Wonkette
Everyone has been wondering when Al Franken, the comedian who therefore is not smart but gets to be a Senator anyway, would stop pretending to care about “political issues” already — his 20-year campaign is over! — and just go nuts shouting insane Playboy rape jokes, constantly, in Judiciary Committee meetings. And at yesterday’s Sotomayor hearing he did, technically, tell his First Joke in the Senate, a snoozy little ice-breaker for the nation’s grandmothers about how teevee lawyer Perry Mason was hardly the best lawyer of his time, oh ho ho. Then he asked some serious questions… but it was too late! The world’s “most important governing body” is NO PLACE FOR VERBAL HUMOR, some nut writes in The Hill.
In a piece titled “No Time For Levity,” pundit Armstrong Williams, who seems to think that these confirmation hearings have some sort of important purpose or meaning, roasts the television clown:
Al Franken is in the U.S. Senate, and sadly, he’s borrowing more heavily from his former jobs than establishing a level of decorum more befitting of the post he currently holds.
Apparently, when his turn came around at yesterday’s hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Sen. Franken (D-Minn.) reverted to comedian Franken.
I’m sorry, but I don’t see how comparisons to Perry Mason and quizzes on which case the fictional prosecutor actually won contribute to the proper vetting process the Senate is required to conduct. I like a tension-breaking splash of humor as much as the next person, but a Senate hearing regarding the qualifications of the first Hispanic to be elevated to the SCOTUS is not the place.
[...]
For a brief moment, Franken made fellow Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) look like a sage, and that had to embarrass the Democrats.
No no, wait, it gets better! Savor this one long and good: “The Supreme Court hearings are a time for deep, probing inquiries into the mind of a very capable and even delightful jurist.”
Ha ha ha! It says it right there in his fifth-grade social studies textbook!
GET SERIOUS, JOKE-SLOB. Follow the SERIOUS examples of Chuck Grassley, who constantly cracks jokes about fucking ladies, or Tom Coburn, who thinks it’s funny to impersonate Ricky Ricardo when addressing someone of Puerto Rican descent.
No Time For Levity [The Hill]
So he thinks Jeff Sessions asking Sotomayor why she chose to become a Puerto Rican on the day she was born is befitting the decorum of the hearing?
Who paid Armstrong “opinions for hire” Williams to say that?
If no jokes are allowed in Congress then why are we always told, when someone says something that truly insults 20-50% of the population, “Oh, don’t you have any sense of humor? That was just a joke.” So conservatards, you’ve got some splainin to do.
Are sure pundit is what you meant to call this guy? How about moran, or soon to be jobless wonder?
wait … Armstrong Williams? The guy who was paid off by the Bush administration to spew pro-NCLB propaganda in his columns? I guess I’ll just have to hold off on judging Senator Franken’s demeanor until Jeff Gannon has a chance to weigh in.
Ah yes, Armstrong Williams, Mr. “Pay for Play” himself. He knows the way to get that government money is to write serious objective pieces about just how grand Republican plans are, and his opinions are not influenced by the kickbacks he got, no sir. Graft is serious business my friends.
the u.s. senate is nothing if not a laugh-riot
Armstrong Williams? I wonder paid him to pretend to think for himself this time? The real crime here is this guy gets published by the Hill. His only qualification is he’s a shameless media whore. Was Spencer Pratt unavailable?
Racist jokes would be funnier, though.
Did he even watch Franken’s exchange with La Justicia?! It was a “Six Degrees of Perry Mason” story, not a joke!
Jesus Armstrong! Stop the goddamn blogging, get your ball back on your bike, and start fucking pedaling. You have French people to embarrass, ferchrisakes!
Yes, Armstrong Williams, the pundit of purity who took gubbiment money to shill W Admin policies on CNN (got fired for it) and forked out dough to settle a sexual harassment suit by his male producer is arguing about decorum?
Perry Mason jokes? I was under the impression that he was going to revive his “brain tumor comedian” routine. I think that would be more fitting.
The clown amuses…
“apparently”? Did he not watch it himself?
Also, it was SO OBVIOUS what Al was doing. When the 15 Senators that went before him asked the exact same question, changing it up so obviously just highlighted what asshats they all are. I thought it was kind of brilliant.
