Al Franken

[babylonsister]

https://politicalwire.com/2018/07/30/extra-bonus-quote-of-the-day-433/

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

July 30, 2018 at 11:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

“That means a lot to me. It was very moving for me. It was very gratifying. I put my heart in the job. I miss the whole job. I loved that job, I loved the job as Senator. … It was very meaningful for me and bittersweet, I would like to still be there.”

— Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), quoted by WCCO, responding to a crowd in Minnesota during his first public appearance since resigning.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I still love Al.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

[DownriverDem]

96. Me too

I don't see why Al can't run again for office. Nixon came back. Go for it Al!!!!!!

[Upthevibe]

152. Nixon came back? I'd love to see Al in Congress again too...n/t

[BigmanPigman]

183. I miss him and I will never get over how he was treated

by certain Dems. I do not forgive and forget!

[demmiblue]

2. :CrossesFingers:

When WCCO’s Esme Murphy asked him whether he plans to run for office again, he responded, “Well, see, if I say anything there you will put it in the story. I don’t know. I haven’t ruled it out, and I haven’t ruled it in.”

I miss Senator Franken.

[NewJeffCT]

31. maybe he can try for governor of Minnesota

after Mark Dayton?

[True Blue American]

32. Just what I was thinking.

As a Governor Franken could accomplish more than being 1 of 100 Senators.

[MineralMan]

56. It's too late for that, since the election is this year and

three qualified Democratic candidates are running for Governor already.

My guess is that Al Franken will end up deciding not to seek office again. More's the pity.

[geardaddy]

112. +1

[hlthe2b]

3. I have trouble not being angry still at what happened to Franken.

I am a staunch feminist and I support the attempts to hold men accountable, but because Franken had integrity and chose to avoid further embarrassment, we let the process be manipulated by those calling for his head while TRUE cretins on the R side faced virtually no repercussions to this day.

Those who did so are NOT the future of our party.

We lost one of our best and those are not readily replaced. Be well, Al and go for your second (third) act, please.

[cubbies01]

4. Agree 100%

I will never support a certain Senator from New York because of this. We are so stupid sometimes. Funny how the weekly vague accusations ceased when he quit. Amazing that...he was on pace to have a hundred anonymous women claimed he groped them in public photo ops and then....nothing. We lost one of our best, even a dark horse presidential candidate (which is why some of his own knifed him). I am looking at you Kirsten Gillibrand.

[Funtatlaguy]

5. Yep. Inappropriate sexual behavior was wrongly lumped in as sexual assault.

Railroad job.

[lindysalsagal]

7. The party needed to keep the image clean, and had to do it.

But I miss him, too.

[rainy]

21. because the corporate media wouldn't stop adding Al to every discussion about the real abuse

by many republicans. The media kept throwing Al in to make sure they seemed balanced or to please big money supporters, owners and advertisers.

Mostly it all came down to the media inability to stop adding Al to every discussion about sexual abuse.

If they would have not added him in every time calling out a republican the whole story would have disappeared since there was nothing to it but a hit job by Roger Stone and company.

[B Stieg]

108. But also dems...

Or, at least, liberals as the key msm oped in this case was penned by Michelle Goldberg, a pretty hardcore liberal columnist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/opinion/al-franken-sexual-harassment.html

This was, in part at least, a circular firing squad incident, it seems.

[MarcA]

173. Corporatist media balances the beam with the speck. n/t

[RandomAccess]

138. Oh bullshit

[pandr32]

161. Not by succumbing to obvious railroading

If we must keep our image clean for the sake of the party even when we know someone is being wrongly smeared as a political hit then Hillary Clinton would have had to drop her campaign almost right out of the gate. She was being accused of all kinds of terrible things by people who wanted her off the field.
We are supposed to be a big compassionate tent and we are supposed to believe in rational things. We stand for the truth. We failed with Al Franken--did not preserve a clean image at all, but instead made suckers of ourselves. We lost one of our most effective senators for nothing and lost the opportunity to rationally argue and separate truth from fiction. We failed Senator Franken.

[Beartracks]

181. That's a position that's easy for enemies to take advantage of.

The party didn't "have" to do it. But a zero tolerance policy makes it easy for your enemies to paint you into a corner and do things you wouldn't or shouldn't otherwise do.

=========

[Neema]

10. Given the situation in which it happened, I still have trouble calling it

much more than bawdy. It would have been inappropriate in many situations, and the GOP used that.

[Funtatlaguy]

13. There are levels of wrongdoing in our society.

1st degreeFelonies, second degree
Misdemeanors
Probationary transgressions
Warnings

Somehow, what Al did got lumped in with much more serious allegations of others during the MeTooMovement.
Who started it? Roger Stone? Who fell for it and why?
We will probably never know the truth.
But, it sure seems like we Dems did not see the proportionality of the situation and we certainly, as a party, did not stand behind one of our own the way the other side always does.

[calimary]

154. Who fell for it? Kirsten Gillibrand.

[LakeArenal]

145. There's no inappropriate behavior at a USO show

Try watching one from Bob Hope’s day.

Bawdy, sexist, double entendres, explicit sexual content.. Geez.

PLUS the “victim” herself said it shouldn’t end his career.

