When Susan Met Al

Susan Lenfestey is the local raging DFL activist the Star Tribune has tapped for monthly editorials, known for such wisdom as:

But it's George Bush's lack of public morality that's on display in "Fahrenheit 9/11." We see him profiting from his family's old and oily ties to the Bin Laden family and from his cozy cheek-to-cheek relationship with his father's corporate cronies.

And:

President Bush's actions at home - the merging of religion and government, the dismantling of environmental protections, the cold shoulder to children living on the margins, the short shrift to civil liberties, and the new round of Bush toadies appointed to the Cabinet, just to name a few, have indeed stripped away most of my bark. But it's Iraq that leaves me bare.

If being a liberal is to despair over the futility of winning a war while savaging a nation, creating a democracy while humiliating a culture, and smashing terrorism while infusing it with new fervor, then call me a liberal, peeled of all bark and yes, utterly miserable.

She sounds like a fun gal. A good conversationalist to invite to your next dinner party. At least she is if you're a candidate for the DFL nomination for the Senate.

Sometimes it take an Australian to alert us to a summit meeting of Democratic minds right here in Minneapolis. Ladies and gentlemen, the dinner party of Al Franken and Susan Lenfestey.

Last night I had dinner with Al and Franni. Yeah, Franken. A bunch of folks were invited to their house to "hear his ideas" on the eve of his announcement that he's running for the US Senate, for the seat once occupied by Paul Wellstone and currently occupied by the oily keister of Norm "I'm-a-99-percent- improvement-over-Paul-Wellstone" Coleman.

Again with the oily fixation. Do I detect a bad experience involving some Oxy 10 in years past?

Other highlights:

Well, the serious, cleaned-up Al Franken is very impressive

As opposed to the Al Franken we've been subjected to for the past 30 years.

Its almost scary to see how much is churning in that big head of his.

A subtle reference to Franken hurling after dinner?

When asked his greatest area of vulnerability, he said it was that he cares too much.

I see Franken has been studying his Great Answers to Job Interview Questions manual. Other acceptable answers to that question are "I'm a perfectionist" and "I work too hard."

His study seems to have paid off, as far as Susan Lenfestey is concerned, he's hired:

for now the front-runner is Al Franken, and for now I'm impressed.

If only Franken can count on the majority of Minnesotans having the keen judgment of Susan Lenfestey, he's in.