Ask odd to even in we are Timex,
The Cops must explain to communicate a saying?
Wood it not be Ring?
I road the drive to see the trail of what is called the country,
the seam to threads of mountains tug my anxious in a nightly,
so often grabbed by what is valley?
Tusk that Elephant.
Wide are the City Lights of Lava Lamp to swag,
the poetic tick to trail hour in seconds of what Seventy?
To add the Calendar?
The 13th month such varied stack to while the minute Scribes,
Date Adjust!!
International Fixed Calendar
The International Fixed Calendar (also known as the Cotsworth plan, the Eastman plan, the 13 Month calendar or the Equal Month calendar) is a solar calendar proposal for calendar reform designed by Moses B. Cotsworth, who presented it in 1902.[1] It divides the solar year into 13 months of 28 days each. It is therefore a perennial calendar, with every date fixed to the same weekday every year. Though it was never officially adopted in any country, entrepreneur George Eastman adopted it for use in his Eastman Kodak Company, where it was used from 1928 to 1989.[2]
Rules[edit]
The calendar year has 13 months with 28 days each, divided into exactly 4 weeks (13 × 28 = 364). An extra day added as a holiday at the end of the year (after December 28, i.e. equal December 31 Gregorian), sometimes called "Year Day", does not belong to any week and brings the total to 365 days. Each year coincides with the corresponding Gregorianyear, so January 1 in the Cotsworth calendar always falls on Gregorian January 1.[3] Twelve months are named and ordered the same as those of the Gregorian calendar, except that the extra month is inserted between June and July, and called Sol. Situated in mid-summer (from the point of view of its Northern Hemisphere authors) and including the mid-year solstice, the name of the new month was chosen in homage to the sun.[4]
Leap year in the International Fixed Calendar contains 366 days, and its occurrence follows the Gregorian rule. There is a leap year in every year whose number is divisible by 4, but not if the year number is divisible by 100, unless it is also divisible by 400. So although the year 2000 was a leap year, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were common years. The International Fixed Calendar inserts the extra day in leap year as June 29 - between Saturday June 28 and Sunday Sol 1.
Each month begins on a Sunday, and ends on a Saturday; consequently, every year begins on Sunday. Neither Year Day nor Leap Day are considered to be part of any week; they are preceded by a Saturday and are followed by a Sunday.
All the months look like this:
| Days of the week | Leap Day in June on leap years, or Year Day in December | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
The following shows how the 13 months and extra days of the International Fixed Calendar occur in relation to the dates of the Gregorian calendar:
| Fixed calendar month | Matching dates on the Gregorian calendar | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts on fixed day 1 | Ends on fixed day 28 (or 29) | |
| January | January 1 | January 28 |
| February | January 29 | February 25 |
| March | February 26 | March 25* |
| April | March 26* | April 22* |
| May | April 23* | May 20* |
| June | May 21* | June 17* |
| June 17 (Leap Day) | ||
| Sol | June 18 | July 15 |
| July | July 16 | August 12 |
| August | August 13 | September 9 |
| September | September 10 | October 7 |
| October | October 8 | November 4 |
| November | November 5 | December 2 |
| December | December 3 | December 30 |
| December 31 (Year Day ) | ||
*These Gregorian dates between March and June are a day earlier in a Gregorian leap year. March in the Fixed Calendar always has a fixed number of days (28), and includes the Gregorian 29 February (on Gregorian leap years).
History[edit]
The simple idea of a 13-month perennial calendar has been around since at least the middle of the 18th century. Versions of the idea differ mainly on how the months are named, and the treatment of the extra day in leap year.
The "Georgian calendar" was proposed in 1745 by an American colonist from Maryland writing under the pen name Hirossa Ap-Iccim, the Rev. Hugh Jones.[5] The author named the plan, and the thirteenth month, after King George II of Great Britain. The 365th day each year was to be set aside as Christmas. The treatment of leap year varied from the Gregorian rule, however; and the year would begin closer to the winter solstice. In a later version of the plan, published in 1753, the 13 months were all renamed for Christian saints.
In 1849 the French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) proposed the 13-month Positivist Calendar, naming the months: Moses, Homer, Aristotle, Archimedes, Caesar, St. Paul, Charlemagne, Dante, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Descartes, Frederic and Bichat. The days of the year were likewise dedicated to "saints" in the Positivist Religion of Humanity. Positivist weeks, months, and years begin with Monday instead of Sunday. Comte also reset the year number, beginning the era of his calendar (year 1) with the Gregorian year 1789. For the extra days of the year not belonging to any week or month, Comte followed the pattern of Ap-Iccim (Jones), ending each year with a festival on the 365th day, followed by a subsequent feast day occurring only in leap years.
