For years, author and comedian Al Franken has wielded his wit to dissect and lampoon the inner workings of America's political landscape, but during his visit to Yale, he proved that he was knowledgeable about the nation's geography as well.
Franken had completed his talk in a Linsly-Chittenden classroom on Dec. 7 and was chatting with a few students, when one of them recalled a "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") skit in which Franken had drawn -- seemingly freehand -- a map of the contiguous 48 United States. The student asked Franken: Was that a trick? Had he merely been tracing something the audience couldn't see?
That was no trick, the Harvard-educated Franken assured the student, "I can do that." Then, to the amazement of onlookers, he grabbed a piece of chalk, turned to the blackboard and proceeded to draw -- from memory -- a map of the contiguous 48 United States,.
This off-the-cuff cartography was just one of the talents Franken demonstrated during his visit to the University as a guest of Pierson College and the Yale Record, a campus humor magazine. He also revealed the comedic talent and timing that brought him success both backstage and onstage at "SNL" for 15 seasons, as well as the fascination with politics that inspired him to write the books "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" and "Why Not Me? -- The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency."
Not surprisingly, much of Franken's talk at Yale centered on the recent presidential election and its aftermath. Openly acknowledging that he supported Al Gore, Franken told the overflow audience, in his characteristic deadpan style: "Some people think it's dangerous for a satirist to get behind a politician, and I know from firsthand experience that this is true. The first politician I ever did a fundraiser for was Pol Pot. A few years later, I saw 'The Killing Fields' and really felt stupid ... although I'm sure that Gore wouldn't do anything like that."
Noting that he lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Franken recalled "on the afternoon of Election Day, my neighbors started getting calls from their parents, who worried that they may have voted for Buchanan. ... A neighbor of mine literally got this call from his mother, saying, 'I think I just voted for Hitler.'"
While Franken was scathing in his criticism of George W. Bush and his supporters, he was equally venomous about Ralph Nader. "Ralph Nader saved hundreds and hundreds of lives; he's an icon -- but I hate him," he said, dismissing with disdain Nader's contention that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. "If you really cared about the things that Nader says he cares about, like the environment, it would be impossible to say that there is no difference. There's a huge difference," contended the comedian.
Asked what he thought of Joseph Lieberman as the Democrat's nominee for vice president, Franken noted that, in the fictitious run for the presidency described in "Why Not Me?" he also chose the Connecticut senator as a running mate. "But in my case, I did it to balance the ticket, because I'm a Reform Jew, and he's an Orthodox Jew," he quipped.
Unlike some, Franken said, he is not particularly surprised that Americans have remained calm during the chaos following the presidential election. "When you hear people talk about it on television, they say, 'At least, there are no tanks in the street,'" noted Franken. "That is, to me, pretty low-bar. I suppose the fact that people aren't nervous about it is a testament to how stable our democracy is. On the other hand, the shocking thing is how bad our electoral system works."
Those flaws notwithstanding, "in a way, I'm glad we have an Electoral College," he noted, pointing out that it would be worse to see similar contests over such a close vote taking place in every county in the country.
Whatever the outcome of the post-election suits, Franken said, "I think that it's important for all of us to get behind whoever is in office on Jan. 20." And, regardless of who wins, "It's going to be more important for the person who loses to bring the country together," he asserted.
When asked what Franken's alter ego, self-help guru Stuart Smalley, would do to help Gore cope with post-election trauma, Franken took off his glasses and smoothed his face into the benign mask of the popular "SNL" character. Admitting he was a little nervous speaking at Yale ("but fear is a dark room where negatives get developed"), the Smalley character said he would advise the vice president to do some "mirror work" -- that he would have Gore gaze at his own reflection while saying, "I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And doggone it, 48% of the people like me!"
-- By LuAnn Bishop
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