Tuesday night, political satirist and New York Times best-selling author Al Franken spoke to more than two thousand students in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. His speech varied from comedy to politics and also included a Q & A with the audience. Afterward, Revelry got a chance to sit down with Franken to see what he says without a microphone.
If you were a college professor, how would you grade George Bush on his term in the White House?
I would give him a failing grade. He doesn’t seem to have any kind of interest or curiosity about anything in particular on the domestic side. He’ll be the first president who hasn’t created a job. After 9-11, he saw that he could focus on one thing; that this could be his mission, to fight terrorism, and he wouldn’t have to think about everything else. The men and women that I’ve visited in Iraq are needlessly dying and being wounded because we didn’t heed warnings that were in the planning. The first you have to do is restore order; we didn’t prepare for that and we are paying the price for it everyday.  
What is your opinion about the recent Martha Stewart case?
If we had the Independent Council law going, Bush would be guilty of inside trading, there’s no doubt about that. He’s just lucky the SEC commissioner happened to be appointed by his father. They went after her because of who she is, but I don’t feel sorry for her. I mean, she lied to the FBI and you don’t do that.  It’s a crime.
What books, if any, are you reading right now?
I’m reading three books right now. I’m about to finish “The Price of Legacy,” by Ron Suskind and also “Reason,” which is really good. I’ve got about 20 pages left in “Perfectly Legal,” by David Johnston, a financial reporter who basically writes about taxes. In this story, he talks about how the very rich get away with murder on taxes.
Do you still watch “Saturday Night Live?” What do you think of the cast?
Yes, but I’m not as familiar with all of them as I’d like to be because I don’t always get to watch the whole show. I think this group of women is as good as any group that has ever been there. Jimmy Fallon is terrific; I think the “Update” segment is great. The show’s always been uneven and it always will be. I always root for it and there’s always something funny.
Where can we hear your new radio show?
It’ll be on New York, L.A., Chicago, and San Francisco radio stations, but here you’ll have to get it through streamline.
Do you think it’ll have a chance of going nationwide since Clear Channel has such close ties to the Bush administration?
They claim that they just want to make a profit and they would put on any liberal commentator. I don’t believe them. I think it wasn’t just a coincidence that they started going after Howard Stern after he came out hard against Bush. They are a perfect example of danger of too much media concentration.
Do you have any plans to write another book soon?
I do, but, I want to do this radio show and see what it’s like. I’ve never hosted a radio show before, so I really want to work at that before I start working on another book, but I do have some more ideas for one.