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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Senator Franken Presents: The Reckoning

Senator Franken Presents: The Reckoning

by Betty Cracker|  November 6, 20164:31 pm| 102 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

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So, as the two posts beneath detail, Director Comey sent out a letter exonerating Hillary Clinton. Again. The letter was 5% “BTW, that email thing was a nothingburger” and 95% FBI knob-polishing. That’s not fucking good enough. The fact is, millions of people voted under the 100% unnecessary cloud Comey farted out nine days ago.

I’m still confident Clinton will win the presidency and the Democrats will retake the senate, but it will be a much narrower victory because the FBI stuck its schnoz in the election in an outrageous and unprecedented way. Senator Franken thinks we should look into that:

Franken wants to hold hearings to look into Comey’s decision to release the letter in the first place. He also wants hearings to examine the “rogue elements” in the FBI who were pursuing bullshit Clinton Foundation investigations based on a right-wing propaganda piece written by a Breitbart editor and feeding that information to Rudy Giuliani and possibly other Trump campaign operatives.

That’s the best news I’ve heard all day, and it came before Comey issued the “all clear” letter. Seriously, this FBI interference in the election is banana republic shit. It cannot go unaddressed. Thank dog Franken is on the case.

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Previous Post: « Breaking News: Director Comey Again Clears Secretary Clinton. Please reset to ScandalCon 5!
Next Post: Today’s News in Cartoon Form »

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    November 6, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    Still seething. And glad to see both CNN and MSNBC have decided that the “news” is to watch both parties now flip-flop on their Comey opinions. BOTH SIDES, YOU GUYS!

  2. 2.

    debbie

    November 6, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    You go, Al!

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    November 6, 2016 at 4:39 pm

    The letter was 10% “BTW, that email thing was a nothingburger” and 95% FBI knob-polishing

    “That’s 105%!”

    ETA: I hope Al drags him.

  4. 4.

    Anonymous At Work

    November 6, 2016 at 4:39 pm

    To all the Democratic Senators at the hearing, the only words I want to hear from you are, “I cede my time to Senator Franken/Warren”. Let’s have a unified 45 minute grilling from one voice. Comey will be able to run out the clock on individual Senators, otherwise.

  5. 5.

    gogol's wife

    November 6, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    How can anyone be watching CNN at this point? I have my head under a blanket.

  6. 6.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    November 6, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    Hillary speaking in Cleveland on MSNBC now.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    November 6, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    @Yutsano: Thank you! I can’t do math when I’m angry. Or ever, really. ?

  8. 8.

    Kay

    November 6, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Anne:

    Saahil Desai ‏@Saahil_Desai 3h3 hours ago
    4,000 people are waiting in line to vote in Cincinnati right now. This is how long the line is.

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    November 6, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    @Betty Cracker: HA! I got to quote the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so all is quite good there.

  10. 10.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    November 6, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    @Kay: Wow. Dog bless the voters that wait hours. It’ll take me 2 minutes on Tuesday. 2 1/2 if I chat with anyone.

  11. 11.

    hovercraft

    November 6, 2016 at 4:54 pm

    Franken wants to hold hearings to look into Comey’s decision to release the letter in the first place. He also wants hearings to examine the “rogue elements” in the FBI who were pursuing bullshit Clinton Foundation investigations based on a right-wing propaganda piece written by a Breitbart editor and feeding that information to Rudy Giuliani and possibly other Trump campaign operatives.

    This should be a priority of the new senate majority.
    The FBI and every other government agency needs to understand that we have policies and traditions of non interference for a reason.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    November 6, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Anne:

    This is early vote so I’m sure it would go a lot quicker on Tuesday because there will be many more polling locations. The “Sunday before” vote has turned into quite the big deal.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    November 6, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @hovercraft: Exactly right. I hope they compel that bileous old fraud Giuliani to appear too. His big mouth could get him in a heap of trouble.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Anne: They crammed all of Cleveland inside MSNBC? Must be very uncomfortable in there.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    @Betty Cracker: @Yutsano: They just want everyone to know just how hard they worked on this.