[lame54]

170. It wasn't even that...

Tweeden was in on the joke

[ProfessorPlum]

192. my take

Everyone (especially the right wing) pretends it is evidence of Al groping Tweeden. Even though it clearly doesn't show that.

Ok, people say. Well, Al posed for the photograph and was acting like a jerk and it wasn't funny.

Here's the thing - Al wasn't being a jerk in the photograph. He was pretending to act like an asshole to get laughs. Like "aren't people who would be creepy like this ridiculous"?

I know this is too many layers deep for people in the MSM.

It's not a picture of him groping someone

It's not even a picture of him sincerely pretending to grope someone

It is him pretending to be an asshole who would grope someone ... for a laugh.

[Neema]

11. Yep. The GOP played that one perfectly. Let the Dems shoot themselves in the foot.

And Kirsten Gillibrand fell for it hook, line and sinker.

[LittleGirl]

30. Yep! She did and I will never forgive her for that.

Al Franken was set up and we're all paying for it now. Damn it all to hell.

[HelenWheels]

165. I agree with you LittleGirl

I for the life of me do not see what he did was wrong. He mimed putting his hands over a woman's breasts and never touched her and he put his arm around a woman's waist when taking a picture. Big Whoop!

[trueblue2007]

171. she didn't "fall for it" .... i think she jumped into it willingly.

[ReformedGOPer]

24. This ++++

[True Blue American]

33. I can not vote

For Gillibrand but Senator Sherrod Brown and I exchanged a few emails on the subject.

First time I ever disagreed with him. His every other action I agree with 100%. Brown is a loyal Union backer and worker backer. He agrees with Trump on Tariffs that have hurt Buckeye Workers,

But not the ignorant was Trump is going about it. Sherrod has my vote.

[oberliner]

42. Thirty-two Democratic senators called on Franken to resign

Yet for some reason people only ever seem to mention Gillibrand. Why is that?

[johnnyknj]

59. Because she used it as a cynical political prop maybe?

[MineralMan]

60. Because she led the effort.

I remember. Do you?

[orleans]

83. i remember. and my two senators from illinois

jumped right up on her fu*king bandwagon.

[oberliner]

84. The effort was led and coordinated by 6 female Democratic senators, including Kamala Harris

In what appears to be a coordinated move, six female senators have simultaneously posted messages to social media to denounce alleged groping incidents by U.S. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, and to call on the embattled Democrat to resign. Senators Patty Murray of Washington, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York all issued statements condemning their fellow Democrat, declaring “that this watershed moment is bigger than any one industry, any one party, or any one person.”

https://womenintheworld.com/2017/12/06/6-female-senators-call-on-fellow-democratic-senator-al-franken-to-resign/

All six coordinated their statements and released them at the same time.

For some reason the vitriol about that seems directed exclusively at Gillibrand, and not, say, Kamala Harris or Mazie Hirono.

[MineralMan]

100. Fortunately for them, none are running in my state.

They miscalculated. Badly.

That's my opinion. Yours appears to differ from mine. I won't continue this subthread.

[Trumpocalypse]

101. She also went to Franken's office

with Luca Brasi and s resignation letter. Had Luca hold a gun to Franken's head and told him either his signature or his brains would be on the resignation.

[MineralMan]

103. It was a miscalculation on her part.

I'm quite certain she regrets it. I hope she learned from it. It had a high cost, I believe.

Now, someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong. Opinions.

[Trumpocalypse]

109. Franked decided to resign

as he decided to repeatedly apologize. Blaming anyone else is unfair and just cult of personality thinking.

[MineralMan]

116. My opinion in the matter is different from yours.

So be it. I do not get to vote for Al Franken in 2018. Who are your Senators?

[MineralMan]

120. It is my opinion. What you think it is based on

is your opinion. You do not know me, nor do you know my reasoning. Goodbye.

[Trumpocalypse]

123. As a truly great Senator once said

'Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts'. And when I see reasoning that is devoid of any facts, I'm going to call it out.

[MineralMan]

124. Use caution. That's my suggestion to you regarding

statements about the opinions of others.

[Trumpocalypse]

128. Maybe you should look in the mirror

and examine the facts before demonizing a single Democratic Senator.

[MineralMan]

131. ..

Done with this subthread.

[Trumpocalypse]

132. So you admit that you have no facts

that back up your opinion.

[MineralMan]

134. ..

[Trumpocalypse]

137. Still not posting any facts

that back up your opinion.

[MineralMan]

158. ..

[kag]

177. Thank you, MineralMan.

I admire your patience, and your willingness to ignore those who want to beat a dead horse, rather than engaging in pointless arguments.

[dflprincess]

193. Had Al stayed we wouldn't be voting for him in 2018.

Klobuchar would have been up for reelection this year and the voters in Minnesota could have made their minds up about Al in 2020.

Thanks a certain senator's willingness to throw a colleague under the bus to further her own ambitions, we have two senate seats to defend this year.

[MineralMan]

197. Yes. All around the situation is a bad one.

I'm hoping I run into Al Franken at the fair this year. He says he'll be there. He may not be quite as public, though, I'm guessing.

