Comedian Al Franken, author of the bestselling Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, made a “joke” about Newt Gingrich, his daughter, and menstruation at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on May 4. The dinner, attended by 2, 800 scribblers, politicians, and assorted celebrity hangers-on, was a Clinton love-in; Franken, who had been hard on the president in a previous appearance two years ago, practically blew him kisses this time, as did many in the audience.
The Franken joke was easily as tasteless as the nowinfamous Don Imus slap at Clinton at a dinner in March. The first person to arrive at Gingrich’s table with apologies was Vice President Gore. Soon after, Gingrich encountered Franken and told him that, were Gingrich not a public figure, he’d have punched the comic out.
Courtney Sale Ross, the widow of TimeWarner mogul Steve Ross and not known for being a conservative, was as incensed as Gingrich. She confronted Franken at a Washington brunch the next day and told him he’d gone over the line in his remarks. In response, Franken got mad, which led Ross to ask why the comedian was so filled with anger. He said he wasn’t. Maybe not, but he couldn’t take the criticism. Time for a new book: Al Franken Is a Big Fat Baby.
