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MUST READ FROM THE MESABI DAILY NEWS: “WHY DID ‘SNL’ MENTION A NON-FERROUS MINING SKIT?”

By Michael B. Brodkorb | September 26, 2008

“Non-ferrous mining in Northeastern Minnesota made national news earlier this week in a most curious way — through a spokesperson for the Al Franken for U.S. Senate campaign linking it to a possible ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit in the satirical mind of the Democratic candidate.

The Iron Range, which currently has ventures for several non-ferrous copper/nickel/precious metals mining operations near Aurora, Hoyt Lakes and Babbitt in various stages of development, was inserted by a Franken campaign official into a Politico story that dealt with an SNL skit last Saturday night that mocked Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The Politico story reported that Franken had called and talked to Lorne Michaels, a friend of the candidate from his SNL days, last week and mentioned his thought about the potential humor in McCain using the disclaimer, ‘I’m John McCain and I approve this message,’ in his political TV ads. Michaels, SNL executive producer and creator, then talked to a writer at the longtime NBC comedy show and the skit was born. In the Politico story on Monday, Colleen Murray of the Franken campaign in Minnesota was asked about the candidate’s involvement in the skit’s evolution. Politico is a Washington, D.C.-based political journalism organization that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio.

‘Al has been friends with Lorne Michaels for over 30 years, and Lorne thought Al’s personal experience was funny enough for a SNL skit,’ (Colleen) Murray said in a statement. ‘Sure, Al keeps in touch with old friends but unless the skit is about non-ferrous mining on Minnesota’s Iron Range, Al’s not in the business of developing skits anymore,’ the Politico story reads in part.

If there had been any discussion within the Franken campaign or by the candidate about a skit dealing with non-ferrous mining on the Iron Range it’s highly likely the effort would be to skewer such mining. The non-ferrous mining issue on the Range has been a tough one for Franken. In an interview with the Mesabi Daily News several months ago, Franken said he could not offer support of the PolyMet non-ferrous mining project slated for the footprint of the former LTV Mining Co. until after a draft Environmental Impact Statement was released.” Source: Mesabi Daily News, September 25, 2008

Click here for the complete story.

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