[pazzyanne]

61. She was the one leading the charge. She was the one that hit the talk shows.

She was the one who lumped him in with Roy Moore, Tim Murphy, Joe Barton, David Sorenson, and tRump and went on a self imposed mission to destroy Al. She was the one that called for his resignation without the Ethics Committee investigation.

[oberliner]

75. Gillibrand, McCaskill, Hassan, Hirono, Harris, Murray and Baldwin put out statements together

Within one minute of each other - and they had spoken to one another about the fact that they were doing so.

Kamala Harris does not seem to engender the same sort of disapprobation as Gillibrand, even though she tweeted this at around the same time as Gillibrand:

Link to tweet

Also Gillibrand specifically said in her statement that what Franken did was not the same as the actions of Moore, Weinstein, and Trump himself (whom she said must resign due to his sexual misconduct).

[pazzyanne]

179. My opinion, my vote. Thanks for playing.

[BannonsLiver]

115. Asked and answered dozens of times

You’ve had it explained to you dozens of times why she gets the treatment she does. Stop being so obtuse.

[LakeArenal]

146. Not true.

I noted on a Corey Booker thread today he was one. I’ve called Schumer out, Baldwin, Sanders.

So quit whining for Gilli. She has doubled downed and tripled downed on shows. She keeps claiming the higher road so she’s gonna get the flack.

PLUS she came out for due process for others. Just not him. She keeps up her proud stand. She’s gonna get the blame.

Something to the effect of pride going before the fall.

[mythology]

43. Do you also find it funny that there aren't continuing accusations against Roy Moore?

Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., Harvey Weinstein etc.

He apologized for how he treated women. In none of the cases where multiple independent people have made accusations has the accused not been guilty.

[Neema]

6. I'm still absolutely livid. I think I get angrier the worse things get in this country.

We couldn't afford to lose Al. And now Painter is running as a Dem. Ugh. I know he hates Trump, but he's no Al Franken.

[onlyadream]

8. Exactly

I feel the same way. The senator from NY, my state, is on my royal shit list. IMO, she treated Franken the same way the Bush admin treated Iraq (didn’t let the inspectors do their job and wait for the final report).
The Dems are so busy trying to take the high road that they shoot themselves in the foot, while the Republicans cheat and lie.

[appal_jack]

20. Exactly.

Like B*sh 43 did about Iraq, Gillibrand seemed to have a foregone conclusion (it would be convenient for her to have Franken out of the picture prior to the 2020 primary season) that Trumped (pun intended) any truth an investigation might reveal.

-app

[oberliner]

44. Thirty-two Democratic senators called on Franken to resign

Are the other 31 on your list or just the one from NY?

[onlyadream]

54. Yep, all of them.

But I’d still vote for them over a republican.

[brush]

68. Oh please. You know the answer to your posts on this just as we all do.

Gillebrand was the ringleader of the "throw-Franken-under-the-bus" movement.

[oberliner]

88. There were six female Democratic senators who coordinated the initial statements together

Among them was Kamala Harris who seems to have received nowhere near the disapprobation that Gillibrand has.

[brush]

95. Oh please again. Gillebrand was first out of the gate on this.

If you must, google it since you seem not to remember. She even went back in history and attached Bill Clinton's name to the issue by saying he should've been brought to task by the party over the consensual Lewinsky affair (disgraceful as the Clintons were big backers of hers in her run for the Senate).

No question she was the ringleader. She jumped at the chance to get rid of a possible competitor for the 2020 presidential nomination.

[Trumpocalypse]

121. Also, She went to Franken's office

with Luca Brasi and s resignation letter. Had Luca hold a gun to Franken's head and told him either his signature or his brains would be on the resignation.

[brush]

144. Nice fiction, bro. Mine is fact though. Google it.

[USALiberal]

188. Every GOP Senator defends Trump, so they are correct also? nt

[uponit7771]

15. +1

[Paladin]

26. Amen. (nt)

[The Wizard]

35. Can't blame Al for leaving the Senate

The Party leadership folded like a cheap suit and demanded he resign without a fair hearing. Perhaps this was Kirsten Gillibrand's attempt get a leg up on the Democratic presidential nomination, which turns out to be a political miscalculation.
Democratic leadership has let us down almost 100% of the time. They fear the Republican dominated media will say bad things about them. What leadership has failed to recognize, that the rank and file has, is that the Republican media will find a reason to crap all over them no matter what they do.
They could find a cancer cure and the Republicans would accuse them of killing healthcare jobs.

[BigOleDummy]

40. Exactly

I couldn't say it any better than you already have. Well said!

[oberliner]

45. Why the focus on KG?

As opposed to the 31 other Democratic senators who called on him to resign?

[pazzyanne]

66. Have you read any of the posts on this thread?

Read the posts to find the answer to your question.

[oberliner]

89. 6 female senators call on fellow Democratic Senator Al Franken to resign

In what appears to be a coordinated move, six female senators have simultaneously posted messages to social media to denounce alleged groping incidents by U.S. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, and to call on the embattled Democrat to resign. Senators Patty Murray of Washington, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York all issued statements condemning their fellow Democrat, declaring “that this watershed moment is bigger than any one industry, any one party, or any one person.”

https://womenintheworld.com/2017/12/06/6-female-senators-call-on-fellow-democratic-senator-al-franken-to-resign/

Gillibrand seems to be the only one of the six who gets regularly attacked about this.

