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Al Franken and Bill O’Reilly: Fireworks

WOW. If this doesn’t qualify as the most electric television on C-Span ever, I don’t know what does. (It’s a panel at BookExpo America in Los Angeles from last week.)

Molly Ivins starts out by talking about her observations about President Bush, who she’s known since high school. Then Bill O’Reilly follows. The fireworks happen when Al Franken shows up (whose new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, comes out in the fall).

That Franken and O’Reilly don’t come to blows at the end of the panel is a minor miracle.

Franken is angry. Really, really angry. And Molly Ivins is a smart cookie. (And funny too – the line of the evening – among many great lines – is hers at 1:09:00.)

Fun TV. And you might just learn a bit too.

23 responses to “Al Franken and Bill O’Reilly: Fireworks”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    TO: Mr. Bully O'Reilly Fair and Balance? BULLSHIT!!! Thank you… Thank you…. Thank you…. AL FRANKEN.. Thank you for exposing this BULLY what he is. Thank you fo putting this “Watch DOG'”s tail between his legs and sending him licking off the podium. What an Idiot! Self-proclaimed, self-rachies, pompous ass.. A comedian, a nice man, not a bully put this dog in his place and no matter what he does he can't win. I am sick and tired of lies, spins, and frankly you O'Reilly. I canceled my cable service after months of lies and psychological war you guys put out there. All it took a comedian to put you in your place. That was long over due. You've got your lesson and you are not RIGHT. You are a lousy LOOSER and LIER. Lesson: Never loose your cool. Never brag about your intelligence. Never LIE.You IDIOT!! Umit Sen

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    You sir, are a dolt. Al Franken is a comedian and a very funny one. The purpose of his books is to stir up trouble and he's very successful at it. Al Franken is a liberal and a democrat. You, too, are a liberal and a democrat. Basically, democrat=liberal and republican=conservative. I'd wager a bet you also hate President Bush. And you probably ADORED Bill Clinton.Figures.Have a nice day bonehead.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Whoa whoa… no need for this to devolve into a who-sucks-more debate. Let's try and keep it civil, please.

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Al Franken lost the debate… as he's loosing his hair…maybe the reason for the personal attacks instead of real factual based debate…Liberal have betrayed and attack this country with no proof and validity to their argument…Its no wonder why they are so panicked…

    Reply
  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hey Rick-What happened to the video you had of the debate?? With the Franken-Fox lawsuit, i'm wanting to see this now. Any chance it'll be up again??

    Reply
  6. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Turns out the clip got removed from C-Span.org – but I found another copy here:http://www.booktv.org/misc/BookExpo_053103.asp–Rick

    Reply
  7. Avatar
    Anonymous

    whoa-been looking for the o'reilly-franken showdown clip but it seems to have been excised from the source-namely, c-span and book tv. fox tv's doing or what? just wondering

    Reply
  8. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I have just finished Lies And The Lying Liar Who Tell Them and my head hurts from laughing and crying. Al Franken and I belive the same; that this country can do better and that saying so doesn't make you a traitor to our country. Hurray for Al on to the elections. I'm through with Bush too Al!

    Reply
  9. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Bill O'Reilly is a man who is a true American and patriot. He knows how to stand up for people's rights. All Al Franken knows how to do is point the finger at the wrong people. Maybe he should try acting like a patriot of this country instead of bashing elite members of this country. Al Franken do us all a favor and shutup!!! Thanks

    Reply
  10. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Al Franken is a true patriot of the United States of America. Al Franken stands up for the truth and identifies those who lie. Al Franken showed conclusively that O'Reilly (possibly) misspoke or more likely misrepresented about the Peabody award (it was actually a Polk award) that the tabloid show Inside Edition won (more than a year after O'Reilly left the show) on three seperate occasions. O'Reilly was then notified that he misspoke, but that didn't stop him from insisting weeks later that he had never attributed a Peabody to the show Inside edition, and suggested that the public figure who made that accusation should be chastized for being less than thouough in his research. Al Franken made it quite clear that even after he “misspoke,” he was (and I think still is) unable to own up to his mistake and decided to tell what can only be considered to be a purposeful and deliberate lie to cover up his previous transgressions regarding this obscure statement. Al Franken's main point is not simply that O'Reilly lies, but perhaps more importantly, he is unable to admit to speaking mistruths.If four different sources of evidence that Franken mentioned in this presentation doccumenting a lie told by O'Reilly doesn't count as substance then I don't know what the conservative defenders of O'Reilly would consider to be “substance.”Maybe Conservatives don't care if their heros are lying to them and prefer to remain ignorant of the facts that whistle blowers like Franken expose; but that isn't a position that I, as a rational person, am able to understand.

    Reply
  11. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Al Franken is an idiot. He gets really belligerent, tries to pick a fight w/O'Reilly, and tosses around vulgarities. Franken is no patriot. Franken is just another sad example of the arrogant Hollywood left. He's a no-talent hack. But that's okay, because as far as he's concerned, “(he's) good enough, (he's) 'smart' enough, and doggone it, (communists) LIKE him!

    Reply
  12. Avatar
    Anonymous

    You Al Franken “groupies” need to take a long hard look at him and the Democratic party in general. First, Democrats can wine all they want, but can't they come up with someone better than the group of idiots trying to win the nomination. Great party! Bush is the man! You can blame your savior Clinton for 9/11. On more than one occasion, he had Bin Laden basically handed to him. Nice life. Basically, what it all boils down to is that liberals don't know what they're talking about.

