"As a woman, a mother, a former teacher, and an elected official, I find this material completely unacceptable," McCollum said of Franken's piece, published in 2000 under the headline "Porn-O-Rama!"

As a voter who has voted for McCollum, how about you don't read Playboy if you think that sexual discussion may offend you. It's not Cat Fancy magazine....well, it kind of is, but that's not the point.

Senate candidate Al Franken

Wait. What?

Somebody talked about sex? In a magazine?!? OH GOD NOES

Wait until McCollum finds out about the lust in Jimmy Carter's heart.

At one point in the Playboy piece titled "Porn-O-Rama!" Franken called the Internet a "terrific learning tool," writing that his 12-year-old son was able to use it for a sixth-grade report on bestiality.

That's actually kinda funny.

"As a parent and an aunt, and talking to other parents, people are very concerned about the type of Internet use that's out there, and how it has a potentially harmful effect on children," McCollum said. "Sexually explicit material is one of the things that parents are very concerned about, and want to make sure that they're steering their children away from."

God damn it. I know she's a US house member, but it's stupid sh*ts like her that keep me from being able to buy a case of beer on Sundays.

Remove.stick.from.ass.

And a whole other bunch of assholes have a page up on the state Republican site, saying "you can't just say it's satire, it's teh sexist".

Look, just because you don't get it, or don't think it's funny, doesn't mean it's not satire.

They're lamenting that he's using words that objectify women, when the culture of objectification is what he's satirizing. As well as the "type of internet use out there, and how it has a potentially harmful effect on children". It's not Franken's fault you're too stupid to see it.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of Franken, as a comedian/writer or as a politician, but humorless f*ckwads like this just really piss me off.

"I can tell you it's not playing comfortably in St. Paul, and I can't imagine this politically radioactive material is doing very well in suburban and rural districts."

You mean Playboy's target demographic and top consumers? Puh-lease.

Kind of reminds me of that joke:
Q: How do you keep a Baptist from drinking all of your beer on a fishing trip?
A: Bring another Baptist!

Porno in a porno magazine? That's just wacky.

Considering some of the books I've seen coming out of our public figures, this is a non-starter. Don't Lynne Cheney and Scooter Libby have some pretty racey tomes out there?

/more importantly, who the fark cares?

"As a woman, a mother, a former teacher, and an elected official, I find this material completely unacceptable," McCollum said of Franken's piece

As a small business owner and recent winner of the Two-for-Tuesdays Half-Off Appetizer Challenge at P.J. McPootertoot's Irish Pub and Crab Shack, I feel exactly the same way.

I don't live in MN, nor would I vote for Franken if I did, but these people really need to get over themselves, it's Playboy ferchrisakes.

As a voting Minnesotan I F$%&ing hate Franken. I had no problem with him or his politics before he decided to move back to Minnesota after twenty years and run for the Senate.

Goddamnit. Aren't Republicans supposed to be the ones without a sense of humor? What the hell kind of liberals are these people? Oh noes, he mentioned sex in Playboy! Next thing you know, he'll be talking about sports on ESPN!

"Al Franken being a satirist isn't something that just emerged," said state Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Alleged comedian Al Franken is a douche anyway. When are we going to get competent folks to run?

I don't care for Franken's politics, but this is a silly thing to get upset over.

Bonkthat_Again: Alleged comedian Al Franken is a douche anyway. When are we going to get competent folks to run?

Unfortunately, there are precious few great statesmen left like Sonny Bono, Fred "Gopher" Grandy, and Ben "Cooter" Jones.

The world would be a much better place if all politicians were more offensive.

Pro Tip:

If you run for political office things you had published years ago my be used against you.

Pro Tip:

Even people in your same political party may hate your guts.

Wow. I was soooooooo surprised that a fella who used to write for SNL might come up with something that some folks might find offensive.

You know, because Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot was such the platform for bipartisanship...

You'd think that people who elected Jesse Ventura as their governor would have a better sense of humor.

/not a dig on jesse
//have no clue if he was liked and/or effective

Panty bunching is pretty standard behavior for a lot of MN Democrats anyway. At least the urban dwelling variety.

