The Democrats' sacrifice of Al Franken was cynical and ridiculous

[tenderfoot]

For Roy Moore, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and their ilk? Keep those disclosures coming. But Al Franken’s party assassination for a rehearsal kiss, a stupid photograph and some mostly anonymous butt-grabbing is ripped by false equivalencies.

Hearing his peers urge him out of the Senate, I wanted to yell, “What the hell is wrong with you people?”

I know more about sexual abuses than politics. On the former, I speak from intimate knowledge. Here’s a very edited list of my own #metoo moments.

I was 14 years of age when a man who later turned out to be a serial killer, Rodney Alcala, rushed at me with an erection. At 17, the family doctor, age 70, molested me. That was sexual assault.

As a college student, my comparative literature professor lunged me with a gaping mouth. (He hadn’t put his teeth in that day.) Unsure how to deal with it, I never went to class again. He gave me a D. That was abuse of power.

<snip>

Unlike Trump, who admitted his crimes yet remains on the throne and supports pedophiles seeking office, Franken has accepted responsibility for actions that might be offensive and inappropriate but denied any kind sexual or impropriety.

Even if he were guilty of crimes charged, all violations are not equal. Moore’s preying on jailbait is a real #metoo. A guy who greets you naked or masturbates in front of you. #metoo. Sexual intimidation? #metoo.

But the jerk who couldn’t lift his eyes from your breasts, the guy who didn’t call you after, even the one who grinded you on the dance floor, are all greater offenders than the politician whose hand fell south from a woman’s waist during her photo request or the comic who got manic and staged a photograph that wasn’t funny.

Tweeden and the others are not victims. Period.

The #metoo movement has been co-opted for Franken’s political sabotage and the Democrats stepped right into it, offering the senator up as its lamb.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/democrats-sacrifice-al-franken-cynical-ridiculous-article-1.3685757

[leftstreet]

1. "Vote for us, we're better than Republicans!"

same shit, different campaign season

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Yeah. It didn't work against tRump 2016 after "grab her". Why would it work now?

[Xipe Totec]

18. We won't send you to the back of the bus, we'll throw you under it instead. nt

[TrollBuster9090]

29. I think the official slogan is "Vote For Us. We're (Marginally) Better Than Republicans!"

MOST of what they do is cynical and ridiculous. The establishment Democrats are only marginally better than the establishment Republicans, which is exactly why only half the population bothers to vote.

The only hope for the Party is for the INDIVISIBLE movement to take it over from the inside, and demand that the establishment pay attention to somebody besides Wall Street donors.

[wellst0nev0ter]

45. You... saw the tax vote, right?

None of the Dems voted for that giveaway to millionaires.

[TrollBuster9090]

46. Yes. It was the equivalent of Republicans voting 60 times to repeal Obamacare when they knew

...when they knew it wouldn't matter. This is simply the reverse of that. But we got a chance to see how they govern when they actually control Congress and the White House. They made no attempt to re-write the tax code to make it less regressive. Fair enough. They chose to spend their political capital on the stimulus package to rescue the economy, Dodd-Frank and the CFPB, and Obamacare. But even those things were loaded with giveaways and sweeteners to the donor class. The stimulus package was mostly tax cuts, which do absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy. It's just that a third of the Democrats still buy into the zombie lie that tax cuts stimulate job creation. And Obamacare was loaded with corporate giveaways.

And don't even get me started on gun safety regulations...

[wellst0nev0ter]

48. When Dems had power, they didn't do anything REMOTELY

like what the repukes are doing now. Learn to see the difference.

[pnwmom]

35. Bernie signed the letter, too. What was his motive? n/t

[leftstreet]

39. He's not a Democrat

I don't know why he signed it

I was referring to the democratic senators who called for Franken's resignation, and speculating along with the OP as to motive

[CrowCity_Dem]

2. False equivalency BS...

Who has actually tried to say that anything Franken did is on par with what Moore and Trump have done?

No one, that's who.

We're veering close to Republican territory if we want to make the argument that because someone else has done something worse, we don't have to grapple with our own issues. We're better than that.

[hurple]

4. Gillibrand

did.

Explicitly.

[CrowCity_Dem]

16. She did no such thing. Lying only makes you look petty and wrong.

[hurple]

22. she most certainly DID!

When asked about Franken and false equivilency to moore..

she said something like... There are no different levels of sexual harassment and if we are discussing levels then we are having the wrong discussion. Been looking for the *exact* quote, but cannot find it.

IOW... What Franken did was every bit as bad as what moore did.

[CrowCity_Dem]

25. What she said was...

if you're trying to parse the differences in the media, you're having the wrong conversation.

She at no point ever said that touching someone's behind is the same thing as trying to rape a child. You have to know better than that.

[tazkcmo]

30. But apparently

Only one costs you your job.

