Al Franken, Sonia Sotomayor, and Perry Mason

In today’s Senate hearings on the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, Sen. Al Franken sparked a mystery that has consumed Washington and beyond. Both Sotomayor and Franken were fans of the 1960’s version of Law and Order, “The Perry Mason Show.” Throughout its run, Mason, a defense attorney, had lost only a single case.

Well, after extensive and costly research, I can now reveal what that case was:

The Case of the Deadly Verdict
Janice Barton is found guilty of the murder of her wealthy relative and sentenced to death. Can Perry find the evidence to clear her of the crime before the pellets in the gas chamber fall?

Interestingly, one of the guest stars on the program was an actor named Steve Franken, who may be better known as Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. III from the “The Dobie Gillis Show.” Also on Dobie was Bob Denver (later Gilligan) and Sheila Kuehl (presently a former California State Senator). So you figure out your own “6 degrees” stories.

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3 thoughts on “Al Franken, Sonia Sotomayor, and Perry Mason

  1. I was glad to see Franken had his sense of humor in that exchange. When Sotomayor said she didn’t remember the episode of Perry Mason he referred to, Franken said “Didn’t the White House prepare you for that?”

    Also Sen. Sheila Kuehl was termed out this last election. She was an awesome senator with a great sense of humor. She carried the banner of single payer for CA her whole term, and when I went to the capitol, Sacramento, to lobby for single payer, she replied to a republican critic of the bill that it was a faith-based initiative on her part because she had to have a lot of faith to hope single payer would get through. I hope she’s happy with the US congress healthcare bill. Thanks Sheila.

    • Thanks for the update on Sen. Kuehl. I missed that.

      And I was also glad to see Sen. Franken display his sense of humor. He had been so serious in the campaign as a counterweight to his image. I knew he still had it in him.

  2. I’d like to be at lesat six degrees removed from the dropping pellets myself.

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