Another Reminder That Franken Was Shivved

[wellst0nev0ter]

There were eight accusers. Three are lying, two-faced trumpanzees who voted for a known pussygrabber.

Four were anonymous and unverifiable.

One was Tina Dupuy, who overreached by saying she was groped at the waist during a photo op.

Yet there are progressives out there who still want to rake Franken over the coals and destroy a good man over what was a litany of spurious accusations.

Do they really want to set such a dangerous zero-tolerance precedent?

[Bettie]

1. Yeah, he was

and yet, that creature still roosts in the White House...zero tolerance is only for our side, for them, anything goes.

[manor321]

2. Yep, along with Clarence Thomas n/t

[alittlelark]

7. Arev you trying to compare Franken to Clarence Thomas?!?

You have got to be kidding....

[wellst0nev0ter]

13. No, just saying real pigs still remain

While good men like Franken gets betrayer by his own party.

[wryter2000]

14. At the risk of speaking for someone else...

I believe Manor was comparing Thomas and Trump

[RoBear]

29. yes.

I read it that way too...

[Kingofalldems]

3. He was trashed on DU by one poster unfortunately.

Last edited Mon Jun 11, 2018, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

And some fell for it.

[RhodeIslandOne]

145. I see they dropped in for one of their "passive aggressive" sessions.....

[Kingofalldems]

151. I see that.

[samnsara]

4. al can grope me at the waist anytime...

… he was so screwed over.

[wellst0nev0ter]

11. What was she trying to pull?

If Tina doesn't like being held at the waist, she'd better speak up since many don't see that type of bodily contact as off limits.


Did she want to get published in the Atlantic that badly?

[mountain grammy]

51. I honestly believe she did it for attention

and a piece in the Atlantic. She disrespected every woman who ever suffered though sexual assault, abuse or harrassment. In my opinion she's a terrible person for what she did for her own publicity.

[stuffmatters]

66. Ditto on all points

Dupuy has serious & longtime attention, fame hunger. Her alleged fatshaming from Franken, that she inflated into sexual harrassment
and got him ousted,was a deeply painful insult to all women who have ever suffered real sexual abuse,harassment, trauma.

[brooklynite]

5. And the relevance of this today is...?

I know Franken's staff; they're not continuing to stew over this.

[wellst0nev0ter]

9. Because his seat is now open

And a "former" republican is primarying Al's replacement Tina Smith.

To all the idiots who ran Al out of office before he could run again in 2020, congratulations, you played yourselves.

[brooklynite]

10. Al Franken's people are supporting Tina Smith; Al Franken is supporting Tina Smith

Tina Smith will win the seat.

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. Still opens up a seat that should've been kept

Remember, Hillary Clinton was supposed to be a shoe-in because, well, look at her contender.

However, I no longer trust Minnesota voters, who barely chose Clinton by a single percentage point.

[trueblue2007]

19. Thank Guilibrand.

[brooklynite]

27. ...joined by every other member of the Democratic Causus, including MN Senator Amy Klobuchar.

[Wwcd]

33. And Bernie Sanders, too. They all piled on when opportunity came knocking.

[LakeArenal]

50. And every single one of them was wrong

No apologies, no due process.
And yet calls for due process weeks later for someone else. Tripling down on the View and other outlets..

Many of us will never forget and some of us are way past forgiving.

This thread is just a reminder to many who have far reaching political ambition.

Just a reminder

Sigh.

[Heartstrings]

53. We laid one of our very best at the GOP's

alter and walked away, leaving him defenseless. No excuses for that...

[not fooled]

64. Yes

Al was presidential material. pukes had to take him out, just as they tried to do in slower motion with HRC over the course of decades.

[Heartstrings]

69. Al's, although ugly and unforgiving

was swift, unlike the abuse HRC has endured for 30+ years.
Wrong on both counts.

[2naSalit]

73. +1

[dflprincess]

77. No Klobuchar kept a very low profile on this

and did not comment publicly.

[brooklynite]

84. I never said she commented publicly, I said she joined in asking him to step down.

[whathehell]

126. ..joined by Bernie Sanders, sorry to say, and I DO support Bernie on

most issues, before anyone draws an opposite conclusion.

[True Blue American]

41. I admired Painter until he decided to run. Much too late,Richard

Al Franken stands tall in my book.

[Wwcd]

45. Rw Painter now wants to run as a Dem for Al's seat. The rat stench is thick on this one

Tina Smith is the true blue Dem that will stand with Democrats in the Senate.

Not the Republican who now suddenly wants to be a Dem.

The game they play is obvious as f.

Smart of Perez & the Dems to set some rules as to who can run on our good & generous Democratic ticket.

Ya, I'm sure there'll be a few spoiled plans.
So be it.

[True Blue American]

61. Painter Is Running

As a Democrat. That is when he lost me. A GW Bush Attorney.

I know Richard hates Trump, but he has always been a Republican.

We need Tina Smith!

[geardaddy]

21. But you forget that the average MN voter is still pissed about this.

[USALiberal]

89. Really? Nt

[onecaliberal]

6. If there were some zero tolerance policy in this country that orange cancer would be locked up.

[renate]

8. it really upsets me to think about how articulate and engaging Al would be these days

... if he hadn't been silenced.

I love Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff and the other Democratic politicians who appear practically nightly on MSNBC, but can you imagine how brilliant Al would be in skewering this president and his staff?

But no. Kirstin Gillibrand had to have her moment.

