From Al Franken

[babylonsister]

From Al Franken-found on FB

It had to be surreal for Alex Acosta to stand on the South Lawn and hear Donald Trump say that he had wanted his Labor Secretary to stay, but that Acosta had insisted on leaving. It was bad enough that what the President was saying was the total opposite of the truth. What was worse is that everybody knew it. And Trump was making it even more embarrassing by saying that Acosta had been a really great Secretary of Labor without actually citing anything he had actually accomplished.

That’s because everything Trump liked about Acosta’s record as secretary was something almost every American would hate. Acosta’s proposed changes to the overtime rule will take about $1.2 billion a year away from workers. But the President could have at least mentioned an Acosta rule that is now in effect. Say, like, the one that weakened mine safety rules, saving corporations lots of money. So, when the next catastrophic mining disaster occurs, think of Alex Acosta.

So, who replaces Acosta as acting Secretary of Labor? A guy who is much worse. From 1996 to 2000, Patrick Pizzella was a lobbyist for Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, the most famously corrupt lobbying firm in the long, heralded annals of corrupt lobbying firms.

Abramoff and his team did some terrible, terrible things, always on behalf of horrible, horrible people. And one of the very worst was on behalf of the garment industry of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

It’s bad. And Pizzella was in charge of it. I’ll explain it in a bit. But first some highlights: sweatshops - 18-hour workdays - wage slavery - routine beatings - company barracks infested with rats - forced prostitution – and mandatory abortions. On the other side of the ledger - all-expense-paid luxury junkets for Republican members of Congress and their families and staffers, and right-wing thinkers like Kellyanne Conway all flying first class to and from CNMI – luxurious accommodations at the fancy schmancy Hyatt Regency - golf - tropical drinks with little umbrellas - and propaganda from Pizzella so that when Republican leaders like Tom DeLay returned to Washington, the Majority Leader would call CNMI, “the perfect petri dish for capitalism.”

Quick history of the Northern Marianas. They’re a string of fourteen tropical islands just north of Guam. The biggest island is Saipan, where 55,000 Japanese and American soldiers and civilians died during the 24-day Battle of Saipan in June and July of 1944.

A little over a year later, the Enola Gay took off from Tinian, a small island just below Saipan, and dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. WWII was over, and we had let the Soviet Union know we had the atomic bomb!

After the war, the Northern Marianas continued to operate under the auspices of the U.S., and in 1975, it became a territory known officially as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. To help the CNMI economy, the Ford administration gave it a couple shots in the arm. CNMI businesses would be able to ship products to the U.S. without quotas, tariffs, or duties. They could even label them “Made in the U.S.A.” And – get this – the CNMI wouldn’t have to abide by American labor or immigration laws!

It wasn’t long before American labels like Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, your Tommy Hilfiger, and your Banana Republic were making their clothes in Saipan. Who would do the actual work? Why, impoverished young women recruited from rural villages in China and the Philippines and promised jobs in…the United States! All the young women would have to do is pay several thousand dollars for the privilege. And if they didn’t have the full amount now, they could borrow the money and pay it off as they worked!

The flight to the western hemisphere must have seemed remarkably short. The women found themselves in Saipan, just fifteen hundred miles south-southwest of Japan and were soon working eighteen-hour days in sweatshops under horrible conditions. At night they’d be locked up with hundreds of other women in company barracks infested with rats and equipped with one outside toilet for every fifty women. They were allowed out for one hour every Sunday. But many had signed contracts agreeing not to fall in love, or have a baby, or protest working conditions. Hence, the beatings by factory foremen. And hence the forced abortions.

Those forced abortions sometimes came from a special kind of exploitation. The women who were young and pretty were sent to work at the various nightclubs in town catering to tourists who liked young, pretty girls. Some of them owed money for their trip to “the United States,” and were forced into prostitution. Presumably, the socially conservative Republicans who were on their all-expense-paid junket were steered clear of the clubs.

I happened to write about all this back in 2005 in my book, The Truth: With Jokes. Fortunately, all of this had been carefully documented by the Clinton Labor Department, and by investigative reporters like Brian Ross, whose reports on ABC’s World News Tonight were seen by millions of Americans.

