C.J.: Folks were upset one way or another after column on Franken

It's shocking how much time so many people have to fire off e-mails.

After writing about DFL Senate candidate Al Franken's satire gone wrong -- to put a nice face on it -- at Carleton College recently with student Peter Fritz, I was confronted with screens full of e-mails screaming the name Franken.

Some were mad at me "... you right-wing hack. Why not write how Bush has 'left them [dead] laughing' all over the world? By the hundreds of thousands. Why not bring these GOP leaders to task? I know that conservatives like you don't read much, but check out this Washington Post story: '935 Iraq Falsehoods' (I already looked, and there aren't that many hard words in the story, so you might understand it.) -- J. Wagner"

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"Why would you waste column space on Al Franken's alleged mistreatment of a right-wing college boy? Don't you have anything more relevant to write about, like, I don't know, the Iraq war, Al-Qaida, health care, the national debt? Did you get into journalism to 'report' such trivia? -- Dan Benbow"

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"Did you get that story from Peter Fritz hizzself? Deep journalistic spin worthy of Drudge. I didn't know you were like that. I will know to season your smatterings with a little more salt henceforth. You do have some good lines sometimes, but that was a sad piece of secondhand smear. -- Nick Schommer"

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"Inappropriate emphasis on Franken incident," read the subject line of an e-mail from "Joyce Anderson," which went on to say: "Interesting how you have taken a very, and I do mean verrrry, minor incident about our next senator Al Franken out of a campaign that is reputed to have helped Dahle win in [District] 25 and blown it way out of proportion. Oh, and giving the column 2 names so that it shows up twice on the strib website? A little biased, are you? Or just so hard up to write something even vaguely interesting for a change that using any excuse to attack Al was justified? I hope that after he is elected his staffers effectively block you from even secondary access so that you sink into the morass of mediocrity that is your column and disappear."

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"Your article on Franken at Carleton is almost unreadable. -- Kurt Bischoff"

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"Just not that unusual. Just watch TV -- Rod & Carol"

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"The right thing would be to call Mr. Franken on his rudeness. -- Kenny Yago"

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"What is the difference between Al Franken and Jesse Ventura? Jesse starred in higher grossing movies. Other than that they are both rude and lack the skills to be a statesman. JOURNALISTS NEED TO STOP GIVING AL A PASS ON BEING A SPOILED CHILD! --Peter Speed"

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"I enjoyed your article about Al Franken being rude to the college student. I'm in Charlotte, N.C., and read it off the Drudge Report. It's disappointing and disheartening to read about any political candidate, regardless of their party affiliation, acting this way to a college student, who is still learning about life and people. This was probably a shock to that boy. Thank you, J.F. Key"

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Jerry, that's what Google is for. ~ C.J.

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Some were priceless "Maybe Fritz would be more comfortable speaking with [a] genteel, accommodating Republican politician like Dick Cheney. If Franken [had] set up a 'Free Speech' pen for those with dissenting views like the president does when he's campaigning, this whole episode could have been avoided. -- James Moore, Fairfield, Iowa"

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"Enjoyed your article on Al Franken. It was balanced and unbiased. I appreciate your choice of topics and writing style.

Two things, Russ: 1) Could you please read the column to Kurt Bischoff? 2) When is Detroit's mayor going to resign? 3) Go Blue!