All good things come to an end.

Well, the time has finally come. My favorite fixture of social conscience and satire will be closing down show and moving on. For those who haven't heard (and may not care) Al Franken is closing down his radio show on February 14.

I am deeply saddened by this event, as Al has made my life more livable since early 2004 when he first signed on. He shepherded me through the disappointing results of the 2004 election, taught me how to pretend like I loved John Kerry, conducted great interviews with Barack Obama, introduced me to Joe Conason, Tom Oliphant, Christy Harvey, David Brock, and a host of others who want to make our national debate better. Not to mention the exceptionally brilliant "15 second debunk" segments from this falls election.

I have been a fan of Al's since I was 13. I went through an extensive obsession with the original cast of Saturday Night Live in my early teenage years. I was probably one of the few 13 year olds in the country who knew who Al Franken was at that time (it was the 80's and I believe that he was not on SNL at the time.) My enjoyment of his brand of humor and his political positions increased significantly when my mother gave me a copy of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot for my 21st birthday. I have been hooked ever since.

The scuttlebutt is that Al is going to challenge Norm Coleman for his Senate seat in 2008. I sincerely hope that this is the reason he is leaving the air, as his replacement Thom Hartman is very smart but not nearly as funny. I wish Al best of luck, and warn him that though people like me would love to see him in the Senate, chances are the Democratic Party doesn't.