I am not clear on why Bernie would want to railroad Franken. What were his ulterior motives?

[LexVegas]

[kcr]

1. The same as everyone else's were at that point

Once the #MeToo pile on against Franken had begun, no one wanted to risk looking like they were against it and there was safety in numbers after a certain point.

[Renew Deal]

6. I think there is truth to this

Franken put the word out and gave time to let everyone get on board.

[kcr]

8. No. Franken was fighting this tooth and nail.

I meant the others jumped on board after the initial group made their announcement.

[Renew Deal]

11. I know

I think there's a little more to it along the same lines.

[brooklynite]

26. "Fighting tooth and nail"

“I know there are no magic words that I can say to regain your trust,” Mr. Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, said during a brief and contrite news conference outside his Senate office. “I know that it’s going to take time.”

“I’m going to try to learn from my mistakes,” he told reporters here. “In doing so, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. I want to be someone who adds something to this conversation.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/us/politics/al-franken-sexual-harassment.html?_r=0

[ChubbyStar]

34. BOOM! Thing of beauty my dear

[brooklynite]

38. Had dinner with the Party Chair on Wednesday; had a reception with a House candidate last night...

(fun fact: the House candidate, with wife and kids in tow, didn't seem to think he was at risk of being accused of sexually inappropriate behavior).

[Egnever]

9. Hell Franken himself did not want to look like he was against it

Which is why he was so kind to his accusers in the first place.

It left the opening for these senators to do what they did because he did not come out with a full force denial and opted instead to try to respect the women's feelings regardless of if the allegations were true or not.

His attempt to keep the movement on track is what led to his downfall and eventually led to these dems being afraid to stand up for him in the face of the women in the senate coming after him.

What i find the most tragic is that he made his statements in a way that the movement says they should be made and
,I think should be made, but the lesson in the end is if you do so you show weakness.

In one fell swoop the actions of the democrats undercut due process AND the message they were supposedly trying to send.

[kcr]

13. This is why I think their actions do more harm than good

As well as being morally and ethically reprehensible. In the beginning I was fearful of how he was apologizing. I worried that it would end badly, but knew that's why he was doing it. There are wolves everywhere. I did not see that maneuver from the Dems coming, though.

[BootinUp]

21. Well said. Nt

[SHRED]

37. Well said

He responded correctly and was punished.

This will undercut the MeToo movement in my opinion.

[flamingdem]

67. I agree with you

Especially your conclusion

[mountain grammy]

75. Yep. there's truth to this.

[hlthe2b]

2. Oblivious to, or in denial re: how far the RW would take things--OR "path of least resistance"?

[nycbos]

3. So Bernie now goes under the bus on DU.

Wow know I have seen it all.

I remember when if you didn't take everything he said as gospel during the primary you were a right wing sellout.

[kcr]

4. To be fair, along with almost every other Dem colleague if that's any comfort

[questionseverything]

31. as a huge bernie fan, i expected more of him, warren and brown too

hate to admit it but most the rest of the pile on dems, i didnt admire to begin with

<shrugs>

[kcr]

32. The whole thing is hugely disappointing

I haven't been that upset since election day.

[brush]

41. It can't get any more disappointing. Our party leaders showed they won't back their...

colleagues — or us.

[questionseverything]

48. all we can do is find different leaders

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

51. I was sorry to see Bernie join the rest of his Senate colleagues shoveling

dirt on Franken's grave without the benefit of a fair hearing... but, at least the guy's out front, leading the charge to force the Pussy-Grabber-in-Chief to resign.