  16. 16.

    hovercraft

    November 6, 2016 at 5:00 pm

    @gogol’s wife:
    I’m on msnbc, slightly better, but some of us have to report back to you from the front.
    ETA: It’s now time for MTP Daily with Chuck Todd so I may have spoken too soon.

  17. 17.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    Kurt Eichenwald, who has great sources within DOJ and FBI is teasing this:
    https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/795383816642764800

    My reveals of what happened with the FBI investigation will appear in @Newsweek will be posted soon. The truth more pathetic than u imagine.

    This should be interesting.

  18. 18.

    Thornton Hall

    November 6, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    “Unprecedented”

    Apart from Watergate. Are we any closer to realizing that the FBI manipulated the media in service of its own ends?

    Because source vs institutions media is killing democracy.

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    November 6, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    @Kay:
    Excellent!
    I can not wait for Tuesday, I may be the first in line to vote. Damn you NJ for not having early voting.

  20. 20.

    satby

    November 6, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    Good for Al! And here’s hoping we get a majority for him to get the hearing it deserves. Because McConnell will stonewall any attempt at holding Come and his gang responsible.

  21. 21.

    Thornton Hall

    November 6, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: we desperately need to end the practice of treating “well-sourced” as a synonym for “good journalist”.

    99.5% of news happens in public. Sources exist for the sole purpose of selling newspapers.

  22. 22.

    Kay

    November 6, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    @satby:

    Because McConnell will stonewall any attempt at holding Come and his gang responsible.

    That’s part of what disturbs me so much about it- if they succeed in influencing the Senate outcome they’re guaranteeing they’ll never be held accountable.

  23. 23.

    jharp

    November 6, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    Absolutely.

    And start by hauling Rudy Fucking Guiliani’s ass in and asking who the fuck told him Comey was going to release that letter.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    November 6, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The truth more pathetic than u imagine.

    I seriously doubt it is more pathetic than I can imagine.

  25. 25.

    Judge Crater

    November 6, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Yes, let’s investigate how confidential FBI information started coming out of Giuliani’s mouth. He is one detestable, proto-fascist low life whose ass needs to get a ‘hey, it’s Giuliani time’ reaming. And maybe they’ll have time to put Chris Christie’s tits in a wringer too.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    November 6, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Anyone who thinks Trump is going to stop saying at his events that HRC is going to be indicted is fooling themselves.

  27. 27.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    This is why it’s important to win the Senate —> subpoena power.

  28. 28.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    @Thornton Hall: While I don’t disagree with you in almost all cases, I think in this one having good sources within a largely opaque organization is helpful if you’re trying to actually figure out what is going on inside of it.

  29. 29.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’ll update the files.

  30. 30.

    Felonius Monk

    November 6, 2016 at 5:11 pm

    I guess Senator Franken is the only Democrat in the Senate with balls and a brain. Where are the rest of the Dem senators on this issue?

  31. 31.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    Kyle Griffin Verified account ‏@kylegriffin1

    Bruce Springsteen to Join Hillary Clinton and President Obama at Independence Hall Rally in Philadelphia.

    15 replies 231 retweets 415 likes

    He outta play Born in the USA just to troll Cheeto Jesus

  32. 32.

    Jeffro

    November 6, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    @hovercraft:

    This should be a priority of the new senate majority.
    The FBI and every other government agency needs to understand that we have policies and traditions of non interference for a reason.

    Amen! Dem Senators should stick together and drag these klowns just as long and hard as possible…Giuliani, Chaffetz, and every rogue element within the FBI (or anywhere else). Non-interference = one of many norms that needs restoring.

    BTW: heard the news about Comey’s latest “no foul” letter while out canvassing for Clinton late this afternoon with the family. I think it’s safe to say that quite a few families of color and women are fired up, ready to go on Tuesday. The enthusiasm, even amongst occasional voters, is there.

    GOTV!

  33. 33.

    Gindy51

    November 6, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    “Seizing on a report published by the New York Times earlier Sunday, President Barack Obama joked that Donald Trump’s campaign “had so little confidence in his self-control” that they took away his access to Twitter.” TPM article
    Oh man I bet this one really frosts the Orange man’s cupcake…

  34. 34.