[pazzyanne]

91. It's her history in this debacle, pure and simple.

You had to be there and you had to have skin in the game to understand.

[oberliner]

94. Kamala Harris called on Franken to resign at the same time as Gillibrand

[pazzyanne]

97. She wasn't leading the charge.

She isn't my favorite person either for that matter.

[Trumpocalypse]

111. Plus She went to Franken's office

with Luca Brasi and s resignation letter. Had Luca hold a gun to Franken's head and told him either his signature or his brains would be on the resignation.

[oberliner]

182. It was actually Schumer who met with Franken and told him to resign

But still, for some reason, KG is the one who gets the brunt of the animus.

[LakeArenal]

180. Cuz she keeps doubling down, tripling down on her self righteous decision

She called for due process for others, not Al.

Al asked for an ethics investigation. Maybe if 31 had advocated for that before they told Al they had no confidence and to basically leave.....

But they didn’t.

Of course you have read that argument over and over. Still you question.

[LakeSuperiorView]

71. Wow, that horse dead yet?

KG lead the charge, so gets called out on the primacy effect. Did you also bark at the media when they kept mentioning her in relation to the massive effort to force Franken out?

You even tried to give grief to someone from New York for calling her name. That person was calling out their own Senator, a person they could vote for. My personal opinion of Gillibrand doesn't matter, as I can't vote for or against her in New York. IF she ran for national office, she would not get a vote from me except in a presidential general election. Then I would hold my nose and do it.

My $0.02, what happens when Gillibrand is called out is the natural outcome of the effort she put into this, and is in comparison to what she did to Franken, a butterfly's wingflap in Argentina. Only the whiniest person in the world would complain about Gillibrand being called out.

[oberliner]

92. KG was one of six Democratic senators who coordinated the initial call for him to resign

Kamala Harris was one of those six, and she seems to have suffered no disapprobation for this - certainly nothing near the degree of KG.

Vanity Fair:

"The wave of senators calling for Franken's removal began with Kamala Harris..."

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/12/democrats-al-franken-resignation-senate

[Trumpocalypse]

114. Don't confuse them with facts

They have their narrative and are sticking with it facts by damned.

[Demit]

148. "Gillibrand was the first woman in the Senate to call on Franken to quit,

writing in a lengthy Facebook post that "enough is enough" when it came to her Minnesota colleague. "While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn't acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve," she wrote.

Her note was quickly followed by tweets from McCaskill — who posted "Al Franken should resign" — and Hassan, who wrote, "It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women."

Within moments, Harris had tweeted, "Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere" and that "the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down," while Hirono referred to the choice by Time magazine to name "The Silence Breakers" of the #MeToo movement as its 2017 Person of the Year on Wednesday in calling on Franken to quit.

— https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-women-senators-call-franken-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations-n827036

In any activity involving six people, there is usually, and logically, one person who coordinates the actions of the group. Gillibrand was obviously the coordinator.

[LakeSuperiorView]

155. Sounds strangely like a whataboutism.

As I said Gillibrand is facing but a trifle of what she foisted on Franken. Give it a rest.

[Ferrets are Cool]

57. This x 1000

[KPN]

58. Yes ... spot on. That extends as well to the fear of being labeled socialists because we want

common sense solutions that work socially and economically for virtually everyone! Hell, they/we already are called socialists, commies, lefties and will be regardless of (1) what positions we take, and (2) the fact that we as a party overall have moved light-years to the right on economic issues since the 60s!

[kcr]

36. Same here

I think I always will. There's Jim Jordan, a monster, untouchable. There's just no good faith whatsoever. It rankles.

[heaven05]

41. MSM and even here

destroyed him. It was still not proven that he did ANYTHING wrong. The hierarchy did not want him in the Senate because he has integrity and principles. And he would not softball the questions that needed to be answered by the repiglikkkans. That's is what I believe. Never will back off that belief either.

[certainot]

51. this kind of shit will keep happening as long as the left/dems ignore talk radio and

let a few hundred assholes on the radio scream lies and attacks on good people, turning molehills into mountains and visa versa, while making excuses for pedophiles, pussy grabbers, traitors, racists, thieves, murderer cops, and hypocrites.

a few days after another cohen bombshell, about the trump tower meeting, the local shit for brains and callers on the weekend radio show spent the morning yelling about a local elected dem politician who was paying too much for office coffee....

[KPN]

65. +1!

[Tumbulu]

80. Yes! 1000x's!!!!!

[IronLionZion]

63. Republicans run circles around us because of stuff like this

Not to excuse Franken who isn't perfect. But the other party regularly does terrible things that are even criminal in nature and get away with it. It's infuriating that Dems have be the party of purity purges while GOP steal our lunch money.

[Recursion]

164. IDK. Nobody has any kind of "right" to be a Senator

Smith is doing great so far, and for that matter I'm always a fan of increasing the number of women in the chamber.

Franken himself isn't particularly important. He saw he was becoming a distraction and did the right thing.

