Lauer Laughs at Franken's Re-Run Rove and Libby "Execution" Quip

MRC ^ | Tuesday October 25, 2005 | Brent H. Baker

[fight_truth_decay]

On this morning's (Tuesday) Today, at 8:52am, Al Franken was on to promote his new book The Truth (with Jokes) and repeated his twisted quip from Friday's Late Show with David Letterman in which he predicted that Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby will be "executed" for treason. Franken's "joke," that "George H.W. Bush, the President's father, said...that outing a CIA agent is treason. I agree. So I think that Rove and Libby will be executed," drew laughter from Matt Lauer and those in the Today show studio.

[This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted late this morning on the MRC's NewsBuster.org blog. To watch video of it, as rendered by the MRC's Michelle Humphrey, in either RealPlayer or Windows Media formats, go to: newsbusters.org ]

The October 24 CyberAlert recounted: "And so basically, what it looks like is going to happen is that Libby and Karl Rove are going to be executed" because "outing a CIA agent is treason," left-wing author and radio talk show host Al Franken asserted Friday night, to audience laughter, on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. Franken qualified his hard-edged satire: "Yeah. And I don't know how I feel about it because I'm basically against the death penalty, but they are going to be executed it looks like." Franken later suggested that President Bush is at risk of receiving the same punishment, since Karl Rove likely told him what he did, but he added a caveat: "I think, by the way, that we should never ever, ever, ever execute a sitting President."

For RealPlayer and Windows Media video clips of Franken on the Late Show, go to either the October 24 CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org

Or to the original NewsBusters.org posting: newsbusters.org

In a follow-up blog posting, the MRC's Rich Noyes recalled how while Lauer just smiled and laughed when left-wing radio host Al Franken predicted the execution of Karl Rove and Lewis Libby, a few weeks ago when Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, an anti-American dictator who has cozied up with Iran's ayatollahs and Cuba's communists, Today was outraged enough to lead the show with Robertson's supposed transgression.

"We fine broadcasters for using four-letter words, we say that's offensive. So is it offensive to call for the assassination of a world leader?" NBC's Matt Lauer castigated back on August 23. But a left-wing host suggests the execution of top ranking officials of the executive branch -- that's just a joke, right? Or perhaps Today's indignant reaction to Pat Robertson was, shall we say, a little "staged," such has Today's "canoegate." See: newsbusters.org

For Rich's NewsBusters.org posting where you can add your comment: newsbusters.org

Now, Franken on Tuesday's Today, picking up with the exchange which included Franken's "execution" line:

Matt Lauer: "All right, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby what's their future? What's your prediction in terms of indictments? Yes or no?"

Franken: "Oh they, they'll be indicted. I, I am absolutely sure and this is about, of course, the war in Iraq really. It's about the justification for the war and smearing Joe Wilson by outing his wife who's a CIA agent. George H.W. Bush, the President's father, said, as, when he was head of the CIA, that outing a CIA agent is treason. I agree. So I think that Rove and Libby will be executed."

Lauer laughed along with others in the studio: "That aside, given the fact it has a lot to do with the mood in this country and the, and the thought process in this country prior to the war in Iraq how much do you think the average American cares about this story right now? We had James Carville on this morning, said about a two on a scale of 1 to 10. Laura Ingraham said minus one. What do you think?"

Franken: "I think Laura Ingraham is an idiot."

Lauer chuckled: "Well you don't have a lot of nice things about a lot of conservatives."

Franken: "Well no but minus, I mean people, I think-"

Lauer: "But how much do you think people care about it?"

Franken: "I think people care, I think people care that people close to the President and the Vice President are, are outing CIA agents and lying and lying before, I think this is, and, and when they get indicted and when people start looking at this it's gonna be very, very big."

Earlier in the interview Franken drew laughs from in studio when he called the President "incompetent." Taking it from the top of the interview here is the conversation:

Lauer gladly reciting the title of Franken's first book: "The liberal voice of Al Franken first came calling when he declared Rush Limbaugh is A Big Fat Idiot, now the political satirist turned radio talk show host has a new book on the shelf simply titled, The Truth With Jokes. Al Franken, good morning. Just a little light reading? That, that by the way in the New York Times, that costs a fortune, that ad."

Al Franken: "Yes, you know that shows exactly how much faith they have in this book."

Lauer: "Yeah?"

[Graphic read: "Laughs From the Left"]

Franken: "Oh yeah."

Lauer: "How are, how are, how are conservatives gonna feel about this book?"

Franken: "They will love it!"

Lauer: "Yeah, you think so?"

Franken: "Yeah well what's, see the book is prescient. When I was writing the book there were, there were a number of people in this country who thought the President was competent."

[Laughter in the studio]

Franken: "And now, now, now, now we know he's not and that he is corrupt too so that's, yeah, yeah?"

At the end of the interview Franken couldn't resist joining the rest of the left and many in the media in their ghoulish countdown to 2,000 deaths.

Lauer: "You don't have a solution for the problem we're in Iraq right now. That fair to say?"

Franken: "That's very fair to say. We do this on my show, I have a three hour show everyday on Air America and we talk to conservatives and we talk to liberals and we talk to people trying to figure out, 'cause we've been put in a terrible situation there. And we've been put in there by this President and they won't tell us the truth. That's the problem is that you can't rely on these guys for the truth. And that's what's so important. This is why this isn't a negative one. This was about trying to smear a guy who is saying they, they didn't try to buy nuclear material from, from Niger, you're lying. They lied. So I think that's kind of important and you can ask the families of the 2000 troops that died how important that is."

[Polyxene]

Typical dem/lib/socialist/MSM MO -- the left can get away with anything illegal and/or immoral, but just let a conservative do anything remotely out of line, and it is the biggest scandal EVER!

[lowbridge]

How does your foot taste, Mr. Franken?

[Lancey Howard]

I remember Al Franken! He's that washed up Saturday Night Live comic who wasn't funny anymore and so he became known as a "satirist". Last I heard he decided to try his hand as a talk show host on some bankrupt radio network somewhere. That's the same guy, right? Is he still alive? Nevermind - - I don't care.