Whether Moses Cotsworth was familiar with the 13-month plans that preceded his International Fixed Calendar is not known. He did follow Ap-Iccim (Jones) in designating the 365th day of the year as Christmas. His suggestion was that this last day of the year should be designated a Sunday, and hence, because the following day would be New Year's Day and a Sunday also, he called it a Double Sunday.[6] Since Cotsworth's goal was a simplified, more "rational" calendar for business and industry, he would carry over all the features of the Gregorian calendar consistent with this goal, including the traditional month names, the week beginning on Sunday (still traditionally used in US, but uncommon in most other countries and in the ISO week standard, starting their weeks on Monday), and the Gregorian leap-year rule.
To promote Cotsworth's calendar reform the International Fixed Calendar League was founded in 1923, just after the plan was selected by the League of Nations as the best of 130 calendar proposals put forward.[7] Sir Sandford Fleming, the inventor and driving force behind worldwide adoption of standard time, became the first president of the IFCL.[8] The League opened offices in London and later in Rochester, New York. George Eastman, of the Eastman Kodak Company, became a fervent supporter of the IFC, and instituted its use at Kodak. The International Fixed Calendar League ceased operations shortly after the calendar plan failed to win final approval of the League of Nations in 1937.[9]
Advantages[edit]
The several advantages of the International Fixed Calendar are mainly related to its organization.
- The subdivision of the year is very regular and systematic which eases statistics and annual organization[citation needed]:
- Every year has exactly 52 weeks divided in 13 months.
- Each month has exactly 28 days divided in 4 weeks.
- Every day of the month falls on the same weekday in each month—the 17th always falls on a Tuesday, for example.
- The calendar is the same every year (perennial), unlike the annual Gregorian calendar, which differs from year to year. Hence, scheduling is easier for institutions and industries with extended production cycles.
- Movable holidays celebrated on the nth certain weekday of a month, such as U.S. Thanksgiving day, would be able to have a fixed date while keeping their traditional weekday.
- Statistical comparisons by months are more accurate, since all months contain exactly the same number of business days and weekends; likewise for comparisons by 13-week quarters.
- Supporters of the International Fixed Calendar have argued that thirteen equal divisions of the year are superior to twelve unequal divisions in terms of monthly cash flow in the economy.[10]
Disadvantages[edit]
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- Thirteen, being prime, is not evenly divisible, putting all activities currently done on a quarterly basis out of alignment with the months; each quarter would be 13 weeks instead.
- Some Jewish, Christian, and Islamic groups[who?] have been historically opposed to the calendar because their tradition of worshiping every seventh day would result in either the day of the week of worship changing from year to year or eight days passing when Year Day or Leap Day occurs.[11] Others[who?] have contended that Year Day and Leap Day could be counted as additional days of worship.
- Birthdays and other significant anniversaries may be recalculated as a result of a calendar reform and would always be on the same day of the week (of a given year). If the recalculated day is a weekend, it cannot be designated a holiday and causes difficulty in celebrating this day. This is readily solved by making the following weekday a holiday, as is often currently done when a holiday falls on a weekend during a given year.
Perennial calendar
(Redirected from Perennial Calendar)
A perennial calendar is a calendar that applies to any year, keeping the same dates, weekdays and other features.
Perennial calendar systems differ from most widely used calendars which are annual calendars. Annual calendars include features particular to the year represented, and expire at the year's end. A perennial calendar differs also from a perpetual calendar, which is a tool or reference to compute the weekdays of dates for any given year, or for representing a wide range of annual calendars.
For example, most representations of the Gregorian calendar year include weekdays and are therefore annual calendars, because the weekdays of its dates vary from year to year. For this reason, proposals to perennialize the Gregorian calendar typically introduce one or another scheme for fixing its dates on the same weekdays every year.
Contents
[hide]History and background[edit]
The term perennial calendar appeared as early as 1824, in the title of Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster's Perennial calendar and companion to the almanack.[1] In that work he compiled "the events of every day in the year, as connected with history, chronology, botany, natural history, astronomy, popular customes and antiquities, with useful rules of health, observations on the weather, explanations of the feasts and festivals of the church and other miscellaneous useful information." The data listed there for each date in the calendar apply in every year, and supplement data to be found in annual almanacs. Often printed in perennial-calendar format also are book blanks for diaries, ledgers and logs, for use in any year. Entries on the blank pages of these books are organized by calendar dates, without reference to weekdays or year numbers.
