Inside Al Franken's Secret Santa Party

Despite a recent poll showing that a plurality of Americans believe Santa is a Democrat, I remain skeptical. If this fat old man is such a liberal, why do rich kids get all the best presents?

Despite my doubts, we now have confirmation of Santa's partisanship: he is indeed a Democrat from the far north, and he goes by the name "Al Franken."

For the second year in a row, Franken (D-North Pole) has organized a Secret Santa gift exchange among his fellow Senators. If nothing else, the exchanges are a good indicator of which Senators despise one another…

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Tags: Al Franken, Christmas, Senate

The Twitterverse on Rick Santorum's Three-Way Victory

Hot on the heels of a Santorum trifecta comes Twitter's best reactions…

If Rick Santorum becomes our nominee – it will be the first really significant evidence I've seen that the Mayans might be right about 2012.

— Meghan McCain (@McCainBlogette) February 8, 2012

BREAKING: Ann Romney tells heckler, "My husband can't f@*king throw the ball and catch it at the same time!" — Philip Klein (@philipaklein) February 8, 2012

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Tags: Al Franken, Colorado, Jesse Ventura, Keith Ellison, Meghan McCain, Michele Bachmann, Missouri, Mitt Romney, Primaries, Rick Santorum, Sports, Twitter, Wisconsin

Tweet Untweet: Minnesota Madness

Tags: Al Franken, Internet, Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, Tweet Untweet, Twitter

Al Franken Spreads Christmas Spirit to Cold, Lifeless Senators

In a move that a cynical person might call politically calculated, but which I choose to call the sweetest, most adorable thing to happen ever, Al Franken has organized the Senate's first-ever Secret Santa…

Reports coming out of the gift exchange showed a group of senators seemingly giddy over their gifts. The biggest hit seemed to be Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)’s receiving of an elephant and donkey carved from coal.

The cockles of your heart aren't sufficiently warmed? How about this: The gift came from Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, along with the following note…

"With an eight percent approval rating, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress deserve to have coal in their stocking this year. Lucky for us, my state has more than enough to go around."

Ha ha ha! I do love when our societal betters poke fun at the lackluster job they're doing of governing us.

But in all seriousness, the event seems to have gone well. So well, in fact, that maybe they'll revive it for Easter. You know, if we still have a Senate.

Photo by Ryan Kelly/CQ-Roll Call Group/Getty Images

Tags: Al Franken, Christmas, Chuck Schumer, Joe Manchin, Senate

Quote Unquote: The History of Marriage

Sen. Al Franken in response to Sen. Chuck Grassley's testimony against the Respect for Marriage Act (not to be confused with the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Respect for Marriage Act is seeking to repeal)…

"I just believe you misstated the history of marriage. Marriage has not existed as a union between one man and one woman for thousands of years in every culture. In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and even young girls. For centuries, women were treated as chattel in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89 year-old widower and an 80 year-old widow? I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of man and woman and the history of our institutions."

"So, essentially this means that the Respect for Marriage Act is an attempt by the liberals to take away an elderly person's right to get married." — Guy Who Purposefully Misunderstands Easy-to-Grasp Concepts

Tags: Al Franken, Chuck Grassley, DOMA, LGBT, Marriage Equality, Quote Unquote, Senate