WTF?? durbin, after franken's final speech is on the floor of senate,

[orleans]

is talking about what a great guy al is!!

excuse me, drubin! you wanted him O.U.T.

so what the hell is this shit?

i know what it is--it's durbin trying to get a pass for being a dick and pissing off the illinois liberals by jumping on gillibrand's torch brigade bandwagon.

too bad he didn't open his fucking mouth and say "i think we should let this matter go up before the ethics committee" but NOOOOOOOO, he didn't do that. durbin walked with the mob justice tiki torch brigade.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?438860-101/senator-al-franken-delivers-farewell-address

[LenaBaby61]

1. WTF?? Durbin, after Franken's final speech is on the floor of senate.

Is talking about what a great guy Al is!!

Excuse me, Durbin! you wanted him O.U.T.

[PdxSean]

5. Damn! With a scope no less.

[orleans]

6. merkley & whitehouse also talking about what a stand up guy franken is

ARGGGGGH!

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/06/568832606/franken-under-pressure-as-group-democratic-senators-call-for-him-to-resign

[dae]

9. I love your illustration, its what Dems do best.

[bdamomma]

2. I just

heard Senator Franken's speech on the floor he was excellent and truthful. I don't think this will be the last time we see Senator Franken.

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

The whole thing is sickening

[Binkie The Clown]

4. One thing the Franken-lynching Dems have in common with Trump: No regard for due process. nt

[dae]

7. Yep!

[Skittles]

8. translation: they got a lot of blowback from their constituents for their absolute cowardice

[brooklynite]

10. Translation: they like Franken personally but see the political damage from his staying

[Skittles]

13. complete bullshit

WE GET IT, YOU HATE FRANKEN

[bench scientist]

21. Thank you Skittles!

[Skittles]

26. fuck that noise

so fucking SICK of that bullshit

[Ghost Owl]

16. If they're willing to ask for a resignation because 'politics'

then we don't live in a democratically-elected republic anymore. They don't get to usurp the voters of Minnesota because of fear of political damage. They stole the vote, and appointed someone less controversial, but who nobody voted for.

(And they asked him to leave because Minnesota has a Democratic governor. If they had a Republican gov, they never would have asked for a resignation. Because they don't actually care about the moral high ground or women or any of it. They care about optics, and about looking good, not actually being good. It's deplorable, and I've never been so sickened by the Democratic party in my life.)

[Skittles]

17. THANK YOU

DUers who don't get this MAKE ME SICK

[spooky3]

29. Agree

[Ferrets are Cool]

42. +1

[brooklynite]

22. Isn't it sad that, after 225 years, politics might have crept into our nation?

[Skittles]

25. LOL

you are fooling NO ONE

[spooky3]

30. No, what is sad is to see both stupidity in

Using poor political judgment AND unnecessarily compromising on an important principle of justice—for no gain. Add to that the personal betrayal ... as Skittles said, sickening.

[Ghost Owl]

37. Isn't it sad that,

the Dems might not actually care that much about women's issues or sexual harassment, because everybody knows they never would have asked a Senator from a state with a Republican governor to resign if they had the same accusations against them that Franken did?

I find that sad. Even if kicking out Franken was the right thing to do, what moral high ground is that? "Doing the right thing, only when I'm sure nothing bad will happen if I do it" is not actually the moral high ground. It's nothing but craven self-serving virtue signaling. Which I guess is better than whatever Benny Hill sketch from Hell the Republican party has collapsed into, but it's not actually GOOD. I don't know that I can actually rely on Democrats to do the right thing when it matters, to have MY back, to not use more of my issues as Pieces of Flair.

I find that sad. I find it sad that people view the issue of rampant sexual harassment and abuse in our country as just 'politics', and something to use to make themselves look good by waving a finger at it, instead of a problem that actually needs solving. I find it sad that the Democrats keep patting themselves on the back for Not Being As Bad As The Republicans, as if that was either hard or something to be proud of. It's like Alabama boasting about being 49th in education, cause at least they're not like those dumb Mississippian's at #50, right??

