Good post, Eric — and I hope Franken deigns to answer your questions.

As a frequent listener to Franken’s radio program while it was on the air, I have serious questions about whether he would, as Senator, serve as anything more than a mere mouthpiece for the talking points du jour of the Democratic Party leadership — one Amy Klobuchar representing Minnesota is enough. The “evolution” of his views on Iraq track very closely the politically timid movement of that leadership away from backing the war uncritically, to backing it but criticizing Bush’s “execution” of what was a patently illegal invasion, to calling for withdrawal from Iraq — someday, maybe — while hoping everyone overlooks the fact that it was the Democratic majority in the Senate that handed Bush the authorization to use force that any sentient being could see he planned to employ to start a war with Iraq. Paul Wellstone and a handful of other courageous Senators were not fooled by Colin Powell or anyone else, and I daresay none of the Democratic Senators who voted for the authorization to use force — including Hillary Clinton and John Edwards — were either, but acted out of a cynical and utterly reprehensible calculation about what was best for their political futures rather than for the country. If Franken really were taken in by the dog-and-pony show put on by the Bush Administration in 2002 and early 2003, that would be evidence to me that he is seriously lacking in discernment and the ability to think analytically. Meanwhile, Franken’s frequent, near lachrymal tributes to “our troops” would also indicate that he is not the person to help us renounce the militarism that now has this nation in a death grip.