Word: ornstein
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...unclear what exactly Franken is ridiculing in this political satire, but the results are certainly funny. The book's 289 pages chronicle Franken's fictitious run for the democratic presidential nomination in 2000. He hires Norm Ornstein (fellow at the American Enterprise Institute), Dick Morris (political consultant) and Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) to build a highly successful campaign around eliminating ATM fees. Perhaps he's mocking the American voter, or the election system, or even himself. Whatever his point, doggonit, it's sharper than making fun of 12-step gurus...
...Norman Ornstein is a wonk, a wonk's wonk, maybe the wonk di tutti wonks. As a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, he not only talks the wonk's talk, he also walks the wonk's walk. His admission that he is the co-chair of the President's Advisory Committee on the Obligations of Digital Broadcasters trips off his tongue with alacrity. But like so many of the earnest wonks of Washington, he longs to be loved for more than his mind. He wants to be thought of as funny...
...comes as a surprise that last week Ornstein and nine other serious people took the stage at the Improv on Connecticut Avenue to vie for the title of Washington's Funniest Celebrity. Obviously the fact that it was all for a good cause, to benefit the Child Welfare League of America, gave the would-be comics flop insurance, but none of these people came to have their efforts patronized. They were in it for the glory...
Next came Ornstein. Peering out from behind his horn-rims, he underplayed the audience into his hands. He jabbed at last year's winner, CNBC's Chris Matthews, noting that Matthews hadn't yet picked up his prize, a case of Ritalin. He said that Newt Gingrich was going to make some commercial endorsements now, but only those befitting the dignity of his office: "So far, the only one he's accepted is from Bob's Big Boy." He confessed that his naivete had left him unprepared for this year's events: "I used to think that being...
Cooper won. It was his year. Ginsburg came in second and Ornstein third. Some thought Ginsburg was graded a bit high. But there were no sour grapes. "When you do something like this," Ornstein said, "and people laugh, it's just--great!" Dreams do come true. The man came in a wonk, but left feeling like Howie Mandel...