If Al Franken and Rand Paul Can Be Friends, Why Can't We?

Today’s StarTribune has an interesting story on the young and unlikely friendship between Senators Al Franken and Rand Paul.  As you may know, Paul is one of the Senate’s most conservative members, and he actively courts mainstream media attention.  Franken, on the contrary, is on the left wing of the Senate and generally avoids media attention.  The Strib reports:

The duo has raised eyebrows because the two senators couldn’t be further apart politically: Paul is a staunch libertarian and founded the Senate Tea Party Caucus, while Franken’s liberalism is well known through his writing and speeches.

“At first blush, obviously it is [odd],” Franken said in an interview. “But in many ways it makes a lot of sense.”

The pair’s budding friendship serves as one small counterpoint to the notion that Washington’s rhetoric is so toxic in today’s hyper-partisan political environment that senators as dissimilar as Franken and Paul cannot come together.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to get a representative of the conservative, Reformed branch of American Protestantism to come on Doug Pagitt Radio, for which I will serve as the guest host on April 10.  I’ve thought it could be a great way to model Christian brotherhood — to have a cordial, 30-minute conversation about issues that we think are really, really important.

Alas, I have been repeatedly rebuffed in my efforts to get someone to agree to come on the show.  I’m not going to name names (yet).  Instead, I’m going to keep extending the invitation in hopes that someone who disagrees with me on theological issues will still see fit to model brotherly dialogue in a setting that will edify God’s kingdom on Earth.