When Gov. Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment, people here leaped to attack the accusers...

[brooklynite]

...certain that it was some convoluted plot to elect a Republican to protect Trump from Attorney General Tish James. The Attorney General James investigated and people here leaped to attack HER...

...certain that it was some convoluted plot to elect James as Governor (despite the fact that it was Cuomo who asked her to investigate). Then the Attorney General came out with a solid report documenting all the things Cuomo had done.

Perhaps this explains why some of the accusers of Al Franken (who's identities where known to the reporters they gave their stories to) didn't want their names made public.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. How meta (nt)

[dem4decades]

2. Sorry but Al deserved his day before being run out. Please don't blame us

For wishing he got a chance to defend himself.

[kcr]

3. Where is the AG report that documents all the thinks Franken allegedly did?

[brooklynite]

5. My point is that women bringing accusations against public figures...

...are frequently unwilling to reveal their identities because of the likely blowback, which in turn lets fans of the public figures claim that the charges are made up.

[Demsrule86]

17. I am sorry. If you are not willing to use your name when accusing someone of then don't

come forward. It is unfair to allow anonymous people to destroy anyone . I still think Cuomo was railroaded.

[Haggard Celine]

4. I didn't do that.

I read pretty much the entire report from the AG, and it was damning. He had to go, there was no question. Sure, there were people here who wouldn't entertain the thought that he was guilty, but I doubt that any of them had read the report.

[FakeNoose]

6. I don't see any correlation between Al Franken and Andrew Cuomo

What am I missing?

Al Franken is(was) a comedian who made a lot of jokes and gags, some of them were maybe not so funny. Some of his jokes were (maybe) borderline offensive to some people. But they were jokes. Several years later, he became a US Senator with a lot of power and authority, and someone found a way to use his old, not-so-funny jokes to remove him from office. That happened in 2017.

Four years later, a powerful incumbent Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo resigned from office, after receiving numerous allegations of sexual assault from various women who crossed his path. None of those incidents were jokes, almost all of them happened in private, between consenting (or non-consenting) adults.

I'm not defending either one, because they're both capable men who can speak for themselves. I'm just saying that this post has no place on DU. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

[brooklynite]

8. The correlation is the initial reaction to any accuser of a popular Democratic figure.

[Ms. Toad]

16. What you are missing is that only one of the nine accusing Franken

had anything to do with his history as a comedian.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Women are typically disbelieved when they say they've been harassed.

Or if they say they've been raped. Men are always presumed innocent, the women presumed lying or to have somehow "asked for it".

I'm a woman. I have been treated as a sexual object more than once in my life. I'm thinking of two incidents that really were rape, although I didn't scream and fight and risk my life. One time I really was scared that the man would do something terrible, and no one knew where I was. I might have been killed and my body dumped and no one would ever have known what really happened.

So I "consented" and got to go home unharmed.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Probably as often now as fifty years ago when the incident I'm talking about happened.

[Woodswalker]

13. That's fucking horrible

Sorry you had to go thru that.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Thank you.

What I went through was nothing compared to what many others have gone through.

I'm fortunate that my strong sense of self kept me whole during those times. I have essentially never spoken of those things until this thread. I feel safe enough here on DU to talk about it.

Perhaps the most important thing is that what happened didn't stop my life in any way. In all honesty, what happened was a speed bump, and I could drive on. For many others, the exact same thing that happened to me might have been emotionally devastating, and I know that. I would NEVER say, "I went through that and it wasn't so bad so get over it".

All of us have different life experiences, and even for the same or similar experiences, our responses/reactions can be very different.

It's my belief that we are here to learn lessons. The lessons I need to learn are understandably different from your lessons. What happens to us is a factor in those lessons.

Again, thank you.

[LizBeth]

15. +1

[Demsrule86]

19. After my assault...my parents told their friends I was in a car accident so as not to reveal the

truth. So I get what you are saying. But let me tell you another story. My brother was casually dating a woman who one evening jumped out of the car, ran into the woods, and called the cops...said my brother was attacking her. Luckily, my brother drives a great deal for his job and has a camera in the car...so the truth came out. I believe the police said she had some emotional issues...so sometimes women do lie about these things. My attacker did not face justice and went on to rape other women as well...after all, I (gasp) went to a bar.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

20. Yes, woman sometimes do lie about these things,

but not as commonly as many think. Far more assaults never get reported or, as in your case, covered up in some way.

Plus, there's the "went to a bar" or was wearing some kind of clothing that somehow absolves the man from responsibility. Men are responsible for whatever assaults they do.

[Demsrule86]

22. Well be that as it may, often men are not held responsible. Mine wasn't. This was some years ago

but I still think it is much the same. But I digress. Should Tara Reid have been believed...absolutely not? But some certainly were willing to do so. And every Tara Reid makes it more likely that people like me and you won't be believed. This is why I do not care for the Me Too movement.

[treestar]

23. Of course they are presumed innocent, as is anyone

accused of any crime.

[USALiberal]

9. Lol

[dpibel]

10. Many people said!

Burly DUers with tears in their eyes came up to me and said, "Leave Andrew alone!!"

"People here" can cover a multitude of tar, can't it?

[brooklynite]

12. Read on...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215201792

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215223026

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142710115

[Generic Brad]

11. Apples and oranges

Or should I say Frankens and Cuomos?

[Yanicosco]

18. ALL deserve due process....period! n/t

[Demsrule86]

21. That is why I don't like the Me Too movement. Everyone deserves due process. I know of a guy

(friend of hubs) who's girlfriend was angry over a break-up...went to the guy's boss and lied...he was fired. She threatened it in front of my husband and did it. Women are human beings...some are good some are not. No one should be believed to the extent that due process is abandoned. Every accusation should be investigated.