Al Franken; Please, Be Yourself!(Interview)

Byline: Adam Piore

For years Al Franken was best known for his hilarious rendition of a supportive, unlicensed 12-step therapist named Stuart Smalley on the comedy show "Saturday Night Live." He played a quiet man in pastel sweaters who forced celebrity guests to gaze in the mirror with him and repeat the self-esteem-building mantra "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and, doggone it, people like me." In his first book, "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot," Franken took a decidedly different tone. He bashed the conservative radio-talk-show host and a growing movement of right-wing radicals who have continually scored points against Democrats by haranguing them on the airwaves.

Now the comedian turned author is combining his two roles. Last week he took to the airwaves on America's first all-liberal radio network, Air America. His goal seems to be to provide a little therapy to the millions of Americans who despise President George W. Bush, but have until now felt unworthy of a radio forum of their own. He spoke with NEWSWEEK's Adam Piore last week. Excerpts:

PIORE: So, what are you up to?

FRANKEN: I'm hoping to get a foothold in this terrain of talk radio. It's so right-wing, so filled with misinformation and hate. Rush captured a huge audience in the early 1990s, and there are now a lot of imitators. A lot of right-wingers like these shows, but there are people out there who listen to it because there's nothing else. We're trying to offer an alternative. Right-wing talk radio doesn't appeal to people's better side. It appeals to their angry side. There's reason to be angry sometimes, but they're angry at the wrong things.

Like what?

Well, the credibility of this president, first of all. Today we talked to Joe Biden of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about how Americans are perceived. We've lost the support of the world. Poll numbers have gone through the floor. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who spoke to a lot of economic issues--how this administration is trying to roll back regulations to the point where government disappears and the country is run by economic and corporate interests.