Ouch! That’s going to leave a mark.
How does having a groper in the Senate help the Democrats? For moral reasons, but for political reasons as well, Franken should step down. Let at least the Democrats be the groper-free party. Franken can go on to try and make amends and do good things in other ways, perhaps, but as long as we have a groper in the Senate, it will be that much easier for Republicans to point at him as a “what about Franken?” distraction for a million other future disgusting things Republicans will be caught doing. This (addressing the massive problem of sexual assault/harassment, and belittling victims and accusers, in our society) will be a long and painful process, and zero-tolerance, at least for high political office, for groping and similar shittiness, should be one of the easiest parts of that process.
I’m on the fence. If he was at a party and under the influence and said something untoward or got a little grabby, that might be forgivable if it’s a one-time thing and not a pattern of conduct. Context matters.
But if he forcibly kissed her then we’re getting into some seriously bad behavior here, and if other women come forward then it’s disqualifying. I’ve liked Franken, too, but he doesn’t get a pass just because he’s not an R.
What I found more interesting about the proposed Stahl sketch was not the rape one but the one where “When she passes out. I put her in various positions and take pictures of her.” Pretty similar to what actually happened here.
I’m just wondering how many other women will start coming out with charges (presumably true) about other congressmen. I never for a moment believed that sexual harassment was confined to the Republican party. I’ve just felt the need to point out the blatant fake piety of Republicans and their voters. It would make me feel better to know that progressives have higher standards in terms of holding sexual predators accountable. Time will tell, and Franken is probably a very good first test case. If it turns out that Franken has a pattern of behavior and not just a one-off ‘mistake’ then the Democrats should confront him. If they don’t, then they shouldn’t expect voters to be turned off by Roy Moore.
In Moore’s case, it’s accusers, plural. And they had no links to any of his political opponents. The WaPo story was very clear on that, as well they should be because it’s one of the first questions anyone should ask when hearing about these sorts of allegations.
A lot like Louis CK with his masturbation jokes. I really don’t see this ending well for him, it hasn’t even been a day and it’s exploding.
You are comparing a documented record of right-wing activism to “what she was wearing”? I can’t respond to that outside the Pit.
Hey, I agree with iiandyiiii!
Weren’t the Spacey and Moore allegations both for 14 year olds? Regardless, I put this Franken thing far lower down the scale. This is more like inappropriate and unprofessional versus should spend years in jail.
Not sure where I’d put Ailes and Oreilly. I honestly don’t know the details on theirs, just some generalities.
Me too.
Also the angry stalker story is far scarier sounding to me than the photo. That’s mentally unhinged.
…you need to show why a “documented record of right-wing activism” casts doubt on a credible accusation that comes with a photo and a contrite accused. But you haven’t done that. You are just “throwing it out there.”
Whether you like it or not you are doing exactly the same thing as people who say “what was she wearing?” And if you can’t respond to that outside of the pit its because you know what I’m saying is true.
It also adds a lot of credence to Tweeden’s interpretation of the events leading to the photo. It’s kind of easy to say ‘well, maybe she was just misinterpreting what he was doing as aggressive, or maybe she’s exaggerating’ when it’s just her word against his 'I don’t recall it that way". But when you add a pattern of aggressive stalkery retaliation against women for minor insults/disagreements it’s a lot harder to dismiss aggressive stalkery retaliation against women for minor insults/disagreements.
It’s not like it’s an all-or-nothing situation, where either the entire incidents never happened or every detail she mentions and her entire interpretation is correct.
Clearly Franken did some inappropriate stuff here, but there are degrees as well, and there’s room for some uncertainty as to just how severe his transgressions were.
…this has absolutely nothing to do with my post.
What is this pattern you speak of?
Can you give us a timeline?
It has everything to do with your post. Because it means that there’s still room to cite the accuser’s political affiliation despite “a photo and a contrite accused”.
That said, at this point I personally wouldn’t make too much of it at this point. (In particular, the fact that she accepted his apology suggests that she’s not out to get him.)
Credible accusation? She admitted there were no witnesses and admitted she did not tell anyone about it (except perhaps some nameless friends but no one in a position of authority). Franken disputes how the kiss went down and apologized for the picture but so far it is just a tasteless posed picture and no groping occurred (Tweeden was asleep so she cannot say whether she was groped). In the picture he is not groping her.
That a politician issues an apology rather than wade into the discussion is what they all do, right and left. Absolutely nothing new there. Politics 101.
It is fair to ask why this woman came forward with this information now. Why not during his previous election runs? Why not wait till his next election run (or especially if he chose to run for president)? What is special about now that she felt it was important to reveal this information that she did not feel needed revealing for the past eleven years?
She actually explained that in her write up. Her media team has been heavily covering the Weinstein scandal and she feels safe and supported enough to talk about it.
Do you understand how sexual trauma works, at all?
…it has nothing to do with my post. Having a “documented record of right-wing activism” doesn’t mean Leeann Tweeden is less credible than someone with a “documented record of left-wing activism”.
You shouldn’t be making anything out of it at this point.