We are shattered now

[SHRED]

Our Democratic leadership has failed us.
By not having a strategy to defend Al they have caused this.

Now we are cannibalizing.

[BannonsLiver]

1. Lots of peole here and in the leadership have miscaluclated.

At some point they are going to realize that, probably after nobody shows up to vote in 2018.

[mn9driver]

4. That is the threat.

This kind of thing does NOT bring people to the polls. It causes them to say “fuck it” and stay home.

[smirkymonkey]

14. That's exactly what it does. And the republicans are rejoicing.

We have destroyed ourselves.

[mythology]

42. A plurality of poll respondents wanted Franken gone

And more wanted Moore to withdraw. A majority said both parties are not handling sexual harassment with enough seriousness. Moore is in a close race in spite of being in a deep red state and Republicans being less likely than non-Republicans saying Moore should withdraw.

The evidence is that voters care.

[ret5hd]

52. What will be your feelings on this if Moore wins?

[snooper2]

63. Doesn't matter if he wins or loses, he is the face of the GOP

He wins, every Repuke has to either stand with him or against him...every single one

He loses, we get another seat...


WIN WIN easy peasy

[ret5hd]

68. Why do you believe that???

Did every Dam stand with or against Franken?

No? Bunch of silence out there is what I heard...behind all the chants of "He's a witch!!!".

Your version of winning looks an awful lot like losing to me (and many others).

During the election I heard nothing but disgust and disdain for "purity tests" etc...how those insisting on "purity" were seeking ponies and unicorns and rainbows. In fact, it became quite a joke for some of you, laughing at the purists immaturity and delusion.

Now, you are bathing in the fruits of your own "purity tests"...and my, does the water seem cold and polluted.

[snooper2]

69. Guess we shall see- I noticed that Washington Post and NYTimes have about 20-30 more coming

let the floodgates open

[SoCalMusicLover]

81. The Winning Face

But we have the high ground.....just not the government.

[watoos]

70. My feelings

if he wins, I hope he is seated. he will be a reminder what the Republican party has become. He shouldn't even be elected regardless of his accused pedophilia. Let him be seated, I will jab my Republican friends constantly.

Still hoping he loses, that would be a pick me up for all of us.

[ret5hd]

73. Oooohhhh...jabbing your Repug friends!!!

Now THAT will put a lot of beans on the dinner table! I feel much better now!

[OkieLib41]

59. How did polls works during the presidential election?

And please don't take that question the wrong way. Polling is how we ended up with Trump.

[LenaBaby61]

12. At some point they are going to realize that, probably after nobody shows up to vote in 2018.

You mean if we CAN vote and if our votes COUNT. That's no given in this current environment.

Have you seen more than a few improvements to our voting system since November 8th 2016? You won't under this thuglican administration who gives more credence to russia than to it's own citizens, because they're beholden to them.

And remember, there's that ruling coming down from a 5-4 thuglican-leaning Supreme Court ahead of 2018's mid-terms for the state of Wisconsin will once again make it a "happy" thing for thuglicans to gerrymander all they want to, on top of voter-crosscheck and voter ID Dems off of voting rolls. Well, that's if Dem votes don't go missing before all of that.

I mean, how do you vote the bums out if you can't vote or if your vote doesn't count? thuglicans are in control of almost every spectrum of voting in this country from collecting to tallying the votes.

Yep, Kris Crook Kobach is on it!!!

[StevieM]

36. The next time the Republicans successfully swift boat a Democrat to win the White House

it may give us President Kris Kobach.

And he strikes me as a future dictator of America.

[uponit7771]

2. +1, and there will be 50 other women willing to take payments from O'Keefe and crew to take down ...

... other dem men and the women will look like hypocrites in not allow due process or some kind of investigation.

This is such a dumb ass'd move

[Bettie]

5. They'll just boot them out

and let red state governors appoint people to the right of Roy Moore.

If they wanted to keep enthusiasm for the midterms, this was not the right move.

[True Dough]

3. It is a difficult time

But we have to know that the reprehensible actions of Dolt 45 and the ReThugs will bring us together again and again in the coming weeks and months. That war still must be fought.