Calendar reform[edit]
A goal of modern calendar reform has been to achieve universal acceptance of a perennial calendar, with dates fixed always on the same weekdays, so the same calendar table serves year after year. Advantages claimed for a perennial over an annualized calendar like the Gregorian are simplicity and regularity. Scheduling is simplified for institutions and industries with extended production cycles. School terms and breaks, for example, can fall annually on the same dates. Month-based ordinal dating ("Fourth Thursday in November", "Last Monday in May") will be obsolete. Two methods favored for perennializing the calendar are the introduction of so-called "blank days," and of a periodic "leap week."
Blank-day calendars[edit]
Blank-day calendars remove a day or two from the weekday cycle, resulting in a year length of 364 weekdays. Since this number is evenly divisible by 7, every year can begin on the same weekday. In the twelve-month plan of The World Calendar, for example, the Gregorian year-end date of December 31 is sequestered from the cycle of the week and celebrated as "Worldsday." December 30 falls on a Saturday, Worldsday follows next, and then January 1 begins every new year on a Sunday. The extra day in leap year is treated similarly. Blank-day calendars with thirteen months have also been developed. Among them are: The Georgian calendar, by Hirossa Ap-Iccim (=Rev. Hugh Jones) (1745);[2] The Positivist calendar, by Auguste Comte (1849); and the International Fixed Calendar, by Moses B. Cotsworth (1902),[3] and championed by George Eastman.[4] Blank-day reform proposals face a religious objection, however. Sabbatarians, who are obliged to regard every seventh day as a day of rest and worship, must observe their holy day on a different weekday each year.
Leap-week calendars[edit]
Leap week calendar plans often restrict common years to 364 days, or 52 weeks, and expand leap years to 371 days, or 53 weeks. The added week may extend an existing month, or it may stand alone as an inserted seven-day month.
The leap-week calendar may have been conceived originally by Rev. George M. Searle (1839-1918), around 1905. In 1930, James A. Colligan, S.J. proposed a thirteen-month reform, the Pax Calendar. By 1955, Cecil L. Woods proposed the twelve-month Jubilee Calendar which inserts an extra week called "Jubilee" before January in specified years.[5]The Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar (2003) inserts an extra year-end month of seven days called "Xtra," and the Symmetry454 calendar (circa 2004) lengthens the month of December by one week on leap years.
Easter in Leap-week calendars[edit]
The Christian celebration of Easter is historically calculated to occur on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon falling on or after 21 March. In leap-week calendars, March 21 is less likely to match astronomical spring equinox than in the Gregorian calendar.[6] The Symmetry454 calendar proposes Sunday, April 7 as a permanently fixed date for Easter, based on the median date of the Sunday after the day of the astronomical lunar opposition that is on or after the day of the astronomical northward equinox, calculated for the meridian of Jerusalem.[7] In 1963 the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican declared:
Determining Leap Weeks[edit]
In the Pax Calendar, the extra week is added in every year having its last number, or its last two numbers, divisible by 6, and in every year ending with the number 99, and every centennial year not divisible by 400. The Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar's leap week occurs every year that either begins or ends in a Thursday on the corresponding Gregorian calendar. The Symmetry454 calendar's leap week formula was chosen over others based on 10 criteria, including smoothest distribution of weeks, minimal "jitter" and predicted accuracy of 4-5 millennia.[9]
Objections[edit]
Objections to leap weeks include the inconvenience of a periodic extra week for billing and payment cycles, and for dividing the leap year into halves and quarters. Another objection is that anniversaries, such as birthdays, are more likely on average to occur on a leap week than a leap day.
Other options[edit]
Besides blank-day and leap-week reforms only a few other options for achieving a perennial calendar have been suggested. The Long-Sabbath Calendar, by Rick McCarty (1996), extends to thirty-six hours the last Saturday of the year and the subsequent first Sunday of the new year. Seventy-two hours are thereby covered with two weekdays instead of the usual three, which shortens the year to 364 calendar days without interrupting the weekday cycle. Another option would trim every year to exactly 364 days, allowing the calendar months to drift relative to the seasons. January would move from mid-winter to mid-summer, in the northern hemisphere, after approximately 150 years. The calendar year can be reckoned to drift though all the seasons once every 294 calendar years equal to 293 years of 365.2423208... days.
