Send in the clowns

As readers know, I have often pointed out that comedians (most notably Stewart and Colbert) are more likely to confront politicians with the facts than the designated pundits and celebrity newspeople.

So maybe it's a good idea to "send in the clowns" as elected senators. At least Al Franken is making waves there -- as a serious lawmaker. He has shed his clown persona but seems to have retained the clown's penchant for speaking truth to power.

He introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill to prevent the government from working with contractors who deny victims of sexual assault the right to bring suit, and it looks like it may pass. This is a response to a terrible situation of contractors in Iraq who prevented women employees from suing for rape by other contract workers.

Now in a testy exchange with John Thune (R-SD) on the senate floor, Franken has called him out for a grossly distorted chart about when benefits of health care reform would take effect. Franken's effective line, which he came back to repeatedly, each time pointing out where Thune had his facts wrong:

"We have the right to our opinions. But we don't have the right to our own facts."

Pretty effective -- at least it seemed so from the video clip.

Ralph