MSNBC, shame on you.

[grantcart]

On the scroll at the bottom the following ran;

"Senator Al Franken announced that he will make his resignation effective Jan. 2nd following multiple women making accusations of sexual misconduct".

This framing is a lie. Putting aside the original accuser who was a paid member of Hannity's circle that joined in the birther nonsense and who was pictured in doing her "sexy" schtick frequently other actors and servicemen at USO and who simply said that he "over kissed" during a rehersal the other known accusers were basically accusing him of conducting an overly friendly hug that made them "uncomfortable" during the meeting, where none of the pictures matched the positioning claimed or any expressions of being uncomfortable in the picture.

At no point was there any suggestion of "sexual misconduct".

It is the kind of thing you would see on Fox but not on anything resembling a news network.

[doc03]

1. Al Franken was set up by a right wing conspiracy and certain people

in our party piled on to serve their own political ambitions. Sickening! People don't like Joe Manchin because he is
too conservative but at least he had the intestinal fortitude to stand up for Al Franken.

[NanceGreggs]

2. Well said! n/t

[mythology]

3. Overly friendly hug is an odd way to describe groping.

The almost cult of personality around Franken is odd. If you grab somebody's ass or breast, that is absolutely sexual misconduct. If you think otherwise, go ask the women in your life if they would be comfortable with a random guy doing that to them.

Don't intentionally downgrade the accusations because you can't deal with them otherwise.

[Gabi Hayes]

4. Uhhhh, whose breast did he grab? Youre not talking about that picture with the first one are you?

Hope not, cause if you are, well........

[FuzzyRabbit]

5. To many people, all human contact is exploitive.

Most of us enjoy hugs. My therapist told me that 3 hugs per day is necessary for good health. I love hugs.

But not everyone likes hugs. To some extremely repressed people, an innocent hug around the shoulders or waist feels extremely invasive, like being molested. So I am not surprised that so many think that Franken is a monster because he enjoys hugs.

[JimBeard]

14. I had a therapist tell me I needed to be more compassonate and caring with

more hugging and touching. My family doesn't touch much so it was a bit of learning and a few years later my first experience with an extremely sensitive person. I simply touched the outside of her upper arm while we were standing. She looked at me like I was a sheep killing dog!. Beware of Feminist.

[mercuryblues]

27. So when a woman was uncomfortable with hugging

it is "beware of feminists." When you were uncomfortable with it, it had nothing to do with feminism? OIW you had no clue what was going on in her life, maybe she was assaulted and any touch made her uncomfortable?

[JimBeard]

34. I was never bothered with hugging, I was never the one to be

the initiator. The woman was a Feminist Political Science teacher. GET IT?

[mercuryblues]

40. Because of that beware of feminists

Like I said you have no clue why she would be taken aback by some random person invading her physical space. When I meet someone I extend my hand for a handshake. The only males I hug are in my immediate family. Husband, sons, brothers, b-in laws nephews.

[oberliner]

8. Stephanie Kemplin

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/30/politics/al-franken-groping-allegation/index.html?sr=twCNNp113017al-franken-groping-allegation0800AMStory&CNNPolitics=Tw

[ProudLib72]

9. Thanks a lot

Now I'm more confused than ever. All of my sex ed classes in grade/middle school plus my biology classes in college taught me that a woman's breasts are located in the front. Now I learn that they are actually located on her shoulders! I feel like suing my schools for spreading false information because I know that a woman would never lie about something like this.

[Gabi Hayes]

19. Consider the source

[oberliner]

25. CNN?

Or do you mean the woman?

[Gabi Hayes]

31. You are so Funny!!!!

ever Consider a standup gig?

[oberliner]

33. Huh?

I'm just asking if by "source" you mean CNN or the woman (or something else?).

[oberliner]

24. She said she eventually turned her body to shift Franken's hand off her breast

before the picture was taken.

Of course it is possible that she is lying.

[ProudLib72]

30. All I know is that I have not seen a single pic that indicates inappropriate touching

There are plenty of pics he took with various women, but not a single one shows proof. Tweeden was closest, but even that one just shows a staged "grope" from a foot away.

[oberliner]

35. Understood

But I do think it's possible that not every woman who says they were touched inappropriately by him is lying.

[ProudLib72]

37. Sure, there is a possibility

You have to wonder just how many women took their picture with Al over the years. At some point he must have accidentally touched things he shouldn't have been touching. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't see evidence of intent.

[oberliner]

38. Agreed

And I think he should have pushed back more strongly - especially if he knows he did not do anything wrong.

It seems like the resignation decision only makes sense if he knows he did do something wrong, but it could also just be that a case of the timing and the collegial pressure.

When he first apologized, he seemed to be acknowledging that he behaved inappropriately, but then in his letter statement, he seemed to be suggesting that his original statements were misconstrued.

Honestly, I don't know what to think of it all at this point.

[Gabi Hayes]

32. Kind of like the possibility that DT jr was lying about the adoptions?

Stop! Keep this material for your new gig.

Maybe you can open for Dane cook. Or Chris d’elia, or some other, similarly hilarious super talent

[oberliner]

36. No, not like that

I don't understand where you are going with this.

I am just saying maybe she is lying, maybe she isn't. Either way, it's not something he should have resigned his seat over in my opinion.