It's not the moral high ground if they won't do it if it hurts them politically. It's not the moral high ground if they're only doing it because they think it will help them politically. Judging by many of their speeches after Franken's today, I'm not convinced many of them actually think Franken guilty of anything resign-worthy. They all demanded his resignation because they thought him a sexual harasser, a groper of women who tried to force a woman to kiss him because 'it was his right as an entertainer'. If you believe that, you don't praise the man's integrity afterwards, you don't look forward to his work in the future. And if they don't think him guilty, they just fucked over the voters of Minnesota, stole their elected rep away, and appointed someone that NO ONE VOTED FOR. That's not right, either.

The Republican party right now is a cannibalistic tire fire that's looting the country and is kinda treasonous. It's not hard to be better than them. Better than THAT doesn't equal good.

The Democrats fucked up here in a way I don't think they even see. And that fuck-up ISN'T kicking out Franken (although that is a painful loss, he is not easily replaced, either in the Senate or the minds of the voters), it's the rational behind it, it's how they got there and what that means. And I fear we will all pay the price for that.

[Myrddin]

38. That, very eloquently, hit the spot! n/t

[Skittles]

39. you nail the problem here, Ghost Owl

this is worthy of its own thread

[Egnever]

40. Well said

My feelings exactly.

[spooky3]

45. +1

[KY_EnviroGuy]

34. K & R. You make a damn good point.

Perhaps when no chargeable crime has been committed, any considerable moral issue should somehow be referred back to that state's voters - maybe via a committee appointed by the governor or an elected group for that purpose. And, give them the power and authority to provide due process.

No elected official of Franken's skills and power should be railroaded out of office by populist vendetta.

Lots there to consider!

[rainy]

41. You said it! My blood still boils!

[CentralMass]

20. I don't't believe his leaving is z net positive..

[orleans]

31. how can it be positive when it pissed off so many democrats?

[brooklynite]

44. I would contend that it hasn't...

...except on blogs like this.

The voters of Minnesota aren't outraged.

MOVEON and other advocacy groups didn't organize protests or letter-writing campaigns.

I'm willing to bet that the average non-activist Democrat knows little about Franken and his record.

[orleans]

70. but we know about his record. why the hell aren't YOU "outraged?"

[GeorgeGist]

43. F T S

[procon]

11. Cameras be on so it's just an act. Pay no attention to the hollow words, its the

actual deeds that matter.

[Skittles]

15. they are COWARDS

absolute FUCKING COWARDS

[Tatiana]

12. Durbin got a very nasty letter from me (he is one of my Senators)

as did Tammy Duckworth. I seriously questioned their judgment. If they sell us out on something so simple to investigate and verify, what else have they caved on?

There are some people claiming this is just "politics" without realizing that the fundamental way that politics is conducted has shifted due to the Republican treasonous actions.

We shouldn't be in the habit of throwing away good, hard-working Democratic Senators over unproven actions. And if these cowardly Senators who railroaded Franken and didn't have his back pay attention, they will feel the wrath of their constituents.

[orleans]

14. completely agree. btw--durbin and duckworth are

my senators too. they both got wicked letters from me as well.
and durbin just got another one!

he said him and al were friends

my god! with a friend like durbin... (you know the rest)

[Gabi Hayes]

18. Same here, but I gave up on the letter writing, etc, awhile ago. Too depressing; like waiting

For God to answer one’s prayers

Last time I prayed was when I took two silver dollars from my little brother and prayed for him got return them so’s I could get away with the CRIME

What lesson I learned from that I still haven’t figured out....

Maybe if I were Trump, god woulda made the money appear. That seems to be how things are working for him these days

[Tatiana]

57. I will say, Durbin's office responds to letters so please take the time if you can and write.

Every letter, complaint, or comment I have sent to his office has been acknowledged as received with a response sent back to me.

There are only staffers responding, but it's important for them to relay the message to Durbin that his constituents are not happy with his actions.

As a person of faith, I do believe G-d has a consequence ready for these traitors, but we can't sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting. We have to take action as citizens before our complete way of life has been obliterated.

[Chasstev365]

55. Calling both of them this AM!

[bench scientist]

23. I call both their offices and let them know they acted shamefully

They are my Senators too.

[spooky3]

28. Thank you, callers and letter writers. I also emailed my two Senators

Who were among the few who did NOT publicly call for his resignation.

[Cha]

32. I thank them, too, spooky!

[spooky3]

35. Hi Cha!

How’s the weather?

[Cha]

36. The weather is great.. nice

and cool for winter!