    Corner Stone

    November 6, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Pete Williams is saying this latest letter means that the issue of HRC’s private server is “resolved” and there is no further action coming on it.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    November 6, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    @Felonius Monk: I’m on a self-imposed TV media blackout for the sake of my sanity, so for all I know, other Dems are proposing the same thing. A friend sent me the Franken clip — that’s the only reason I know about it.

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    November 6, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    @David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch:

    This is why it’s important to win the Senate —> subpoena power.

    UNLEASH THE SUBPKRAKEN!!!!

    lol

    This, confirming appointments and judges, so many other things…

  37. 37.

    debbie

    November 6, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    @Kay:

    News last night reported 6,500 early-voted in Franklin County on Saturday.

  38. 38.

    Thornton Hall

    November 6, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: This whole mess got started because Comey feared leaks. That’s the reason for the original public exoneration and even more so the follow up letter. So, once in the rabbit hole, I agree better to get as much of the story as possible.

  39. 39.

    hellslittlestangel

    November 6, 2016 at 5:20 pm

    OK, I know it’s too soon, but Franken 2024 has a nice ring to it.

  40. 40.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 6, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    @hellslittlestangel: No chance.

  41. 41.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    King James w/ Hillz (photo)

  42. 42.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    @Corner Stone: You tell me:
    http://www.newsweek.com/what-fbi-found-emails-anthony-weiner-laptop-517652

  43. 43.

    rikyrah

    November 6, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    Al Franken is smart. He has been a better Senator than I thought he would be.

  44. 44.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 6, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    @Thornton Hall: Here tis:
    http://www.newsweek.com/what-fbi-found-emails-anthony-weiner-laptop-517652

  45. 45.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 6, 2016 at 5:26 pm

    @hellslittlestangel: He’d get my vote.

    It’d be another barrier broken: Jewish president. I can’t imagine the Trumpkins not going even more insane in that election.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    November 6, 2016 at 5:26 pm

    @Thornton Hall:

    we desperately need to end the practice of treating “well-sourced” as a synonym for “good journalist”.

    I think it’s a sign of what’s gone wrong with contemporary journalism: they focus way too much on process and not enough on outcome. It applies both to what they’re covering and how they do things themselves. In terms of coverage, they love to focus on the political process over policy questions, which is why they don’t seem to notice or care how awful the Republicans’ policies are. In journalism, they focus exclusively on whether they’re dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s to care about whether they’re paying attention to the most important issues or letting themselves get played by sources with axes to grind.

  47. 47.

    Mike J

    November 6, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    @David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch:

    He outta play Born in the USA just to troll Cheeto Jesus

    Nah, he actually knows what it’s about.

  48. 48.

    liberal

    November 6, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    @David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch: Yeah, though, let’s pray they used it. They certainly didn’t use it to investigate the Iraq shenanigans.

  49. 49.

    debbie

    November 6, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Just like Clinton turned out to be.

  50. 50.

    albertZ

    November 6, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: If he runs for President, can he play himself on SNL?

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    November 6, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    @Kay: I’d contribute to getting John Husted out of office. This shit of hours of waiting has got to stop. I have voted my entire life in California and never once waited for anything but chit-chat, or traveled more than a mile at most.

  52. 52.

    hellslittlestangel

    November 6, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Are you kidding? That makes Bill Clinton playing the sax look like Mitt Romney singing “Who Let The Dogs Out.”

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    November 6, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s more middle of the road “meh” level of pathetic. There’s nothing in there about why Comey felt forced to take the actions he did. Or did I read the wrong article? That they found nothing new at all was expected, and the duplicates were the most likely finding.

  54. 54.

    Mike in NC

    November 6, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    What happened in Florida in 2000 with the Brothers Bush and their minions was definitely Banana Republic shit.

  55. 55.

    bystander

    November 6, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    I was worried about what to watch Tuesday night. Luckily TCM is featuring a live interview with Norman Lloyd before and after a showing of Saboteur. Lloyd has to be the only living actor from that film except for maybe the little girl Bob Cummings grabs at Otto Kruger’s house.

