Is Al Franken a homophobe and misogynist?
As the Democrats' are hemorrhaging female voters and try to turn the election in to a mandate on the "War on Women", they trot out "Stuart Smalley" who once "joked" about throwing Leslie Stahl in a closet and raping her.
Now comes a story of how he just doesn't "like homosexuals", and that he was "glad when that (Hasty) Pudding homosexual got killed in Philadelphia", as he told the Harvard Crimson in a 1976 interview.
Looking back at Franken's SNL character, "Stuart Smalley", I now have a different take on this funny little "positive thinking" guy. The Smalley character is a stereotypical gay man as seen through the eyes of Al Franken. Not laughing with him, but showing a weak, effeminate, ineffectual, hyper-sensitive gay man, Franken presents a caricature of a gay man whom he is laughing at. Franken's inner view of what a gay man is.
Franken's statements are not only homophobic, but sound like he is actually promoting violence towards gays. A conservative would be crucified for these statements and beliefs, regardless of how long ago they were uttered.
Case-in-point: In 2002, Trent Lott was run out as Senate Leader for telling Strom Thurmond at his 100th birthday celebration that he thought the country would be a better place if Thurmond had been elected President. Typically, the type of nice thing one might say to someone on a centennial birthday celebration, and everyone applauds and laughs. But, not this time. Someone pointed out that the one time that Strom Thurmond ran for President, he ran as a segregationist - back in 1948! Fifty-four years earlier!
Still, I wonder how these obviously homophobic statements will sit with the LGBT lobby? Wil they be denounced, or will they circle the wagons because Franken is a liberal?
It will also be interesting if, one, the media even picks up on this, and two, if he is given a complete pass on this because he's a Democrat. Or maybe the meme will be that he was just a "comedian". Maybe because "that was just such a long time ago!"?
Tell that to Trent Lott and Strom Thurmond.
Inside the Beltway
Suddenly serious, it took no time for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to respond to the news that Al Franken was giving up his comedy routine (USO performances of late) and radio hosting to run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota, drafting what promises to be only the first installment of “Frankly Franken,” an examination of the funnyman’s “record.”
And if you thought former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway was outspoken last week when it came to homosexual players on the basketball court — referring to retired NBA center John Amaechi stepping out of the closet — get a load of what Mr. Franken once told the Harvard Crimson:
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