[ProfessorPlum]

7. and we are fighting it with a wet noodle

the wet noodle being the (lack of) spine of the Democratic party

[True Dough]

16. I see it as quite the opposite

I think it took tremendous spine for Democratic Congressmen and Senators to call for Franken to resign. It was the difficult choice. They knew that they would face severe backlash. They knew that Franken's fate could fracture the party -- hopefully only for the short-term. But they also knew that if the Dems are going to stand on solid ground as they argue that Trump and Moore are not fit to hold office, they could not defend Conyers or Franken, who are plagued by accusations.

Al says his voice will not be silenced even though he is leaving the Senate. I hope he does continue to speak out. He will be given a platform on news programs and late-night TV shows.

Give 'em hell!

[ProfessorPlum]

18. nobody, but nobody, will read this as an act of strength

especially since we have no idea of the credibility of any of these accusations (not to mention the fact that they include harassment like putting a hand on someone's waist)

[True Dough]

47. I think the Democratic leaders who encouraged Franken to step down

have knowledge of more credible evidence than the general public does. If an ethics investigation was bound to find that Franken had done nothing of concern, I'm quite certain that Schumer, Gillabrand et al. would have been pleased to retain Franken's seat in the Senate.

[barbtries]

88. then they should have called for it to play out.

why would you assume they know more?

[avebury]

54. It is not strength it is pure weakness on the part of the Dems.

Like Brutus to Cesar, the Democrats took out their knives and finished of Al Franken for the Republicans.

They denied Al Franken any chance to prove his innocence. There was no actual investigation of the allegations.

This whole Me To movement has gone way overboard. All a woman has to do is claim harassment and she is automatically believed without any type of investigation. Women in general risk becoming the boy who cried wolf. I personally find myself less likely to believe a woman because of the total lack of investigation of the claims and the rush to judgment. The fact is that there will be some men who will be innocent of allegations but they won't be believed because people will assume that there has to be something if the woman makes a claim. The automatic acceptance of a claim and lack of any type of real investigation results in feeding into the Rethug narrative of fake news. Just like not everybody that ends on death row deserve to be there, not everyone accused of sexual assault might actually be guilty of the crime they are alleged to have committed. Rethugs are masters of the dirty play book.

Is Al Franken perfect? No, but neither are you, me or anybody else. The Republicans planned and executed a perfect hit job with the full cooperation of the Democrats. That is unforgivable.

[True Dough]

57. Take a deep breath, avebury

Think about the long game. Read this story:

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/07/al-franken-sexual-harassment-democrats-response-285959

[avebury]

74. It is a BS article.

Democrats can be squeeky clean and it will not matter. Republicans don't give a sh*t about their people do. There is nothing heinous enough for them to dump a Republican. If they truly were a part of moral values Roy Moore would not be such a close race with Doug Jones, it would be a blowout in favor of Jones. There is nothing that Trump could that would cost him his base. They are the win at all cost party and they will put up with anything to reach their goals. They know that Trump has not business being in the WH but they will never take any action against him if it interferes with their plans. Only when they have attained their goals and have no need for him will they consider turning against Trump.

[True Dough]

84. There are hardcore ReThugs

and "on the bubble" ReThugs. Some supporters may make a values-judgement at the ballot box based on this issue. While Trump still got elected, he lost the popular vote by 3 million ballots and there was still a whole lot of Russian fuckery taking place.

I'm hopeful that some of the moderate Republican supporters will see the sexual harassers and abusers for what they are by the 2018 midterms.

[barbtries]

89. you are correct.

sometimes women lie. often in this country (maybe it's universal i don't know), we tend to over correct. justice is often not just. Al Franken should not resign (hasn't happened yet) in my opinion and the democrats who drove him to say he will were wrong and did it for all the wrong reasons.

[bench scientist]

27. agreed Dems keep bringing a melted spork to fight the Rethugs armed with nukes.

[cilla4progress]

6. I expect and DEMAND that Gillibrand

and the rest go HARD after trump, c. thomas, GOP now.

[uponit7771]

8. +1

[SHRED]

11. LOL

Yeah right.

[cilla4progress]

25. Sen. Klobucha on Andrea Mitchell right now

calling for Blake Farenthold's resignation!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. Good! About damn time somebody did.

