Fraters Libertas

Haven’t These People Suffered Enough?

Saturday night fever, Saint Paul style. A case of cold Grain Belt Premium, surfing the net, and listening to some Prairie Home Companion on MPR. Those local bloggers out there claiming to be dating gorgeous women with supermodel bodies every weekend may sniff at my entertainment choices for the evening. But I got a couple things going for me. First - the truth. Second, pure relaxation. The world of information at my fingertips, some original down homey humor, story telling, and music in my ears (of which the later two have a more than decent chance of being good), and a golden elixir of locally brewed lager to smooth out any rough edges.

But so far it’s been only the bottle that hasn’t let me down. The amateur Internet opinion world is holiday dead and Garrison Keilior is doing one of his cloying live from NYC shows. If the pattern holds, he’ll be mercilessly flogging the country boy in the big city routine in between casually dropping references to cafes on 43rd street where he dined with Yhitzak Pearlman last week. Worse yet the highlights of the show have been billed as the Klezmatics and an appearance by Al Franken. Hipster bar mitzvah music and pissy, elitist anti-Americanism portrayed as comedy (which no doubt will get explosions of laughter from the pissy, elitist anti-Americans from the upper West side in attendance).

Franken has also been promoted as just returning from entertaining the troops in Iraq. Short of volunteering for a culturally sensitive ritual stoning, I’m not exactly sure what Al Franken could do to entertain the troops in Iraq. Reports are scant as to exactly what went down there. But prior to Al jumping into his camo fatigues, this is the kind of observation he was planning to slay the troops with (as stated on the PBS Newshour in October):

I am tired of hearing the right tell, tell us that we, that liberals aren't patriotic. You know, I'm going on my fourth USO (United Service Organization) tour this Christmas. I'm going to Iraq and to Afghanistan. And I'm just sick of it. And I've been carrying this (statement) around today, because this just made me furious.

Okay, Britt Hume said this, not on talk radio, but on Fox. He said this on August, 26 (2003): "Two hundred seventy-seven U.S. soldiers have now died in Iraq, which means that, statistically speaking, U.S. soldiers have less of a chance of dying from all causes in Iraq than citizens have of being murdered in California, which is roughly the same geographical size. The most recent statistics indicate that California has more than 2,300 homicides each year, which means about 6.6 murders each day. Meanwhile, our U.S. troops have been in Iraq for 160 days, which means that they are incurring about 1.7 deaths, including illness and accidents, each day."

Now, what he's saying is it's safer to be a soldier in Iraq than to be a citizen of California. He forgets to say that there are 32 million people living in California. And when I go to Iraq, I think I want to read this. You know, I want to -- this is a funny piece of material. This is going to be funny to them, these soldiers in Iraq who are getting killed day by day. And as a comedian, I really hate using someone else's material without crediting them, so I will credit Britt Hume. And I'm sure they will love hearing that.

Yes, the boys on the front lines like nothing better than a partisan political hack taking statements from Britt Hume out of context and distorting them. I wonder if it’s this innate sense of what the audience wants to hear that convinced the liberal radio network to make Franken their featured act?

Since I didn’t hear any reports of a fragging and since Al right now, as I write this, is immersed in a Vietnam style quagmire of a sketch with Keilor (which clearly has no exit strategy), I suspect he didn’t use his standard material over there.

What kind of antics was Franken up to? According to the Army News Service, it sounds like he wisely went apolitical with his act:

They laughed and clapped at comedian Al Franken and actress Kari Turner’s skit which mocked the capture of Suddam Hussein.

The USO advance promotion of this tour describes the desired tone of the show:

The "Hope and Freedom" show is to entertain troops serving in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom later this month, and is being dedicated to the memory of longtime USO supporter and comedic icon Bob Hope.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack Tilley, along with country music singers Daryl Worley and Mark Wills, comedian Al Franken, and "J.A.G." star Karri Turner, are headlining the eight-day trip to boost morale for the thousands of service members spending the holidays away from home.

In addition, World Wrestling Federation star Bradshaw, pop singers Karma and No Illusion, the U.S. Army Band and cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins will also be joining the tour.

Patriotic country music singers, sexy actresses, cheerleaders, WWF wrestlers ..... and Al Franken. Which of those things don't belong here? Franken by the way, just moments ago, described Darryl Worley’s 9-11 tribute song “Have You Forgotten” as “jingoistic.” Good to see Franken feels he can return to his typical sneer once he gets back in the friendly confines of Manhattan.