[hlthe2b]

166. First he didn't hold office "by right" but by the expressed democratic "viewpoint" of the voters.

I too want to increase the number of women in the chamber, but these are separate issues. Not to mention that Franken was one of the most vocal pro-women voices in the Senate--both by action and voice.

Not particularly important to lose one of the MOST effective, intelligent, articulate and most studied members of Judiciary and our caucus in general? I could not disagree more vehemently.

He was MADE to be a distraction by the constant drumbeat of media-promoted detractors. The one truth is that his own integrity gave them their undeserved victory.

[scarletwoman]

184. He had the "right" to be Senator by virtue of all those, including me, who voted for him.

And he should have had the right to due process!

I will always resent losing MY Senator for no good reason. The whole thing was bullshit.

[dflprincess]

194. This

[JI7]

9. the best senator we had. i miss him.

[Trumpocalypse]

72. How so?

By what measure was Franken the best Senator? Please provide links.

[brush]

98. Find the links yourself. Just google his grilling of perjurer Sessions.

[Trumpocalypse]

99. OK That is one thing

But what legislative accomplishments made him the best Senator? And provide links. Not doing so is an admission that you can't.

[brush]

102. Asking for others to provide links proves nothing when you can easily google...

his accomplishments.

I gave you one strong reason why he was considered one of our most effective senators and yet you still persist with that silly tactic.

Do the rest yourself.

Nobody here works for you.

[Demit]

150. That's called moving the goalposts.

"What legislative accomplishments?" is a different question from "by what measure?"

Senators play different roles in their effectiveness as senators. Excellence in studying and understanding a topic to be able to get to the heart of the matter in committee hearings is an invaluable trait.

It's not all about what legislation you personally introduce.

[disndat]

162. And don't forget

Al's expert grilling of Gorsuch when Al Asked him if he still stands by his decision of the firing of a truck driver
who had to abandon his truck during a heavy snow storm.

[brush]

167. That's right. He knew how to cut to the quick with his questioning of lying repugs.

Last edited Wed Aug 1, 2018, 12:44 AM - Edit history (2)

[Soxfan58]

12. There will be a job opening

On 1600 Pennsilvania Ave in 2020. Maybe look into it.

[Funtatlaguy]

14. Franken/Harris. That's the ticket.

First Jewish Pres.
First female Veep.

[Soxfan58]

16. Yes

Nice addition

[steventh]

23. love Al miss Al

Harris was quick to jump on the Kirsten Gillibrand bandwagon calling for Al's resignation. How is it that dems are still (rightly) chastising Gillebrand and not the others who were so vocal in (wrongly) condemning him?

Yes, Gillibrand was the first, but the 13 others were quick to pile on.

Thirty-two Democratic senators -- 13 female and 19 male -- called on Franken to resign as allegations of sexual harassment against him continue to mount. Republican Sen. Susan Collins also called on Franken to quit.

In a statement on Facebook, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wrote: "While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn't acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve."

Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Patty Murray of Washington, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Kamala Harris of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Dianne Feinstein of California, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii also joined in the call for Franken to resign.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/al-franken-democratic-senators-resign/index.html

[Funtatlaguy]

27. Didn't know that about Harris

She’d have to do some explaining, I guess.

[True Blue American]

34. Oh, I made my feelings clear to Brown.

He is one Senator you can email,get a form letter right back with a promise to personally email you when he has time and does, answering your questions.

You never hear a word from Portman or Mike Turner.

[oberliner]

47. Harris: I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down.

Link to tweet

[USALiberal]

189. Keep trying. Still not working as you can tell from the REC count. nt

[SFnomad]

190. Every GOP Senator defends Trump, so they are correct also? nt

[KPN]

67. Or Franken/Warren -- I'd love to see either of those pairings.

[NurseJackie]

17. Franken was railroaded without due process.

We need his voice now more than ever.

[Trumpocalypse]

81. Did someone put a gun to his head

to force him to apologize (repeatedly) and resign?

[ProfessorGAC]

135. Metaphorically, Yes

So you can stop with the stupid Godfather reference!

[Trumpocalypse]

136. Metaphorically???

And the Godfather reference is apt because it is as accurate as the allegations being made by many here.

[NurseJackie]

147. A gun? Oh, please. GMAFB!

81. Did someone put a gun to his head
to force him to apologize (repeatedly) and resign?

A gun? Oh, please. GMAFB! Hyperbole much? No, as I said, he was railroaded.

[scarytomcat]

18. he should run again, we need him back

if we can have a trump ....

[marble falls]

19. When can we get him back, Governor of Minnesota at least?

[DFW]

22. Our Party's image already WAS clean--as was Al Franken's

There were no actual transgressions on Al's part except for those which were made up by Republican dirty tricks strategists, who were probably as surprised as anyone at their own success. The reason Al didn't react sooner is because he never figured anyone would take the fake allegations seriously. If he made an error, it was assuming his Democratic colleagues were as smart as he was, and had his degree of integrity.

He only resigned when he saw how many of his Democratic colleagues had fallen for the scam, and Dayton designated his successor. He not only didn't have to do it, but SHOULDN'T have done it. To assess the damage properly, just count up the number of memorable actions and speeches made by his successor, Tina Smith. That didn't take long, did it?