But presumably not by Patrick Pizzella. I know that because when I questioned him about his work with Abramoff in the CNMI, he told me he had not been aware of any of these sordid details. Which is odd in so many ways. Considering, for example, that included in Ross’s report was video of Willie Tan, one of the biggest garment factory owners in Saipan, speaking at a dinner thrown by Patrick Pizzella for the members of Congress who had been flown in by Patrick Pizzella. See, Pizzella and the Abramoff group represented Tan, who paid a $9 million fine to the Labor Department for abuses in the 90s for labor practices in his factories.

That’s why I was so surprised that Pizzella claimed to know nothing about those abuses when he was nominated for Deputy Secretary of Labor in 2017.

I was on the Senate HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) and met with Mr. Pizzella in my office the day before his hearing. As a courtesy, I told him I was going to vote against him because of his work in the CNMI and was going to ask him about that in his hearing.

The next day, Pizzella claimed to have known nothing about these abuses. In retrospect, I wish I had been more emphatic in pointing out that he was lying, but I assumed that was obvious to the rest of my colleagues. Maybe I had overlooked the possibility that a few of the Republicans on the committee had gone on one of those junkets. Besides, once Betsy DeVos got through, it became clear that it would take far more than just having been a lobbyist for horrible people to have your nomination blocked.

One particular moment worth noting. During the hearing, I mentioned that 21 Abramoff associates had been convicted of crimes. Pizzella claimed that he had not known that, adding, “I was not one of them.”

“I know that,” I said. “Congratulations.”

Well, congratulations once again to the new acting Labor Secretary. I’m guessing there won’t be a confirmation hearing anytime soon.

[dalton99a]

1. One particular moment worth noting

One particular moment worth noting. During the hearing, I mentioned that 21 Abramoff associates had been convicted of crimes. Pizzella claimed that he had not known that, adding, “I was not one of them.”

“I know that,” I said. “Congratulations.”

Well, congratulations once again to the new acting Labor Secretary. I’m guessing there won’t be a confirmation hearing anytime soon.

We miss you, Al.

[KentuckyWoman]

4. +1 - We miss you Senator Franken.

[TruckFump]

5. Ditto. EOM

[ConnorMarc]

37. Precisely why Jillen Needs to be CANCELLED!

[calimary]

39. Yep. We miss you more every doggone day!

[uptrumps_but]

53. AL you are a fine person

and good Americans know why you left. sometimes the train has to crash before people can see the problems. wish we had more like you

[olegramps]

26. This was covered extensively in his book "The Truth." What a loss he was for truth in congress.

The Republicans were going to get him one way or another. The entire affair was contrived. He was stabbed in the back by a bitch that never voiced any objection for years. They were a bunch of entertainers horsing around. Nobody in going to tell me that she was a demur innocent damsel when you are traveling around with entertainers. I was around them for a period and I can assure you that they, both men and women can get a bit ribald at times horsing around.

[DENVERPOPS]

49. He was a Repub hit job

Franken was a perfectly organized and implemented hit job by Repubs, and one particular female Democrat Politician as a willing accomplice...................

No surprise, just look at the GORE hit job, and the KERRY swift boat hit job. Or the Clinton impeachment, or.......etc etc etc

The Republican politicians and their entire party are ruthless and malicious.

I can't still believe all the Dems still wanting to be "bipartisan" when dealing with them. Milk Toast Nambie Pambies........

WASF

[LakeArenal]

2. Al for VP

I won’t forget which current candidates removed Al.

Love you Al. Come back.

[maveric]

23. Al for Prez.

[LakeArenal]

29. No shit!

[calimary]

40. Indeed. One in particular.

[usaf-vet]

51. Neither will I. I hope the primary election systems eliminates said individual.

I don't look forward to having to hold be nose to vote for said person.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. there is no bottom

And without consequences, there are no laws.

[dalton99a]

8. +1. Laws and constitutions are meaningless to the two-bit dictator

because he knows he is getting away with everything.

[90-percent]

27. I like that

Definate Facebook Wall meme material.

Ironies: The snowball that triggered the smears about Franken was engineered in some of not most parts, by Roger Stone. I have to research how many other Atwateresque ratfucking plots Rogers been a part of since his involvement with Nixon Republicans in Nixon's time? Ratfucking is his life's work. If there were justice he'd be pay per view Khashoggi-ed.

If my memory is accurate, Al's questioning of Jeff Sessions about something I forgot, caused Sessions to recuse himself from the Russia Investigations. Where would Democracy be right now if that had not happened?

