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.
An Inuit hunter asked the local missionary priest: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell? No, said the priest, not if you did not know. Then why, asked the Inuit earnestly, did you tell me?
There is one fairly good reason for fighting - and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a great wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species. They are so wicked that they must not be allowed. When you can be perfectly certain that the other man started them, then is the time when you might have a sort of duty to stop them.
I don't believe in astrology. The only stars I can blame for my failures are those that walk about the stage.
It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is rather a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves.
Statistics are easy to remove ourselves from. A story, you are implicated in, and you have to choose what side you are going to be on.
And whereas this House desires to obtain a full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particular spot of soil which the blood of our citizens was so shed was, or was not, our own soil.
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