[c-rational]

62. Well said! nt

[Heartstrings]

25. I miss him, too! nt

[Docreed2003]

28. Given what happened to Sen Franken

I'm angry there hasn't been more of an uproar on our side in the media about Bill Shine taking a prominent role in the WH, and reported being on deck to be the next CoS

[dalton99a]

38. +1

[Cha]

48. Yes! And, jimmy jordan.

[RhodeIslandOne]

174. Only Democrats fold like cheap card players

[TheCowsCameHome]

29. Al Franken - a casualty of friendly fire.

We need him back more than ever.

[bigbrother05]

39. Like to think of it as jumping on a grenade to save his comrades

He could see the long term consequences and sacrificed himself to save others.

Of course review of the tape may show he was tripped by KG. KG also was pretty quick to desert HRC as well.

[oberliner]

50. Kamala Harris called on Franken to resign, as did Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Bernie Sanders

Harris tweeted her call for Franken to resign on the same morning that KG posted her call for him to resign on FB.

[brush]

153. Ok, ok. We get the idea from your many posts. You have it in for Harris.

Still doesn't take the onus off of Gillebrand being the ring leader in railroading Franken out of the Senate.

[KPN]

74. When are we ever going to learn that eating our own is a huge minus -- for us and

the American people. I will never ever vote for Gillibrand. Shame on her for starting this fucking railroad of one of our finest. In so doing, she forced virtually every other high profile Dem Senator to get on board in the face of an artificial windstorm kicked up by GOP thugs. So discouraging.

[Harker]

37. I'm still stunned

by the speed of his resignation, and by the grace with which he took being shoved onto his sword.

[zentrum]

46. Come back Al!!

We need you more than ever.

[samnsara]

49. i hope he runs again

[pazzyanne]

52. I am still angry and very sad about what happened to Al.

I don't often hold grudges, but I do about what happened to him and who was involved in throwing him under the bus.



I am routing for him to get back into politics because he still has some to do.

GO, AL!!!!!

[mountain grammy]

53. One of our strongest voices.. silenced by our own.

Please come back, Al.

[MineralMan]

55. I saw him interviewed yesterday on WCCO.

It renewed my anger at those who forced him out of office over situations that were only marginally sexually abusive, if at all. One person in particular pushed to force his resignation. I will never, ever give her any support in the future. Her betrayal of a fellow Senator was unconscionable, in my opinion.

I will speak again of this anytime someone puts Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand's name forward for any office again.

Al Franken may, at some point, try running for office again. Not right now, but sometime. I will support him. He was doing a wonderful job in the Senate and is missed. He never really had a chance to defend himself against accusations that were specious and suspicious. It was a low point in Democratic Party history.

[KPN]

77. Well said!

[MineralMan]

106. Thank you.

[brooklynite]

64. The irony of the anti-Gillibrand rants in these threads is always entertaining...

You hate Gillibrand for allegedly valuing partisan advantage over principle. But you'll support her re-election as Senator, putting partisan advantage over principle.

[yallerdawg]

69. If 2016 was any indication...

you're only half right.

[pazzyanne]

73. The irony is that she is not a senator that I vote for.

The jury is still out on whether or not I can vote for her if she is on the ballot as a candidate for president or vice president. If Minnesota loses its senatorial seat to a republican (yes, that includes Richard Painter) this year, I won't!!!

[brooklynite]

76. But nobody venting at her here will claim she doesn't deserve to be re-elected to the Senate...

[pazzyanne]

79. I think my post explains my position. She is not my senator, Al was!

[MineralMan]

122. No, we won't. It is not our decision who the people of New York

elect to the Senate. Our decision as Minnesotans would have been to keep Al Franken. We will not have that opportunity, however.

I'm content to let New Yorkers make their own choices, despite my choice being denied to me.

Think about it for a while.

[KPN]

82. Wrong! She put self-interest over principle first, and any partisan advantage she may

included in her calculation was mythological. There was absolutely nothing gained and a boatload lost. That's the real irony.

[brooklynite]

110. So, you're saying that an unprincipled person like this SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be re-elected?

[KPN]

129. I'm saying I won't vote for her in a primary if she does run in 2020 -- and, as I'm in a deeply

blue State, I would have absolutely no moral dilemma about writing another Dem's name on the ballot rather than vote for her in the GE should she win the nomination (which I think she has less than a snowball's chance in hell of doing after this epic miscalculation on her part).

Now were I a resident of NY State, I might actually be faced with a dilemma in her next Senatorial campaign. But I am not. That's for New Yorkers' to decide. If I were, however, I would absolutely consider voting for a Democratic primary challenger based on who that challenger(s) is/are.

[brush]

86. Ahhh...you do realize most of the posters here critical of Gillebrand...

are not her constituents and therefore have no say in a Senate run.

Of course if she runs for our presidential nomination, you ain't heard nothin' yet.

[brooklynite]

107. One does not have to be a constituent to have an opinion on who should get elected...

[brush]

117. OK, mine is she was a big reason we lost a strong Dem senator...

whose seat is now up for re-election a couple of years earlier than it should be so I say, while holding my nose, let her stay in her Senate seat rather than risking another Democratic senate seat.

It's all about the numbers in the Senate.

