Joan Walsh: Now That Al Franken Is Gone, Democrats Need to Hold Hearings on Trump

[babylonsister]

https://www.thenation.com/article/now-that-al-franken-is-gone-democrats-need-to-hold-hearings-on-trump/

Now That Al Franken Is Gone, Democrats Need to Hold Hearings on Trump
They have the moral high ground; now they need to use it to create real accountability for both parties.
By Joan Walsh
Today 1:03 pm


snip//

Still, I would like to see Franken’s departure be not just another #MeToo moment but a long-delayed #TrumpToo moment. Now that Franken has left the building, why can’t the Democratic senators who’ve asked him to resign—an astonishing 35 out of 48 caucus members—now commit to holding hearings on Trump’s many sexual-abuse accusations? A Quinnipiac poll out Wednesday shows that 70 percent of Americans polled say they want Congress to investigate the allegations against Trump; only 25 percent are opposed. Given that Trump’s pathetic approval ratings normally show him with the backing of 35 to 40 percent of those polled, this means a significant number of Trump supporters also want these charges investigated.


snip//

Another thing Franken’s resignation won’t do: It will never establish any kind of equivalence between what the Minnesota senator is accused of doing, and the accusations against Trump, Moore, and Texas Representative Blake Farenthold. Even though Franken is the first among them to pay any political price, there is no comparison in terms of what they’ve been charged with. Let’s start with Farenthold, who used 84,000 taxpayer dollars to settle a sexual harassment claim with an employee. That woman told The Washington Post this week that Farenthold ruined her career. She left politics and now babysits and does other odd jobs. None of Franken’s accusers have said anything close to that happened to them as a result of his wayward hands.

Much like Farenthold’s accuser, the woman Moore molested at 14, Leigh Corfman, says Moore’s abuse took a serious toll on her life—on her romantic prospects, her friendships, her sobriety, her career. That’s a sadly common story for victims of child sexual abuse.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, doesn’t have eight accusers, like Franken; he has twice that, 16. Their charges range from his reaching up their skirts to touch their vaginas through their underwear, to multiple counts of unwanted kissing, to all kinds of creepy groping, kissing, and predation. Plus, there are the four young Miss Teen Universe contestants who told Buzzfeed that Trump walked in on them while they were changing.
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For both that and the vagina-groping charge, we have Trump’s own voice in confirmation.”When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” he said on the Access Hollywood tape. “Grab ‘em by the pussy.” About his Miss Universe pageants, Trump told Howard Stern: “I’ll tell you the funniest is that I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone’s getting dressed. No men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in, because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it. You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody OK?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that.”

I think it would encourage demoralized progressives considerably if Democrats followed Franken’s departure with a strategy to bring Trump to public account for his serial abuse. And to shame House Speaker Paul Ryan for having the audacity to weigh in on now-retired Democratic representative John Conyers, while saying nothing about Farenthold. Democrats are doing the right thing, morally, but they really need to figure out the right thing, politically. This doesn’t end with Franken’s departure. It begins.

[SoCalMusicLover]

1. LOL!!

Think what you gotta to stay optimistic. Even if it's Lord Of The Rings type Fantasy.

[flamingdem]

2. Okay, but they didn't need Franken to resign to do all that

I think the allegations against Franken would have mostly dissolved given the light of day.

The news cycle just moves on to bigger and better scandals

[Kirk Lover]

10. Yes it would of moved on...the problem is all these new allegations popping up.

[flamingdem]

11. Now that is the one and only thing that has me even slightly supporting

what they did. But I think 99 percent of those allegations would be GOP smear false accusations and we have to take them on or they'll do it to someone else

[Kirk Lover]

13. Meanwhile the accusations would just keep piling up and it just wouldn't look good.

This was rock and hard place. I'm waiting to see how this plays out. This may have been a great chess move. At least that's what I'm hoping...but no matter what I would not abandon the party ! Unless they start running tRUMP like candidates.

[ollie10]

3. Now that Franken has left the building....

"Now that Franken has left the building, why can’t the Democratic senators who’ve asked him to resign—an astonishing 35 out of 48 caucus members—now commit to holding hearings on Trump’s many sexual-abuse accusations?"

Are you kidding?

Trump is a Republican.

Democrats only eat their own. Besides, they won't get any Republican votes to establish the committees in the first place. But it makes no difference....even if there were such an opportunity the "leaders" in the Senate would no doubt demur

When the Democrats grow a spine, please let me know. I will be happy to receive news of this great event.

[sharp_stick]

4. How are the Democrats supposed to hold hearings on Trump

It's just as dumb as the bleating to impeach Trump. Until the Democrats actually have a majority they can't do anything. Shit they can barely get a news team to stand around while they give a speech.

Get busy for 2018.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Exactly!

[babylonsister]

16. Well,

his Rudeness wrote this, and this they can do. There's nothing stopping them from bringing it up constantly. Some of those soundbites would get through. If enough people were talking, their voices could have an impact.

So task number one for Democrats every day, every goddamn day, needs to be calling out Donald Trump as a perpetrator of sexual assault. Every day, they need to call on him to resign, like Al Franken, like Anthony Weiner, like John Conyers. Don't give a fucking inch. And every chance they have to bring it up, they should. And every time they can confront him right to his stupid fucking face, they should. Make it fucking inescapable. Make Republicans have to either agree or actively deny that Trump did the shit he's accused of. Grind those fuckers down.

[Bibluca]

5. More talk from the bubble

Is Joan Walsh serious, or was this sarcasm/irony? If she's serious, it just shows what a bubble she must live in. Here's reality:

The Republicans and their VOTERS don't care about ethics. How many times does this need to be said before it sinks in? All they care about is winning. So they're NEVER going to investigate Trump if they have the power to NOT investigate. Since they are the majority in both Houses, this wish will go nowhere.

But more so, what Democratic senators does she think will rise to this challenge? They're too busy with their own interests to make waves now. None of them, other than Bernie, is a true leader.

BTW, "only" 35% of Americans is enough to get Trump re-elected, and keep the red state senators plenty safe.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. Oh no! You musn't rock the boat. We are the party of "no drama," remember. nt

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Give Ryan some credit...

...he did make Tim Murphy resign.

[enough]

9. Democratic hearings? To accomplish what? Democrats holding hearings

is not the same as the house or Senate holding hearings, which the Republicans will never do. The idea that this would accomplish anything at all is pure wishful thinking.

[gratuitous]

12. Anyone calling publicly for Rand Paul to resign?

Ooh, listen:

[MineralMan]

14. The minority party cannot hold any official Congressional hearings

without approval of the majority leadership. Are you not aware of that?

Without that approval, they cannot subpoena anyone. They cannot require anyone to testify at all. Such hearings are not official congressional hearings.

If we want to do that, then we have to win a majority of seats in the House and/or the Senate.

The system works as it works.

[rockfordfile]

15. I think they should be asking Trump to resign