[The_Casual_Observer]

37. That clown was cleared by a republican run ethics committee. Fat chance

of anything happening to that turd.

[mythology]

43. The ethics committee is split evenly

Farenthold was cleared before the current moment on sexual harassment. I suspect he would not fare so well today.

[Meowmee]

64. 😹😹😹

Not gonna happen.

[njhoneybadger]

9. I have a feeling of impending doom

[hlthe2b]

10. He may not be totally innocent, but THAT WAS THE EPITOME' OF AN HONORABLE MAN

I too am devastated

[CrispyQ]

13. Today I feel like a nail just went in the coffin.

If this is the kind of spine dem leadership has, then even if they were to gain any kind of influence or power again, what would they do? My guess, play nice. Claim that it's time for the nation to come together & reach across the aisle. I haven't been a registered dem for a few years now. I stopped sending them money. I don't GOTV anymore. And now, finally, I'm even less inspired to fill in that block next to Michael Bennet's name.

Who do you think the GOP wants to put in the barrel next?

[ffr]

15. Gutted.

WTF!

[libtodeath]

17. It is disgraceful.

A good Senator lied about and smeared out of office by repuke attack dogs and our side helped them.

[Turn CO Blue]

19. Democrats forgave Ted Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate, for many things.

(Ted was a flawed man but we all forgave him for so many things, such as fracturing the party by primarying a sitting Dem President, and some flaws that included allegations of misconduct with women and some other legal matters) But good dog, where would we be without having Ted Kennedy in the Senate for his long tenure? If he'd been run out after some of those accusations or never gotten into office?

Democrats forgave Bill Clinton for many things, as he was/is a flawed and at the time, overly-sexual, possibly even aggressive, man sitting in the Oval Office. I don't condone the actions, but instead state the obvious - people are complicated and are neither purely saintly nor purely evil.

I would have been more than willing to allow Al Franken to learn from any mistakes, to be censured, to repent and to learn enough about this issue to later become a champion for women in our cause against sexual harassment and assault.

But thanks, Perez and leadership, thanks.

Ain't it grand that we now have the moral highground, supposedly, or so I'm told -- but hey, nevermind that we are losing in every other way.

IMO, we just look like we bowed to a reactionary movement to go 180 degrees in the opposite direction into draconian banishment -- this from a party that supposedly values due process, education, insight, nuance and abhors absolutes.

Voters have extremely short memories. They can't remember past two days, much less into next year to reward us at the ballot box for our grandstanding castigation of Al Franken.

And hey, we will now have TWO seats to defend for Senator in MN in 2018.

[Honeycombe8]

23. Thank you. There was something else at work here. I think jealousy of the nat'l spotlight he had...

the favored station he held in the senate, among the U S public. His name was bandied about as a possible Presidential contender, altho he said he had no aspirations for that.

But to those who wanted to be the name bandied about, I'm sure Franken got in the way of that.

That may not have been all of it, but I think it's part of it. It's no mistake that the new Lion of the Senate was ousted.

[Willie Pep]

32. I wonder if social media is the big difference.

Things move very fast now and people are quick to judge. I wonder if flawed politicians like Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton could survive today.

EDIT: But then again Donald Trump is thriving in the social media age and he has as many if not more moral failings as Kennedy and Clinton so maybe there is something else at work here. It is hard not to think that the modern Democratic Party is a mess compared to how it was in the past. The modern Democratic Party seems like a herd of cats that cannot stick together.

[Turn CO Blue]

34. Stories move faster, true. But people have always devoured media sources with a frenzy

since the time of the printing press and discussed/debated/speculated around the water cooler.

But it's a good question to ponder.

What seems clear is that the public outcries calls for action via social media are taken seriously and are louder and more insistent than when people just wrote a letter to the editor or made a phone call.

[mythology]

45. Times change

Thomas Jefferson owned and raped slaves for example. Just because something was accepted in the past doesn't mean it would or should be today.

[treestar]

82. +1 even if it was all true

it was not as severe as what Moore and Orange Idiot have done and Moore will get in and Donald still doesn't resign. By their standards he should. He has been accused, no proof needed.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

20. I am ashamed......

That the Senate Democrats sacrificed a good man.

