Al Franken wins the Internet

At least, in the category of Emails From Politicians Seeking Contributions.

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Posted as a public service announcement

You're a good man, Senator Franken.

That Al Franken is a pretty smart guy, isn't he?

Remember the email from Sen. Franken that I re-posted yesterday? Remember how he said this, among other things?

The sky is blue. The world is round. Two plus two equals four. These are truths. Here's another one: Net neutrality isn't a government takeover of anything -- in fact, it protects the Internet from a corporate takeover.

And what do we learn in today's news?

Why, that it's perfectly fine if the government takes over the Internet, provided by "the government" we mean "the GOP and their corporate donors!" (Especially when they're afraid of competition!)

IOKIYAR. IOKIYAR. Always and forevermore, IOKIYAR.

(x-posted)

Sen. Al Franken's Latest Email on Net Neutrality

Brendan --

The sky is red. The world is flat. And two plus two equals pancakes.

These statements aren't just false -- they're downright ridiculous. And so is the claim that net neutrality amounts to a government takeover of the Internet.

Let's get this straight: Net neutrality isn't a change -- it's the status quo. It's the way the Internet operates right now: free and open. And it isn't the government that's attempting an Internet "takeover" -- it's the big corporations who want to undermine net neutrality and the Republicans who want to let them.

It's important that everyone we can talk to DOES know the truth -- because this anti-Internet-freedom, pro-corporate-takeover legislation is coming to the Senate.

I'm asking you to make a commitment to standing up for truth, logic, and the free and open Internet by clicking here and taking action to help us get the truth out.

• Forward this email to five friends
• Share what we're doing in this fight on Facebook or Twitter
• Add our campaign as your instant messenger status
• Tell at least three other friends the real story of net neutrality -- no clicking required!

The sky is blue. The world is round. Two plus two equals four. These are truths. Here's another one: Net neutrality isn't a government takeover of anything -- in fact, it protects the Internet from a corporate takeover.

And here's one more truth: It'll only stay that way if we stand together and fight back against misinformation. Will you take a few minutes today and help save the Internet?

Al

(x-posted)

Al Franken Interviewed, Regarding Net Neutrality

Interview (text) of our favorite senator on this crucial issue. Additional links offered, as well.

(h/t: Threat Level)

[Added] It will probably come as no surprise to you that the Republicans are dead set against Net Neutrality. They like the already powerful getting additional advantages, and they're all about denying access to everyone else. Because they believe in Free Markets™.

Al Franken not giving up on Net Neutraility

Good for him, and good for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). See Al Franken's blog or Reclaim the Media for the latest.

When considering the importance of keeping the Internet from being controlled by ever fewer, ever more powerful interests, you might reflect on the situation in Egypt. See recent posts by Don McArthur and James Cowie. Yes, the US is not Egypt. But the time to push back against the desire for totalitarian control is now, not when matters get worse.

[Added] These connections are already tighter than you might think.

[Added2] Correction: I had Sen. Cantwell's first name wrong in the original post. It is Maria, not Patricia. Thanks to Paul Chadwick for noting this in the Comments.

Al Franken Speaking on Net Neutrality

Here's the key link. From his email (emph. added):

You may have heard that, a few weeks ago, Google and Verizon announced a proposed policy framework that they claimed would protect net neutrality.

Unfortunately, that's simply not the case.

The Google-Verizon "framework" was written so as not to apply to wireless Internet services. If you use wi-fi or access the Internet on your phone, this is a serious problem. Their framework could even allow for corporations to pay for premium access to the "wireline" Internet.

This framework doesn't protect net neutrality -- it undermines it.

We can't let corporations write the rules they're supposed to be following. Corporations are responsible only to their shareholders, and they will always act to maximize profits. The government -- which is responsible to the public -- has to write tough rules to protect net neutrality and reverse the trend towards media consolidation. And you and I might have to be the ones to force the government to do it.

This evening, I'll be speaking at an FCC hearing in Minneapolis. I'll urge the commissioners to reject the Google-Verizon framework, stop the Comcast/NBC merger, and take action to keep the Internet free and open.

But I won't be alone. Nearly 100,000 of you have signed our petition, and even if you can't be at the hearing (there won't be enough chairs for all of us!), your voice matters.

We've set up a special link so you can watch the hearing, courtesy of the UpTake -- it starts at 6:00 Central Time (7:00 Eastern) tonight. Please invite your friends to watch by Tweeting and posting to Facebook. This is a big opportunity for us to stand up for net neutrality -- and stand up to big corporations who want to own the flow of information in America.

[Added] More info at SaveTheInternet.com/mnhearing.

Nice to see at least ONE Democrat isn't cowed

Way to stick to it, way to stick with it, Senator Franken.

Never let the right-wing noise machine make you ashamed of your own words, or more importantly, your own beliefs.

Senator Franken Rocks The House

At Netroots Nation 2010 (#nn10), at least as far as Twitter tells me.

Examples from some of the people I follow, seen before I thought to do the above search (some are retweets, via the very helpful @sonjablair).

RyanNewYork:

Thanks to @AlFranken for a wonderful closing speech to #NN10 and for being a champion for Net Neutrality! #P2 #Tech

AdamSerwer:

who would have thought that sen. @alfranken would have become one of the biggest champions of progressive legal philosophy?

Emperor_Bob:

RT @ddayen: Franken: Your rights are disappearing one 5-4 Supreme Court decision at a time #nn10

wonkroom:

RT @newleftmedia: Al Franken: Republicans talk about deficits as if deficits appeared, all-the-sudden, at noon January 20, 2009.

elonjames:

“@brownboyrocks: 'No matter how frustrated you are don't stop now.' - @AlFranken #nn10”

(pic. source | x-posted)

---

And meanwhile, what do you suppose Al Franken's erstwhile opponent was up to?)