Diogenes: You'd think that people who elected Jesse Ventura as their governor would have a better sense of humor.

/not a dig on jesse
//have no clue if he was liked and/or effective

We have a great sense of humor. Franken isn't funny. Many of us find it insulting when someone who hasn't lived in the state says they are qualified to go Washington and represent us. That only works in New York. Jesse was involved in local politics before he ran for governor.

He's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him.

"As a woman, a mother, a former teacher, and an elected official, I find this material completely unacceptable," McCollum said of Franken's piece.

Commenting about a man's 'piece' is politics at it's lowest.

and funniest

Diogenes: You'd think that people who elected Jesse Ventura as their governor would have a better sense of humor.

/not a dig on jesse
//have no clue if he was liked and/or effective

My Minnesota brother (D) liked him well enough. Apparently tough guy Jesse couldn't handle the mudslinging and personal attacks that came with the territory.

This story is hilarious by the way.

sigdiamond2000: Unfortunately, there are precious few great statesmen left like Sonny Bono, Fred "Gopher" Grandy, and Ben "Cooter" Jones.

Sonny Bono was a hard-liner when it came to the environment.

We should all recognize what Playboy has done for women and minorities over the years.

Playboy was at the forefront of the sexual revolution, the civil rights movement, and pretty much every other liberal progressive idea out there. Hugh Hefner is a true American hero.

Since nobody's said it yet:

The articles are the only good thing about Playboy.

Nestea Plunge: Ashley was now wearing only brief white panties. She had signaled her desire by removing her shirt and skirt, and by leaning back on the couch. She closed her eyes, concentrating on nothing but Shannon's tongue and lips. He gently teased her by licking the areas around her most sensitive erogenous zone. Then he slipped her panties down her legs and, within seconds, his tongue was inside her, moving rapidly.

That's hot.

Bill O'Reilly, Those Who Trespass



Wait, where was the loofah?

/Suddenly hungry for falafel

I find it curious that things that are acceptable for the nation to buy and read is not acceptable for a politician. No wonder they have to fark on the secret while tapping shoes near cigars. Livin up peoples!

The mark of good satire is not the number of laughs you get but the number of death threats.

Ok...Let's just put this in plain English, so anyone who is too PC might be able to get through it...

When he wrote this, he was a COMEDIAN. It was his job to push the envelope in acceptability, in order to get us to laugh at ourselves, and to do outrageous things for our entertainment. This was obviously one of them.

It's like getting mad about John McCain having killed people. Yes. He has. But at the time he was a SOLDIER. In a war. It's what he was ask to do be those he fought for.

/that is all.
//Any argument against this piece, I refer to this.

Solid State Vittles: Sonny Bono was a hard-liner when it came to the environment.

Indeed - he was a tree-hugger to the very end.

Nestea Plunge: Ashley was now wearing only brief white panties. She had signaled her desire by removing her shirt and skirt, and by leaning back on the couch. She closed her eyes, concentrating on nothing but Shannon's tongue and lips. He gently teased her by licking the areas around her most sensitive erogenous zone. Then he slipped her panties down her legs and, within seconds, his tongue was inside her, moving rapidly.

Bill O'Reilly, Those Who Trespass

I'll see your Bill O'Reilly, and raise you a Scooter Libby novel:

At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest.

When I heard about this, I went and dug up that issue and read the story. Conclusions:

1) Didn't think it was funny then, didn't think so now.
2) While the content of the story (satire!) was better suited to Hustler than Playboy, it was a story about sex, placed in a magazine about sex (sorry, adult lifestyle). It's not like he had it printed in Family Circle or Reader's Digest.
3) Playboy has a few million readers and subscribers (I'm one), so it's not like no one was going to notice.
4) Everyone involved in this process knew material like this was out there (Franken brags about it), so to act surprised that it could cause a problem tells you a little their judgment.
5) He's not good enough, he's not smart enough, and doggone it, not enough people like him.

BMulligan = winnar

me=

Nestea Plunge: Lynne Cheney can write a smokin' lesbian sex scene.

I wonder if that part was ghostwritten by a close family member...