[questionseverything]

59. franken did not have to be sacrificed to do that

i love bernie's ideas...it really was if he was the only one that cared millions of us were left out by the aca,saw the 99% as worth saving,understood it is rigged against most of us from cradle to grave

but folding under whatever pressure was applied doesn't fly with me

andblue i hate to tell ya,repubs dont care about what trump has done..under any circumstances

repubs care about 4 things in no special order

controlling women's bodies

hating peops of color

vets/cops

not giving their money to the govt because they feel they waste it anyways

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

63. I hear ya... so bummed.

[questionseverything]

64. so somehow we gotta pick up and try again

•And, speaking of...on the eve of Tuesday's much-watched U.S. Senate special election in Alabama, multi-partisan Election Integrity advocates file suit to force the state to retain "ballot images" from the state's paper ballot digital-scanners. New York Daily News' Editorial Board joins them in that call...for very good reason. (My interview several days ago with the longtime election integrity champ, John Brakey, who helped organize the lawsuit and effort, is right here.)

http://bradblog.com/

i truely believe we are in this mess because since the mid 60s we have not counted our own votes, we have let electronic voting companies (owned by repubs) take away our power

there is a group working to change that in alabama, it maybe too little too late but i want the idea of democracy to survive

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

66. Wow, nice... keep up the good fight!!

[questionseverything]

70. since gore's election was stolen..we have been trying

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029955431

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

71. Good for you... Gore's stolen election was the reason I went from being a lurker here to

joining the club and participating.

[spooky3]

76. disappointed also in Merkley

[womanofthehills]

77. Me too - so disappointed in Bernie and Warren.

[apcalc]

79. I am not interested in either.

[PatrickforO]

58. I expect more of Bernie, and I'm very disappointed in his piling on

this me too thing.

As to whether strong Bernie supporters wouldn't criticize him, forget that. If I think he's wrong, as I do now, I'm going to criticize him. I thought he was about 95% right during the primaries, and I really liked his platform. Still do. But I abhor this particular action he has taken. It amounted to spineless pandering.

As to motive, I think several of the instigators have presidential ambitions, and they mistakenly calculated this brazen act of betrayal would make them stand out in a positive way. It didn't.

As to the rest, I suspect we have a party that is basically gutless. It lives in fear of doing or saying the wrong thing, because the timing is or isn't right. Like when Pelosi and Steny Hoyer told their rank and file 'it isn't the time' for articles of impeachment.

BULLSHIT.

Let's have some guts here, folks. Those 58 House members that voted FOR those articles have guts. They deserve our support. They stand for something. They are willing to say, 'enough.'

These Senators, and the House members who did NOT vote their conscience, aren't displaying the guts that would inspire the 40+ percent of Independent voters to follow them. Hell, those voters say (and I am tempted to say), they don't stand for anything but their own advancement, and they are too scared of losing the next election to really DO anything.

In the meantime the GOP is screwing us right and left, raping the treasury, stealing trillions of dollars of money that we've paid in or will pay in, and transferring all that wealth to billionaire parasites.

And you know what they are saying about this whole Franken witch hunt? Nothing, because they are laughing too hard at a craven party that refuses to stand for justice and common decency. I don't believe that, but it sure looks that way right now, doesn't it?

And it sure as HELL looks that way to Independents. They hate the Republicans, they hate Trump, but we Democrats still have to EARN their votes, and we are doing a really shitty job of that.

[flamingdem]

68. What you said

The dems ended up looking weak here. I hope they realize this going forward. Even if they don't admit it some of them must be wishing they never jumped the shark

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

69. Right there with you... disappointed in Bernie's "pile on" too...

denying Franken due process. At least he's leading the charge against the Pussy-Grabber-in-Chief... gotta give him credit for that.

BTW, 95% sounds about right... a pretty damn good score for Bernie if you ask me!

[Voltaire2]

5. Why pick on Sanders? He is just one of many

in the Senate Democratic caucus insisting that Franken resign.

Your op just seems like more primary wars revisited.

[CrowCity_Dem]

7. The real question is...

... why so many people so bitterly angry at Gillibrand, while completely ignoring everyone else who asked Franken to step aside?

There was even one comment I read here that said the person had emailed all the female Senators involved to express his displeasure.

What about the men?

Seems there isn't any anger towards them around these parts. I wonder why....

[msongs]

10. has she called publicly for trump to resign? nt

[Voltaire2]

12. I agree with all of them. Franken has to go.

We should stop with the hypocritical partisan outrage. Serial sexual abuse is unacceptable.

[rockfordfile]

15. You should tell them Senators to ask Trump to resign

Why are they supporting trump? The longer those Senators let trump go the worst it will look on them.