Al Franken
| Al Franken | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Minnesota | |
| Assumed office July 7, 2009[note 1] Serving with Amy Klobuchar | |
| Preceded by | Norm Coleman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Stuart Franken May 21, 1951 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Franni Bryson (m. 1975) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | franken |
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, producer, and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Minnesota since 2009. He became well known in the 1970s and 1980s as a performer on the television comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). After decades as an actor and satirical writer, he became a prominent liberal political activist before running for a seat in the U.S. Senate as the nominee of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party.
Franken was first elected to the United States Senate in 2008, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman by a narrow margin of 312 votes out of nearly three million cast. He was a popular Senator and easily won reelection in 2014 over Republican challenger Mike McFadden. On December 7, 2017, after several accusations of sexual misconduct, Franken announced his intention to resign from the Senate.
Contents
[hide]Early life and education
Franken was born on May 21, 1951, in New York City, to Joseph Franken, a printing salesman, and Phoebe Franken (born Kunst), a real estate agent. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Germany; his maternal grandfather came from Grodno, Belarus; and his maternal grandmother's parents were also from the Russian Empire.[1] Both of his parents were Jews, and Franken was raised in a Reform Jewish home.[2] The Frankens moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota when he was four years old.[3] His father opened a quilting factory, but it failed after just two years. The family then moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.[4] Franken graduated from The Blake School in 1969, where he was a member of the wrestling team.[5] He attended Harvard College, where he majored in political science, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1973.[6] His older brother Owen is a photojournalist, and his cousin Bob is a journalist for MSNBC.[7]
Franken began performing in high school, where he and his longtime friend and writing partner Tom Davis were known for their comedy.[8] The duo first performed on stage at Minneapolis's Brave New Workshop theater, specializing in political satire.[9] They soon found themselves in what was described as "a life of near-total failure on the fringes of show business in Los Angeles."[10]
Saturday Night Live
Franken and Tom Davis were recruited as two of the original writers and occasional performers on Saturday Night Live (SNL) (1975–1980, 1985–1995). In SNL's first season, the two apprentice writers shared a salary of $350 per week.[8] Franken received seven Emmy nominations and three awards for his television writing and producing while creating such characters as self-help guru Stuart Smalley. Another routine proclaimed the 1980s the Al Franken Decade.[11] Franken and Davis wrote the script of the 1986 comedy film One More Saturday Night, appearing in it as rock singers in a band called Bad Mouth. They also had minor roles in All You Need Is Cash and the film Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphyand Dan Aykroyd .
On Weekend Update near the end of Season 5, Franken delivered a commentary called "A Limo for a Lame-O". He mocked controversial NBC president Fred Silverman as "a total unequivocal failure" and displayed a chart showing the poor ratings of NBC programs. As a result of this sketch, Silverman declined Lorne Michaels's recommendation that Franken succeed him as producer, and Franken left the show when Michaels did, at the end of the 1979–80 season.[12] Franken returned to the show in 1985 as a writer and occasional performer. He has acknowledged using cocaine and other illegal drugs while working in television, and stated that he stopped after John Belushi died of an overdose.[13][14] In 1995, Franken left the show in protest over losing the role of Weekend Update anchor to Norm Macdonald.[15]
Post-SNL
In 1995, Franken wrote and starred in the film Stuart Saves His Family, which was based on his SNL character Stuart Smalley. Franken became depressed as a result of the film's critical and commercial failure.[16][17] Stuart Saves His Family has an aggregate rating of 27% on Rotten Tomatoes,[18] but received favorable reviews from The Washington Post[19] and Gene Siskel.[20]
Franken is the author of four books that made The New York Times Best Seller list.[21] In 2003, Penguin Books published his Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, a satirical book on American politics and conservatism. The book's title incorporated the Fox News slogan "Fair and Balanced", and had a cover photo of Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly; that August Fox News sued, claiming infringement of its registered trademark phrase.[22][23] A federal judge found the lawsuit "wholly without merit." The incident focused media attention on Franken's book and, according to him, greatly increased its sales.[24][25] The publicity resulting from the lawsuit propelled Franken's yet-to-be-released book to number 1 on Amazon.com.[26]
Franken signed a one-year contract in early 2004 to host a talk show for Air America Radio's flagship program with co-host Katherine Lanpher, who remained with the show until October 2005. The network was launched on March 31, 2004. Originally named The O'Franken Factor but renamed The Al Franken Showon July 12, 2004, the show aired three hours a day, five days a week for three years. Its stated goal was to put more progressive views on the public airwaves to counter what Franken perceived as the dominance of conservative syndicated commentary on the radio: "I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected," he told a New York Times reporter in 2004.[27] Franken's last radio show on Air America Radio was on February 14, 2007, at the end of which he announced his candidacy for the United States Senate.[28]
Franken also co-wrote the film When a Man Loves a Woman, co-created and starred in the NBC sitcom LateLine, and appeared in the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate.
