That's SENATOR Franken to you

I've always liked Al Franken. I liked him back when he worked with Tom Davis. I still think (on rare occasions) of the 1980s as the Al Franken Decade. I thought that Stuart Saves His Family was the best film ever to arise from a Saturday Night Live routine. (No, really. And please do not mention The Blues Brothers.) He has done great work on Air America.

I wish that I lived in Minnesota so I could vote for him.

(I also wish I lived in Minnesota because there's a company in St. Paul that I ought to sue, but the contract states that I have to do so in a court there.)

Most political comics would probably make disastrous politicians. Bill Maher is hilarious, but even he wouldn't vote for Bill Maher.

Franken, though, would make a great public servant.

It was once said that the late comic genius Lord Buckley (I hope a few of you smile at the mention of his name) operated out of love, unlike most other comedians, who operate out of hatred. Hatred can be a great asset to the political satirist; Maher, for example, is one of the most superbly gifted haters in the history of entertainment. I mean that as praise.

But Franken is not a hater. Events can make him angry, and sometimes even bitter -- yet he is not a hater. He may not believe, as Buckley believed, in a reified, all-encompassing, Capital-L Love -- but I have always received the strong impression that this man loves his country.

Beyond that, he's not just smart -- he's wise.

And beyond that, he was a wrestler in high school. Minnesotans like wrestlers, don'tcha know.