Al's Fair in War and Politics

Al Franken brings it home


I don't mind this ad (below), a hard hitting spot by the Democrats trying to win the Minnesota Senate race. If you're not hungrily following Minnesota politics, you might not know that comedian/commentator/writer Al Franken is running as the Democrat. Yeah, that guy.

In the commercial, an older couple is remembering their son, who was killed in Iraq. They lay the blame squarely at the feet of President Bush and his crony congress starring Republican Norm Coleman. It's blunt, heart wrenching and—some will argue—completely over the line.

Personally, I think we've sanitized this war and the conversation surrounding it enough. Our media quietly obliges the Pentagon by not showing the bodies of the dead upon their return to the U.S. That Orwellian practice is all part of the inoculation against any public outcry reaching critical mass. War is—to be cliche—hell, and I expect to do my part by not turning away. I don't just want the packaged HBO version on Generation Kill, I want to study the reality up close on PBS and at discomforting range. And daily. I don't want to be polite about this war. Ever.



Thanks to The Fix for the tip.