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'''Alan Stuart "Al" Franken''' (born May 21, 1951), a [[liberal]] [[Democrat]] and former satirist and comedian known for his attacks against [[Republican]]s and [[Conservatives]], is the junior U.S. Senator from [[Minnesota]]. He was declared the winner after purportedly obtaining a slim majority of the votes. The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the last legal challenges from his opponent, [[Norm Coleman]], who conceded.  

'''Alan Stuart "Al" Franken''' (born May 21, 1951), a [[liberal]] [[Democrat]] and former satirist and comedian known for his attacks against [[Republican]]s and [[conservatives]], is the junior U.S. Senator from [[Minnesota]]. He was declared the winner after purportedly obtaining a slim majority of the votes. The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the last legal challenges from his opponent, [[Norm Coleman]], who conceded.  

After all the court appeals the Republican governor of Minnesota, [[Tim Pawlenty]], signed the certificate of election for Franken and he took office July 6, 2009, for a six-year term.  Franken's win gave Democrats a 58-40-2 margin in the Senate, enough to shut off filibusters if the 58, along with two Independents who caucus with the Democrats, hang together.

After all the court appeals the Republican governor of Minnesota, [[Tim Pawlenty]], signed the certificate of election for Franken and he took office July 6, 2009, for a six-year term.  Franken's win gave Democrats a 58-40-2 margin in the Senate, enough to shut off filibusters if the 58, along with two Independents who caucus with the Democrats, hang together.

== Fraudulent Election? ==

== Fraudulent Election? ==

The recount that turned Al Franken into a U.S. Senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities it was announced in July, 2010.  In a study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic [[Minneapolis]]-[[St. Paul (City)|St. Paul]] voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race. The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- ''fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted'', according to the newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records. The group took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went to the voting roster lists, where voters sign in before going to the voting booth, and matched them by hand.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/12/felons-voting-illegally-franken-minnesota-study-finds/ Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds]</ref>

The recount that turned Al Franken into a U.S. Senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities it was announced in July, 2010.  In a study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic [[Minneapolis]]-[[St. Paul (City)|St. Paul]] voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race. The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- ''fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted'', according to the newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records. The group took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went to the voting roster lists, where voters sign in before going to the voting booth, and matched them by hand.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/12/felons-voting-illegally-franken-minnesota-study-finds/ Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds]</ref>

[[Ann Coulter]] said,

[[Ann Coulter]] said,

<blockquote>He stole the 2008 election in Minnesota, going from a thousand votes down the day after the election to 300 votes up a few months later, after vast numbers of Franken votes kept being discovered in heavily Democratic districts. As economist [[John Lott]] pointed out at the time, the magically appearing votes for Franken were a statistical impossibility. [http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2013-10-30.html]

<blockquote>He stole the 2008 election in Minnesota, going from a thousand votes down the day after the election to 300 votes up a few months later, after vast numbers of Franken votes kept being discovered in heavily Democratic districts. As economist [[John Lott]] pointed out at the time, the magically appearing votes for Franken were a statistical impossibility. [http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2013-10-30.html]

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

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==Policies==

==Policies==

Franken has been deliberately vague about his position on all major policy issues—except on Iraq, where he reversed himself 180 degrees under intense pressure from the left in Minnesota.

Franken has been deliberately vague about his position on all major policy issues—except on Iraq, where he reversed himself 180 degrees under intense pressure from the left in Minnesota.

===Iraq===

===Iraq===

In the 2008 campaign Franken emphasized his strong opposition to President Bush's policies in Iraq. However he is a relatively recent convert to the conviction that the U.S. should immediately pull out of Iraq. Back in 2003 when the country debated the war, Franken supported intervention. He repeatedly visited Iraq to entertain troops, and came to admire them. By 2006 he argued Bush's handling of the war was incompetent, but as late as June 2006 agreed with Bush in opposing a timeline for withdrawal. Pushed by the anti-war left in Minnesota, Franken in late 2006 finally declared his opposition.<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/11761151.html    Patricia Lopez; Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov. 30, 2007]</ref>

In the 2008 campaign, Franken emphasized his strong opposition to President Bush's policies in Iraq. However, he was a relatively late convert to the conviction that the U.S. should immediately pull out of Iraq. Back in 2003 when the country debated the war, Franken supported intervention. He repeatedly visited Iraq to entertain troops, and came to admire them. By 2006 he argued Bush's handling of the war was incompetent, but as late as June 2006 agreed with Bush in opposing a timeline for withdrawal. Pushed by the anti-war left in Minnesota, Franken in late 2006 finally declared his opposition.<ref>[http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/11761151.html    Patricia Lopez; Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov. 30, 2007]</ref>

==Vulgar satire==

==Vulgar satire==

==Controversial Statements==

==Controversial Statements==

On Franken's website there is the admonition ''"Anybody who deliberately propagandizes with lies should be held up to scorn and ridicule"''.<ref>http://lyingliar.com/index.htm</ref>  Throughout his books he has held himself to "impossibly high standards" to tell the truth about those he has written about.  Author Alan Skorski researched two of Franken's books (''Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot'' and ''Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them'') and found an extensive pattern of lies, misstatements, factual inaccuracies, among them:

On Franken's website, there is the admonition ''"Anybody who deliberately propagandizes with lies should be held up to scorn and ridicule"''.<ref>http://lyingliar.com/index.htm</ref>  Throughout his books he has held himself to "impossibly high standards" to tell the truth about those he has written about.  Author Alan Skorski researched two of Franken's books (''Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot'' and ''Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them'') and found an extensive pattern of lies, misstatements, factual inaccuracies, among them:

*Accusing Ann Coulter of "lying with footnotes" by "citing a source and misrepresenting what it says"; throughout his book Skorski states that Franken has done exactly that on numerous occasions (Skorski, pg. xiii)

*Accusing Ann Coulter of "lying with footnotes" by "citing a source and misrepresenting what it says"; throughout his book Skorski states that Franken has done exactly that on numerous occasions (Skorski, pg. xiii)

   

   

== See also ==

== See also ==

[[Franken Syndrome]]

*[[Franken Syndrome]]

==References==

==References==