  56. 56.

    Bobby Thomson

    November 6, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    @Trentrunner: nah, I still think Comey’s a douche.

  57. 57.

    SuzieC

    November 6, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    @bystander: That brings up the issue: how do you all plan to watch Election night coverage? Livestream of Kos or 538 with MSNBC on mute in the background?Other suggestions?

  58. 58.

    MisterForkbeard

    November 6, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    @albertZ: I think only if SNL lets his opponent do the same thing. But I can’t see Tom Cotton doing nearly that well. :)

  59. 59.

    bemused

    November 6, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    @David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch:

    Tonight? Tomorrow?

    Is it true that Trump had Ted Nugent? If so, I will need put on a truss to protect my stomach from laughing?

  60. 60.

    Betty Cracker

    November 6, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    @Mike in NC: True. But the FBI wasn’t a player, as far as I know. It was a corrupt state government. And this time, I think the good guys are gonna win, which makes a difference.

  61. 61.

    Barbara

    November 6, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    @rikyrah: There are few things that are guaranteed in life but I guarantee you that anyone who graduates from Harvard with a math major is seriously smart. Worked with one and she ran rings around most of the rest of us.

  62. 62.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    Watching CNN. Man, Rebecca Berg is gorgeous.

  63. 63.

    piratedan

    November 6, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    the reality that I find most disappointing is that we had a rash of violations of the law before Obama became president and the idea that we should pursue VP Cheney and the folks in the DOJ that sanctioned the torture of terrorists were allowed to walk away because Obama didn’t want to further divide the country and try and restore bipartisanship to the governance of the nation. A previous GOP administration that treated every outside idea s an anathema to its own stated goals and “ideas”.

    So… that was let slide and in their infinite wisdom, the GOP saw this as weakness and instead of mending their ways, we have this shit, where the GOP, in the positions of power that it holds for bipartisan reasons goes out and pisses on that very concept, further weakening our Democracy and making it very hard to trust anyone from the GOP as someone who actually takes the seriousness of governance seriously, much less acknowledge that the Democratic Party and its politicians as something less than American.

    After watching how they treated Obama and how the media handled it as simply politics as usual, I shudder to imagine the shit show that will fall out if the Dems ever actually hold the collective feet of the GOP to the fire. Part of me gleefully wants to watch this take place, but I am also very cognizant about how the media is wired for the GOP and how this might be spun and the effrontery that these asshats get to actually have themselves being portrayed as victims by a very sympathetic media. I wonder if there’s ever any way to make the folks that watch this from home and online to understand how egregiously the GOP has behaved.

  64. 64.

    Bobby Thomson

    November 6, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.

    /hansolo

  65. 65.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    @bemused: No. It was worse than that. He has Nugent, Scott Baio and ……. wait for it…… Joe Piscapo.

    #That70sShow
    #Winners

  66. 66.

    David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch

    November 6, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    I tell ya MSNBC MSGOP is unwatchable during the day time.

    CNN is boring, but they’re still far better amateur losers at MSCLOWNS. Sad!

  67. 67.

    different-church-lady

    November 6, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    @Gindy51: Fish. Barrel. Firearm. All that, all that.

  68. 68.

    rikyrah

    November 6, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @Kay:
    I read this and am disgusted. There is no logical reason for this to be happening.

  69. 69.

    different-church-lady

    November 6, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @Corner Stone: “It’s fine now, Mary, the zombies are all dead…”

  70. 70.

    redshirt

    November 6, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    @SuzieC: This is my first Presidential election without cable, so I’m not sure. I do get CBS/NBC/ABC but I’m not eager to watch any of them.

    Odds are: Here, TPM, Dkos, and general internet. Might spend a good amount of time on Free Republic to savor their sorrow.

  71. 71.

    different-church-lady

    November 6, 2016 at 6:05 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: 2032: Midget President.

  72. 72.

    PPCLI

    November 6, 2016 at 6:05 pm

    @jharp: And please, God, please let Guliani lie about it, so he can get his ass nailed for lying to Congress.
    LOCK HIM UP!!!

