POEM ALERT: Why Is The New Yorker’s Editor Playing Al Franken?

Senator Franken’s departure from public life post-#MeToo has divided many in the Democratic party Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Editor’s Note: A report that New Yorker David Remnick will be playing the role of Al Franken in a one-night-only Public Theater has moved our correspondent to verse, for better or worse.
One is a hero of the liberal bastion
The other’s prose stylings are always in fashion
When the latter acts the former, on Thursday next
The alt-right will take to 4chan, and kvetch.
One is an editor, the other a Senator —
What combination could more anger the redditors?
It takes chutzpah to step into Al Franken’s shoes
David Remnick, we’re sure, will pay adequate dues.
Why will Remnick play Franken? You’ll find out when
He steps into the role in “All The President’s Men?”
It’s an import from London, an immigrant show
We’re not at war with the Brits yet, so on it will go.
For one brilliant night, Remnick and Co. will perform
Scenes from confirmations that trespassed the norm
Of Pruitt and Price, Sessions and Tillerson
Played by Remnick, Ron Rifkin, and Staceyanne Chin —
— to name just a few. When these luminaries gather,
Will they lampoon the government, like Facebook hero Dan Rather?
Or will their deft recitations of authorities’s preaching
Come out urgent and earnest, perhaps even beseeching?
What is America? Where will Trump’s cabinet lead it?
Will corruption proliferate? What can we do to beat it?
Will they let the sea rise, the bears enter our schools?
Will they use their own agency, or be merely tools?
When Remnick plays Franken, will he reassure?
Will his storming provoke? Will his reason inure?
There are ways to imagine, only one way to know —
Just a commitment of time: Go see the show.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters, including one American
-
Fast Forward Trump administration freezes research funding to Princeton amid antisemitism investigations
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.