Jeff Sessions has to be smiling that snarky smile of his right now. This is his doing for the grilling he took at the hands of Al.

[bluestarone]

48. this

for sure

[Honeycombe8]

21. I know that I am shattered. I don't know where to go from here. nt

[StarryNite]

22. Twilight Zone

The rethugs voted tRump in knowing he was an admitted sexual predator. Moore will be elected too. WTF is going on???

[trueblue2007]

24. you mean the "eating our own" that is the phrase right?

I think that applies.

[Binkie The Clown]

26. As we speak they are busy searching for more ways to commit suicide as a party

and to murder the great American experiment in the process.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. I think I'm actually more upset today than I was

on the morning of Nov. 9, because this time our own party fucked us.

[a la izquierda]

62. Agreed.

[mchill]

29. I wanted an investigation

I am left thinking this was a smear campaign (given all of the circumstances surrounding Leanne Tweedum) and the Democrats then capitulating. Why? We lost one of the best Senators the Democrats have ever had today and it hurts my heart thinking it is one big mistake that can't be undone. Was there something they knew that we still don't know to justify this railroading? (I've been led to believe this might be true, but having that inkling based on one Senator's wife's vague posts, is not enough.)

[world wide wally]

31. So much for all the inspiration from Virginia

[dalton99a]

87. +1

[Docreed2003]

33. Agree wholeheartedly...

This is a great way of pissing on the fire of the resistance, at the moment we need the excitement and fire of the resistance the most. Disheartening and discouraging. I don’t want to hear a peep when these newly emboldened alt right rat fuckers decide to broaden their attacks like this one. It will happen, it’s just a matter of time.

[Pepsidog]

35. Dems have a strategy, lie down and get kicked in the gut.

It’s hard to keep supporting Dems who continually get trampled by republican thugs. Bill Clinton was the last Dem to stick it to the republican establishment. He took their best shot and frustrated them at every turn. Is there any dem with the spine and courage to fight these immoral and unprincipled, treasonous weasels? Franken was wrong to resign. R’s will turn it around on us. Dems have no shot with the current leadership. We need new blood to run the party, fighters who know how to get down in the mud and fight these vile creatures called republicans. I have no hope that 2018 will be any different. Trump could admit to being a racist, fascist dictator bent on world domination and the sacking of the Constitution and would still have the support of his base and republicans in Congress. And Dems will continue to naively take the high road and be the doormat of political parties. This is our reality so we better get accustomed to it.

[lpbk2713]

38. Some times I think America is selling out to the highest bidder.

Piece by piece.

The largest yard sale in the world.

[Meowmee]

39. The ones who forced him out

They’re strategy was to feed him to the wolves and to betray us.

[davekriss]

40. I smell a Breitbart/Bannon operation - attack and distract!

They'll keep digging out "controversy" concerning Dems as a means to distract from the real crimes the Republican neo-fascist-right are committing and still plan (on the latter, like decimate Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid).

[Ligyron]

61. Oh, they've got people working on this full time.

Every tweet, comment, e-mail that any Democrat ever made will be scrutinized to manufacture some "scandal".

What do we have?

Only a bunch of Democratic cowardly congress critters who will help legitimize these stories, turn on their own and execute them on the GOP's command.

We're fucked.

[Iggo]

41. ...and ready to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

There is no fucking way we should lose any election for the next four years and we're pissing it away in suicidal outrage.

Fuck this.

Call me when it's time to fight.

[rtracey]

44. hes being replaced

Frankin's replacement by a democratic governor will be a democrat. There will been an election in 2018 for his seat. Who's too say he cant win again. Is there a rule that if you resign, you can;t run again. Perhaps he needs to clear his name and run again. If the Minnesota democrat voters are for Sen Frankin, then do this......VOTE HIM BACK IN....

[bluestarone]

51. yea i like

this idea if possible

[Dave Starsky]

60. McTurtle can refuse to seat a replacement.

"The people of Minnesota should vote for a replacement blah dee blah dee blah..." And then they hold off until 2018, when the voting machines can decide.

Unless McTurtle chooses to be merciful.

