Summary

Despite the many lessons – both positive and negative – Franken learned throughout his years in the Senate, he had the hardest time learning how to censor his sense of humor. In response, he built his own version of the DeHumorizer, a parallel beast to the Republican machine that was used to twist his humor out of context during his first Senate race. Sporadic and tasteful humor has served Franken well on the Senate floor at times, but “rather than trusting [his] ability to sort out the funny things that would bring joy to thousands of families from the funny things that might end [his] career,” he entrusts that responsibly to his staff (353). Essentially, Franken writes whatever he wants on letters to constituents, notes to colleagues, and official press releases, and then his staff – each member, at any level – has the authority to censor the...