    Reply
  13. Avatar
    Anonymous

    When exactly was bin Laden handed to Clinton? Oh, I'm sorry he was “basically” handed to him, I forgot… Apparently “basically” must mean not. What exactly do you want democrats to take a long hard look at? Its lack of dropping anti-trust cases against big campaign contributors? Its lack of rolling back enviromental protections? Its flat out lies about who tax cuts will benefit? I'm sorry you see my stupid Democrat mind has got me confused… those are all republican doings.

    Reply
  14. Avatar
    Anonymous

    John, i definitely need to think about your statement and overall view of what you are saying…Dean was right when you obscurely used “basically' twice….that kind of sounds like O'reilly skewing the facts about his “basic' peabody…because he 'basically'won one for inside edition…I read Al Franken's book, and i couldnt find the word 'basically' at all…he uses facts and doesnt speculate…you on the other hand, took a few pointers from Rush and the 700 club, who we all know are the most factually based mediums out there, and you gossiped right wing rhetoric and based it upon no facts at all…it figures, all conservatives are ignorant carbon copies of each other, they dont even care to know the truth, just so it 'basically' links their ideology with their lies…anyways, god have mercy on your soul when I START “WHINING” about YOU losing your job, YOUR Son dying in Iraq, and YOU getting busted by the Feds for your illegal perscription drugs you got from canada, because you couldnt afford ones here…keep arguing against the left, we'll keep a seat open for you in the future!

    Reply
  15. Avatar
    Anonymous

    John, i definitely need to think about your statement and overall view of what you are saying…Dean was right when you obscurely used “basically' twice….that kind of sounds like O'reilly skewing the facts about his “basic' peabody…because he 'basically'won one for inside edition…I read Al Franken's book, and i couldnt find the word 'basically' at all…he uses facts and doesnt speculate…you on the other hand, took a few pointers from Rush and the 700 club, who we all know are the most factually based mediums out there, and you gossiped right wing rhetoric and based it upon no facts at all…it figures, all conservatives are ignorant carbon copies of each other, they dont even care to know the truth, just so it 'basically' links their ideology with their lies…anyways, god have mercy on your soul when I START “WHINING” about YOU losing your job, YOUR Son dying in Iraq, and YOU getting busted by the Feds for your illegal perscription drugs you got from canada, because you couldnt afford ones here…keep arguing against the left, we'll keep a seat open for you in the future!

    Reply
  16. Avatar
    Anonymous

    What ever happened to Al Franken? Did he have to go home for a diaper change?

    Reply
  17. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Did any of you conservative people making comments actually read Al Franken's book? I've watched O'Reilly for about as long as I can stomach on several occasions. I just can't take all the yelling and interrupting. Franken's book rings true to me. His claims are also very well documented. He even uses the words of the conservatives he's opposing against them. They say one thing when it serves them and then say the opposite when that serves them better — in print and on television, no less! Please restore my faith in humanity and tell me that you're not all that easily led — just so many sheep lining the pockets of sheisters like Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly!

    Reply
  18. Avatar
    Anonymous

    ATTN: B.H. Mayer Why on earth would anyone waste their haqrd-earned money on Al Franken's book? The Weekly World News is more credible, and only costs a dollar. 😉

    Reply
  19. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Oh yeah: When Fuzzhead Franken starts licking Kerry's boots, let's hope that Kerry has a flashback and chokes Franken with the Viet Cong flag…

    Reply
  20. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Rob,Thanks for addressing none of the points in my posting. I now feel safe in assuming that you and your conservative hack cronies are, in fact, a bunch of sheep. Thanks for confirming that for me.

    Reply
  21. Avatar
    Anonymous

    B.H.,Dear traveller: You make me proud -PROUD, I say- to be Republican! By the arrogance of your post I gather that no one has a right to disagree with you OR the snivelling, whining Al Franken (a.k.a., “Buck-toothed Moron”). You know, I once ran into sanctimonious snobs like you when I attended a very liberal, elitist university in Minnesota. It was run by hacks like you who were so arrogant that they thought they could defeat truth itself in a debate! You claim that my “conservative hack cronies” are a “bunch of sheep”, yet you fail to define what you mean by such a comment. Oh well. I can only assume that by such terms that you mean there are several people who recognize the left for the inept boobs that they are, and that we “sheep cronies” here in “flyover country” pose a very real threat to the likes of John F'n Kerry's chances of being elected to Comrade Citizen Chief -I mean, President. Do have a nice day…

    Reply
  22. Avatar
    Anonymous

    B.H.,Dear traveller: You make me proud -PROUD, I say- to be Republican! By the arrogance of your post I gather that no one has a right to disagree with you OR the snivelling, whining Al Franken (a.k.a., “Buck-toothed Moron”). You know, I once ran into sanctimonious snobs like you when I attended a very liberal, elitist university in Minnesota. It was run by hacks like you who were so arrogant that they thought they could defeat truth itself in a debate! You claim that my “conservative hack cronies” are a “bunch of sheep”, yet you fail to define what you mean by such a comment. Oh well. I can only assume that by such terms that you mean there are several people who recognize the left for the inept boobs that they are, and that we “sheep cronies” here in “flyover country” pose a very real threat to the likes of John F'n Kerry's chances of being elected to Comrade Citizen Chief -I mean, President. Do have a nice day…

    Reply
  23. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Bush will win in November. Kerry supporters will vote for Bush before they vote against him…

    Reply

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