|
According to the Federal Election Commission website (and Newsmeat.com, which keeps track of who's giving to whom), 93 individual donations of $10,000 or more to the Franken Recount Fund totaled $1,058,400 between Nov. 5 and March 31 - the end of the last FEC reporting period. The Coleman Minnesota Recount Committee collected just $652,900 in 60 individual donations of $10,000 or more in that same time span, possibly indicating that Coleman's supporters (or those who are determined to prevent a Democrat from replacing Coleman in the Senate) have grown weary of pouring money into the fight. Among Franken's $10,000-plus post-election donors: author John Grisham, who contributed $10,000; comedian and actor Dan Aykroyd, $12,300; actor Tom Hanks, $12,300; musician Don Henley, $10,000; TV producer Norman Lear, $12,300; actor Mike Myers, $12,300; and actress Heather Thomas, $10,000. (Other big names on Franken's donor list, though not necessarily in the $10,000-plus club, include actors Jason Alexander, Jane Curtin, Larry David, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Larry Hagman, Ed Harris, Steve Martin, Edward Norton, Paul Reiser, Tony Shalhoub, Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston and Robin Williams.) Local big names on that list include author and radio performer Garrison Keillor; former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, who plans to seek the DFL endorsement to run for governor next year (and who ponied up $12,300 toward Franken's recount effort); and Dayton's ex-wife, Alida Rockefeller Messinger. The names of Coleman's deep-pockets recount donors aren't quite so well-known, but a few of them can be classified as billionaires. They include Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., who gave $10,000; William F. Austin, founder and CEO of Starkey Laboratories Inc., $10,000; Stanley S. Hubbard, head of Minnesota's Hubbard Broadcasting, $10,000; John R. Menard Jr., the founder and owner of Menards, $12,300; Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairman and CEO of Minnetonka-based Carlson Companies, $10,000; and Richard M. Schulze, founder and chairman of Richfield-based Best Buy, $12,300. |
Sam and politics -warning, political
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 ayeshahaqqiqa |
Sam and politics -warning, political |
Lead | |
|
Posts: 5328 (06/25/09 04:17:13) |
Sam has again gotten involved in politics, this time in the contested Senate seat from Minnesota. If you're not familiar with the situation, the seat held
by Norm Coleman has apparently been won by Al Franken of Saturday Night Live fame. The election was very close--only some 300-odd votes difference--and
Coleman has been challenging court rulings again and again. Both candidates have asked for donations from people from out of state to pay for their court
costs:
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
|
Dark Charaxes |
|||
|
Posts: 1152 (06/25/09 06:14:56) |
Sam contributed to Franken?! Say it ain't so. Oh, well, at least, I can like him on everything else. Ha...
|
||
|
sheila061 |
|||
|
Posts: 994 (06/25/09 14:52:02) |
I think Sam is more liberal than he'd like to admit. It seems that most of the candidates he supports are liberal and Democrat. Occasionally he has
donated money to a Republican but not often. I was a little surprised that he would back Al Fracken too.
|
||
|
kpeal.lawandorderlovers |
|||
|
Posts: 117 (06/25/09 17:44:29) |
maybe he is backing the cause as well as the candidate. many felt that Gore was robbed but thankful he had the grace to step aside after giving a good fight.
(Even tho it had gone to the Supreme Court, options to fight were still available to the Dems). At some point it is best to say it is over.
|
||
|
ayeshahaqqiqa |
|||
|
Posts: 5331 (06/26/09 04:41:10) |
I agree. Gore took the Supreme Court decision graciously. Court after court has found in Franken's favor--and meanwhile, Minnesota does not have full
representation in the Senate.
That Sam is more liberal than he publicly admits doesn't surprise me, seeing all the causes he has helped. Remember, RI's president came out against the Iraq War in February, 2003.
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
|
sheila061 |
|||
|
Posts: 996 (06/26/09 06:07:36) |
I wasn't by any means criticizing Sam's political veiws - just making an observations. I also think it's time to throw in the towell and accept
defeat. The money that's being donated to the court costs could certainly be better spent elsewhere (like feeding hungry people or housing homeless people
or cancer research to name a few).
|
||
|
kpeal.lawandorderlovers |
|||
|
Posts: 118 (06/26/09 06:55:04) |
Sheila,
I don't think anyone thought you were being critical 
And I certainly didn't mean to imply you might have been. Have a good weekend, all. And stay cool. Here in central Texas, we are HOT. It was 107 yesterday. we are breaking heat records by 4 or 5 degrees. Keri, your pool invite is looking good! |
||
|
Dark Charaxes |
|||
|
Posts: 1153 (06/26/09 06:58:50) |
It's not so much the liberal/conservative to me, as more the person. Al Franken is a rather loathsome human being (surprisingly). A quick rundown for
you, for what it's worth.
(Actually, in Bush v. Gore, had that been applied, Gore would have lost badly on the merits, so, yeah. I learned that, recently, from Michael Medved.)
Last Edited By: Dark Charaxes
06/26/09 07:02:17.
Edited 2 times.
|
||
|
SCcool1 |
|||
|
Posts: 1116 (06/26/09 07:55:32) |
I sure hope Sam is careful to put his toes in the political waters. Makes me nervous.
