Heh - he considers "freedom of speech" to be whatever HE wants to say. Anyone with a differing opinion is infringing on his right to free speech.

Guess Al still hasn't figured out that hecklers are part of the political process. If you don't like them - don't go into politics! (or in Franken's case, don't go to political rallies). What a wanker!

Franken Assaulting People?
If you've been reading what's been written in the conservative press lately, you may have been hearing a lot about Al Franken and an incident with a Lyndon LaRouche supporter. However, there is more to the story than what the NY Post and Newsmax.com have been selectively reporting.
The Fox-owned NY Post and conservative magazines have launched a smear campaign against Al Franken by taking one incident out of context. Here, we are given the image of an unstable Al Franken attacking a poor man without warrant. In the NY Post, no description of the heckler is mentioned except that he was "shouting accusations." Newsmax portrays the heckler as the victim. Sounds bad, doesn't it? Al Franken just attacking innocent hecklers. Indeed, the way the story is framed in the conservative papers makes Franken sound bad. However, both of the conservative papers took the incident completely out of context. Indeed, they failed to mention some important parts of the story:

Point #1: The Heckler First Attacked People. According to Palace Theatre's manager, the heckler attacked the security guards and the theater manager:

Two members of Dean's security team immediately moved in on the man, who shoved and elbowed them, Ramsey said.

"He was screaming. He was out of control," Ramsey said.

Ramsey said he went over to help calm the situation and also got elbowed and pushed.

Point #2: Out of Control Attacker Then Presented Danger to Dean and Crowd. So what else did the heckler do that the conservative media did not report? He posed a potential danger to Howard Dean who, since he is a presidential candidate, is always subject to risk.
The protester had clambered over two or three people and had perched himself on the balcony railing.

"I thought he was going to jump. He was screaming at Dean. I was scared for a minute that he was going to jump on the stage and attack Dean," Ramsey said.

One New Hampshire voter sitting in the balcony said the heckler "kind of barreled through like a Patriots fullback."

"The way he moved, I thought he was going to jump or something," Wendy Branch of Northwood said. "Even if he didn't intend to jump, he was setting himself up for a fall. It was a little alarming."

Point #3: Franken Subdued the Attacker Only After He was Attacked. Al Franken was with the security guards trying to help get the heckler out of the room. However, it was only after the heckler physically attacked Franken and broke his glasses that Franken resorted to a wrestling move intended to subdue the attacker:

Ramsey said a news photographer later told him Franken reacted to being elbowed by the protester, who knocked his glasses off.
Indeed, while the Post used loaded language - "'body-slammed" - the reality is Franken subdued a man who had already assaulted two security guards. Indeed, this is why the theater manager said:
"I never met Al Franken before. He is now my new hero."

Summary: Why did such a potentially scandalous story have so few details in the NY Post and Newsmax? Why were the New York Post and Newsmax.com slim on details of the protestor and his actions? The answer is that presenting the full and real story would detract from the ambiguous and negative picture presented of Franken, as you saw in points 1-3 ...

The conservative media will continue to spin this in the way they see fit: Nut-case Franken assaulted an innocent man without warrant. Put Franken in jail! However, as a complete account from people there showed, the conservative media left out crucial details of an affair in which Al helped security guards stop an angry assaulter who attacked others and further presented a danger to the people around him.