KramericaWallet: Since nobody's said it yet:

The articles are the only good thing about Playboy.

Not quite this, because some of the women are actually hawt, though there are too man dyed blondes with obvious implants for my taste, but the articles are good.

Captain Darling: Not quite this, because some of the women are actually hawt, though there are too man dyed blondes with obvious implants for my taste, but the articles are good.

Oops, too many, though the above also registers strongly on the "do not want" scale.

LonMead: When I heard about this, I went and dug up that issue and read the story. Conclusions:

1) Didn't think it was funny then, didn't think so now.
2) While the content of the story (satire!) was better suited to Hustler than Playboy, it was a story about sex, placed in a magazine about sex (sorry, adult lifestyle). It's not like he had it printed in Family Circle or Reader's Digest.
3) Playboy has a few million readers and subscribers (I'm one), so it's not like no one was going to notice.
4) Everyone involved in this process knew material like this was out there (Franken brags about it), so to act surprised that it could cause a problem tells you a little their judgment.
5) He's not good enough, he's not smart enough, and doggone it, not enough people like him.
6) America is full of puritanical f*ckheads.

Sorry, I just didn't agree with your final conclusion.

The Beacon Man:

[wtf]

He used to bomb asians for a living.

KramericaWallet: The articles are the only good thing about Playboy.

THIS.
Fake, airbrushed, bleached blond bimbos are a dime a dozen. Intriguing social commentary is much harder to find. I can see how the boobies were more interesting back when they first started publishing. It certainly was when I first got a subscription (in elementary school - thanks mom & dad!), but overall it's so tame and lackluster compared to what you can find anywhere else that I can't imagine people picking it up just for that any more.

vernonFL: Playboy was at the forefront of the sexual revolution, the civil rights movement, and pretty much every other liberal progressive idea out there. Hugh Hefner is a true American hero.

Yeah, pretty much this too.

sigdiamond2000: Unfortunately, there are precious few great statesmen left like Sonny Bono, Fred "Gopher" Grandy, and Ben "Cooter" Jones.

Gopher actually had a pretty studly resume and was highly electable even without the TV stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Grandy (new window)

Voters have been expressing a wish to get back to adult discussions. I'm not sure this is what they meant, but its a step up from discussing flag pins. Voters are adults, I doubt this will hurt Franken at all. As everyone knows, there have been plenty of Senators recently that have experienced more than their fair share of porn o rama. At least Al isn't being sneaky about it.

Maybe if it involved underaged pages or bathroom-stall toe-tapping they wouldn't mind so much.

"There must be 80,000 guys out there getting Playboy every month. Out there in the darkness. Who believe that girls sorta fold out... and what's even worse is that they like it that way! This is the way they dig it, you know. It's habit-forming... The June chick, fantastic, the March chick, in the basket. Which is the dream of all men, by the way. Every month a new one, and only 60 cents. And she's paper, you know, she's real thin. And she's always looking out of the shower. I love these Playboy captions. 'Miss January, is a student of Kant. She takes courses in slum clearance at NYU...' What a wild world we're in..."

/obscure?
//hope not

hubiestubert: Wow. I was soooooooo surprised that a fella who used to write for SNL might come up with something that some folks might find offensive.

I'm amazed a former SNL writer actually wrote something entertaining.

BMulligan: Solid State Vittles: Sonny Bono was a hard-liner when it came to the environment.

Indeed - he was a tree-hugger to the very end.

Well played sir.

glenlivid: 6) America is full of puritanical f*ckheads.

Sorry, I just didn't agree with your final conclusion.

Good thing that wasn't my final conclusion, then. And where did you get that idea from anything I wrote?

/strange, I only remember writing five
//don't suppose someone with no imagination or insight just stuck something on the end, do ya'?
///no, no, who would do something like that?

BMulligan: Solid State Vittles: Sonny Bono was a hard-liner when it came to the environment.

Indeed - he was a tree-hugger to the very end.

There's the wind-up, the pitch, a hard drive straight up the center. Back, back, back, IT'S OUT OF THERE!

Adult themed stories in your adult themed magazine? It's more likely than you think.