[Voltaire2]

19. what about trump is pathetic.

[FarPoint]

28. There had been no due process...

Just character assination....so this is still a Democracy..... This is a complete failure moment..... destructive ....

[apcalc]

80. Agree. Zero tolerance.

[Egnever]

16. Schummer got my first letter

If you think we are not mad at all of them you are fooling yourself.

That said she was the ringleader so it is appropriate she should receive the most attention.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

72. Abso-fuckin-lutely!!

[questionseverything]

33. i am disgusted with all of them...gillibrand was the leader but

all of them should of known better

[brush]

44. Because she was the first one to immediately believe Tweeden's sketchy story...

She also gave Bill Clinton a sideways kick under the bus to demand Al resign as she rushed to board it.

Then of course after the last two accusers came forward 3 days ago — you know the waist groper accuser and the other one who said Al tried to kiss by saying "it's my right as an entertainer" — anyone who believes that crappola and leads other colleagues to demand Franken's resignation is bat shit naive or ambitious as hell and wants a potential 2020 rival out of the way.

[Bengus81]

74. As I've said the TRUTH never mattered,only the ACCUSATIONS.....

And that in a FUCKING nutshell is what's wrong here. Peeps on here trying to shout us down would want others to believe we'd let Franken off the hook for shooting someone on 5th Ave. BULLSHIT,I'll be the first to call for Franken to go when I see real PROOF he needed to go.

An anonymous accuser stating Franken said to them he had the right to force himself on them because "it's his right as an entertainer" is NOT credible. This was a HIT JOB and these Dems made sure Republicans got what they wanted.

[Bengus81]

73. Did they post that early when there were no men?

I can't remember the exact time frame but there were only....I think 10-12 women at first.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

78. They're all equally responsible, tho, honestly, one could argue Gillibrand was the "tipping point"

that lead to the "pile on."

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

52. Expected nothing less.

[Tipperary]

14. I am not a fan of Bernie. But I do not see him as the bad guy in this debacle.

I only see our own leaders and it leaves me confused and disappointed.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. My thoughts exactly.

[rockfordfile]

17. Well for some reason the supporters of Bernie think that a progressive will be in the seat

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

18. He saw him as competition in 2020

Same as many of the others

And he thought he could get misguided #metoo points and pick up votes by joining the mob.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

56. Bernie stated his position quite clearly, as usual...

I disagree with that position, denying Franken the opportunity to adequately defend himself, but, he certainly wasn't leading the charge, as he does on most issues.

[Agschmid]

20. We see you.

[milestogo]

22. Why don't you ask about the motives of the Dems?

[pnwmom]

39. That is the point of the OP, I think. Over and over here people have been blaming the Dems

and questioning their motives.

But no one's acknowledging that it wasn't just Dems -- another progressive did so, too.

[questionseverything]

49. if that is your sideways kick at bernie...i blame him too

he should of been smarter

his idea that healthcare is a human right is still valid tho

[pnwmom]

50. Hillary strongly believes healthcare is a human right. And that's why she led the fight for a

universal healthcare bill during Bill's administration. This bill would have gone much farther than the ACA and was opposed by the insurance industry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993

The Clinton health care plan, was a 1993 healthcare reform package proposed by the administration of President Bill Clinton and closely associated with the chair of the task force devising the plan, First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton.

The president had campaigned heavily on health care in the 1992 presidential election. The task force was created in January 1993, but its own processes were somewhat controversial and drew litigation. Its goal was to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans, which was to be a cornerstone of the administration's first-term agenda. The president delivered a major health care speech to the US Congress in September 1993. During his speech he proposed an enforced mandate for employers to provide health insurance coverage to all of their employees.

Opposition to the plan was heavy from conservatives, libertarians, and the health insurance industry. The industry produced a highly effective television ad, "Harry and Louise", in an effort to rally public support against the plan.

