Welcome to the Al Franken Decade

Al Franken, formerly of Saturday Night Live and the author of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations, will be sworn in as a US Senator from the state of Minnesota later this morning. It's been a long journey for Al from late night comedian to CSPAN celebrity, and Mother Jones has been watching all the way.

Franken sat down for an interview with us way back in 1996, right after Big Fat Idiot soared to the top of best-seller lists. In 2004, he wrote an article for us about his USO tours. We reviewed a movie about Franken in 2006. In 2007, as Franken was gearing up for the Senate campaign, Jonathan Stein profiled him for the magazine. And we've covered the election and the recount battle exhaustively: we covered the initial vote count, noted his Mick Jagger stylings after the results came out, and watched as public opinion turned against Norm Coleman's court fight. Later, I predicted (correctly) when Franken would be seated and reminded you what to call him when he won. And then Norm Coleman conceded, clearing the way for Al to get sworn in today.

You can safely assume that we'll keep you posted.

• Al Franken Gets Serious About the Senate in Minnesota

  The satirist tries to overcome his unconventional past by campaigning early and often — and by handing out heaps of cash. Can he extend the Democrats' majority in the Senate?

• Flashback to 1996: Al Franken Sits Down With Mother Jones

  He's good enough, he's smart enough, and, doggone it, most people like him

• Al Franken's USO Diary: Tearaway Burkas & Tinplate Menorahs

  What happens when you throw together a liberal comedian, a flag-waving country star, two Redskins cheerleaders, three hip-hop divas, and thousands of war-weary troops? A rowdy, randy, all-American good time.