National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account. – Al Franken
Sometimes if I tell people, ‘I’m afraid that I’m really a fraud,’ or ‘I have a lot of self-doubt,’ they go, ‘Oh, no, you’re kidding.’ I go, ‘No, I’m really honest.’ – Al Franken
And I think that being able to make people laugh and write a book that’s funny makes the information go down a lot easier and it makes it a lot more fun to read, easier to understand, and often stronger. So there’s all kinds of advantages to it. – Al Franken
I believe people have a right to know what’s going on with their information and how it’s collected, how it’s stored and who gets it. – Al Franken
Minnesotans know the difference between the job of satirist and the job of senator. And so do I. – Al Franken
Minnesotans lost their jobs because the credit rating agencies didn’t do the only job they’re supposed to have, the only job they had, which is to give accurate, objective ratings to financial products. – Al Franken
Bill Clinton is the greatest president of the 20th century because I played touch football with him. – Al Franken
The institutions that we’ve built up over the years to protect our individual privacy rights from the government don’t apply to the private sector. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply to corporations. The Freedom of Information Act doesn’t apply to Silicon Valley. And you can’t impeach Google if it breaks its ‘Don’t be evil’ campaign pledge. – Al Franken
Technology is an incredible tool – it connects people to each other, creates jobs all over the world, and makes life easier for millions of Americans. – Al Franken
I think Clinton fatigue was a real thing. It’s just hard to get comfortable with Gore – it was hard for him to project who he is, the person people know in private. – Al Franken
I felt like the luckiest kid in the world. And I was. I was growing up middle-class in a time when growing up middle-class in America meant there would be jobs for my parents, good schools for me to prepare myself for a career, and, if I worked hard and played by the rules, a chance for me to do anything I wanted. – Al Franken
I am a Minnesotan, and not just because I root for the Vikings and the Twins. I like the Minnesota-nice sensibility. I like the liberal tradition; I like the Hubert Humphrey tradition fighting for civil rights. – Al Franken
The biases the media has are much bigger than conservative or liberal. They’re about getting ratings, about making money, about doing stories that are easy to cover. – Al Franken
The right wing has had a radio apparatus for years and years, so they’ve had minor leagues – they’ve had local rightwing guys who’ve become national rightwing guys, and who build slowly, and that’s how it goes. We haven’t had that. It isn’t like we have a farm team. – Al Franken
Well, a lot of politics is communicating with people, and obviously comedy has something to do with that. I’ve been a producer and led people. Also, being a comedian, you’re under pressure. – Al Franken
Why don’t we focus on what Afghan women can do? They can cook, bear children and pray. As I recall, that was fine for our grandmothers. – Al Franken
The government must give proper weight to both keeping America safe from terrorists and protecting Americans’ privacy. But when Americans lack the most basic information about our domestic surveillance programs, they have no way of knowing whether we’re getting that balance right. This lack of transparency is a big problem. – Al Franken
Our laws need to reflect the evolution of technology and the changing expectations of American society. This is why the Constitution is often called a ‘living’ document. – Al Franken
The reason I wrote political satire was because I thought it – politics – was important… that public policy was important. Then I transitioned into books, then into radio. – Al Franken
People lucky enough to live in the vicinity of an industrial hog farm are, with each breath, made keenly aware of the cause of their declining property values. – Al Franken
In my first week as a U.S. senator, I had the privilege of participating in the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. – Al Franken
There’s an appeal to the American sense of exceptionalism, that we’re morally superior, as way to not be self-critical. I think that’s a bit dangerous. – Al Franken
Most Americans don’t think about antitrust law when they look at their cable bill, flip channels on TV, or worry about what their favorite website knows about them. But they should. – Al Franken