# 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:** 67
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1322 "2017-12-07T17:51:02Z")
Your generosity and warm forgiveness is a beacon to us all. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1323 "2017-12-07T17:51:20Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > There are things Trump has done, and does, and is accused of doing, that I dislike. OTOH, he has supported and advocated for actions and policies that I like. He just removed ~2 million acres from national monuments in Utah. I’m having a hard time getting my dander up at him this week. Right. National Monuments suck. ---
**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 7, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1324 "2017-12-07T17:52:02Z")
Yeah, I can see how that stacks favourably against the fuckup in the middle east he just caused. Or throwing his support behind a theocratic pederast vying for as Senate seat. Or embarking on a program of religious persecution. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1325 "2017-12-07T17:59:27Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > … Or embarking on a program of religious persecution. Must have missed a story, and this reference is a bit too cryptic for me. What are you talking about here? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1326 "2017-12-07T18:17:17Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > There are things Trump has done, and does, and is accused of doing, that I dislike. OTOH, he has supported and advocated for actions and policies that I like. He just removed ~2 million acres from national monuments in Utah. I’m having a hard time getting my dander up at him this week. Honest question: why is that a good thing? Does it benefit you personally in some way? ---
**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 7, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1327 "2017-12-07T18:20:57Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Must have missed a story, and this reference is a bit too cryptic for me. What are you talking about here? His promise to bar all Muslims from entering the United States and the current ban on Muslims from certain places entering the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1328 "2017-12-07T18:21:14Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Must have missed a story, and this reference is a bit too cryptic for me. What are you talking about here? My guess is it’s about the Islamic religion, particularly including the very large majority of Muslims that are peaceful. ---
**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 7, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1329 "2017-12-07T18:22:04Z")
I’d like to note that the Trump supporter didn’t question my characterization of Trump as being supportive of a theocratic pederast. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1330 "2017-12-07T18:22:39Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > His promise to bar all Muslims from entering the United States and the current ban on Muslims from certain places entering the United States. Don’t forget the Muslim database. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1331 "2017-12-07T18:23:39Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > There are things Trump has done, and does, and is accused of doing, that I dislike. OTOH, he has supported and advocated for actions and policies that I like. He just removed ~2 million acres from national monuments in Utah. I’m having a hard time getting my dander up at him this week. As others noted, protecting Native American monuments is very, very bad; according to Trump. Protecting Confederate monuments? No matter how they deny history Trump thinks that they are also his heritage. :rolleyes: > **[Trying to shrink Bears Ears, Trump makes it clear whose heritage he cares about](https://medium.com/westwise/trying-to-shrink-bears-ears-trump-makes-it-clear-whose-heritage-he-cares-about-9542f1acf3ce)** > > Native American history is bad, Confederate monuments are good, public lands are for drilling, and national parks are for the rich. ---
**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 7, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1332 "2017-12-07T18:25:04Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Don’t forget the Muslim database. And then there’s the Muslim database. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1333 "2017-12-07T18:25:51Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I’d like to note that the Trump supporter didn’t question my characterization of Trump as being supportive of a theocratic pederast. I didn’t _agree with_ any of your characterizations, but I _understood_ what that one was referring to. You understand the difference, right? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1334 "2017-12-07T18:29:37Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Honest question: why is that a good thing? Does it benefit you personally in some way? It’ll give better protection to cattle ranchers for grazing, allow for more access to SITLA lands for economic development (reducing my taxes hopefully), and personally, should give me more options for my ATVing in the area. ---
**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 7, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1335 "2017-12-07T18:30:01Z")
That must be why you didn’t question it. Which is what I said. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1336 "2017-12-07T18:31:27Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > The real question is why are the Democrats willing to weed out their trash yet the Republican’s want to keep their filthy trash, like Moore? That alone makes it appear as if Democrats have climbed higher on the evolutionary ladder than the Republican politicians. Replace ‘climbed’ with ‘(Democratic party was) forced to live up to their stated moral standards after trying their best to figure out how to make those standards apply only to their political foes’ and you are get much, much closer to the truth. However, Franken is gone which is the correct end to this little fuckaroo. Now if Moore can get forced out of the race, we’d be getting somewhere. Then the next step is to open up all those settlements that congress has for various harassment claims, redact the victims names, and release the rest so that we can get rid of the rest of the scumbags (R or D) in congress. At that point, then the Democratic parties claims to care about these issues could be taken seriously. And maybe the Ds, acting as though morals and ethics matter as much as power, might influence the Republican party to do the same. However, I suspect that this little show of ethical judgement will be a short term aberration. Slee ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1337 "2017-12-07T18:39:17Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’ll give better protection to cattle ranchers for grazing, allow for more access to SITLA lands for economic development (reducing my taxes hopefully), and personally, should give me more options for my ATVing in the area. If it is just sold off to mining and exploitation companies, leaving the 2 million acres no longer fit for tourists, grazing, or even ATVing, destroying the current revenue from the tourism industry that operates off of those lands, will you still feel that it was a great idea? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1338 "2017-12-07T18:48:47Z")
Franken’s announcement that he’s resigning from the Senate was inevitable. I’m pleased he did the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1339 "2017-12-07T18:49:37Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If it is just sold off to mining and exploitation companies, leaving the 2 million acres no longer fit for tourists, grazing, or even ATVing, destroying the current revenue from the tourism industry that operates off of those lands, will you still feel that it was a great idea? Probably not, but I’m not particularly concerned that they’re going to sell off all the land. I suspect, at most, it’ll be a tiny %. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1340 "2017-12-07T18:52:18Z")
Just to recap: most of Bears Ears has now reverted to the same status it had just over one year ago. Somehow, we had managed to avoid selling it off to mining and exploitation companies and destroying the land for all those years prior to 2016, and I suspect that trend will continue now that it’s back in the same status. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/1341 "2017-12-07T18:55:25Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As others noted, protecting Native American monuments is very, very bad; according to Trump. Protecting Confederate monuments? No matter how they deny history Trump thinks that they are also his heritage. :rolleyes: > > [Trying to shrink Bears Ears, Trump makes it clear whose heritage he cares about | by Jesse Prentice-Dunn | Westwise | Medium](https://medium.com/westwise/trying-to-shrink-bears-ears-trump-makes-it-clear-whose-heritage-he-cares-about-9542f1acf3ce) Yeah, that’s really pathetic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770.md?page=68)