Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens - A big thank you to Franken.

[Mass]

Sadly, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee does not see any problem dealing with Pickens, a fake supporter of the fight against Climate Change as well as a financier for the SBVT.

So, I want to thank Al Franken not to stay silent. (and shame to the leadership if there was indeed a warm reception -- it is politico, so they have the benefit of the doubt--).

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25667.html

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens

By EAMON JAVERS | 7/31/09 3:34 PM EDT

Sen. Al Franken and T. Boone Pickens are pictured.
Sen. Al Franken managed to make time for the lunch � but then let Pickens have it afterward. Photo: AP



Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday.

Or at least most of them did.

Kerry skipped the regularly scheduled lunch; his staff said the Massachusetts Democrat “was unable to attend because he had a long scheduled lunch with his interns and pages.”

Sen. Al Franken managed to make time for the lunch – but then let Pickens have it afterward.

According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of “The First Billion is the Hardest” stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the lunch ended

Franken, who was seated talking to someone else, did not stand when Pickens said hello. Instead, Franken began to berate him about the billionaire’s financing of the Swift Boat ads in 2004.

According to a source, the confrontation grew heated.

Said Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh: “It was a lively conversation.”

Pickens was on the Hill to address the Senate Democratic Policy Committee lunch about his plans to use wind energy to lower the nation’s dependence on oil and gas. But the thought of Pickens being invited to a Democratic event angered some on the Hill and in the liberal blogs.

Pickens’ camp appears unmoved by the drama. “If they have a problem, that’s their problem,” said Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser.

“Boone has clearly moved on and is focused on a mission to solve the foreign oil dependency problem that he believes is a national security and economic crisis that America has to confront. Boone’s grateful for the impressive turnout of Democrats at the Democrat Policy Committee yesterday and for the interest they have shown in helping address this problem

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25667.html#ixzz0Ms4bXSsq

[CatWoman]

1. god

I love Al Franken.

Minnesota DUers - I AM SO FUCKING JEALOUS!!!

[Demoiselle]

18. Me too. But WHAT EXACTLY DID FRANKEN SAY!???!

Is that asking too much of our "news" people? I want to know exactly what Franken said to Pickens.
Al is one of the most articulate Dems we've got. It isn't enough for me to know there was friction.That there was some sort of verbal exchange.
I want to know what he said.

So I can quote him at every opportunity.

[AzNick]

40. He basically said Kerry was a true American hero and shamed Pickens

The Republicans are shameless, so that will never happen.

[Inuca]

2. YESSS Sen. Franken n/t

[vanboggie]

3. That makes me happy

Thanks for posting. I, too, send out a big Thank You to Senator Franken. :fistbump:

[PatGund]

4. Good for Sen. Franken!

[Laelth]

5. Pickens just wants to feed at the public trough. Good for Senator Franken!

Pickens is exploiting very real fears about global warming. He wants to get rich off of wind power, and many ill-informed and sympathetic liberals support his efforts to blanket the country with industrial blight (wing turbines the size of the Statue of Liberty).

But wind power is a boondoggle, and Pickens does not have the best interests of Americans at heart.

Wind Power BLOWS.

See the following:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/25/wind-turbine-bats.html
http://www.keepersoftheblueridge.com/faqs.html
http://www.nortexwind.org/index.htm
http://www.stopillwind.org/index.php
http://windconcernsontario.wordpress.com/
http://www.savewesternny.org/
http://www.wind-watch.org/
http://www.epaw.org/
http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/?p=166
http://www.rivercitymalone.com/?p=654
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/21/the-unbearable-lightness-of-wi
http://notesfromotherside.blogspot.com/2009/04/more-on-renewable-energy.html
http://www.pest-03.org/ (Power Engineers Supporting Truth)

Or just watch this series of videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNxvkrgoPLo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_utFV2ukOtU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOd5tSZF3A4&feature=related

There's more, but you get the idea. :)







Beautiful, aren't they? :sarcasm:

:dem:

-Laelth

[NYC Democrat]

15. actually I do find them beautiful or at least fascinating.

