Brian Maloney notes an appearance by Al Franken on yesterday's Today Show that reveals the utter lack of a sense of humor by the supposed comedian. After riffing on the supposed exhaustion of outgoing White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and his replacement, Joshua Bolten, Franken got very cranky indeed when Michael Smerconish turned the barb back on Franken himself. Newsbusters has the transcript, with Scott Whitlock's commentary:

Lauer: "Andrew Card, five and a half years as chief of staff, out. Was he shown the door? And if so, is change good?"

Franken: "He was exhausted. I think he's been exhausted since, pretty much, since day one...You know, they point to lousy decisions made recently, but they've been making lousy decisions since, pretty much since- I think they just stayed up too late at the first inaugural."

[Franken went on to say that Josh Bolten taking over as chief of staff would do no good because he’s "even more exhausted." He then added:]

Franken: "I think they should just fire these guys in order of exhaustion. I think Rumsfeld is looking real tired."

[That last line drew a laugh from Lauer and the Today set. However, Mr. Franken, who felt free to dish insults out, became very testy when Michael Smerconish noted how somber the author of "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" seemed:]

Smerconish: "Yeah, Al sounds a little exhausted to me this morning."

Franken: "It's 4:11AM! It's four in the morning here....Screw you! I got up at four in the morning."

[Franken, who was appearing via remote from California and thus in a different time zone,couldn’t let the issue go:]

Franken: "I got up at 4AM, Michael! Four friggen AM!"

Ian Schwartz has the video clip. It's a big file, so be patient while it's downloading.

All of this again reveals Franken to be a hypocrite and a coward, a man who can dish out the insults but who loses his temper easily when challenged. He has assaulted people in public for crossing him, including Laura Ingraham's producer and a heckler at a political rally. He can joke about how exhausted Card has become after five years of 18-hour days, seven days a week, but God forbid anyone mention a lack of energy on his part when he manages to roll out of bed before dawn on one occasion!

That makes Franken our new nominee for the Chef Award, given to those celebrities and political pundits who feel free to skewer everyone but howl when anyone dares criticize or satirize themselves or their pet causes. Isaac Hayes established this award by enthusiastically participating in South Park's satires of every major religion -- but quit in a huff when Scientology got skewered. Dishing it up has proven easier for these two chefs de wheezine.

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