Monday, October 26, 2009

Sen. Franken scores point for health care facts

This video has been making the rounds, getting a lot of attention because the senator from Minnesota who was supposed to be nothing more than a comedian is showing himself to be a man who knows his facts -- and can wield them effectively in a fight.

In this clip, he takes on an analyst from the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. People's reactions to this video probably are colored by their own views on health-care reform -- including mine; I'm for it, and I think it's scandalous that we let so many people die or go bankrupt trying not to die in this great country. Franken acquits himself well, and I hope other senators are thinking that maybe they should bone up on the facts, too, because they might not get beaten up by crazies at their town hall meetings next time if they actually had confidence in their statements.

A personal note: I write this as a former Hudson Institute employee. I worked there as a (very junior) editor in the early 1990s, when I was fresh out of college. Since that time, the think tank has moved steadily further to the right, losing, I think, much of the contrarian and libertarian viewpoints it once championed and becoming just another right-wing think tank. I'm sad to see that happen.

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