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FRANKEN’S UNCONTROLLED ANGER AND RAGE HIGHLIGHTED IN MINNESOTA MONTHLY ARTICLE
By Michael B. Brodkorb | July 2, 2008
A number of the dedicated readers of Minnesota Democrats Exposed have commented to me privately about the odd swerve in the Minnesota Monthly article profiling Al Franken. While the article generally is the positive fluff you would expect from a magazine published by the owners of Minnesota Public Radio, it does take a dark turn when it focuses on Franken’s temper, anger and uncontrolled rage.
“His critics have had more success making an issue of his temper, suggesting that Franken has occasionally blurred the line between righteous anger and just plain anger. In retrospect, 2003 to 2005 might now be called Franken’s angry years, punctuated by blistering confrontations with FOX News host Bill O’Reilly, columnist Ann Coulter, and other right-wing propagators—who arguably were asking for it—along with moments of pure rage. ‘I’ve witnessed his temper,’ says Skorski. Once, at a convention for conservative activists, right-wing radio-show host Michael Medved was supposed to interview Franken. When Franken learned that Medved had invited John O’Neill—leader of the Swift Boat veterans’ campaign against John Kerry and a ‘disgrace,’ according to Franken—to join them for an impromptu debate, Franken knocked over his chair and ‘went ballistic,’ Skorski says. ‘He apologized, but he does get angry.’
Norton allows that Franken would occasionally boil over in the office: ‘Al has sometimes blown his stack, particularly at stupidity.’ But ‘his anger never got in the way of getting the job done. It was a non-issue.’ Wikler says, ‘There’s a certain kind of pundit or politician who views it all as a game, as tactics—Al doesn’t have much patience for that. I think it’s an asset: He’s a very sweet guy, but somebody who doesn’t see it as a game. He takes this stuff personally.’” Source: Minnesota Monthly, June 28, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
While Team Franken enlists the help of family members and friends to try to spin his “occasional boil over” as a positive, a lot of people have questioned just how deep does Franken’s anger and temper go.
Franken’s anger has gotten physical before, too, as evidenced by his tackling of a heckler at a John Kerry rally, and him making threatening physical gestures, as seen in my pictures from Franken at the 2004 Republican National Convention. Franken was so angry, that he needed to physically restrained.
And, if you were watching Franken’s interview with Esme Murphy on WCCO TV a few weeks ago, Franken’s fist comes flying up during the interview until he catches it — and has to physically restrain himself by bringing his fist back down.
Back in January, Franken verbally went after a young college student at Carlton College who simply didn’t want to be in a picture with him — so, it’s clear it doesn’t take much to set Franken off and get him worked up.
One has to wonder why Team Franken was so emphatic about addressing Franken’s anger and temper in this way. Obviously his verbal attacks on people over the years are unsettling enough, and challenge the idea that he is capable of working in the United States Senate where such antics will not endear him to members.
But, anger that manifests itself physically as it has before with Franken raises, an entirely different level of concerns that Minnesotans will need to examine.
Topics: Mike Ciresi, Uncategorized | 40 Comments »
40 Responses to “FRANKEN’S UNCONTROLLED ANGER AND RAGE HIGHLIGHTED IN MINNESOTA MONTHLY ARTICLE”
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July 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Ol’ Smokescreen must be in serious trouble for you to be this desperate.
Say, any word on Jeff “Landlord” Larson’s li’l homestead problemo, Michael?
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Tough guy Al could whooped Esme if he really wanted to. Maybe he chickened out because he just wasn’t good enough.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Funny that Franken blew up at seeing O’Neil there for an impromptu debate. Shows that the prick can’t take what he dishes.
Franken pulled the same stunt on O’Reilly a couple years earlier. The difference is that Bill had the class to sit down for the conversation.
No one will ever accuse Al of having class.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Can you imagine Franken on the Senate floor when he bumps into a Republican during a vote. If you think the Dean fundraiser was a special sight…
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The odds makers in Vegas put Esme to win.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I think that Franken’s temper-prone attitude should be used against him.
It doesn’t sound like it’d be that hard to provoke him into a verbal explosion of f-bombs, etc OR try to provoke him into taking a swing at someone.
All the better if his antics are caught on TV or radio. If his campaign isn’t on rocky ground already, an incident like this could ruin his “image” even more.
Minnesota (and especially a lot of DFL’ers) need a first-hand example of the ass-clown they’re contemplating voting for in November.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Flounder,
Any chance of your comments having anything remotely to do with the subject of the thread?
I believe Michael’s post is about Franken’s anger issues. I know you have a raging case of ADD, but for once, please try to be relevant. If it’s even possible.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Oh noes! Franken raised his hand six inches off the table during an interview. He’s OBVIOUSLY a bad, bad man.
