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MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “REP. JOYCE PEPPIN BLASTS FRANKEN FUNDRAISING TRIP AT PLAYBOY CEO’S HOME & CONDEMNS FRANKEN PLAYBOY COLUMN”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | May 19, 2008
Franken: “The moment Playboy told me I could tackle any subject for its millennium issue, I immediately chose pornography. Now, you may assume that I picked pornography because I believe Playboy is pornography. Far from it. Playboy is erotica.” (Al Franken, “Porn-O-Rama!; Pornography Vs. Erotica,” Playboy, January 2000)
St. Paul- Rep. Joyce Peppin today condemned a column written by comedian Al Franken for Playboy Magazine in January 2000 on the day he is being hosted by Playboy CEO Christie Hefner at a fundraiser at her home in Illinois.
In the column, Franken goes into great detail about a fantasy tour he takes of a sex laboratory in an effort to defend Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, and his magazine from accusations of pornography.
On Friday, April 11, 2008, Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times announced that Playboy CEO Christie Hefner would be hosting a fund-raiser for the comedian and Democratic candidate at her Lake View home in Illinois on Monday, May 19. Franken wrote a column in January 2000 edition of Playboy defending Hugh Hefner from charges he was a pornographer, and described a fantasy involving his personal trip to a virtual reality sex laboratory.
“As a woman, as a mother, wife and sister, I am offended by Al Franken’s continuing depiction of women as objects for men to enjoy and mock. Whether it is Franken’s stereotyped caricature of an Asian woman in his book readings, his disrespectful comments about Afghan women, or the Playboy column that has Franken degrading women and describing his actions with them in vile and disgusting ways, this man’s humor is grotesque. With a woman as one of the nation’s leading candidates for President of the United States, Al Franken’s treatment of women in his Playboy column and other comments speaks of an attitude that Minnesotans will not embrace in this year’s election. Of course, Franken will attempt to hide behind this humor as ’satire.’ There is nothing satirical about continuing to represent women in his works as second-class citizens whose only value is to be objectified and ridiculed.”
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Flashback: Franken Ridiculed Plight Of Afghan Women. “The event, co-hosted at the W New York Hotel by Glamour magazine and the Feminist Majority Foundation, attracted such A-list women as Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Melissa Etheridge, Marlo Thomas, Glamour editor in chief Bonnie Fuller and Al Franken, who bombed at the podium, especially with such jokes as, ‘Why don’t we focus on what Afghan women can do? They can cook, bear children and pray. As I recall, that was fine for our grandmothers.’” (Mitchell Fink With Lauren Rubin, “Liza Wants To Be A Hit, Just Not A Huge One,” New York Daily News, October 20, 1999)
Flashback: Franken Stereotyped Asian Women. (WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT) (Minnesota Democrats Exposed Blog)
Topics: Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
May 19th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Somehow, I doubt the majority of the electorate is as satire-challenged as the GOP Leadership appears to be.
“‘Why don’t we focus on what Afghan women can do? They can cook, bear children and pray. As I recall, that was fine for our grandmothers.’””
Not only is that historical satire, it could be considered contemporary, too.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I’m surprised you haven’t been snatched up to work as a bartending assistant, given how amazingly talented you are at grasping at straws.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Last Tuesday, the TV series “Shark” [CBS] featured a killing that involved a cameo appearance by Hugh Hefner and scenes and/or dialogue that involved Playboy.
If one takes a look at the language that is used when posters on Minnesota Democrats Exposed make their postings, it seems to me that if they were shown to Representative Joyce Peppin she would probably state similar things to: “as a woman, as a mother, wife, and sister I am” also offended.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
This should beg the question: What are they prepping Peppin for?
May 19th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Perhaps color commentary for one of the following posts [shortly after]:
“COMING SOON: EXCERPTS OF FRANKEN’S GRAPHIC PLAYBOY COLUMN”
May 19, 2008 5:41 p.m.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Way to go Michael. It seems that Angry Al isn’t angry when he has porno to entertain himself.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
FC, Who’s they?
Then again, who are you?
May 19th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Not so funny actually, but whatever… Clearly not senatorial and that is the big problem with Franken. He is NOT senatorial. Believe it or not as a “3 generations back Minnesotan” I can say, we do have pride. We’ve been burned once, we are not dumb.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
So, el cabo, you would say that Norm Coleman protesting against the military while at Hoffstra is senatorial?
Seems to me, republicans believe anyone who protests the Iraq war hates America, so I don’t see how the distinction is made between Norm’s actions then and those of the supposed anti-Americans of today.
Would you say an Anti American is Senatorial?
May 19th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Leroy, what the fuck are you talking about? Do you really believe the shit you write? And if so, what the fuck is wrong with you?
May 19th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Congratulations Le Roy;
You have brought out the best in Chestnut.
I guess he thinks swearing at you will somehow change the facts.
That’ll do Sheeple that’ll do
May 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Which facts, HCDFL? Please, enlighten me.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
And by the way, if people protesting the Iraq war don’t want to be considered anti-American, maybe they should put down the signs that say “Death to America.” … near as I can tell, those are the only individuals who have been called anti-American.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
That’ll do, dumb bitch, that’ll do.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:11 am
chestnut,
obviously you haven’t checked out jack shepard for senate web site
straight out of Italy
May 20th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Who the hell is Jack Shepard?
May 20th, 2008 at 2:09 am
w w w . j a c k s h e p a r d f o r s e n a t e . c o m
May 20th, 2008 at 3:20 am
Oh, so Jack Shepard is a Democrat. O.k. Why does anyone care about that idiot?
May 20th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Coleman @ hofstra???? Really???? Seriously, views held 40 years ago is a “gotcha”? Who exactly wants to talk about grasping at straws? So Norm grew up in the last 40 years, too bad Franken can’t say the same.
That interview was only 8 years ago. Hefner is holding a fund raiser for him this month. Come on, there’s youthful exuberance, but as much as you baby-boomers don’t want to admit it, you are not youthful anymore!
May 20th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Well Mr.[less than baby-boomer]Shirt,
Seriously, when baby-boomers who went to the Republic of South Vietnam got off the airplane, and boarded busses that had windows that had wire mesh on the outside so that small kids could not come up to the bus and lob hand grenades into the bus, killing new [cherry] GI’s, that might qualify in some baby-boomers’ books as a “gotcha.”
The first year baby-boomers are about 61 or 62 this year. I think that the 63 year-olds [and older] might qualify as World War II babies.
I think that George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Al Gore, are close to being first year baby-boomers.
GWBush stated that “when I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible.”
At what age did he mean by “when I was young”?
May 20th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Chestnut: “Oh, so Jack Shepard is a Democrat.”
——————-
It seems that Jack Shepard has a website that he is running in the September 9, 2008 REPUBLICAN Primary.
If he does run, he will probably be running against Republican Norm Coleman.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:02 am
EL P,
Perhaps your age is making it hard to stay on topic? Your rambling has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote, or the topic at hand.
Better luck next time, old man!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:55 am
[...] can’t legally post Al Franken’s entire column for Playboy released by the Republican Party of Minnesota earlier this week. But due to popular demand, I am reposting the excerpts. This material is very [...]
May 24th, 2008 at 3:13 am
[...] pornography because I believe Playboy is pornography. Far from it. Playboy is erotica.??? Al Fhttp://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/05/19/mn-gop-press-release-rep-joyce-peppin-blasts-fra…Dreyfuss playing veep Chicago Sun-TimesThey finally have a Dick Cheney for the “W” film Oliver Stone [...]