@All
Jinx. Just goes to show that people who shill in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Armstrong Williams is just Alan Keyes with better meds.
I have three words for anyone that thinks that the Hallowed Halls of our Senate have never been the setting for a joke :
Larry. Fucking. Craig.
You’re welcome.
Do you know that you’ve got a Senator in your ear?
Al: What?
Do you know that you’ve got a Senator in your ear?
Al: Whaaaat?
I said, Do you know that you’ve got a Senator in your ear?
Al: I’m sorry, I can’t hear you, I’ve got a Senator in my ear!
I’m sorry, but I don’t see how comparisons to Perry Mason and quizzes on which case the fictional prosecutor actually won contribute to the proper vetting process the Senate is required to conduct.
“That time could more properly be spent reading anonymous second-hand complaints about Sotomayor and urging her to use the hearings as a time of self-reflection. Also: WISE LATINA.”
True Story
Years ago when Al Franken was promoting his book Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot he came to our campus and I went to see him. Hell, it was free. Al talked for an hour and then autographed books. I bought a copy and asked him to sign it “I owe you $11.95, Al Franken”. He looked at me and asked “Why $11.95?” I told him that’s how much the book cost. He didn’t crack smile and signed it for me as I requested. As I walked away, I remember mumbling to myself “no sense of humor.”
Oh, and I did not know that Al Frankin had teh ginger when he was young. Live and learn.
Armstrong Williams doesn’t find anything humorous. It goes back to the day when Rush Limbaugh, dressed in a clown suit, killed, barbecued and ate Armstrong’s little sister.
Evidently, stupidity is okay though.
So Jeff Sessions is safe.
“I like a tension-breaking splash of
humor16-year-old single-malt Scotch as much as the next person”/Corrected
Al Franken mouth-raped Trig Palin.
Ees okay, Ricky wass Cuban!
That’s not ethnicity transcendence, Armstrong Williams!
See, this is how a jewboy breaks the ice. If Mike “Chicken ‘n Tater Salad” Steele had been on the bench, he’d have been asking about menudo y cuajitos en salsa and how it compares to belly and chittlin’.
I don’t see PuertoRicanJew Geraldo “Juan Epstein” Rivera going apeshit yet, and he’s got skin in both games (except his foreskin, bubbeh).
Geez, was today Bring Your Dickbag to Work Day on the Hill? I mean, first Mike Clauser, then this assclown. Seriously, people, take the sticks out of your asses or, failing that, use softer wood next time.
Monsieur Grumpe: He passed me on the street one day. He seemed farty then as well.
David Vitter being diapered by Della Street, now that would be levity.
magic titty:
I think he gets funny if you give him money.
The market has decided what Armstrong Williams’ opinions are.
Wow, Stretch Armstrong must have lost his sense of humor when he lost his amazing elasticity.
Sarah Palin was busy today, so it fell to Armstrong Williams to manufacture pointless outrage over nothing. It’s a comeback, of sorts.
The GOP desperation continues, almost down to the electron microscope level.
A) “Armstrong” Williams (did he get his first and last names confused?) was waiting to pounce on Al Franken from the get-go. This is his big moment! Wow, your “how dare you crack wise, funny-boy” schtick is so delightfully insightful.
and B) I like a tension-breaking splash of humor as much as the next person, but a Senate hearing regarding the qualifications of the first Hispanic to be elevated to the SCOTUS is not the place.
No, the Senate hearing regarding the qualifications of the first Hispanic to be elevated to the SCOTUS is obviously the place to break out the vilification, snide remarks, and smear tactics one keeps for such occasions. Not humour. Never humour. Bad clown!
It’s time Franken participated in the Senate’s serious, thoughtful traditions - like Seersucker Thursday:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/uploadedImages/News/Washington/Images/Print_A-M/SEERSUCKER.jpg
Note former hobo Norm Coleman on the right. I wonder who paid for that suit? Hmmmmmm?
How dare you all mock Armstrong Williams. He is right, it was a shame of Senator Franken to waste all our time with Perry Mason when he could have asked Sotomayor at least ten more times why she used the code phrase “wise latina” to indicate that she is a commie, lesbian, Muslim dark skin person. Better yet, he could have compared her to right wing brown skin persons and ask why she has to be all uppity and stuff.