I must catch my breath, as I have gotten a case of the vapors.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
i don’t know why this anger thing should be any big surprise. franken displayed this frequently on his failed radio show (one of the reasons it probably failed).
the bigger question is whether it is “constructive anger” or “destructive rage”? read the books he wrote about rush and you will get your answer.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
What’s relevant, Rash Dipstick, is Michael raising Franken’s alleged “anger issues”, but totally and completely ignoring John “My wife’s a trollop” McCain’s anger issues.
Which, of course, is “the Norm”, and why republiCons are regarded as jokes.
“Hypocrisy, thy party is GOP – GreedOverPrinciples.”
Michael didn’t start this thread because of “anger” issues; he started it in a desperate attempt to change the discussion of ol’ Smokescreen’s legitimate problems, to Franken’s manufactured problems.
And you bootlickers lap it up.
Which is one more reason why come November 2008, GOP will become firmly entrenched into Permanent Minority Status.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Flounder, need we refer you to the name of this web-site? Again? There’s no alleged about it. He’s been seen numerous times on tv losing it. I, for one, like to see a little gumption in a politician, but he goes overboard losing focus. Ala – reverting to name calling and fighting. By the way, Esme would have kicked his ass.
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Where is the news in any of this?
A six week old article is what is now being trotted out to divert attention from Norm’s ethical lapse?
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
“…need we…”
Why is it you bootlickers always react in pack mentality?
Why can’t you bootlickers speak for yourself?
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Anger? Isn’t that why John Bolton was not approved for the United Nations ambassadorship?
Oh, all the hand wringing about his anger and how it just shouldn’t be in politics! That is, unless, the Democratic Candidate has the anger problem!
The standards are different for Democrats.
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Why can’t you bootlickers speak for yourself?
You’re kidding with that, right? You’re the biggest DFL talking points poster in the Twin Cities (and I’m not referring to your girth this time). You haven’t had an original thought since you started farting through your fingers here.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Tommy
“…need we…â€
Why is it you bootlickers always react in pack mentality?
Why can’t you bootlickers speak for yourself?
Mr. non factor is at it again!!!
ohhh Tommy you wish you we relevant in some way.
I tell you what if you can tell me what the true definition of a PUTZ is I will leave you alone?
Not some bull crap liberal spewing rant about bootlickers and republic cons. The true origin of the meaning.
If you deviate in anyway from an informed answer your fare game. If you get it right I will leave you alone.
You have 15 minutes.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Leroy, the fact that Franken’s anger makes his physical rage uncontrollable should be of concern to any person. This comedy trip of his over the years where he laughs and jokes about drugging and raping women, his Air America bit where he jokes about some guy having sex with a vomiting woman (or, as some might say, raping a sick woman) and his inability to control his anger when he gets into confrontation with people should be seen as alarming. The possibility that Franken might haul off and hit someone when he gets that mad can’t be that much of a stretch given the fact he tackled and physically manhandled some heckler who was simply expressing his opinion at a Kerry event. Guys who get this angry and out-of-control with their rage are a dime a dozen – but it doesn’t mean they should be in the United States Senate.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Like a lot of people I have never been a big fan of Al Franken. I think that Planned Parenthood’s comments that Franken’s comedy bordered on misogynistic is as accurate a statement that you can find about this guy. I have found it interesting that all the time that Franken was defending himself for jokes he made about drugging and raping women that no woman who particularly close to him ever came out to defend him. While he had some people say that his Playboy article was defensible (people like Mindy Greiling) there was literally nobody who defended his jokes about drugging and raping women. I think there are a lot of people, including women, who find Franken’s temper and rage kind of freaky. I have met my fair share of guys who get all moody and pissed off when people don’t agree with them and go all ballistic on people. I’ve dated too many guys in my life who are all friendly in public but when stuff starts getting tense get pretty nasty and mean spirited. That Minnesota Monthly article shows that Franken’s dark side in private is probably even more intense than his public dark side. I guess for DFLers who endorsed this guy aren’t all that concerned about his behavior in public or private. But if you look at some of the polling out there the people who like him the least are men – and I bet its because men probably have seen guys like Franken around them before and know that he is probably unable to control most of his emotions.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Sorry Tommy times up
if anyone would like to know the answer please ask and i will post it.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Hypocrisy… Tommy doesn’t give a gnat’s ass about hypocrisy. If he did, I’m sure he’d spend his time writing about the number of Democrats, including Barak Obama (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/wapo-obama-got.html), who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage discounts not available to the public while at the same time ramming through legislation to bail out the irresponsible lenders who gave them the loans.
Tommy isn’t too concerned with hypocrisy. Don’t let him fool you in to believing otherwise.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Kyle Christensen
WOW your on it today!!
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Hey Yoni,
Have you stopped beating your children?
If you have some evidence of anyone’s infidelity, then bring it forward. If you don’t, then shut the hell up.
Fascists were also pretty good at character assassination. You fascist.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
y, hottip? G(C)Y. I don’t live my life by your schedule, and I don’t answer your questions unless I want to.