[dchill]

28. Yes. She did.

“I think when we start having to talk about the differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment and unwanted groping you are having the wrong conversation,” Ms. Gillibrand said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill news conference when asked about calling on Mr. Franken to resign.

[bathroommonkey76]

32. Here's video proof of that quote

[dchill]

33. Thanks.

[hurple]

5. and

Barbara Comstock

[hurple]

24. who said

Franken can go out of the door with roy moore

Thus equating them, and their deeds.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Thanks For The Lecture

Not

[BootinUp]

8. Lol. Nt

[LakeArenal]

10. How do you know Franken did anything?

Because someone with true ties to the opposition says so?

Because of some trumped up public photos taken in front of loved ones. Pictures where facial expression doesn't change as someone is gripping their fat roll or butt.

But seriously how do you know? No facing of the accusers. No due process. No witnesses or photo image evidence for the accused? Even though the accused not the "victim" has asked for it?

I have said before, I am glad you spoke up. It's good to know who is willing to ruin a person and their career on the above "evidence" or lack thereof.

[pandr32]

26. Social awkwardness

We all experience it. It is part of being among others. That is all Sen. Franken is guilty of-- being human and mixing it up in public because he doesn't hide from constituents.
Moore, tRump and others--intent. They aren't inadvertent touchers crowding in for a picture. They prey on others deliberately.

[USALiberal]

11. 3 posts? LOL, okk n.t

[marble falls]

21. Good point. We do not want get sidetracked, not now, not before 2018 and 2020.

[hurple]

3. so...

How's the "moral high ground" working out for you, dems?

[Duppers]

14. Writing back from "please donated" emails...

Last edited Fri Dec 8, 2017, 08:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Got 3 today and unsubscribed with this message:

"Franken was framed by the RW. You called for his resignation without an investigation, without due process. I do not want to hear from anyone asking for his resignation!!! You fools were played!! Good bye"

[Scruffy1]

7. The more I think about it the more cynical I become.

I suspect it has a lot to do with a power struggle for the senate leadership. Al was perceived as a threst to the current "leaders". That's how politics goes.

[Duppers]

13. Indeed.

[leftofcool]

31. Al was preceived a a potential threat to a certain person who wants to run in 2020.

[pnwmom]

36. Who? Bernie? I know he signed the letter, but I doubt that was his motive. nt

[TheDebbieDee]

12. And STUPID! You forgot stupid...

[ancianita]

15. Ousting Al for occasional 'nuisance' behavior is unequal punishment compared to Repub predations.

[Jane Austin]

17. Amen.

Al was silly, clownish and maybe boorish.

That shouldn't make you lose your job.

[octoberlib]

19. Read what his staffers have to say.

https://news.vice.com/story/frankens-staff-thinks-the-me-too-movement-got-the-wrong-guy?utm_source=vicenewstwitter

[cp]

20. Still seething

Gillebrand and other Dems are wrong to have betrayed Al Franken. That's the calmest way I can put this.
Even my senator Tammy Baldwin. Try getting another dime or an ounce of canvassing work from me. I am done.

[Blue_Tires]

23. Hey, don't look at me, I've been trying to explain it to folks...

[ffr]

27. One has to wonder if jealously had some part in this.

Al Franken wasn't suppose to be such a quick, intelligent rising star.

It is politics after all.

[pnwmom]

34. You mean, "The Democrats and Bernie's sacrifice," right? I see so many people here

stirring up anger at the Democrats. I've even seen the claim made that this proves that the parties are broken -- as if the Dems weren't joined in this by the independent democratic socialist.

[questionseverything]

41. 34 dems and bernie...he must be powerful in your mind

glad you got back on script , it was kinda freaking me out when you and i agreed for a day or two

[pnwmom]

43. His presence on the list show that the list isn't a sign that the Democratic party is broken,

unless you think that Bernie is broken, too.

[questionseverything]

44. i think bernie was completely wrong to join in on this witch hunt

most of the senators on the list i gave up on long ago to deliver anything but nibbles around the edges of justice

[ananda]

37. In this matter, the Dems are worse than Reeps!

They eat their own.

[dlk]

38. This Was a Senseless/Needless Sacrifice

I truly believe the green-eyed monster played a major role in this entire debacle. That, and there are rumors Schumer sacrificed Franken in a trade for Jerusalem. This was a dirty deal from the beginning and smells like GOP dirty tricks.

[hay rick]

40. Very sad episode.

Makes the Democratic senators look weak and foolish.

[questionseverything]

42. run away,run away...that's the motto don't ya know

[flamingdem]

47. That was a fricking failure and eventually the Dem leadership needs to OWN UP TO IT

I don't think I'll be able to forgive them anytime soon.

I just hope and pray some of them have the sense to beg Franken's forgiveness and admit error.