In 2003, Franken served as a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.[11] Since 2005, he has been a contributor to The Huffington Post.[29]
Franken toured Iraq several times with the United Service Organizations (USO).[30] On March 25, 2009, he was presented with the USO Metro Merit Award for his 10 years of involvement with the organization.[31][32]
Political activism prior to election
According to an article by Richard Corliss published in Time magazine, "In a way, Franken has been running for office since the late '70s." Corliss also hinted at Franken's "possibly ironic role as a relentless self-promoter" in proclaiming the 1980s "The Al Franken Decade" and saying, "Vote for me, Al Franken. You'll be glad you did!"[33] In 1999, Franken released a parody book, Why Not Me?, detailing his hypothetical campaign for president in 2000. He had been a strong supporter of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone and was deeply affected by Wellstone's death in a plane crash shortly before the 2002 election. Wellstone was a mentor[34][35] and political and personal role model for Franken, who stated his hopes of following in Wellstone's footsteps.[36][37]
Franken said he learned that 21% of Americans received most of their news from talk radio, an almost exclusively conservative medium.[33] "I didn't want to sit on the sidelines, and I believed Air America could make a difference", he said.[33] In November 2003, Franken talked about moving back to his home state of Minnesota to run for the Senate. At the time the seat once held by Wellstone was occupied by Republican Norm Coleman. At a 2004 Democratic presidential campaign event, Franken tackled a man who was allegedly threatening other attendees and heckling Governor Howard Dean.[38][39] In 2005, Franken announced his move to Minnesota: "I can tell you honestly, I don't know if I'm going to run, but I'm doing the stuff I need to do in order to do it."[40] In late 2005, he started his own political action committee, Midwest Values PAC. By early 2007, the PAC had raised more than $1 million.[41][42]
Franken was the subject of the 2006 documentary film Al Franken: God Spoke, which The New York Times called "an investigation of the phenomenon of ideological celebrity."[43]
Franken initially supported the Iraq War but opposed the 2007 troop surge. In an interview with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough,[44] he said that he "believed Colin Powell", whose presentation at the United Nations convinced him that the war was necessary, but that he had since come to believe that "we were misled into the war" and urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to refuse to pass appropriations bills to fund the war if they did not include timetables for leaving Iraq. In an interview with Josh Marshall, Franken said of the Democrats, "I think we've gotta make President George W. Bush say, 'OK, I'm cutting off funding because I won't agree to a timetable.'"[45]
Franken favors transitioning to a universal health care system,[46] with the provision that every child in America should receive health care coverage immediately. He objects to efforts to privatize Social Security or cut benefits, and favors raising the cap on wages to which Social Security taxes apply.[47] On his 2008 campaign website, he voiced support for cutting subsidies for oil companies, increasing money available for college students, and cutting interest rates on student loans.[48][49]
During the 2008 election, New York state officials asserted that Al Franken Inc. had failed to carry required workers' compensation insurance for employees who assisted him with his comedy and public speaking from 2002 to 2005. Franken paid a $25,000 fine to the state of New York upon being advised his corporation was out of compliance with the state's workers' compensation laws.[50] At the same time, the California Franchise Tax Board reported that the same corporation owed more than $4,743 in taxes, fines, and associated penalties in the state of California for 2003 through 2007, because the corporation did not file tax returns in the state for those years.[51] A Franken representative said that it followed the advice of an accountant who believed when the corporation stopped doing business in California that no further filing was required.[52] Subsequently, Franken paid $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states dating back to 2003, mostly from his speeches and other paid appearances. Franken said he paid the income tax in his state of residence, and he would seek retroactive credit for paying the taxes in the wrong states.[53]
U.S. Senate
2008 elections
On January 29, 2007, Franken announced his departure from Air America Radio,[28] and on the day of his final show, February 14, he formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate from Minnesota in 2008.[54] Challenging him for the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Partyendorsement was Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a professor, author, and activist; trial lawyer Mike Ciresi; and attorney and human rights activist Jim Cohen, who dropped out of the race early.[55] Franken won the nomination with 65% of the vote.