64 degrees

[ProfessorGAC]

50. I Called As Well

Told them the same. BTW: What kind of science?

[Gabi Hayes]

58. The career of the sixth man. The back up QB. The closer. The DH

Sorry; had to

[ProfessorGAC]

59. Well, It Made Me Laugh!

So, you get to play 24 minutes tonight!

[Gabi Hayes]

60. Heh...first thought was something about a certain Cincinnati catcher

Looking for a laugh or two as I study for my MRI test this afternoon

[ProfessorGAC]

61. You'll Ace It

When i first got diagnosed with MS, i had to take that test. Surprisingly, they found something in my head. My wife was stunned.

[Gabi Hayes]

62. Sorry, very, to hear about the MS. Glad to know they found matter in there

What did you say to the staffers, btw?

[ProfessorGAC]

65. Nothing

Was speechless! The MS has been sort of a big nothing. Had it for 20 years and still played nearly 100 rounds of golf this year, work every week (for 374 more days), and am now bowling 9 games a week in the winter.

My internal medicine issues, mostly inhertied, are way more of a hassle.

Thanks, Gabi. Have a good holiday weekend.

[Gabi Hayes]

66. Glad to hear that! Keep going

Do we have legal weed for that in IL?

[ProfessorGAC]

67. It's #2 On The List

It's terminal cancer/active chemo, then MS/ALS and goes from there.

That said, they random test around here, so i haven't pursued.

I might when i retire.

[bench scientist]

63. PhD in infectious diseases. Vaccine development

Currently in law school getting my JD.
Going into patent law.
Spoiler alert ( nerd).
Have a Happy Holiday Prof!

[bench scientist]

64. Aspartic acid K right? Been a minute since I looked at the codon table.

[LexVegas]

19. ...

[orleans]

24. not a big franken fan, lex?

[Skittles]

27. not a fan of due process, for sure

[orleans]

33. "selfishly, i will miss frannie's amazing homemade pies" --sheldon whitehouse

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
"Given what we have learned in recent weeks, I expect Senator Franken to step aside."

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/06/568832606/franken-under-pressure-as-group-democratic-senators-call-for-him-to-resign


you can see franken giving sheldon a handshake and hug after whitehouse gets done talking

[Hortensis]

46. Here's the REAL reason you're WTFing strong liberal Durbin.

Vote Smart: Durbin's voting record.
https://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/26847/dick-durbin#

See all those 100%s and 0%s? Durbin is a major power for liberalism in the senate and an implacable GOP opponent.

So 1000s of conservative voices are trying to swiftboat him in the minds of Democratic voters. Fight the dark side with knowledge.

GovTrack.Us
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/richard_durbin/300038

Take a good look at Durbin's voting and leadership record on that graph. Way to the left. Note that he's much stronger on leadership than indicated by the criteria they use to measure that.

Btw, you can click on any blue dot on that graph and find out how other Democrats have been voting. The farther left the dot, the stronger the record on liberal and progressive issues tends to be. Gillibrand's pretty conservative but recent voting patterns place her over there, again that irreplaceable knowledge thing.

[orleans]

69. PLEASE don't tell me about the REAL reason i'm FUCKING DOING ANYTHING!

you don't fucking know me!

[loyalsister]

47. Misrepresenting this debacle is not helpful

A movement and political climate was exploited and put Democratic congress members put in an impossible situation.
The republicans only benefit if we cry victim and trash the people who responded to a situation that had no easy answers.
I suspect our elected Democrats really hate to see him go.

[loyalsister]

56. It is not a lynching

Franken is not hanging from a tree with his eyes bulging and skin burning. Hyperbole can be useful. In this case it mocks the horror of the reality.

[orleans]

68. remember the phrase: "grow a spine" ??

well, it appears to me that our reps could still take that advice


ugh!

if they hated to see him go so damn much why did nearly all of them follow gillibrand like a bunch of freaking lap dogs instead of insisting the ethics committee look into these claims--especially the ones made by "anonymous" and "anonymous" and "anonymous?"

i didn't like the tiki torch mob action in charlottesville and i DETEST it within my own party!

[member12]

52. Franken is a great Democrat

And an honorable man. He should not have to step down.

[Chasstev365]

54. I am calling his office in 40 mins! What BS!