For a man who says that corporations should be forced to play by the rules, Al Franken hasn’t much to say about his own corporation — and neither does his accountant. After publicly blaming Allen Chanzis for Franken’s failure to pay taxes on income in 17 states for several years, Franken told Chanzis not to defend himself to the media. Meanwhile, the DFL publicly remained supportive of their Nixonian candidate, at least for the moment:
Allen Chanzis, the longtime accountant for U.S. Senate hopeful Al Franken, refused to comment Wednesday evening when asked about the tax and business irregularities that have troubled Franken’s candidacy in recent weeks.
Contacted at his Long Island apartment, Chanzis declined to discuss Franken’s statements that the accountant’s mistakes caused Franken’s taxes to go unpaid in 17 states.
“I’ve been told to say, ‘No comment,'” Chanzis said, without saying who had instructed him to do so. Refusing to discuss any mistakes, he added: “I’ve been told you have the information you need.”
Meanwhile, DFLers said Wednesday that they were standing by Franken, with party officials and activists voicing confidence in his candidacy a day after he acknowledged the unpaid state taxes from 2003 to 2006.
Although most DFL activists interviewed Wednesday said they still support Franken, some party leaders acknowledged being nervous. And state Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said he had been approached “by numerous people in the last 16 hours” to enter the race.
What a nice man Franken turns out to be! He throws Chanzis under the bus, and then tells him not to grunt when the wheels roll over his supine body. Franken wants to blame everyone else but himself, and then he demands that they stand there defenseless in public while he shifts responsibility from himself — as CEO and CFO — to a subordinate.
Yes, that’s exactly the kind of man we want in power! Bring on Senator Nixon Clinton Franken!
The DFL apparently wants that kind of leadership for Minnesota, or at least they say they do. However, the Democrats have adopted a duck strategy — look calm and serene above the surface, but paddle like hell underneath it. Not so quietly, they have started to approach anyone who wants to get served up as the sacrificial lamb to Norm Coleman’s re-election effort, and not surprisingly, they’re not getting any takers so far. Bakk, Tim Walz, and dropout contender Michael Cerisi have all reportedly heard entreaties to replace Stonewall Franken as the candidate, but none have accepted — leaving the DFL with radical nutcase Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer as their only alternative.
If they can’t find anyone else, what will the DFL’s campaign slogan be? “Franken — Not Exactly A Felon”?
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