Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Al Franken Questions Sonia Sotomayor
As Professor Banisky speculated, Al Franken did in fact inject humor into his questioning of Sonia Sotomayor. NBC Nightly News featured a clip of Franken badgering Sotomayor about an episode of Perry Mason, which she cited as being her childhood inspiration for entering law. His comments sparked a few laughs. Do you think that Franken's sense of humor undermines his credibility as a senator?
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Professor Banisky told us today that Franken has a history in law. I'm sure he's adequately qualified to be on the U.S. Senate, as he was elected and is now serving in it. Although it's hard to believe, there are certain requirements to get into the Senate; the average Joe (sorry, Biden) can't get into Congress without some experience.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think that Franken's humor does not hurt his credibility. Rather, I believe that his light touch will be a much-needed dose of the "common man" in the sometimes high-minded and overly bureaucratic proceedings of the Senate. Comic relief, as proven by Merry and Pippin in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" series, is needed even in the most serious of settings. (Make that, especially in the most serious.)
I think the humor is absolutely necessary. It lightened the situation.
ReplyDeleteAlso people who know how and when to tell a joke are usually the last to panic in bad situations (from my personal experience).
We might want to make it a requirement for any major office...
Lol! That would be an awesome requirement for Congress or something related. I would love to see these big wigs have to take a test on how far their sense of humor can go!
ReplyDeleteDuring proceedings that can last days if not weeks, I would say Franken's humor is essential. Constant dialogue on policy and politics is dull and could potentially make the committee make a wrong choice if they are so bored by the proceedings and are looking for any means to end them.
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