If she runs for the 2020 presidential nomination all bets and gloves will be off.

Understand?

[brooklynite]

125. I could care less what you think about the 2020 Presidential Election...

She's running -- today -- for re-election to the Senate. And she's been tarred with accusations that she sold out her principles for personal advantage. If you believe that, what's your justification (setting aside TOS) for saying she deserves to stay in office?

nb - I'm not faced with this problem, because I don't think she did anything wrong. But she's been singled out here as the evil instigator.

[brush]

142. I just told you. It's about keeping our Dem numbers in the Senate.

Not rocket science. She's already an incumbent, no need to risk losing a Dem seat by primarying her.

I'm being consistent on this btw, as I've criticized AOC for primarying Dem incumbents in other regions and races around the country.

[MineralMan]

113. The thing is that she isn't a Senator from my state.

Voters in her state will do as they choose. My state is Minnesota. I chose Al Franken. I would be doing so again this year, had this betrayal not occurred. Al Franken was one of my Senators, along with Amy Klobuchar.

I didn't vote for any of those who pressured Senator Franken to resign. Fortunately for them, I do not reside in their states, so my vote doesn't matter to them.

I resent Al Franken being forced to step down. A lot. You live in New York. I live in Minnesota. I'll be voting for Tina Smith this year, which is fine. She's a good person and a fine Democrat. I would have preferred to be able to vote for Al Franken again, though. I don't get to do that.

[brooklynite]

149. So, you won't be voting for Klobuchar this Fall?

“Today Senator Franken acknowledged that he could no longer serve in the Senate and resigned. As he and I discussed yesterday, this is the right decision."

[MineralMan]

157. I will be voting for her. She will be the Democrat on the ballot.

I vote for Democrats, even if I do not agree with everything they do. Always. Don't you? I preferred Al to Amy, but both are Democrats. I do not vote in any state but Minnesota, though. So, it's not up to me in other states, is it?

[cubbies01]

70. Why Kirsten gets a lot of heat

Kirsten was one of the first to come out strongly against him, even before the illustrious Facebook post, and reports I saw at the time indicated she had a strong hand in organizing the quick GTFO response. Which is why most statements followed her official one.

But more importantly than that, as far as the anger directed at her, she was one of the very few on that list of Senators who was going to make a strong and serious run for the nomination in 2020. Interestingly enough, another early vociferous critic was Harris, who too is reportedly considering a run.

It all really smelled bad to many of us when prior to Roger Stone's buddy bringing up the story and picture (of him not touching her breasts BTW), because Al Franken had emerged as a legit contender for 2020. This fact and Al's ability to get under the right's skin verbally, was why he was a target. He was becoming a star. So when you have another Democrat not wanting to give the man time to defend himself who also is a leading contender for 2020, it came off very self serving ...because it was.

This will always to me be utter trash, given the scum we are up against and what they will do to win: "While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn’t acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve."

So he took the sword, walked away. And the weekly stories then stopped (of course they did). At which point you can then realize Mission Accomplished - the Democrats were rat fucked out of one of the best Senators they had and Gillibrand's path to the the 2020 presidential nomination was easier.

I think she will find that the opposite happened though ...there is so much anger out there over it.

[Trumpocalypse]

78. Provide proof please

You're making a lot of allegations against Dems here. What proof do you have? Do you have any proof (and I mean reliable links) that Franken, Harris or Gillibrand are planning to run for the nomination in 20? Also, by what measure was Franken " one of the best Senators they had"? Again provide links.

[cubbies01]

140. Give me a break

Nobody is officially running for president back then or even now. So there are no links I can provide. And you know that.

But there was and is still plenty of chatter about all three. Especially KG whose running is not even a well kept secret.

https://www.newsweek.com/franken-trump-2020-election-655143

https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/02/opinions/al-franken-for-president-zelizer/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/01/it-sure-looks-as-if-kirsten-gillibrand-is-running-for-president/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.645c5503641c

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Kamala-Harris-increases-her-visibility-in-front-13110724.php

[Trumpocalypse]

143. Thanks for admitting you don't have any proof

Many here won't do that.

[cubbies01]

159. I did no such thing

Dear troll, please provide me with link to declared 2020 Democratic Presidentail candidates in the Senate. Or House. Or a governor. Also, since I include article on Franken enjoying very high favorable opinion in June 2017, please include links showing he was in fact loathed. That will be fun for you to demonstrate.

Meanwhile I will track down some articles on how some major Democratic donors and insiders abandoned KG in January and Feb over her roll in the Franken debacle. Along with some quotes on senators admitting it was a mistake not soon after.

I will be waiting for your facts.

[KPN]

87. +100!

[wishstar]

93. Al and his family were very firm that he was not going to run for President

Al, his wife and daughter had closed the door several times when asked if he would possibly run, so I do not believe that eliminating him as competition for 2020 had any part whatsoever in his ouster.

Rather, the deliberate timing of the allegations coming out during the Roy Moore revelations and the MeToo movement pushed the Dems to endorse a zero tolerance stance. Chuck Schumer had dinner with Al and made decision to get him to resign the day before Gillibrand and others called for him to resign. Al decided that a protracted fight against the allegations would be politically damaging and a struggle that he did not want to put his family through.

