Al Franken interviewed 'a friend of Rumsfeld's.' Who?

[Hugh Manatee Wins]

Anyone hear this? Who was Franken talking to?<br><br>Yesterday on Air America Radio I briely heard Franken 'interviewing' someone who seemed to be a Hollywood type and I missed his name. Was it someone working on 'The West Wing'?<br><br>This person said he knew and like Rumsfeld personally and admired his professionalism.<br><br>Franken let this go with just a "Really?" And the conversation stayed on future elections, I think, with the gregarious guest dominating the air.<br><br>Franken = Gatekeeper. <p></p><i></i>

[heyjt]

I think it was Lawrance O'Donnell, who is usually a pretty good interview. I didn't hear that one though.<br><br> I think Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes are the true educators on Air America, I kinda' hope Franken hurries up and runs for Senate so someone else can have his time slot and liven things up a bit... <p></p><i></i>

[DireStrike]

I really dislike Franken. All he does is replay the right-wing talking points of the day and laugh at them, and interview people that are considered "left" in the mainstream. People like Howard Fineman. Ugh.<br><br>He just plays on tribal instincts (O'reilly SUX LOL~!) to convince listeners that he's a good guy, and then cudgels them into the soft, DLC, republican lite version of leftism. In short, a gatekeeper. <p></p><i></i>

[nashvillebrook]

(as far as the Air America show is concerned...)<br><br>he's boring. <br><br>just plain old, who-the-hell-cares, garden variety, yawning festival. <br><br>love his books. love his comedy. but *radio* is an artform and it takes a specially-talented *radio_ personality* (read: verbal wit as opposed to written word, witty)<br>to make it work. <p></p><i></i>

[yathrib]

I remember him when he did Saturday Night Live, specifically the "Franken and Davis" sketches. He wasn't funny then, either. His books are okay.<br><br>When AirAmerica started broadcasting, his was the first show I listened to. The self-congratulatory smugness of his program turned me off so much that I ignored AirAmerica for another year after that, until I learned about such magnificent broadcasters as Randi Rhodes, Mike Molloy, Rachel Madow, and pretty much everyone else--even Jerry Springer, in his radio incarnation--but Franken.<br><br>Not sure I buy this "gatekeeper" thing. The phenomena definitely exists in some form, but most often it seems to refer to people with whom the accuser disagrees. I wil say this: it is true of Franken if it's true of anyone. <p></p><i></i>