The witch hunt railroading he was victim of is ugly and a great example of, from the vantage of recent history, a really fucking STUPID thing to do! What the hell did Dems gain by having done this? Was justice well served? In my own unwise youth, I've done much worse, relatively. Al's life is testimony to his honorable family man, of the people, serve the best interests of as many people as possible upstanding citizen would make a responsible babysitter you could feel safe leaving your kids with kinda guy.

I've liked Al since Franken and Davis SNL days. Got some of his books, donated to his Senate Campaign. Overjoyed and inspired by his performance in the Senate.

Articles like this could change the course of history for the better yet again. Americans need to know just how cruel and inhuman these Trump monsters really are!

"There are two things in the Universe that are universal; oxygen and stupidity." - Frank Zappa

The end of the world is being fueled by greed, stupidity, cruelty and all brands of sociopathy.

"Americans behave as if intelligence was some sort of hideous deformity." - Frank Zappa

-90% Jimmy

[calimary]

41. I miss Al Franken in the Senate - where he could really do some great things, and did.

And I miss Frank Zappa, too, for that matter. Great quotes you picked, 90-percent! Keepers for sure!

[90-percent]

47. My hero since the Oct 16, 1971 Stony Brook late show.

to put it succinctly, I liked his values as much as his music. Learned a lot, enhanced my critical thinking skills. An inspirational national treasure that took a stand against conservatives and televangilists aggressively in his lifetime and art. There were times in his life where his raw courage and absolute faith in his principles and basic intelligence were awe inspiring to me.

-90% Jimmy

[dlk]

6. I Miss Franken in the Senate!

A strong voice for truth we need more than ever.

[cwydro]

7. What a loss not to have his voice in the Senate anymore.

A huge loss.

[yaesu]

15. this is what happens when a party takes the high road

there is no high road when you are fighting fascists who are trying to destroy your way of life.

[Volaris]

21. And this why he was so thoroughly ratfucked.

[mitch96]

32. "not to have his voice in the Senate anymore."

If he does not go into politics his comments still carry a lot of weight. I like hearing from him.
More humor please!!
m

[Mira]

14. GRACIAS A DIOS - that she will never win the nomination.

I don't think I could overlook and forgive.

[Martin Eden]

10. "the perfect petri dish for capitalism"

More like the perfect indictment against capitalism.

[Bayard]

11. I'm thinking of Al as a Cabinet member

In a new administration.

[mountain grammy]

16. Senators Booker and Klobuchar did not call for Al's resignation

Mayor Pete says he would not have without an investigation.. Even Warren and Sanders called for him to resign.

I wish he'd run again for the Senate. His forced resignation was my saddest day as a member of the Democratic party. First time ever I thought about going Independent.

[Trumpocalypse]

18. Actually Booker did

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2017/12/06/cory-booker-urges-al-franken-resign-cites-what-seems-tob-after-reading-latest-sexual-misconduct-repo/928125001/

[mountain grammy]

54. Thanks. I stand corrected.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

22. IIRC, Warren didn't exactly "call for" him to resign.

I won't let her completely off the hook but I'd characterize what she said more as reluctantly agreeing to the inevitable.

[Trumpocalypse]

57. So she was just a blind follower?

Doesn’t really speak well for her.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/12/06/warren-markey-franken-resignation-calls

[Gidney N Cloyd]

59. No.

[USALiberal]

74. LOL, keep trying! Nt

[Trumpocalypse]

77. Again

Why do you have such a problem with the truth?

[Trumpocalypse]

77. Again

Why do you have such a problem with the truth?

[LakeArenal]

30. Ah yes. Booker signed the letter.

[mountain grammy]

55. Got it. Thank you

[LakeArenal]

60. One of my most disappointing of the bunch.

But he did and that lost my vote.

[mountain grammy]

12. more and more every day

I see why Al Franken was forced out.. by our own party. And now I see our party leaders leaning the same way.. too much truth requires too much "looking the other way" for the sake of political gain.

[LiberalLovinLug]

33. I think you are getting close to the truth

As if some were just waiting for the first excuse.

[Trumpocalypse]

58. Plus Franken was planning to reveal the truth about

the faked moon landings, Area 51 and Bigfoot so they had to get rid of him.

[mountain grammy]

67. Actually, I was thinking more of his speaking truth to power

and his relentless attacks on the right wing, but those conspiracy theories you pulled out of your ass are pretty funny..

