To ask whether the mainstream media has a conservative or liberal bias is like asking whether al-Qaida uses too much oil in their hummus. It's - I think they might use too much oil in their hummus - but it's the wrong question.
Interpretation
The quote illustrates that some questions may be fundamentally misguided or irrelevant.
Al Franken suggests that questioning the bias of mainstream media in simplistic terms, such as conservative or liberal, misses the larger point about the media's role and behavior. He likens this to an absurd question about al-Qaida's hummus, emphasizing that the inquiry itself is misguided, prompting listeners to think more deeply about how to analyze media influence and bias.
In practice
During a discussion about media influence, one could emphasize the importance of deeper analysis rather than surface-level judgments.
Veterans report that service dogs help break their isolation. People will often avert their eyes when they see a wounded veteran. But when the veteran has a dog, the same people will come up and say, 'Hi' to pet the dog and then strike up a conversation.
The institutions that we've built up over the years to protect our individual privacy rights from the government don't apply to the private sector. The Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to corporations. The Freedom of Information Act doesn't apply to Silicon Valley. And you can't impeach Google if it breaks its 'Don't be evil' campaign pledge.
In our political system, money is power. And that means a few can have a lot more power than the rest. That's bad news for everyone else - and for our democracy itself.
I’ve never understood why we would want to deny all the joys - and the challenges - of marriage to anyone. Which is why I think any loving, committed couple — gay or straight — should be able to get married.
All governments are in equal measure good and evil. The best ideal is anarchy.
When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do.
What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
He was a degenerate gambler. That is, a man who gambled simply to gamble and must lose. As a hero who goes to war must die. Show me a gambler and I'll show you a loser, show me a hero and I'll show you a corpse.
Christian principles are, admittedly, stricter than the others; but then we think you will get help towards obeying them which you will not get towards obeying the others.
There is always a very delicate interplay between individual actions and institutional conditions. But there is no such thing as institutional conditions without any individual actions and no such thing as individual action without institutional conditions. So there is always personal responsibility.
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