Brendan O'Malley

Thoughts on Trump

Trump Teleprompter

Learn the Damn Speech! One of the most frustrating parts of being an American during these past couple years has been trying to process the sheer tonnage of lies, the endless vitriol and stupidity, the unyielding crassness, cynicism, and self-aggrandizement, not to mention the sheer cruelty coming on a daily basis from Donald Trump. It is so overwhelming that it all sort of blends into one nightmarish mountain range of bullshit. At a certain point, the brain gives up. There is no sense trying to remember his childish taunts, malicious calumnies, and transparently empty boasts. Just wait a few minutes. … Read More…

Andy Slavitt (Round 2): The 2020 Candidates’ Health Care Plans

Al Franken and Andy Slavitt

Andy Slavitt returns to discuss the health care proposals of the Democratic candidates for POTUS. Al and Andy agree that it’s important for every contender to lay out their plans to get to universal coverage, but exhort them not to squander the enormous advantage we have over Trump and Republicans on an issue of such importance to every American.

A Conversation with Howard Fineman

Howard Fineman

How awful do you think Mitch McConnell is? Well, he’s worse than that. This week on The Al Franken Podcast, Howard Fineman, winner of eleven journalism awards, (two of which were cufflinks*), tells us all about The Cynic. Fineman, who began his 46-year career at the Louisville Courier Journal, has been covering McConnell for decades and decades. Fineman’s McConnell relishes being a big prick. When coal miners with black lung disease travel from Kentucky to ask Congress to restore the tiny tax on each ton of coal that funds their treatment, McConnell gives them all of thirty seconds. Hell – the miners aren’t going to vote for him; the … Read More…

What I’d Ask Mueller

Robert Mueller

1. Director Mueller. About two hours before your Report was released, Attorney General Barr held a press conference where he claimed that the Report had arrived at several conclusions. For example, that the Trump Administration had fully cooperated with the investigation. Did the Report conclude that President Trump had fully cooperated with the investigation? 2. I’d like to go to what you wrote in the Report. And I’m assuming that the Attorney General read the same Report I did. Would you consider the President firing FBI Director Comey, the head of the investigation, to be cooperating with the investigation? And … Read More…

A Conversation with Secretary Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Former Sec. of Energy Ernest Moniz and I discuss putting pragmatic meat on the bones of the Green New Deal. We coin a new Kennedy-esque slogan, “We choose to go to zero-carbon not because it is easy, but because otherwise WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!” Moniz, who was the chairman of MIT’s physics department, negotiated the technical nuclear parts of the Iran Deal with his Iranian counterpart. Because Trump has repeatedly called the US negotiators of the Iran Nuclear Deal “very stupid people,” I try to determine throughout just how stupid Moniz is. Not very, it turns out. And I open … Read More…

Veteran’s Best Friend

Veteran with Service Dog

We lose twenty veterans to suicide every day. These are the soldiers, Marines, sailors, and Coast Guard and Air Force personnel who have put everything on the line for those of us with badly-timed bone spurs. This Sunday’s New York Times features a story about a three-year study on the benefits of pairing service dogs with veterans suffering from severe PTSD. The study was authorized by my first piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate. The idea was pretty simple: Match 200 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from PTSD each with a well-trained service dog and do a scientifically-based study … Read More…

Pizzella Petition: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Kind of.

Mission Accomplished

Dear Friend, This week I urged folks to send a petition calling for an investigation and hearing into soon-to-be acting Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella. He will indeed be acting Secretary very soon. But given Trump’s announcement that he will be nominating Eugene Scalia to be the next Secretary of Labor – as satisfying as a hearing on Pizzella’s role in the cruel exploitation of women garment workers in the Northern Mariana Islands would be – the issue is now moot. We don’t know whether the petition and the thousands of responses from you had anything to do with Trump’s … Read More…

A Conversation with Franklin Foer

Franklin Foer image

This week, author and Atlantic Monthly staff writer, Franklin Foer joins me to discuss Big Tech. Are filter bubbles dividing us? Is Facebook deliberately keeping us angry and upset? Is everyone’s attention span dwindling? Is Google selling records of all your searches? Is the Big One coming? You know – the day everyone who’s ever watched pornography will be revealed to everyone else who’s ever watched pornography? Listen, starting today at 2pm. It’s addictive!

A Conversation with Dana Carvey

Dana Carvey Image

Dana and I discuss political comedy and how some of the greatest moments in SNL’s political satire were created. l promise Dana to blow smoke up his ass during this interview, and, indeed, smoke is blown. I open with a monologue in which I assesses the relative talents of Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Hint: Reagan could read a speech.

A Conversation with David Mandel

David Mandel

Veep show runner, David Mandel discusses Veep and what the hell it is that a show runner does. Why Trump’s election made a dark, cynical show even darker and more cynical. Also, how David owes his entire career to Al – a career that includes writing and producing for Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Veep, all shows that Al had nothing to do with. In his opening monologue Al calls the 2020 presidential election “the second most important election in our lifetime.”  The most important being last one.

Eyes on the Prize

Single payer vs. private insurance is a false choice. Every other developed nation has universal coverage and does it for approximately half the cost with as good or better results as the U.S. And every one of them have some form of private insurance available. Canada has “single payer,” and 75% of Canadians also have some form of supplemental private insurance mostly paid by their employers. This is the second most important election in our nation’s history. The most important? The last one. We have to beat Trump. We win this election if it is a referendum on Donald Trump. And … Read More…

A Conversation with Michael Mann

In this week’s episode, I talk with Michael Mann, Nobel Prize-winning climatologist for his work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We cover a lot of ground. How to talk about climate change to your crazy right-wing climate-denying uncle. “Uncle Hal, sea level is rising. For two reasons. Ice is melting. And water expands when it gets warmer.” If Uncle Hal insists sea level is rising because of all the rocks falling into the ocean, then just give up. We talk about how climate used to be a bipartisan issue, but since Citizens United, the Koch Brothers have … Read More…