[grantcart]

20. groping indicates reaching for sexual parts

the accusation was that he squeezed her waisted after the shot was taken.
The other non anonymous claim was that his reach extended to the side of her breast.

However neither picture supported the positioning they claimed.

There is NO cult for Franken , there are just people who don't bother to even look at the pictures.

In the first picture Franken was in front of the woman and she was firmly holding him on the shoulder. If she was uncomfortable she could have moved back, and he wasn't in position to reach her waste. In the second one it looked highly unlikely that he could have reached all the way around the way they were positioned.

In any case there wasn't any accusation of sexual harassment or assault of any kind.

[secondwind]

23. He did not grab anything. He is only 5 feet 5 and he

cannot put his arm around a shoulder. He can’t. So he has to put it around the waist. If you are taller than he is, his hand may come seriously close to the butt. Take a look at photos of Queen Elizabeth with her arm around Michelle Obama. Her hand is squarely on Michelle’s rear end.

[Trumpocalypse]

41. Well said!

I question the credibility of the some of the allegations against Franken, but he was becoming a political liability and had to go. And you are right there is a cult of personality around him that is a bit sickening to see.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Payback for Al

challenging Comcast on Net Neutrality.

[PeacefulPeavey]

7. maybe more?

Here's my thing.
I TRUST our democratic leadership. I SUSPECT they were briefed on other allegations that have not been made public, and armed with this knowledge, asked for the resignation. Nothing else makes any sense to me. Warren, Gillibrand, etc., KNOW how valuable Al is, and he has been a needle in the sides of the Republicans for too long for them to let him go without knowing that this was best for the party. In my mind, him leaving like this is far, far better than to have worse things come out later that would make us look like idiots for defending him.

[pazzyanne]

10. Here's an idea!

Why not let the ethics committee investigation go forward so we would all know the truth?

[PeacefulPeavey]

11. Al said no

Because Al said no. I do not want to hear about any more accusations that could be potentially even more damaging that could come out in these hearings, and I suspect Al AND the democratic leadership doesn't want it out, either.

[pazzyanne]

12. Why are you here?

Just wondering.

[OnDoutside]

29. And their post reminds me of similar posts by another on DU.

[Jakes Progress]

15. You are completely wrong.

But of course you know that. Nothing in your post is correct or has any basis in evidence.

However it does sound exactly like a breitbart/russian lie. You should not spread those things. If you know it came from them and spread it, you are breaking rules. If you are naive and gullible enough to think that the lie has any basis in reality, you're "thinking" is one of the products or the rightwing campaign to destroy the country.

Stop helping the slimy jerks who spread this crap. Too many are falling for it.

[Jakes Progress]

17. Second time you've used that phrase.

Al did not say no. And what you "suspect" is bullshit.

[Jakes Progress]

16. Nice try.

Right wing lies. Why do you want to join DU to help hannity/breitbart do their nasty all over our country?

If you really have fallen for this shit, take off the tin-foil. You seem to think it makes you able to read the minds of senators.

[PeacefulPeavey]

28. Right wing lies?

I posted this theory because I haven’t seen it brought up anywhere, not because it’s a some talking point.
I do not expect that the public is going to know the same things that our leaders do, it would be foolish to think otherwise. This isn’t a smear. Its’s a discussion to figure out why, in the absence of damning evidence, people we trust in the party decided it the best thing to do was to ask for Al to leave.
To me, this is far more plausible than to assume Gillibrand, the junior senator from New York, was able to convince 32 other senators to publicly ask for him to resign for her own personal gain.

[Jakes Progress]

39. It shows up at every thread about Al.

Someone always "suspects" that there is more to know. Someone thinks the public is too dumb or too fragile to know the "real" truth. We had all just better sit back and let the powers move on without bothering them.

As to why the band wagon formed - read "The Crucible".

[marble falls]

42. Smells like pizza to me.

[Ghost Owl]

21. Or maybe it's because Franken didn't want his secret identity as Aquaman being revealed.

I mean, we can all make wild guesses based on nothing but wilder conjecture, so why not.

AquaFranken it is.

[Demsrule86]

22. No, I don't believe that...if there were others...they would have come forward...not a word since

the right wing got what they wanted. Democrats both elected and party members need to understand about loyalty and fighting the right wing smear machine. This will keep happening until we take a firm stance. Franken was brought down by the right wing smears...and those involved should be ashamed. By the way Princess Jill Stein who helped elect Trump was on Tucker Carlson...talking about 'Clinton Democrats' just like her boy Trump...Jillie has found her true home at Fox News. She is another one that fooled some who should have known better.

[spooky3]

26. If that were true, all they needed to do was

To agree with Franken that they will present a united public front to say some additional sensitive information had been shared with the leadership. They decided together that it would be best that the resignation occur prior to an investigation. But not one senator has said this, and Franken has categorically denied the most recent allegations, which makes me think they have no significant evidence the public has not seen.

[SCVDem]

13. To be clear,

the gripe is not the arm around the waist for a picture, but rather the double squeeze when it was over?

Double squeeze? Good Bye or Thank You?

I'm sure in all cases there was a que for a pic so this was meant to say, NEXT!

That's what I believe!

[flamingdem]

18. Yes, Franken was railroaded and they didn't have the grace to apologize

I just hope he manages to keep his voice loud and clear - he sure looks good compared to what he's leaving behind.