[Trumpocalypse]

104. Don't confuse them with facts.

Too many are in the Franken cult of personality where he was the best Dem. Senator who ever walked the face of the Earth and Gillabrand is a she-devil who put a gun to Franken's head to force him to resign.

[oberliner]

126. She had just introduced an anti-sexual harrassment bill in Congress

Gillibrand was doing press and giving interviews in support of her bill when the Franken story broke, so she was asked about it repeatedly. She was literally introducing legislation addressing the serious sexual harassment problem in Congress just prior to all of this.

[BannonsLiver]

130. Poetic justice that Gillibrand's presidential dreams are cooked.

She really did a number on herself by trying to use this to her advantage. And I’m not losing much sleep over it tbh.

[MineralMan]

133. She miscalculated, to her detriment.

Several people did. Their ambitions may not be realized, I suspect.

[cubbies01]

141. 100%

agree

[Demit]

156. Yes. It's a valid question of her judgment.

The others, who followed, didn't exactly cover themselves in glory by being followers, but I don't think it will stick to them the way it will to Gillebrand.

[dflprincess]

195. What I found especially craven about Gillibrand sacrificing Al to her ambitions

is that Al was always one of the biggest supporters of Gillibrand's efforts to do something serious about sexual assault in the military while McCaskill actually voted against one of Gillibrand's bill and doomed it. You tell me who did more damage to women.

[PatrickforO]

85. Yeah, I wish Al was still there, too.

One of our strongest voices. His railroading did sour me on a few people. It's gonna come up in the 2020 presidential primary, believe me.

[karin_sj]

90. He should still be there

They should have given him a chance to have an investigation like he wanted. Instead, they rushed to judgement and pushed him out in order to "take the high road" and score political points—to the detriment of all of us (especially in the case of having him on the judiciary committee).

And now, instead of having a sure seat in the Senate in Minnesota come November, there's a chance of losing it, all because of short-sighted people who didn't think this through.

[SHRED]

105. Meanwhile Gym Jordan is still in office

[Nitram]

119. He is a good man, and a great human being.

We need people like Al Franken.

[janterry]

139. President

I'd vote for him in a heartbeat

And for those looking for someone to take on Trump. He'd be able to handle him with righteous anger and good humor. Both.

I really think he needs to think about a Presidential run. He apologized and it's time to move on. He's a great politician.

[drbtg1]

151. What Gillibrand did to Sen. Franken reminds me of...

...the bashing/camera hogging that Joe Lieberman did to denounce Pres. Clinton back in the day, which lead to that "Joe-mentum" crap....and we all know how that turned out!

I wonder if this will get Gillibrand a piece on 60 Minutes and some time at the desk with the ladies on The View...oh, wait, that already happened!

[RVN VET71]

185. She led the charge, but so many (too many) followed

Weren't Bernie and Warren among the blade wielders at Franken's slaughter?

Still, Gillibrand was the first and loudest -- all to capture the limelight. Sad to say, she did, indeed, capture that light and she's taking every opportunity to bask in it. Sadder to say, if I was a New Yorker, I'd hold my nose, calm my stomach, and vote for her -- as long as she was running as a Democrat, by which I mean non-Republican.

So, saddest to say, she will not lose votes for her betrayal of decency and common fairness with Al Franken -- as long as the alternative to a back-stabbing, self-righteous Gillibrand is the cowardly, racist, bigoted, Nazi-leaning GOP.not

[SFnomad]

187. Yes, Sanders and Warren were eventually among those calling for his resignation

And being that they're real progressives ... they seem to get a pass around here for it. While others get crucified.

[drbtg1]

196. Others followed Lieberman too, just like Gillibrand, but I don't see the others...

... trying to hog the spotlight over this. Thus, I won't be surprised to see Gillibrand get a prime speaking spot at the 2028 RNC, just like Lieberman at the 2008 RNC.

[workinclasszero]

160. Come back Al!

American needs you!!!

[cubbies01]

163. Whelp

One thing we can all agree on is Franken is a serious lighting rod and sore spot for many. That and Gym Jordan is trying to be House Speaker. And we have a serial sexual assaulter as president.

[librechik]

169. Senator Al was one of the best things to happen in America

we all worked hard and he was great in the position. It's almost too painful to contemplate the injustice which happened to him because of some Democrat's need for purity to contrast with Republican corruption. I wish they had given it a little more thought. Skipping existing due process rules hurt us all and failed to accomplish the higher ground anyway.

[barbtries]

172. he should not have resigned.

i still cope with the bitterness over the way he was railroaded by democrats.

[Vinca]

176. He should run again. Let the voters decide if they think his comedy photo on the plane

was sexual harassment. Let them decide if touching a person's waist while having a photo taken is sexual harassment. Driving Al out of the Senate was one of the dumbest things Democrats have ever done.

[Honeycombe8]

178. We miss him, too. The Senate needs him. Maybe he can run again. May have to get a new leader in the

Senate, in order to do that.

[Marcuse]

186. Don't call it a comeback!

[ProfessorPlum]

191. And, we're missing this guy because ROGER F*ING STONE decided we had to be rid of him?

what a fucked up country we live in