“The Supreme Court hearings are a time for deep, probing inquiries into the mind of a very capable and even delightful jurist.”
OR, really, a deep, probing inquiry into the butts of Republican pages, which is what most of the Republicans, esp weird lying tired Lindsay Graham, were dreaming about as they nakedly displayed their craven ignorant racist asses for all the world to see. They think those pages are simply, divine, sweetie!
slappypaddy: That was my thought exactly. We are “governed” by an idiocracy — Franken’s jokes are at least (sorta) funny funny instead of the usual senatorial sad-make-me-want-to-pound-my-head-up-against-a-brick-wall-move-to-Canada-weep-with-frustration funny.
The United States Senate, much like the Internet, is serious business.
It’s Armstrong Williams–who’s a psycho, a moron, and an asshole.
As for humor in Congressional hearings–bring it on! Humor shows intelligence. There’s a lot of humor lacking on the Hill right now.
That goofy Al Franken, he got some ’splainen to do! What an embarrassment to Distinguished White Dudes who are the Gold Standard of Everything.
Is this the same Armstrong Williams who took slush money to hack ‘n flack for the Bushies, or am I mixed up here?
Throwing the nominee a softball about their favorite craft, hobby, grandchild, canned soda beverage is such a time honored tradition…where has this twat been all his life?
Pure Snark, it was meta-comment about all those Republicans asking Sotomayor if she was an umpire or quarterback. I
I hope they pass ObamaCare soon, so Barney Frank can pull that stick out of Armstrong Williams’ ass.
snideinplainsight:
Al: “Senator Sphincter says ‘What?’”
Lindsey: “What?!”
Al: “Hahaha!”
“The world’s “most important governing body” is NO PLACE FOR VERBAL HUMOR…”
However, a pie in the face, or a grown man wearing a diaper while visiting a hooker, are a-ok in the U.S. Senate.
paintitblack: DONT CALL ME SWEETIE!!!!11!!1! PUMAAAAA PROWLLLLL!1!!!
Armstrong Williams.
Armstrong Williams.
His name rings a bell.
Hey Al, Mr. Senator. Better ease up on the alcoholic beverages at lunchtime . They’re showing a bit, just a little bit.
Hey, at least Al didn’t show up in those Pampers again.
pdiddycornchips: My guess is the Heritage Foundation gave “stretch” $20 and an ass-tickle. And, of course, they will continue to pretend to not know that he sleeps in the crawl space above the break room.
I don’t have time to read the thread, but felt obligated to take yet another opportunity to apologize for the dickwad my state sent to the senate. “If my wife is 50 weeks pregnant with ‘tard triplets and a black guy looks scary at her, is it my second amendment right to hunt him down and shoot with one of my fifty five hidden handguns?”
And Williams is a pissant. That’s not french. That’s piss ant which is as okie as Spooky Doctor Tom.
Here’s a hot flash for “journalist” Armsgtrong:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_ex_congressman_girlfriend
i love dustbowlblues.
How the fuck can anyone still talk about the “hallowed halls of Congress” with a straight face? And, Armstrong Williams, no less? He was probably having sweet, sensual sexytime with a Senator while writing this.
That’s right, Dancing, Jewish Clown Al Franken; know your place. Know that you are not “one of them” …and thank Yahweh every. fuckin’. day.
LoweredPeninsula: oops, let me rephrase something. Conservatives don’t have “sweet, sensual” anything, let alone sexytime. How about “aggressive, sadomasochistic sexytime”? His nickname ain’t “Livestrong Armstrong” in these “hallowed halls” for nothing’.
It would be funny if Franken did his Paul Simon (the Senator you fools) impression during the hearings. I’d actually watch this excercise in senate stupidiy if he did that.
somethinstinks: Thank you for remembering that!
Monsieur Grumpe: Um. Was he supposed to laugh at that comment? I don’t even know what it is supposed to mean. You went to this free event but then bought the book and demanded a refund from the author before you even read it? Ever consider that maybe you offended him, both as a comedian AND as an author?
She’s NOT the first hispanic. She’s the first LATINA.
It’s all about the Benjamins…