On July 8, 2007, Franken's campaign stated that it expected to announce that he had raised more money than his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, during the second quarter of the year, taking in $1.9 million to Coleman's $1.6 million,[56][57] although in early July 2007, Coleman's $3.8 million cash on hand exceeded Franken's $2 million.[57]
In late May 2008, the Minnesota Republican Party released a letter about an article Franken had written for Playboy magazine in 2000 titled "Porn-O-Rama!" The letter, signed by six prominent GOP women, including a state senator and state representative, called on Franken to apologize for what they called a "demeaning and degrading" article.[58] His campaign spokesman responded, "Al had a long career as a satirist. But he understands the difference between what you say as a satirist and what you do as a senator. And as a Senator, Norm Coleman has disrespected the people of Minnesota by putting the Exxons and Halliburtons ahead of working families. And there's nothing funny about that."[58]
On June 7, 2008, Franken was endorsed by the DFL.[59] In a July 2008 interview with CNN, he was endorsed by Ben Stein, a noted entertainer, speechwriter, lawyer and author known for his conservative views, who generally supported Republican candidates.[60] Stein said of Franken, "He is my pal, and he is a really, really capable smart guy. I don't agree with all of his positions, but he is a very impressive guy, and I think he should be in the Senate."
During his campaign, Franken was criticized for advising SNL creator Lorne Michaels on a political sketch ridiculing Senator John McCain's ads attacking Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.[61] Coleman's campaign reacted, saying, "Once again, he proves he's more interested in entertainment than service, and ridiculing those with whom he disagrees."[62]
Preliminary reports on election night, November 4, were that Coleman was leading by over 700 votes, but the official results, certified on November 18, 2008, had Coleman leading by only 215 votes. As the two candidates were separated by less than 0.5 percent of the votes cast, the Minnesota Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, authorized the automatic recount provided for in Minnesota election law. In the recount, ballots and certifying materials were examined by hand, and candidates could file challenges to the legality of ballots or materials for inclusion or exclusion. On January 5, 2009, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified the recounted vote totals, with Franken ahead by 225 votes.[63]
On January 6, 2009, Coleman's campaign filed an election contest, which led to a trial before a three-judge panel.[64] The trial ended on April 7, when the panel ruled that 351 of 387 disputed absentee ballots were incorrectly rejected and ordered them counted. Counting those ballots raised Franken's lead to 312 votes. Coleman appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court on April 20.[65][66][67] On April 24, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.[68][69] Oral arguments were conducted on June 1.[68][70]
On June 30, 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Coleman's appeal and said that Franken was entitled to be certified as the winner. Shortly after the court's decision, Coleman conceded.[71] Governor Tim Pawlenty signed Franken's election certificate that same evening.[72]
2014 elections
Franken was reelected to a second term in 2014. He won the August 12 primary election, in which he was challenged by Sandra Henningsgard, with 94.5% of the vote.[73] He won the general election against the Republican candidate, Mike McFadden, with 53.2% of the vote.[74][75]
Tenure
Franken was sworn into the Senate on July 7, 2009, 246 days after the election.[76][77] He took the oath of office with the Bible of late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, whose old seat was set aside for Franken by Senate leaders.[78][79]
On August 6, 2009, Franken presided over the confirmation vote of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.[80] On August 5, 2010, Franken presided over the confirmation vote of Elena Kagan. His first piece of legislation, the Service Dogs for Veterans Act, which he wrote jointly with Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, passed the Senate by unanimous consent, establishing a program with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to pair disabled veterans with service dogs.[81]
A video of Franken at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 2009, engaging in a discussion with a group of Tea Party protesters on health care reform, began circulating on the Internet and soon went viral.[82][83] The discussion was noted for its civility, in contrast to the explosive character of several other discussions between members of the 111th Congress and their constituents that had occurred over the summer.[82][84][85]
During the debate on health care reform, Franken was one of the strongest supporters of a single-payer system.[86] He authored an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act called the Medical Loss Ratio, which required that insurance companies spend at least 80% of premiums on actual health care costs, rising to 85% for large group plans.[87] On September 30, 2013, Franken voted to remove a provision that would repeal the medical device tax in Obamacare from a government funding bill,[88][89] saying that though he supported the provision, he disagreed with its being used as a condition for preventing the 2013 federal government shutdown.[90]
Citing the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, Franken introduced a limit to the arbitration policy of the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that withheld defense contracts from companies that restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery, and discrimination cases to court. It passed the Senate in November 2010, 68 to 30 in a roll-call vote.[91] https://www.franken.senate.gov/?P=Issue&Id=211
In May 2010, Franken proposed a financial-reform amendment that created a board to select which credit rating agency would evaluate a given security. At the time, any company issuing a security could select the company that evaluated the security.[92] The amendment was passed, but the financial industry lobbied to have it removed from the final bill.[93]Negotiations between the Senate and House, whose version of financial reform did not include such a provision, resulted in the amendment's being watered down to require only a series of studies being done on the issue for two years.[94] After the studies, if the Securities and Exchange Commission had not implemented another solution to the conflict-of-interest problem, Franken's solution would go into effect.[95][96]
In August 2010, Franken made faces and hand gestures and rolled his eyes while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a speech in opposition to the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.[97][98][99] Franken's actions prompted McConnell to remark, "This isn't Saturday Night Live, Al."[99] After Kagan's confirmation, Franken delivered a handwritten apology to McConnell and issued a public statement saying that McConnell had a right "to give his speech with the presiding officer just listening respectfully."[97]
The National Journal reported in 2013 that Franken supports the National Security Agency's data mining programs, believing they have saved lives, and that "I can assure you, this is not about spying on the American people."[100]
When Franken declared his intention to seek reelection in 2014,[101] his seat was thought to be a top target for the Republicans because of his very slim margin of victory in the previous election. But Politico reported that his high approval rating, his large campaign fund, and the Republicans' struggle to find a top-tier candidate meant he was a "heavy favorite" to win reelection,[102] and Franken won the race comfortably.