[Demoiselle]

16. Agreed, NYC Dem. I think they're beautiful... Pickens, not so much. nt

[4lbs]

19. I'd rather watch a thousand of those than a hundred of these:

[Laelth]

20. Both are bad for the environment, admittedly.

Both need to go, eventually. One of them, however, actually produces useful energy. The other does not. It's just a big waste of taxpayer money. T. Boone Pickens knows this, and he plans to cash in.

:dem:

-Laelth

[JDPriestly]

25. California rejected T. Boone Pickens plan to sell them I believe it was

natural gas. No one trusts T. Boone Pickens especially not since the Kerry ads. Supporting the anti-Kerry campaign was not necessary.

[Odin2005]

38. Gee, why did I guess the pseudo-environmentalist luddites would turn on wind power...

...when it started becoming popular? :eyes:

[TexasObserver]

6. Recommend

[Mnpaul]

7. Al is our pitbull

No lipstick required

[Arkana]

8. GodDAMN!

Also I love that John Kerry skipped the meeting. That's a subtler "fuck you" to Pickens, but I like what Franken did more.

[karynnj]

35. Someone on Daily Kos

wrote that he was on Cape Cod for the funeral of a soldier, killed in Afghanistan, though this article says he was at a lunch with his interns. Here is an article from the Cape Cod paper, which mentions that Kerry and Patrick were there.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090801/NEWS/908010329

I think the Democrats who gave Pickens this honor of addressing them really blew it by not demanding Pickens first totally disavow the SBVT lies that he helped fund. He needs the Democrats more than they need him. Running an issues based, high road campaign to become President should not have the cost of having your (and your wife's) reputation tarnished by lies forever.

I'm sure Kerry's presence at the funeral was appreciated by he soldier's friends and family. It is possible that without Pickens' action, that soldier would still be alive as a President Kerry would have pursued much different policies.

[Dinger]

9. That's My Al!

:) :toast: :bounce: :thumbsup: :kick: :headbang: :patriot:

[PA Democrat]

10. Go Al!

The only mission Pickens has is to line his own pockets with taxpayer money. If he was so concerned about solving our country's energy problems, he wouldn't have funded the Swift Boat liars.

[MBS]

31. " " " " " " "

THANK you Senator Franken! Class act. Thank you for your backbone.

[karynnj]

11. Yay Franken

Kerry really helped Franken both in fundraising before and after November, but Elias who was Franken's lawyer in the recount was Kerry's 2004 lawyer. Judging from the big hug between them after Franken was sworn in, they are allies.

It is appalling that Dorgan invited the fraud.

[politicasista]

12. Go Senator Franken!

:yourock: :patriot:

[Jakes Progress]

13. It took over six months,

but we finally got a real Democrat in the Senate.

The others who sat quietly should be ashamed. We know about Pickens here in Texas. Anything he offers is going to make him rich and you worse off. He is a charlatan and a liar. He sell snake oil and calls it medicine.

[bertman]

14. I don't know what they put in that Minnesota water, but we need to start giving it to all

of our Democratic Senators and Congressmen.

Proudly following in the footsteps of Senator Wellstone!! Thank you, Senator Franken.

And please stick to bullet-proof, armored limos when you travel.

Recommend.

[Mass]

17. I am not sure what I find more appalling: the lack of basic decency or the cluelessness of our

Democratic leadership.

I guess the cluelessness worries me more in the long term as it shows they have very little understanding of the issues.

[blm]

27. It's not just cluelessness, Mass. There is a big chunk of our party's higher ups who've been working

to marginalize Kerry since he uncovered IranContra and BCCI. They work for an agenda that has no interest in open government and accountability for corruption.

This lunch is no surprise to me since Reid and his pals have been laying out the red carpet for Pickens for a few years now.

[joeybee12]

21. I'm glad "Pickens has moved on"

I haven't, you evil SOS.

[emulatorloo]

22. My sentiments exactly -- this Pickens jerk is SLIME. He's one of the reasons we got a Bush 2nd term

As far as I am concerned he tried to destroy the USA.

[JHB]

43. Every pickpocket moves on, it's the nature of the business.

Their targets, not so quick, and small wonder why.

I continue to see why Pickens is so highly regarded outside of Wall Street.
This is a guy who built a fortune creating nothing.

[onestepforward]

23. Minnesota is lucky to have him.

I believe he will continue to be a fighter. I think that he sincerely cares about people and the truth.