  73. 73.

    James E Powell

    November 6, 2016 at 6:08 pm

    @Felonius Monk:

    Where are the rest of the Dem senators on this issue?

    Afraid that the FBI will target and attack them like they did to Hillary Clinton. That’s the whole point of Comey’s July tirade, his October letter. Let everyone know you can destroy them.

  74. 74.

    different-church-lady

    November 6, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    @PPCLI: If he goes to confession afterwards, it’s okay.

  75. 75.

    redshirt

    November 6, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    @different-church-lady: MTV’s Real World: Presidential Election 2032! Starring Xyna!

  76. 76.

    PPCLI

    November 6, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @Felonius Monk: Sheldon Whitehouse produced a righteously outraged commentary on the FBI interference. He is a former US Attorney, and with all respect to Franken’s formidable intelligence, it would be good to have someone immersed in the law and in Justice Department expectations and practices leading this charge.

  77. 77.

    gogol's wife

    November 6, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oh, come on, in this day and age that’s not disqualifying! Trump has opened the door to all kinds of stuff.

  78. 78.

    gogol's wife

    November 6, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    @bystander:

    Definitely going to watch me some Norman Lloyd that night.

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 6, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    @gogol’s wife: That’s the opening salvo. Franken has noted that he has sufficient skeletons that he is disqualified.

  80. 80.

    Eric U.

    November 6, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    I sure hope Comey is asked if he got any official business emails from the RNC server that Bush used

  81. 81.

    bmoak

    November 6, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    So, who do you think Chaffetz will call in first for a hostile grilling in his endless investigations of HRC’s State Department tenure and the Clinton Foundation: Chelsea Clinton or Citizen Obama?

  82. 82.

    Corner Stone

    November 6, 2016 at 6:43 pm

    @bmoak: All of them, Katie!

  83. 83.

    sukabi

    November 6, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    @Gindy51: how long before drumpf has the wait staff get him a stash of burner phones so he can get his twit fix?

  84. 84.

    bemused

    November 6, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    @David ?▶️?Blue Wall?▶️? Koch:

    Ghastly.

  85. 85.

    jenn

    November 6, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    I just read a bit ago that Comey replaced the SAC for NYC’s criminal division (in something that has evidently been planned for some time), but I can’t find the source for it anymore. At any rate, that’s a start.

  86. 86.

    sukabi

    November 6, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: that’s pretty pathetic. So it was PURELY ratfuckery. They KNEW the likelihood of new email was a long shot at best, they just needed an excuse to cry Crooked Hillary.

  87. 87.

    drylake

    November 6, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    What a comment on our polity that we now seem to rely on professional comedians like Franken and Colbert to blaze the trail for truth-telling. While it is true that the brilliant licensed (or unlicensed, for that matter) fool set the precedent, I had always assumed the necessity for such fools was limited to the time of authoritarian monarchs.

  88. 88.

    sukabi

    November 6, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    @bemused: yes, drumpf has cat scratch fever.

    Toward the end of the article mentions rally concert.

  89. 89.

    Percysowner

    November 6, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    @piratedan:

    the reality that I find most disappointing is that we had a rash of violations of the law before Obama became president and the idea that we should pursue VP Cheney and the folks in the DOJ that sanctioned the torture of terrorists were allowed to walk away because Obama didn’t want to further divide the country and try and restore bipartisanship to the governance of the nation. A previous GOP administration that treated every outside idea s an anathema to its own stated goals and “ideas”.

    Honestly, In addition to now wanting to divide the country, Obama had to be aware of the dangers of opening the door to prosecuting members of the Executive Branch for actions taken while in office. At least 40% of the Clinton impeachment was payback for the threat to impeach Nixon which drove Nixon from office. I would not want to be the first black President who would retire with the ability for some Republican Prosecutor to decide that it was allowable to bring charges on decisions made during office.

  90. 90.

    Kathleen

    November 6, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    @Kay: Got tears in my eyes. Wow.

  91. 91.

    Mike in Pasadena

    November 6, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    I think it would be appropriate for Congress to examine all of Comey’s e-mails from June to November 2016.