The Associated Press has noted that contrary to expectations, Franken has not sought out the media spotlight: "He rarely talks to the Washington press corps, has shed his comedic persona and focused on policy, working to be taken seriously."[103] In interviews he has expressed his desire to be known for a focus on constituency work, keeping his head down, and working hard.[86][104]
Franken has been an effective fundraiser for the Democrats.[105][106][107] By late 2015, his political action committee had raised more than $5 million in donations.[107] In 2016, his PAC raised $3.3 million.[106][108] According to The Star Tribune, Franken has been able to "draw crowds and donations across the country".[105]
Sexual misconduct allegations
On November 16, 2017, conservative[109] media personality Leeann Tweeden alleged in a blog post and an interview with her radio station, 790 KABC, that Franken kissed her on a 2006 USO tour during a rehearsal for a skit. She wrote, "I said 'OK' so he would stop badgering me. We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."[110] She said she pushed him away, feeling "disgusted and violated".[110] Franken was also photographed appearing to place his hands above or on her breasts while she was asleep on an aircraft wearing body armor and a helmet.[111][112] In response Franken said, "I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann ... As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."[113] A few hours later, Franken issued a longer apology,[114] which Tweeden accepted.[115]
On November 20, 2017, a 33-year-old woman named Lindsay Menz accused Franken of touching her clothed buttocks while they posed for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.[116] In a statement responding to the allegation, Franken said, "I take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don't remember taking this picture. I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected."[117]
On November 22, 2017, Huffington Post reported that two additional women who insisted upon anonymity said that Franken had subjected them to very similar misconduct during political events in 2007 and 2008 (before he took office), incidents Franken also said he did not remember.[118] Franken issued another apology on November 23, 2017, stating, "I've met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations. I'm a warm person; I hug people. I've learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many."[119]
On November 30, 2017, Jezebel reported that another anonymous woman said that after she was a guest on Franken's radio show in 2006, Franken leaned in toward her face during a handshake and gave her "a wet, open-mouthed kiss" on the cheek when she turned away.[120][121] That same day, an army veteran named Stephanie Kemplin told CNN that Franken held the side of her breast for 5 to 10 seconds "and never moved his hand" while posing for a photo with her during a 2003 USO tour in Iraq.[122]
On December 6, 2017, Politico reported that an anonymous former Democratic congressional staffer said, and Franken denied, that Franken had tried to kiss her (but failed to do so) as she exited the studio after an interview on his radio show in 2006.[123] The same day, another former Democratic congressional staffer, Tina Dupuy, wrote a piece in The Atlanticalleging that Franken squeezed her waist while posing for a photo at a presidential inauguration party in early 2009.[124][125]
Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer sent Tweeden's accusations to the Senate Ethics Committee for review, a decision supported by members of both parties, including Franken himself.[112] On November 30, the committee announced that it was investigating allegations against Franken.[126][127] Some liberal groups and commentators, including the Indivisible movement and Sally Kohn, called on Franken to resign because of the allegations.[128] On December 6, more than two dozen Democratic senators called on him to resign.[129]
On December 7, 2017, Franken announced that he will resign his Senate seat[130] and also made comparisons to Republican politicians, saying he was "aware of the irony" that President Donald Trump remains in office despite the comments Trump made in the Access Hollywood tape released a month before his election, and that the Republican Party supports Roy Moore's Senate campaign despite the many allegations of harassment and molestation against Moore.[131]
Committee assignments
Works
The following are works authored by Al Franken.
- Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (Delacorte Press, 1996) ISBN 0-385-31474-4
- Why Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency (Delacorte Press, 1999) ISBN 0-385-31809-X
- Oh, the Things I Know!: A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness (Plume Books, 2003) ISBN 0-452-28450-3
- Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton Books, 2003) ISBN 0-525-94764-7
- The Truth (With Jokes) (Dutton Books, 2005) ISBN 0-525-94906-2
- Al Franken, Giant of the Senate (Grand Central Publishing, 2017) ISBN 1455540412
Filmography
| Year | Work | Writer | Actor | Cameo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Tunnel Vision | Yes | Role: Al | ||
| 1977–1980 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1977 | The Paul Simon Special | Yes | |||
| 1978 | All You Need is Cash | Yes | Role: Extra | ||
| 1981 | Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead | Yes | Concert video Role: Host | ||
| 1981 | Steve Martin's Best Show Ever | Yes | |||
| 1981 | Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine and Gilda | Yes | |||
| 1981 | The Coneheads | Yes | |||
| 1983 | Trading Places | Yes | Role: Baggage handler | ||
| 1984 | Franken and Davis at Stockton State | Yes | |||
| 1984 | The New Show | Yes | |||
| 1986 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1986 | One More Saturday Night | Yes | Yes | Role: Paul Flum | |
| 1988–1995 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1994 | When a Man Loves a Woman | Yes | |||
| 1995 | Stuart Saves His Family | Yes | Yes | Role: Stuart Smalley | |
| 1997 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Yes | Episode: "Dick the Vote" | ||
| 1997 | The Larry Sanders Show | Yes | Episode: "The Roast" | ||
| 1998 | LateLine | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Yes | TV miniseries Role: Jerome Wiesner | ||
| 2002 | Harvard Man | Yes | |||
| 2004 | Outfoxed | Yes | Role: Air America host | ||
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate | Yes | |||
| 2004–2007 | The Al Franken Show | Yes | Yes | Host of radio talk show | |
| 2004 | Tanner on Tanner | Yes | |||
| 2006 | Al Franken: God Spoke | Yes | Documentary | ||
| 2011 | Hot Coffee | Yes | Documentary |
Electoral history
 | Wikinews has related news: Minnesota court declares Franken winner; Coleman considers appeal |
| 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| DFL | Al Franken | 164,136 | 65.34% |
| DFL | Priscilla Lord Faris | 74,655 | 29.72% |
| DFL | "Dick" Franson | 3,923 | 1.56% |
| DFL | Bob Larson | 3,152 | 1.25% |
| DFL | Rob Fitzgerald | 3,095 | 1.23% |
| DFL | Ole Savior | 1,227 | 0.49% |
| DFL | Alve Erickson | 1,017 | 0.40% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFL | Al Franken | 1,212,629 | 41.994% | |
| Republican | Norm Coleman (incumbent) | 1,212,317 | 41.983% | |
| Independence | Dean Barkley | 437,505 | 15.151% | |
| Libertarian | Charles Aldrich | 13,923 | 0.482% | |
| Constitution | James Niemackl | 8,907 | 0.308% | |
| Write-ins | 2,365 | 0.082% | ||
| Margin of victory | 312 | 0.011% | ||
| Total votes | 2,887,646 | 100 | ||
| 2014 Minnesota U.S. Senate Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary election | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| DFL | Al Franken (incumbent) | 182,720 | 94.50% |
| DFL | Sandra Henningsgard | 10,627 | 5.50% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFL | Al Franken (incumbent) | 1,053,205 | 53.15 | |
| Republican | Mike McFadden | 850,227 | 42.91 | |
| Independence | Steve Carlson | 47,530 | 2.4 | |
| Libertarian | Heather Johnson | 29,685 | 1.5 | |
| Write-ins | Others | 881 | 0.04 | |
| Margin of victory | 202,978 | 10.24% | ||
| Total votes | 1,981,528 | 100 | ||
| DFL hold | ||||
Personal life
Franken met his wife, Franni Bryson, in his first year at Harvard. In 2005, they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.[135] Together they have two children. Their daughter, Thomasin,[4]has degrees from Harvard and the French Culinary Institute; she is the director of extended learning at DC Prep, an organization in Washington, D.C., that manages charter schools.[136] Their son, Joseph, works in the finance industry.[4] Franken is a second cousin of the actor Steve Franken, known for his appearances in the television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.[137] In 2013, Franken received the Stewart B. McKinney Award for his work fighting homelessness.[138]
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