A cringeworthy joke it was, for sure, but conservative Texas Republican Rick Perry and liberal Minnesota U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota nearly brought down the house during Perry's confirmation hearing in Washington.
"Thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?" deadpanned Franken, the former Saturday Night Live comedian. Perry responded: "I hope you are as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch."
"May I rephrase that, sir?" Perry quipped, breaking down in laughter, as did the rest of the audience and normally serious senators. "Well, I think we've found our Saturday Night Live sound bite."
While Washington types were yucking it up over that exchange, Democrats were angrily boycotting President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration -- and Trump was busy asking them to return their tickets so all his supporters could attend the festivities.
Dissent was boiling in Austin, where a split between Senate and House leaders over the proposed budget and the controversial bathroom bill appeared to widen. Then throw in the indictment on ethics charges of a House member, a Democrat from Austin, and a controversial poll of Texas muslims by a freshmen representative who's concerned about radical Islam.
Texas politicians are rarely boring, and this week was no exception. You really can’t make up stuff this good. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes insights about the legislative session in Austin and the doings in Washington in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State.
There's no couch in our studio.
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By Houston Chronicle
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A cringeworthy joke it was, for sure, but conservative Texas Republican Rick Perry and liberal Minnesota U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota nearly brought down the house during Perry's confirmation hearing in Washington.
"Thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?" deadpanned Franken, the former Saturday Night Live comedian. Perry responded: "I hope you are as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch."
"May I rephrase that, sir?" Perry quipped, breaking down in laughter, as did the rest of the audience and normally serious senators. "Well, I think we've found our Saturday Night Live sound bite."
While Washington types were yucking it up over that exchange, Democrats were angrily boycotting President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration -- and Trump was busy asking them to return their tickets so all his supporters could attend the festivities.
Dissent was boiling in Austin, where a split between Senate and House leaders over the proposed budget and the controversial bathroom bill appeared to widen. Then throw in the indictment on ethics charges of a House member, a Democrat from Austin, and a controversial poll of Texas muslims by a freshmen representative who's concerned about radical Islam.
Texas politicians are rarely boring, and this week was no exception. You really can’t make up stuff this good. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes insights about the legislative session in Austin and the doings in Washington in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State.
There's no couch in our studio.
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