Say, aj? I create talking points. As explained on the EIB Network (ExceptionallyIgnorantBigots), it’s El Druggo’s job to talk and your job to listen. If you haven’t paid him the dough, you’re not qualified to regurgiate what he’s told you.
Say, Kyle? republiCon Ron is the epitome of hypocrisy, and if he hadn’t mouthed off about someone else’s financial paperwork when he’s got an FED MUR going, he wouldn’t be thoroughly and completely discredited today.
But he did, and he is.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Whatever Tommy, what do you care. Are you the official indexer of hypocritical actions? Fascinating work, I’m sure, but probably doesn’t pay much.
Bottom line is, you don’t give a gnat’s ass about hypocrisy. Your perceptions of others’ actions just gives you something to talk about. Your ideology simply tells you which people toward which to direct your hate.
I don’t really care. Just please stop trying to fool anyone that you care one way or another about the hypocrisy you see.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Go with that, Kyle – it makes ignoring reality that much easier, for you.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Tommy-you are an idiot
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I am quite certain Al Franken has never cheated on his wife
I’m certain you’re right. What self-respecting woman would want to go out with a violent, angry, potty-mouthed porn-writer?
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
“What self-respecting woman would want to go out with a violent, angry, potty-mouthed porn-writer?”
aj, how “right” you are!
Why, Billo probably hasn’t had a date since the loofa bill came in!!!
But, enough with the Faux News herd, er, ’scuse me, “crowd”, let’s get back to Franken. Doncha love the way he stands up to those rightwingnuts?
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
“Kyle Christensen Says:… If you have some evidence of anyone’s infidelity, then bring it forward. If you don’t, then shut the hell up.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3295472.ece
A former Arizona rodeo beauty queen and daughter of a millionaire Phoenix businessman, Cindy McCain was 25 when she met her future husband at a cocktail party in Hawaii. John McCain was a 43-year-old naval liaison officer traveling with a congressional delegation, his sights already set on a political career.
He was also still married to his first wife Carol, although the couple had recently separated. Carol later attributed the breakdown of the marriage to “John turning 40 and wanting to be 25 againâ€. McCain fell like a brick for Cindy, who was the heir to a brewery distribution business worth millions”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCain
“In April of 1979, McCain met and began a courtship with Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona, the only child of the founder of Hensley & Co. He and his wife Carol then permanently separated later in 1979, and she accepted a divorce in February of 1980, effective in April of 1980. The settlement included two houses, and financial support for her ongoing medical treatments for injuries resulting from the 1969 car accident; they would remain on good terms. McCain and Hensley were married on May 17, 1980 with Republican Senator and future Secretary of Defense William Cohen serving as best man, and Democratic Senator Gary Hart was a groomsman.”
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Back to discussing people with anger issues:
http://www.sunherald.com/newsupdates/story/660742.html
“Cochran told the Sun Herald he witnessed a confrontation between McCain and a Sandinista rebel decades ago…”
“McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I don’t know what attracted my attention,” Cochran said. “But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever. I don’t know what he was telling him but I thought, good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission. I don’t know what had happened to provoke John but he obviously got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him.”
…”The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine,” Cochran told the Globe. “He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
i agree with barbarak–neither franken or mccain deserve the office they are running for.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
You mean like McCain’s uncontrolled anger and rage?
http://www.mnblue.com/node/1778
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:42 pm
What are you talking about Kyle? evidence for what?
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:03 am
Yoni,
If you can’t keep track of the conversation, then just disengage.
Do you still beat your children?
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:10 am
Tommy, it is you who is ignoring reality to make life more palatable. You’re pathetic really.
Barbarak, is that all you’ve got? You’re namesake is out getting wealthy off his Senate position, selling his influence and rolling in the mud with corrupt pigs, and you have to point to articles that sort of insinuate a point without actually proving anything?
Fascist is too good a word for you.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 am
The true definition is a Yiddish word for a dead mans dick. When you call someone a PUTZ you’re telling them there the most worthless thing in the world. A dead dick!!
Good luck Tommy
Sorry if I offended anyone but its Tommy and I had to get my point across.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Kyle, do you still beat your wife?
hottip, why are you still Kyle’s wife?
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 am
Oh, sorry Tommy. I didn’t realize that you were a clueless troll, but I should have guessed.
You see, I ask Yoni when s/he stopped beating his/her children, because it’s the equivalent of the unsubstantiated libel s/he posted yesterday (which has, apparently, now been deleted).
Run along now, jackass.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Oh Tommy your so whitty!!
why would you wright something as stupid as this
“y, hottip? G(C)Y. I don’t live my life by your schedule, and I don’t answer your questions unless I want to.”
now no one will answer your questions?
ha! ha! Tommy is a non factor
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Tommy says,
“y, hottip? G(C)Y. I don’t live my life by your schedule, and I don’t answer your questions unless I want to.”
I love that it took him that long to come up with basically, ” your not the boss of me”.
HAHAHAHAHA! Tommy make Paris Hilton look like a rocket scientist.