Lennie Briscoe to McCoy in Corruption:
"If you don't take her out of there right now, I'll kick your ass from here to Hoboken." |
||
|
sheila061 |
|||
|
Posts: 997 (06/26/09 08:14:16) |
Me too - sometimes I think Sam is a little naive and trusting about some things. He's honest and he expects other people to be too - just my opinion.
|
||
|
Dark Charaxes |
|||
|
Posts: 1154 (06/26/09 08:34:33) |
Well, the good news is that Sam isn't a celebutard and he doesn't speak on issues that he doesn't know (like Iraq and RI's declaration of it,
as the boss pointed out). So, I wouldn't be too afraid about him, especially over Franken. Hopefully, he'll realize his actions, eventually, as noted
by his Cambodia work, when most of the glitterati were so silent about the issue, at the time.
He's fine with me, 99% of the time, so I can forgive or let go a 1% lapse or two. Sheila, can you elaborate on his being naive? Just wondering where you reached such a conclusion.
|
||
|
ayeshahaqqiqa |
|||
|
Posts: 5333 (06/26/09 16:29:38) |
Sheila, I was in no way criticizing you--I was agreeing with you! I think you are right-he is more liberal than he says he is! And I know what you mean about
him being naive. An example was supporting Unity 08 so strongly--exactly what an idealist would have done, but one who wasn't savvy to the way the
political parties operate. I think he's become more pragmatic now because he sees election finance reform as a key to changing Washington. To my mind, it
is much more doable than getting a candidate from either party to run on a third party ticket.
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
|
sheila061 |
|||
|
Posts: 998 (06/26/09 19:42:09) |
Unity08 was exactly what I was thinking about when I said that. I don't know if naive is the right word. Maybe trusting would be a better word. He
trusted these guys, he used a lot of his own time to promote this idea and they just left him hanging when they decided to abandon the idea. I think he really
believes things can get better and he wants to be part of it. I agree that the election finance reform will be easier to get passed than the Unity08 thing and
a much better idea.
|
||
|
mccoylover |
|||
|
Posts: 238 (06/26/09 20:27:20) |
I don't know guys...whether one agrees or disagrees...I think a man who is almost 70 and runs in the circles Sam does, is well aware of who and what he is chosing to support.
Check out mywebsite: http://lawandorderjackmccoyfan.my site.com
|
||
|
Dark Charaxes |
|||
|
Posts: 1156 (06/27/09 07:25:12) |
I always thought Unity 08's failure was more on timing than anything else (anything you need to really affect the systems should have been done several
years in advance). In either case, Sam is what liberal is supposed to mean, right? If he were a hyper-leftist, like today's celebutards, I doubt
he would have gotten far with Angie Harmon as his co-star, as you can't deny that chemistry.
I was going to bring this up in a topic, but this works. Wikipedia dropped this about him in his profile, and I need some confirmation. Beware my copy/paste skillz. "A political independent, he was a spokesman for the Unity08 movement, which unsuccessfully sought to run a non- or bipartisan presidential ticket in the 2008 presidential election.[9] Waterston has stated that he was a Democrat until he left the party in disgust following the airing of Lyndon B. Johnson's infamous "Daisy" election ad in 1964.[10] Waterston has also appeared in print ads, and announced in television commercials, for the liberal magazine The Nation."
|
||
|
ayeshahaqqiqa |
|||
|
Posts: 5336 (06/27/09 11:00:38) |
Sam was donated his image for The Nation's advertising campaign a while back. As you may know, that magazine has been around since the mid-nineteenth
century; Sam said his great-grandfather was a contributor to the magazine back then. And yes, I heard him not only say he was disgusted with Johnson's
"daisy" ad, but that he had voted for Goldwater.
Glad to see you commenting on the fact that "liberal" and "leftist" are really two different terms. In my definition, "liberal" means allowing more than one viewpoint in on a discussion, and treating everyone with respect because we are all humans. It also means reaching out to help those in need, for whatsover we do for 'the least of these' we do for the whole of humanity. It also means to appreciate the past while looking at innovative ways of viewing the future.
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
|
Keri2 |
|||
|
Posts: 1940 (06/27/09 11:06:36) |
The pool is up and running! Everyone invited!
|
||
|
Dark Charaxes |
|||
|
Posts: 1157 (06/30/09 06:57:11) |
I knew about the Nation, and I figured it was based on liberal cred, or something.
And, yes, I can split the difference between leftist and liberal. Problem is, the sane liberals need to counter the leftists that are hijacking the party. Since the sane liberals don't always speak up and the leftists do most of the talking, that line gets blurred a lot. But there's still hope -- Camille Paglia and Evan Bayh and the Gang of 15. So, yeah. Either way, I'm with Keri.
Last Edited By: Dark Charaxes
06/30/09 06:59:32.
Edited 1 times.
|
||
|
ayeshahaqqiqa |
|||
|
Posts: 5343 (06/30/09 14:45:32) |
I'm ready to get cool in the pool!
And Norm Coleman showed class today in the way he conceded.
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
|
Keri2 |
|||
|
Posts: 1943 (06/30/09 16:31:04) |
What choice did he have? After alll these months, though, Coleman had no class, imo. He lost the election last November, and any rational person would have
conceeded then.
|
||
|
ayeshahaqqiqa |
|||
|
Posts: 5344 (06/30/09 18:04:39) |
There were rumors that he was going to drag this through Federal courts and that he had the money to do it. That he chose not to do it means Minnesota finally
has full representation in Congress. (Conga lines are forming at Democratic Underground, btw.)
There is no problem that cannot be improved by effort, and no effort that is too paltry to be worth undertaking. ~Sam Waterston
|
||