The NYT Goes For The Moment of Awww

And who can blame them? This picture is currently on the front page. Click it to big it.

Story here. It's about using specially-trained dogs to help veterans with PTSD, and it sounds pretty hopeful.

And damn if Senator Al Franken isn't looking to do the right thing once again.

We Shouldn't Forget

Jamie Leigh Jones

According to Jones, just four days after she arrived in Baghdad, she joined a small group of Halliburton firefighters outside the KBR barracks. One gave her a drink. She took two sips, after which she can recall nothing. In legal filings and congressional testimony, Jones describes waking up the next morning "still affected by the drug," and discovering "her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscles torn‚ which would later require reconstructive surgery."

According to Jones, a rape kit was administered at an Army-run hospital. The rape kit was then handed over to KBR, and since then bits of it have disappeared as it came into the custody of various agencies until reaching its current resting place with the U.S. Department of State. Jones also alleges that after her rape-kit procedure was performed, KBR placed her under armed guard in a shipping container for at least 24 hours and refused to let her eat, drink, or call her family. For reasons that have never been entirely clear, the Department of Justice declined to investigate. Jones eventually refused to arbitrate this case in a private forum in which Halliburton paid for the arbitrator and in which there was no right to appeal.

She sued in federal court in 2007, and in September, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision allowing Jones to press some of her claims in civil court as opposed to private arbitration. Because her assault was not connected to her employment, the court said, it was not subject to the mandatory arbitration clause she had signed.

Last week KBR/Halliburton asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse this ruling. In its petition—which accuses Jones of being dishonest as well as a publicity seeker—KBR gives a whole new meaning to the politics of blaming the victim. As Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones pointed out Monday, KBR isn't above accusing Jamie Leigh Jones of being a liar who has "has gone to great lengths to sensationalize her allegations against the KBR Defendants in the media, before the courts, and before Congress."

Evidently KBR is still smarting from Sen. Al Franken's amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, which withholds defense contracts from companies that "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." That measure passed the Senate in December, with 30 Republicans voting against it. President Obama signed it into law.

Those same 30 male Republican senators who voted against the Franken amendment learned the hard way that it's never smart politics to try to lock Jamie Leigh Jones in a closet. They were mystified by the blowback last fall. David Vitter of Louisiana, for example, was confronted at a town hall meeting by a devastated rape victim. (Vitter blamed President Obama and walked away). John Thune of South Dakota tried to say the Franken amendment was a "politically inspired amendment" that aimed to do away with arbitration in labor agreements. Then John Cornyn of Texas whined about how the evil Franken was "trying to tap into the natural sympathy that we have for this victim of this rape—and use that as a justification to frankly misrepresent and embarrass his colleagues." It takes a special kind of narcissist to say a victim of gang rape isn't suffering as much as the embarrassed senators who voted against her.

Read the rest of Dahlia Lithwick's righteous piece.

(h/t: Steve Benen)

The Democratic Party: Building a Permanent Majority Through Superior Freehand Cartography

Here is Al Franken's sketch of his home state, swiped from NatGeo:

And here is Saxby Chambliss's sketch of his home state:

Does this mean that Saxby Chambliss is a carpetbagger??? It would be irresponsible NOT to speculate.

Or maybe there is another explanation …

__________

(previously)

From the annals of "He's Just A Comedian!!!1!"

Here is a two-minute clip of Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), still not kidding around:

(alt. video link)

Hat tip to Blue Texan, who's got some more context, if you want it.

Hey, you know what I just thought of?

franken dot senate dot gov, bitchez.

Know what got me to thinking of it? Yup, another Republican campaign of lies.

What, you forgot already? You didn't? Good.

Anyway, revenge. is. sweet. Carry on.

(h/t: Twin)

Knows a bit about geography

Minnesota Public Radio, via HuffPo, says this is real -- a party trick that Senator Al Franken has done before -- and that you'd hear oohs and aahs from the crowd were it not for the musical soundtrack. Seems to me there are just enough small errors to make that plausible. If you believe it's real, the details and proportions are pretty amazing.

(alt. video link)

[Added] More reason to believe: via KK and the "related" feature on YouTube, you can see Franken do this (not quite as well) on David Letterman, way back in 1987. (Jump to about 6:35 if you don't want to watch the whole clip, but it is worth watching.)

[Update 2015-10-16 14:14] New embed code for video.

Nice Touch

I can't help but snicker that Al Franken was the Senator chosen to preside over the vote and report the official tally. Video here.

(previously)

Senator Al Franken On Judge Sotomayor

Oh, and speaking of the good guys, here is your newest, favoritest Senator speaking before he cast his vote. It's about five minutes long.

(alt. video link)

Not too shabby, coming from "a clown," huh?

(h/t: Twin, via PM)

Fairly Unbalanced

And speaking of Paul Slansky, here's just one of the items he passes along.

(alt. video link)

Do these people on Fox ever listen to their panting hysteria over Senator Franken and say to themselves, "Hmmm. I wonder how many of these claims of unfitness for office might have applied to Sarah Palin? Oh, and speaking of close elections, what about that other thing?"

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

One More Franken Moment (for now)

From yesterday afternoon:

(alt. video link)

(h/t: Dennis DiClaudio/Indecision Forever)

Even More Franken!

One of my bookmarked bookmarks ...

TS said this on 16 December 2008:

TS's Bookmarks.

I'm keeping this on ice. With the champagne.

Break it out!

Since Kathryn Jean Lopez has kinda sorta been fired between then and now, maybe we'd better have a screen grab, just in case:

We who laugh last ...