[Umbral]

24. Apparently, Huffington Post wont let you refer to Pickens as a scumbag, who knew. nt

[chknltl]

26. Give 'em Hell Al then give 'em some more. KnR eom

[spooky3]

28. Pickens' staff still doesn't understand that "Democrat" is not an adjective ("Democrat P. Comm.").

gee, I wonder what that implies?

[_dynamicdems]

29. K&R n/t

[Mass]

30. AP has a good write-up about him and how he was received by his colleagues

A lot of people are justly impressed by his ability to learn quickly.

The far right wing, of course, is less impressed (particularly about going after Pickens), but I will spare you the links.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5icMMyaJyY8xP42cA_ZgApDKyygYwD99Q4I700

Franken relishes policy role in new position


WASHINGTON — Al Franken has immersed himself in the health care debate. He's posed thoughtful questions to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. He's signed on as a co-sponsor of a half dozen bills.

Weeks into his late-starting Senate career, the former comedian and self-professed lover of policy is focusing on a few issues and the daily details of his new profession. Forget the old celebrity stuff.

There was nothing flashy about the Minnesota Democrat's first victory. The Service Dog Veterans Act, which Franken introduced with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will set up a pilot program with Department of Veterans Affairs to pair service dogs with wounded veterans.

"He sought me out and I was happy to work with him," Isakson said. "He'd done his homework. He was very informed. It was obvious he was trying to hit the ground running."

Isakson said he came away impressed.

"All of us know in the Senate your reputation is the sum of all the days you serve, not just one event, but he appears to be trying very hard."

Franken's swearing-in July 7 marked the end of an eight-month political and legal struggle since the November race against GOP incumbent Norm Coleman. After a protracted recount, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the former "Saturday Night Live" performer, giving Senate Democrats enough votes to thwart possible Republican filibusters.

[glitch]

32. Pickens acts like a complete asshole then expects respect. Thank you Al Franken for keeping it real.

:applause:

[frogmarch]

33. Good going, Al Franken! Why is he the

only Dem with fortitude?

[geckosfeet]

34. Pickens helped deliver the white house to bUsh, cheeny and roVe.

For that he should be eternally damned.

[PatSeg]

36. And now he wants to play all nicey-nice with the Dems

because they're the ones in power. He has no political convictions, just a lot of self-interest.

[Odin2005]

37. Al is Awesome!

Swiftboat Pickens can go screw himself.

[mother earth]

39. Kudos to Franken. Pickens is a self-serving, wanna make

some more millions guy. He has not suddenly grown a soul or a conscience, he merely sees dollar signs. Sure, we want alternatives, but it's stomach wrenching to applaud a lyin liar like swift-boat-funding Pickens. :puke:

Thank you, Sen. Franken, for dissing the bum, I salute you! :patriot: I'd love to see him get a collective kick in the pants from all Senators for the lies that gave us the train wreck, Bush. Shame on you, Pickens. No sweet talk about alternative energy sources is going to wash away your damned lies & sins. WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN, no kool-aid here.:spray:

[nikto]

41. Pickens is an evil, lying billionaire with no morals or ethics.

True, that.

Good for Al Franken!!!

[TommyPaine]

42. Bill Maher gave Pickens a nice berating a couple months ago, too

On a recent Real Time Maher brought up the whole Swiftboating thing but Pickens tried the same "it's in the past...let's move on" schtick. Sorry pal, that's not how it works. We don't forgive and forget so easily, even if some of the sycophantic party "leaders" do.

You're still an unethical, amoral, opportunistic cretin interested only in $$$.

[BeyondGeography]

44. I'm sure many of his cynical D-colleagues in the Senate think he's being idealistic or something

Dumb rookie. He'll learn to stand for nothing soon enough.

Not Al.

K&R

[blogslut]

45. Someone else brought up a salient point about Franken

That his head won't be turned by the trappings of D.C.

I'll go further.

They say politics is show business for ugly people. Many elected officials get addicted to the fame and prestige that comes with the job. Al Franken comes from show business. He has been very successful at it. He's already a celebrity. He's already experienced the rock-star treatment. If, after he's served his term, he is not re-elected or chooses to not to run, he will be able to pick up where he left off. In essence, Senator Franken has nothing to lose. The halls of power will not intimidate this man.