Thom Hartmann.

Al Franken is a great comedian but not a Talk Show host.

If it was not for the experienced radio personality, Katheleen, the show would be catastrophic. Unfortunately, she has to laugh loudly at her boss's jokes, which sounds lousy in a radio talk show.

Unless I know there is someone special coming up on Al Franken's show, I do not listen to him. (Really professional talk show hosts Mike Webb and Bernie Ward are on during his replay time!!)

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland