Looks like I picked the right week for a vacation (working or otherwise). Between the slapstick California recall and Fox News attempting to block the publication of Al Franken’s new opus, there’s really plenty of entertainment out there that has no need of us satirical middlemen.

Of the two stories, I prefer the Franken-bashing, if only because when it’s all over, essentially no damage will have been done. California’s going to get an actual governor from all this, and living with whoever emerges from that gallery of latter day Sweathogs is likely to become a pretty unfunny task.

Besides, Al Franken’s always been a hero of mine. So watching his book soar to #1 as a result of Fox’s insane lawsuit warms the cockles of my heart (and there’s nothing like warm cockles on a summer evening). I’d imagine that Fox is aware that they have little chance in their suit against Franken’s use of “Fair and Balanced,” but then this is an new era as far as the first amendment is concerned. So a judge using John Ashcroft’s New Constitution (”Shorter!” “Cleaner!” “Now with 30% less rights!”) might see fit to burn the book and clap Franken in irons. So we’ll have to wait and see.

But what really fascinates me here is that Fox’s actions and their consequences bear a striking resemblance to the travails of another book: “The Satanic Verses.” Fox has essentially issued a fatwa on Franken. Or perhaps “foxwa” would be more appropriate. True believers are asked to repudiate Franken without reading his book (and if you read the complaint, that seems to be exactly what Fox itself has done).

Either way, the plan backfired, and in that we may be seeing a chink in the armor of the conservative media. Hillary Clinton and Al Franken have proved that while we liberals may never win another election, with the unwitting help of the Ayatollah O’Reilly and his followers, at least we can sell a few books.

For now.