[trocar]

46. I agee nt

[Scruffy1]

49. I saw the local media feeding frenzy.

The whole thing was engineered by Hubbard Broadcasting and the rest joined in. I think Al was smart enough to know it just wasn't worth it to spend the rest of his career looking over his shoulder for the next hit job. Being a former union guy I've handled a few harassment charges and know how tough it is to defend yourself, but it can be done. The real damage will come when the next milk toast appointee plays nice to get a bone.
It's a sad day for the US Senate and the American public.

[kooth]

50. I am out!

That is it. If this is the best we can do as a party, I quit. I'm not spending another fucking penny of my money, another ounce of pain worrying about who gets elected. Politics has lead these democrats to turn on their own; and for what? To look better than republicans? We already do that.

No, we have to have a zero-tolerance policy about sexual harassment -- which we should -- after the case is over. Our constitution is supposed to stand for something. The rule of law is supposed to help the strong against the weak or in this case, innocent unless proven guilty.

All of you who called for Senator Franken's resignation can go fuck yourselves. Like I said: I'm out.

[ret5hd]

55. As I said yesterday:

Son of a bitch. I give up.

Let the pugs have it and give us all (me included) an apocalyptic hell till the entire human race is extinct.

We deserve it.

[snooper2]

65. okay- will do

tonight

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

53. The ancient military strategy of

Divide and Conquer is constantly used on the Democratic Party and it seems to never be recognized by those in leadership. It's a shame. I will never support a Republican agenda and now it seems I have to ask myself about the Democratic set of principles. That is, do we even have any?

[Lotusflower70]

56. I feel so betrayed

By the women in Congress. They threw him under the bus without a second glance. I am going to miss him. I am proud he is my Senator.

[Kaleva]

58. Only if you wish to be shattered.

[Ilsa]

66. "Collateral damage" is how Thom Hartmann's wife referred to

this forced resignation. In other words, someone innocent is being victimized by this, at least, that's how I see it.

Furthermore, the real collateral damage will be our social security, Medicare, Medicaid, our federal health insurance laws, and possibly our democracy.

[hadEnuf]

67. There better be a pee tape or something else coming out about Trump REAL FUCKING SOON

in order to even attempt to justify throwing Franken to the wolves like this.


Otherwise we are just ankle grabbing fools for the RW.

[NCTraveler]

71. Im not even close to shattered.

Nor is the party. Next Monday there will only be five or so ops the whole day about Franken. This is very personal and individual. “We” simply doesn’t work.

[Orsino]

72. Half of us already were. n/t

[DownriverDem]

75. Oh please

Wake up. With Conyers and Franken gone, the Dems have credibility on calling out trump and moore.

I wish Franken hadn't done what he did, then we wouldn't be here today talking about him.

[Politicub]

76. I am neither shattered nor demoralized

Speak for yourself.

Look, I believe Franken is a fantastic, progressive senator. He has flaws, like all of us. Yet we are at a unique time in our nation. Women are speaking out against harassment. Perpetrators of harassment come from all political stripes.

Franken may be innocent of these charges. I hope investigations clear his name. In the meantime, in my opinion, it’s better that these investigations happen outside of the spotlight.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

85. Since he's leaving there will be no investigation.

Unless, of course, he hires a PI himself to do it. I kind of hope he does; I just hate to see him get railroaded out of the Senate under a cloud of suspicion based on some fairly dodgy accusations. If it was me I'd want to clear my name.

[ananda]

77. I know.. just heartbreaking!

Cry

[urantia1]

78. The American Experiment

Has failed. Don't believe we can come back from this President, his administration or the republicans.

[Marengo]

90. If the experiment has failed, what should it be replaced with?

[riverwalker]

79. Amplify this. We are not going to roll over.

This is not getting enough attention

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029943676#post9

[SHRED]

80. Thank you I will

[MarvinGardens]

83. I didn't want Al to resign either, but

it's done. It will be more helpful to our cause if everyone picks themselves up and moves on. Saying things like "I quit" or "let the rethugs have it" (not from the OP but from others) are not helpful.

[barbtries]

86. i keep wondering

if i can ever forgive this. Kamala Harris - I was thinking she'd be a good choice for president! Now, I'd rather see Al Franken run.
Their actions this week were as cynical as a bunch of republicans. i'm bitter.