AL FRANKEN is a liberal. But luckily for him, he's also funny.

Since the Clinton administration stuttered to a close, liberal America hasn't exactly been blessed with charismatic or talented leaders. The parade of bland non-entities who have represented them politically has been counter-balanced by the development of genuine superstars in the entertainment world. People like Franken, and John Stewart of The Daily Show, have managed to create and energise a decent level of informed resistance to some of the more careless initiatives of the Bush neo-con Republican administration.

Franken gets the nod from me simply because he can apparently do pretty much anything media-related and make it work, while simultaneously wearing his bias on his sleeve. That, and the fact that there aren't too many funny liberals.

Over the last two decades, but particularly since digital media made truth telling and lie-selling an immediate commodity, the ability to sit back, research, think and develop a point of view has become rare. Al's most recent book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, was researched by a volunteer team of students in Harvard. Offered a year's access to the Ivy League colleges' resources, Franken decided not to embrace fusty academia, but chose to gain empirical proof of his longheld political views on the media. He got Team Franken to stake out his political opponents in the media over the course of twelve months, documenting inaccuracies, or as they're also known, "lies". His best work is the proof that it's possible to have style and substance, and it makes being a broadcaster a vaguely worthwhile project to be involved in.

The targets for his book were mostly the stars of Fox News. His team proved that despite the stations tagline, "Fair and Balanced", they were more closely described as flabby-with-the-truth hypocrites motivated exclusively by their own agendas. What makes the book a success is that it's genuinely funny about some very serious things. The war in Iraq and Al's trips there to entertain the troops, the death of his friend, Senator Paul Wellstone, . . . whose seat he hopes to reclaim for the Democrats, his Jewish upbringing, and the time Fox sued him for stealing their tagline, are all detailed with a warmth and humour and humanity that puts you in mind of someone at the peak of their powers.

Franken hasn't exactly wandered into mainstream consciousness in Ireland just yet, but it's early in the day for him. He grew up outside Minneapolis, but was born into a New York Jewish tradition, and has had stints on either coast of the US, picking up tiny pay-checks for writing jokes for comedians. His career has been that of a chameleon. He's been a writer for Saturday Night Live, a talk-show host on the radio station Air America, had some hilariously bad cameo appearances in movies, won three Emmys, and has written an Amazon. com bestseller. The little paychecks have become big oak trees. On Valentine's Day this year, the comedian gave up throwing grenades from the stage, and announced he was running as a candidate for the US Senate. His chance of winning is particularly good.

The television programme Saturday Night Live has had a lot of revisionist bullsh*t written about it . . . and it's the nostalgic, slightly maudlin type of programme Franken would most likely despise, had he not been one of its mainstays and stars over ten years. While it's true there were many awful, bland, unfunny moments in the programme's history, and that longevity isn't necessarily proof of excellence (see the Late Late Show), it did also grant mass audiences to some of the edgiest comedians working in show business.

Andy Kaufman's routines have become legendary, and on highlights reels before he did buddy movies, Chris Rock is brilliant as a fake news correspondent, satirising white attitudes to black stories and playing a conservative black leader. A clutch of other talents, such as Eddie Murphy, Dan Ackroyd and Adam Sandler, have found themselves doing their finest ever work on the show. More than ten years of writing and performing on the show have honed Franken's style and political discourse, and seems to have taught him the lesson that good comedy tends not to lecture people.

Comedy and politics can occasionally seem unusual bedfellows . . . we tend to laugh at our politicians, not with them. With massive amounts of people watching the news on a daily basis, and so much news available, it's an immediate example of the fertile shared experience that comedians need to resonate with an audience.

As the blur between entertainment and news has grown over the years, the left in America has begun to do things other than leaflet drops. Comedy Central has been running The Daily Show, again an overmythologised show, for more than ten years. It's a satirical look at the world of the News with a capital N, so they can parody the delivery of the message as much as the message being delivered. Millions of Americans exclusively get their news from right-wing talk-radio, where "if-it-bleeds-it-leads" and "find-me-the-victim" are the only criteria, which again, provides fertile ground for satire. Sometimes there is no blood, and there are no victims. In that world, the notion of a comedian crossing the floor to the political world, seems less ridiculous than a steroid-abusing action hero, or a steroid-abusing wrestler, getting elected.

Really though, it's the research and work that goes into the satire which makes Franken worth reading, watching and listening to. His little media empire should turn him into a senator who people will laugh with and not at, because he has both substance and style.

Ger Gilroy, is co-presenter of 'The Breakfast Show' on Newstalk 106-108 FM, weekdays