[Trumpocalypse]

68. What relentless attacks?

[mountain grammy]

71. Is that you, Tina Dupey?

"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.
Oh, the Things I Know (2002)
When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice, ignore them both.
Oh, the Things I Know (2002)

The biases the media has are much bigger than conservative or liberal. They're about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover.
Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them (2003)

If you listen to a lot of conservatives, they'll tell you that the difference between them and us is that conservatives love America and liberals hate America. ... They don't get it. We love America just as much as they do. But in a different way. You see, they love America like a 4-year-old loves his mommy. Liberals love America like grown-ups. To a 4-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad and helping your loved one grow. Love takes attention and work and is the best thing in the world.
That's why we liberals want America to do the right thing. We know America is the hope of the world, and we love it and want it to do well.
Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (2003)

What I do is taking what they say and using it against them. What I do is jujitsu.
Al Franken: God Spoke (2006)

Some of the same people who were instrumental in the Federalist Society’s effort to change our legal system are now working to help corporations increase their control over the flow of information.
If you control the flow of information, you can control the conversation around important issues. If you can control the conversation, you can change this country. … But we can’t be satisfied with stopping conservatives and their corporate clients from controlling the narrative when it comes to our legal system.
We have to fight back with our own.
In our narrative, the legal system doesn’t exist to help the powerful grow more powerful – it exists to guarantee that every American is entitled to justice
In our narrative, we defend our individual rights and liberties against corporate encroachment just as fiercely as we defend them against government overreach.
Speech to the Eighth Annual American Constitution Society National Convention (17 June 2010)

Net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time. Today, a blog can load as fast as the Wall Street Journal — and, if the blog is good, it can get more traffic than any media conglomerate. But if bigger companies can pay for faster, priority Internet access, that blogger no longer has a shot. And these big companies know that when they pay for access, they win. They want preferred treatment on the Internet like the preferred treatment they get in the rest of their lives.
"Sen. Franken's Speech to Free Press Group in Minneapolis" (19 August 2010)
I've said that net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. It's true. If Republicans have their way, large corporations won't just have the loudest voices in the room. They'll be able to effectively silence everyone else. Every small business they'd prefer not to compete with. Every blogger who publishes something they don't like. We have to stop them.
"Net Neutrality Is Under Attack... Again" in The Huffington Post (8 November 2011)
The crash of 2008 was driven in no small part by unfair practices in the mortgage industry, which led to many consumers becoming trapped in loans they didn’t understand and couldn’t afford.
Sen. Franken Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of Richard Cordray to Head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (7 December 2011); 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Pg. S8404

Our laws need to reflect the evolution of technology and the changing expectations of American society. This is why the Constitution is often called a “living” document. But we have a long way to go to get our modern privacy laws in line with modern technology.
"Privacy and Civil Liberties in the Digital Age" in WIRED (2 March 2012)
In the United States of America, satire is protected speech, even if the object of the satire doesn’t get it.
As quoted in "The Trump Era Is Al Franken’s Time to Shine" by Graham Vyse, in New Republic (2 February 2017)"

Long before trump, long before he was a Senator, for a couple of decades, and certainly after, there was Al.. railing against the hypocrisy of evil, the right wing of America.. and they got him, and Democrats put the nail in his coffin..

I suggest you read "Lies and the Lying Liars that tell them" from 2003. Also, from waaaay back in 1996.. "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."

There's also a great video of him in a debate with the best of all, Molly Ivins and idiot Bill O'Rielly, moderated by our own wonderful Pat Schroeder..

Read, Watch, Listen and Learn.. Al was a popular truth teller.. No conspiracies here!! Not a single one.

[Trumpocalypse]

72. Good statements all

but a bit extreme to call them relentless attacks.

[mountain grammy]

73. He was doing it long before anyone else did it..

He and Molly and a few others took on the lying right wing radio hosts and Fox, while the rest of the media caved to fox and in many ways, so did the Democratic party..

Then, to the horror of the right wing (and several blue dog Dems) lo and behold and praise the people of MN, he became a Senator. Wasn't seated for months while right wing forces pulled every trick in the books to keep him out, and Democrats largely remained silent.

And then, Al had to go.. that simple.

[Trumpocalypse]

76. Sorry but he wasn't the first person

to attack the right. That’s just a ridiculous statement.