  92. 92.

    Shana

    November 6, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    @SuzieC: Hubby always switches to Fox to see what the enemy is saying. I’m hoping for lots of sweet schadenfreude.

  93. 93.

    Betty Cracker

    November 6, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    @drylake: To be fair to Franken, he completely left his comedian persona behind and has been a smart, informed and hardworking legislator. It’s true that the mainstream media has so abdicated its role that guys like Colbert and Stewart had to step into the void and play half-assed journalist to speak truth to power. The same cannot be said of Franken. He’s a serious guy and does not fall back on an “I’m just a comedian” excuse.

  94. 94.

    AnotherBruce

    November 6, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    @hovercraft: We have the Hatch act, which is much more than a policy or tradition, it’s the law.

  95. 95.

    Tom Q

    November 6, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    @Betty Cracker: His books were always serious, as well — even while they were making you laugh, they were making plenty of solid points.

  96. 96.

    drylake

    November 6, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    Betty: I think we’re on the same point, just taking slightly different pathways. I meant to say that the fools of old were always highly serious and utterly admirable (as in Lear), but their roles were forced upon them by a despotism that foreclosed other options.

    Brings to mind the NYT in its China reporting yammering on and on about “self-censorship” being the true danger, an important notion that magically disappears off the radar screen once they get back to NY, at least in the institution as a whole, as we have seen this season.

  97. 97.

    Jay Noble

    November 6, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    Anybody notice that it didn’t take “weeks” to figure out there was no there there when they got called out???

  98. 98.

    Tokyokie

    November 6, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    @Thornton Hall:

    @Adam L Silverman: we desperately need to end the practice of treating “well-sourced” as a synonym for “good journalist”.

    99.5% of news happens in public. Sources exist for the sole purpose of selling newspapers.

    No, anonymous sources exist for the purpose of pursuing agendas without the accountability for doing so. Mind you, that often results in newspaper sales, TV viewership, or website clicks. But where journalists are falling down is in respecting the anonymity of the source more than the reliability of the information. When a source knowingly feeds a reporter false information, like the two FBI sources saying Clinton’s indictment was imminent, they should be immediately burned, their anonymity ripped away. This will not result in a precipitous decline in anonymous news sources, but in a falloff of lying anonymous news sources. And I fail to see the downside to that.

  99. 99.

    Tokyokie

    November 6, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    @jharp: My guess is that should Ghouliani be subpoenaed to testify (with the implicit threat of perjury or contempt charges), he will quickly sell out those who fed him the information, because that’s what chickenshits do.

  100. 100.

    J R in WV

    November 6, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    the FBI wasn’t a player, as far as I know. It was a corrupt state government

    And corrupt Supreme Court justices, all Republican-appointed.

  101. 101.

    Tokyokie

    November 6, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think Al has completely left his comedy roots behind. Not that he’s a goofball who belches the national anthem or some such, and as you say, as a senator, he’s hardworking, well informed, and serious as hell. But one of the reasons he’s highly regarded among liberals is his ability to state matters in a way that is illuminating, memorable, and often funny. He brings a professional comedian’s sense of timing to his public statements, although the punch line usually emphasizes his rhetorical point rather than eliciting a laugh. Beats the hell out of right-wing-radio-personalities-turned-pols.

  102. 102.

    Thornton Hall

    November 6, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    @Tokyokie: This is how the confusion survives, because folks like you mount defenses of the press’s vision of itself and where it fails declare, “They are doing it wrong.”

    That is: Press ethics cannot fail, they can only be failed.

    The reality, OTH, is that Watergate was bullshit. It’s just dumb luck that it accidentally turned up the tape recordings. Meanwhile, every good example of source based journalism comes from situations where the government conducted an investigation and then whistleblowers used the press to prevent it from being swept under the rug.

    What good ever came from an anonymous source? As opposed to the leaked results of an investigation.

    Abu Ghraib = military investigation leaked to the press.
    My Lai = Investigation by Ron Ridenhour led to Court Martial of Lt Calley before Sy Hersh got involved.

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