A lot of attention is given to Senator Al Franken for some reason. Because he used to be Stuart Smalley, people are astonished that he can be a Senator. It’s often treated as a badge of honor that Franken is not a total screw-up at his job. Worse yet is that he often tries and fails to be funny. Maybe he’s out of practice.

During Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing, Al Franken was questioning Gorsuch and making himself look like an idiot. He tried to be a bully, and to Gorsuch’s credit, he calmly responded, never losing his cool.

When Franken was done, it was Ben Sasse’s turn, and he started off on a lighter note and in doing so, showed Al Franken exactly what it is like not to be a jerk. Watch:

That was incredible. People like Franken come to these hearings with the idea that Gorsuch is a bad person. Ben Sasse showed a moment that Gorsuch is just a person. He issues decisions based on the law. Democrats like Franken focus on motives of the people in front of them and assume they come it from an evil point of view.

Ben Sasse blew that up with one anecdote.