And the reason he wasn’t seated right away was due to a legal recount.

Let’s stick to facts and not make stuff up.

[mountain grammy]

79. No he wasn't the first, but he was one of the famous..

while others remained silent and I gave you just a few examples..

So, why don't you stick to facts and stop throwing out conspiracy crap.

Franken was railroaded, pure and simple. Too outspoken for too many years and too popular. The "recount" took 7 months Normal?

https://www.factcheck.org/2009/01/mining-the-minnesota-recount/

[Trumpocalypse]

80. What other remained silent?

And I'm not the one throwing out the conspiracy crap.

Did Franken get a raw deal? Yes, but it wasn't part of some conspiracy to silence him. That is just crazy talk.

[58Sunliner]

13. I miss you Al. Another GOP abuser/sociopath-what a surprise.

[lame54]

17. How many more "Best People" can we take?

[onecaliberal]

19. Can't believe Al is gone, but a rapist is in the Oval Office destroying America more everyday.

[smirkymonkey]

43. It's so hard to believe.

It makes me think that evil is going to win this battle.

I miss Al. We really need him back. He was one of the best - if not THE best - people we had in the Senate. I can't believe what a disgusting hit job they did on him. Meanwhile, Trump gets away with being an actual rapist, child molester and possible sex trafficker.

This world is so incredibly fucked up.

[BSdetect]

20. k&r

[Mc Mike]

24. I remember the forced abortions story from his book 'The Truth'.

The pro life repugs, pro made in America, too.

[ck4829]

25. Sounds like that "Swamp"

[Faux pas]

28. Come back Al

we miss your voice of reason

[JohnnyRingo]

31. K&R

Rolling Stone Magazine did a great expose' on Tom Delay and Abramoff and the Marianas back then.
Thanx Al Franken for reminding people.

[cp]

34. Thank you, Al!

We love you.

[Novice Patriot]

35. Man I sure miss Mr. Franken

The corruption and underhanded deals that he points to are nearly as evil as the hype and fabricated outrage to oust him from office.

[Honeycombe8]

36. I miss his presence in the Senate. Thanks, Gillibrand! & Kamala! & Booker! & Sanders! nt

[DFW]

38. Al's only error was overestimating his Senate colleagues

"The next day, Pizzella claimed to have known nothing about these abuses. In retrospect, I wish I had been more emphatic in pointing out that he was lying, but I assumed that was obvious to the rest of my colleagues."

As he later found out, his Senate colleagues missed more than one Republican scam that SHOULD have been obvious to those same Senate colleagues, none of whom I will ever support for our Party's presidential nomination. If they can fall for an obvious scam like that, they have no business representing our nation in negotiations with Xi or Putin.

[LakeArenal]

45. Yes

[LakeArenal]

46. I just don't understand why Al never comes up on those candidate appearances and interviews.

It’s a huge factor for me. Despite my feelings on political assassinations, I think Al’s constituency was royally screwed.

[Demovictory9]

42. kick

[panader0]

44. "Shane, come back, Shane!"

[Gothmog]

48. Yeah of Al Franken

[Hekate]

50. That is just so sickening. As for Franken: what a loss.

[karin_sj]

52. I miss Al

And wish to hell he was still in the Senate. We need him there now more than ever.

[malaise]

56. So glad to see Al Franken back and responding to this creep

Rec

[Skittles]

61. Al needs to run for office again

it is sick what happened to him and FUCK everyone who was fine with it

[malaise]

62. Ditto

[DFW]

70. Especially that last part

He is still very bitter about the majority of his Senate colleagues falling for a Republican scam, and is just not interested in working with them any more. Notice how many have made public apologies? Hint: it’s less than the number of presidents we’ve had whose name was Lincoln. Even here on DU we have had people show up to bash Al who have remained mostly (or completely!) silent on the offenses of Trump, Moore and Epstein. Go figure.

[orangecrush]

63. Kick

[PatrickforO]

64. Geez, Al, I sure wish you were still in the US Senate! You're one of our best people.

Because you care, and because you know your stuff.

[spanone]

65. K&R...Miss you Senator Franken

[zentrum]

66. Keep coming back Al!

We need you!

[mucifer]

69. I remember Al Speaking a lot about this on his radio show many years ago

I so miss Al.

[Paladin]

75. Miss you, Al. (nt)