# Now, Al Franken **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 16, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770 "2017-11-16T15:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 63
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1242 "2017-12-06T20:13:39Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I think a consistent Democratic policy of kicking out sex harassers coupled with a consistent Republican policy of coddling them would score them some points. But I don’t think that’s happening or will happen. Well, I dunno… Between Coynes and Franken (contingent on Franken actually resigning) and Trump and Moore, it sure does _seem_ like that’s what’s happening… > [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > The real problem here isn’t with Moore, it’s with the voters. Can’t we just expel _Alabama itself_? Joking. Kind of. Please, it’s main exports are embarrassing culture war and _racism_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1243 "2017-12-06T20:31:27Z")
The latest: [“I Believe Franken’s Accusers Because He Groped Me, Too”](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/547691/) ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1244 "2017-12-06T20:33:24Z")
Franken’s seventh accuser (if I haven’t lost count) might have been reading this thread on the SDMB in addition to Twitter: > [@](#): > > … There was an instant cognitive dissonance with Democrats on Twitter. People like Franken. Democrats need Franken. See, the accuser had been on Sean Hannity’s show. She must therefore be a right-winger. She could have been put up to this, they speculated. Roger Stone had tweeted that the “touchy” Franken was about to be exposed six hours before the story dropped. That’s fishy, they surmised. They all sounded paranoid, irrational, and conspiratorial. But that’s how we all sound these days. … [source](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/i-believe-frankens-accusers-because-he-groped-me-too/547691/) ETA: beat by TOWP ☹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1245 "2017-12-06T20:36:46Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Franken’s seventh accuser (if I haven’t lost count) might have been reading this thread on the SDMB in addition to Twitter > [@](#): > > ETA: beat by TOWP ☹ There’s also [another](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/al-franken-accusation-sexual-harassment-2006-281049) one out today. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1246 "2017-12-06T20:39:33Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Oh yeah, sure; that’s gonna happen. The Democrats have been fucking great at getting their message out and controlling the conversation for the past couple decades, right? > > Here’s what’s more likely, IMO: Democrats will do the right thing. Republicans will paint them as the party of harassers and gropers and rapists. Republicans will paint Republicans as never having done any of those terrible things; all accusations are obviously lies. Why obvious? Well, he/she got elected, right? Couldn’t get elected if they were bad people; the GOP just doesn’t let that happen. And so not only will the Democrats be labeled the party of gropers and harassers, they’ll also be the party who enables terrible people to make these accusations against their political enemies. And the GOP base will eat that right up. In the end, what matters is what democratic voters are willing to tolerate from democratic politicians, and sexual harassment is not one of them. This is why I don’t necessarily have a problem with letting the voters (or the polls) decide in cases such as these, even in the case of Roy Moore. Forget the party for a moment, because where I’m going with this should hit even closer to home: Republican voters are more likely to support a rapist and a pedophile that Democratic voters. In short, they’re just better people. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1247 "2017-12-06T20:39:55Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > There’s also [another](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/al-franken-accusation-sexual-harassment-2006-281049) one out today. I got that one back in post #1204. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1248 "2017-12-06T20:42:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I got that one back in post #1204. So you did. Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1249 "2017-12-06T20:45:35Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > … Republican voters are more likely to support a rapist and a pedophile that Democratic voters. In short, they’re just better people. The people that elected and re-elected Bill Clinton? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1250 "2017-12-06T20:51:21Z")
I forget how many pages back it’s buried, but I wonder if the ‘I’d believe it if there were more accusations, but I won’t say a number’ people think there are enough accusations now. It doesn’t really seem like these are going to stop anytime soon. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > And the GOP base will eat that right up. Why should the democrats worry about pursuing the GOP base? More eligible voters picked ‘none of the above’ than either major party candidate, Democrats should be trying to entice people who didn’t vote for either major party to vote D instead of courting hardcore R voters. > **[If “Did Not Vote” Had Been A Candidate In The 2016 US Presidential...](https://brilliantmaps.com/did-not-vote/)** > > Map created using 270 To Win, based on reddit user Taillesskangaru's posts here and updated here. The map above shows what the 2016 US Presidential Election results would have been if votes not cast for Hillary, Trump or one of the third party... ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1251 "2017-12-06T20:52:37Z")