SNIP

According to an address to Congress by then-President Bill Clinton on September 22, 1993, the proposed bill would provide a "health care security card" to every citizen that would irrevocably entitle him or her to medical treatment and preventative services, including for pre-existing conditions.[2]

To achieve this, the Clinton health plan required each US citizen and permanent resident alien to become enrolled in a qualified health plan on his or her own or through programs mandated to be offered by businesses with more than 5,000 full-time employees. Subsidies were to be provided to those too poor to afford coverage, including complete subsidies for those below a set income level. Users would choose plans offered by regional health alliances to be established by each state. These alliances would purchase insurance coverage for the state's residents and could set fees for doctors who charge per procedure.[3][4] The act provided funding to be sent to the states for the administration of the plan, beginning at $14 billion in 1993 and reaching $38 billion in 2003.

The plan also specified which benefits must be offered; a National Health Board to oversee the quality of health care services; enhanced physician training; the creation of model information systems; federal funding in the case of the insolvency of state programs; rural health programs; long-term care programs; coverage for abortions, with a "conscience clause" to exempt practitioners with religious objections; malpractice and antitrust reform; fraud prevention measures; and a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, among other features.

[MaryMagdaline]

23. He thought it was the right thing to do

He is an Independent. He could have stayed out of this. I think he thinks it was right to do. (I did not vote for Bernie, but I trust his moral judgment).

[FreeStateDemocrat]

27. I don't trust any presidential candidate that dodges releasing their tax returns!!!

[brooklynite]

24. He didn't want to "railroad" Franken...

He wanted to respect the opinion of the Democratic Women Senators (are seem to be referred to here as either stupid or ambitious) that at least some of the charges were credible and the behavior was no longer acceptable.

[pnwmom]

40. People have been ascribing nefarious motives to the Democrats who signed the letter.

i think the OP is pointing out that someone we respect who isn't a Democrat also signed the letter.

[question everything]

25. 2020 (nt)

[dhol82]

29. 2018 is just as, if not more, important!

[question everything]

35. Is he up for re-election? Then yes, you are correct (nt)

[brush]

45. He wasn't up for re-election until 2020 but his replacement will face a special election in 2018

Another miscalculation by "our dear leaders" who rushed to judgment and forced Franken out without an investigation.

[gopiscrap]

36. there was talk of Franken running for president in 2020

Bernie might want that spot for himself

[Tom Rinaldo]

42. Senators aren't knee capping Franken to clear the path for themselves

The Senate is a small place, members of the Democratic Caucus know each other pretty well - it simply isn't that blood thirsty and ruthless - at least not on our side of the aisle. And Bernie's voice in this matter was not a decisive one. The push to make Franken resign began elsewhere, and for other reasons. All sources I've seen seem to indicate that the female Democratic Senators were decisive. Once they as a virtual group made their views clear it became more difficult for male Democratic Caucus members to not follow their lead on Franken, assuming they weren't already strongly of that inclination.

[dlk]

43. When Big Egos Are Involved, the Green-Eyed Monster Thrives

Remember, it takes a big ego to fund raise millions and run for the Senate. I don't discount the role of the green-eyed monster in this mess.

[DavidDvorkin]

46. Franken was getting some of the attention he thought he deserved.

[left-of-center2012]

47. Stirring the pot

Of all the Senators who rightly or wrongly spoke out against Franken,
it was Bernie who "railroaded" him?

Sadly some will bash Bernie if there's a cloud in the sky.
If their Wheaties are too soggy.
If their milk is too warm, their coffee too cold.

Sad. Very sad.

Just sad.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

57. Beyond sad... more like pathetic!!

[JI7]

54. Same reason the rest of them did.

[McCamy Taylor]

55. Bernie did not do it. Roget Stone did it. Can we not Divide and Conquer ourselves?

[left-of-center2012]

62. Too many enjoy the 'circular firing squad'

Sad

[emulatorloo]

60. Please delete this thread n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

61. Agree. And replace it with one about the many crimes of Putin.

[aikoaiko]

65. I see no evidence of Bernie railroading Franken. What are your motives for saying so?

[David__77]

81. Slimy original post.

That said, as someone who voted for Sanders in the primary, I disagree with his call for Franken to resign. I’d certainly like to understand these senators’ criteria for determining when a colleague needs to resign. It looks like opportunism and expediency, and I don’t respect that in this instance.