Sometimes I just gotta laugh, and this is one of those times. Look, these are serious times. I know that. And it’s showing in the Senate and the strain that shows on the Senate floor. Yesterday, OMG, Al Franken did the absolutely unthinkable and – are you ready for this? – told Joe Lieberman that no, he could not have one more minute  than his allotted time to speak on the floor. To which Joe replied, “Reeeaaallly.”

Last night and this morning, that clip has been played on loop on every news and political talk show on the air, accompanied by choruses of “Oooh, he di’n't!” or some version thereof. It’s as if Franken had turned to Lieberman and said, “Your mother, buddy!” or “Stick your extra minute up your ass, Senator.”

What he did say, exactly and precisely, was, “As the Senator from Minnesota, I object.”

This is what passes for a sharp exchange on the floors of our hallowed legislative bodies. No frickin’ wonder the rest of the world finds us less-than-entertaining or amusing. This comes at the end of a week when Paul Gogarty, a member of the Irish Parliament uttered the infamous line, “With all due respect and in the most un-Parliamentary language, FUCK you, Deputy Stagg, Fuck you!”

“As the Senator from Minnesota, I object” pales in comparison. It also pales in comparison to the various episodes of fisticuffs that seem to routinely break out on the floors of other legislatures. Face it, folks – we’re boring. It’s no damn wonder that Florida’s Rep. Grayson is seen as such a political bad boy.

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