Sure, Richard Mellon Scaife propped up women to slander Clinton and try to destroy his Presidency, but I don’t recall any allegations of child fucking. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1252 "2017-12-06T20:53:17Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The people that elected and re-elected Bill Clinton? Show me the solid evidence that a) Bill Clinton is a rapist and pedophile, and b) that people knew that when they voted for him. More than that, you do realize that Clinton last ran for elected office in 1996. How much longer are you going to milk Slick Willie? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1253 "2017-12-06T21:08:22Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The people that elected and re-elected Bill Clinton? “whataboutism” eh? Moore isnt a sick pedophile because Bill got a blow job from a willing adult female.:rolleyes::o I was willing to give Franken the benefit of the doubt with that one accuser, the model. But now, yeah, he should resign. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1254 "2017-12-06T21:13:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “whataboutism” eh? … Yeah, the post I was responding to was “whataboutism”, so I responded in kind. It felt right. > [@DrDeth](#): > > … Moore isnt a sick pedophile … There are accusations that he is, and for that, I wish he wasn’t in the running for Senate. I’m not a Moore fan. > [@DrDeth](#): > > … because Bill got a blow job from a willing adult female.:rolleyes::o … Is that your understanding of the full extent of the accusations against Bill Clinton? > [@DrDeth](#): > > I was willing to give Franken the benefit of the doubt with that one accuser, the model. Why? > [@DrDeth](#): > > … But now, yeah, he should resign. > ☹ Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1255 "2017-12-06T21:57:39Z")
Al Franken will resign tomorrow: > [@](#): > > A Democratic official who has spoken to Al Franken and key aides says Franken will resign his Minnesota Senate seat on Thursday, the official tells MPR News. > > SOURCE: [Sen. Al Franken will resign, Democratic official says | MPR News](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/12/06/senator-al-franken-to-resign) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1256 "2017-12-06T22:05:29Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think he’ll be resigning soon. Don’t know when exactly, but there’s a limit, and I think it’s been crossed. Should have been after credible allegation #1, but it will still be the right thing, both morally and politically, even if it’s late. > > This is based on personal (online) conversations I’ve had with a party insider (no one particularly famous). I’d like to toot my own horn from 2 weeks ago here. Not that it was just me – it was also from the guy I talked to who knows some folks. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1257 "2017-12-06T22:12:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’d like to toot my own horn from 2 weeks ago here. Not that it was just me – it was also from the guy I talked to who knows some folks. I was going to toot your horn too, but was waiting for the official announcement tomorrow. I was deeply skeptical that Franken would ever resign, but you were right, and have been advocating for it since way back on Page 1 if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1258 "2017-12-06T22:13:49Z")
Wonder if Moore will do the same? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1259 "2017-12-06T22:22:58Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Wonder if Moore will do the same? You do? I don’t. His resigning would require a measure of integrity not to be found in Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1260 "2017-12-06T22:51:11Z")
In the cold light or _realpolitik_, pushing Franken off the island makes perfect sense. He’s been pretty good but not spectacular, Amy Klobuchar is roughly equivalent, the appointed Senator can fairly be expected to be similar. No loss. Major gain in position relative to the questionable standards of Republicans. Definite gain relative to “women’s issues”. (Scare quotes intended only to suggest shorthand and not snark…) And, of course, one less “whatabout”. Personally, think he should have gotten his hearing. But the injury to the Forces of Darkness is a worthy effort. He has to take one for the team. He’s gonna take it right in the balls, but tough shit. He was a decent enough Senator, but he will be even better ammo. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1261 "2017-12-06T23:04:45Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I assume that if the announcement is “suck it,” there’d be little reason to wait. Some poor aide that has control of his Twitter account is still clinging to hope: > [@](#): > > [Not accurate, @mpr @Stowydad. No final decision has been made and the Senator is still talking with his family. Please update your story.](https://twitter.com/SenFranken/status/938532408525246464) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770.md?page=64)