[Cosmocat]

15. Miss him dearly

So few Ds who have the sand to go out and take this on publicly like him, and endless army of half witted conservative pols who spew the most insane shit imaginable 24-7 ...

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. One of the reasons

Why I'm glad I'm a transplant from Minnesota living in the Bronx. She's not getting any primary vote from me later this month.

Unfortunately, her primary opponent is a non-starter, so she'll probably coast by, so I'll have to hold my nose for her in the general.

[Wwcd]

34. Name them all. Each one could have declined.

Name them all.

[True Blue American]

43. Is anyone running

Against Gillibrand? She should be primaried.

[marieo1]

44. minngal

I am still a democrat but haven't supported anyone running because I am so furious about what Kristen Gillibrand and others did to Al Franken. He was our one democrat that could've taken the orange dog down. Al Franken was brilliant. I think Gillibrand knew that and she wanted him stopped before he would make her and others look bad.

[LiberalLovinLug]

60. Yup. Me thinks he was a threat to some

Especially in this age of celebrity acceptance for candidates. That besides being a lion in the Senate in hearings etc., He was well known, funny, and respected by many who appreciated him in his Air America days where he proved to everybody how aware he was/is of the political landscape.
I think a few of the old guard feared his populism and jumped at the chance to get rid of the competition.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. I was thinking of that myself this morning when Stephanie Miller had Tina Dupuy on.

I love Steph but she's got some odd people in her circle.

[wellst0nev0ter]

20. Didn't Stephanie Miller

Say an off-color joke in public that was completely unprintable by Tina, who wrote the account, but apparently she didn't commit any misconduct?

Nothing against Stephanie Miller, just against Tina.

[mountain grammy]

146. I know, right?

Stephanie pushed back a bit on Tina, but still has her on. I refuse to listen when she's on.

John Fuglesang has her on too.. fawns all over her. Love John and his show, but he just doesn't get it on this one. Backs Tina all the way. I won't listen when she's on.

[trueblue2007]

18. BLAME it on Senator K. She SCREAMED Guilty & Franken didn't get his day in court

INNOCENT until proven Guilty !!! I love Senator Franken and always will. The Repukes railroaded him.

[wellst0nev0ter]

22. I blame the spineless dems

Who voted to maintain optics over sanity.

Al took one for the team, making him more honorable than the team.

[Autumn]

37. This. So much this. Al is one of the fiercest Democrats

I have ever seen.

[Wwcd]

47. And the Independent, Bernie Sanders. Don't forget him!!

[NY_20th]

48. We have some important primaries to win tomorrow

Voters in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia head to the polls Tuesday as the 2018 primary season continues its steady march toward the first major election since the election of President Donald Trump.

Twenty-five U.S. House seats, four U.S. Senate seats and three governor's seats are at stake in the states holding primaries Tuesday, and Democrats are eyeing a number of purple districts in Virginia as they look to map out their path to retaking the lower chamber in November.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tuesdays-primaries-center-trump-battle-control-congress/story?id=55747369

[Trumpocalypse]

23. The charges against Franken were BS

but remember, he didn't fight back. Instead he kept apologizing. Even when the 38 Dem Senators condemned him, he could have fought back, again he capitulated and resigned.

[wellst0nev0ter]

25. He took one for the team

And he understood that there's no way he can work with 38 colleagues who think he is a serial groper.

Now his name continues to be dragged through the mud, and I am just sick and tired of it.

[Trumpocalypse]

35. Dragged through the mud by whom?

Other than here, I've seen little mention of Franken any where.

[Trumpocalypse]

76. Still waiting for an answer to this

Yet still none. Interesting.

[wellst0nev0ter]

130. Look on feminist twitter for one

over there, Franken is a monster and a serial abuser.

[Trumpocalypse]

132. OK so some anonymous people on Twitter

Anyone else?

[wellst0nev0ter]

134. Gillibrand and the rest of the shitbirds stand by their call

for Franken to resign, because they believe he's guilty of what filthy, lying, two-faced trumpanzees claim he did.

[Trumpocalypse]

138. Are they actively attacking Franken?

And didn’t Franken apologize for several of the accusations ?

[wellst0nev0ter]

149. They still say Franken

committed misconduct, and Franken only apologized for the photo, nothing else.

Don't believe everything the lynch mob tells you.

[Trumpocalypse]

150. Still say?

I haven’t heard anyone discuss Franken for months. Can you provide links to recent comments in major media.

Plus I believe Franken apologized more than once: http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-pol-essential-washington-updates-sen-al-franken-apologizes-again-1511538494-htmlstory.html

[wellst0nev0ter]

154. Gillibrand on "The View" for one

You find the link, I'm not your personal researcher.

And Franken's Nov. 24 apology was for the fact some women felt uncomfortable. That does not equate to an admission of guilt.

Franken categorically denied any serious wrongdoing during his resignation speech. Read that in full.

[Trumpocalypse]

159. That was in January, months ago

Do you have any more recent examples?

[Bettie]

54. If he had fought back

the same people saying "he kept apologizing" would be saying "he disrespected his accusers".

There was no winning this, because there were a lot of people who wanted to take him down, both on the right and the left.

[Trumpocalypse]

75. A lot of people wanted to take him down

On the left? Who?

[brush]

80. Who? Short memory? All those other Dems who Gillibrand rallied, that's who.

[Trumpocalypse]

98. So you're claiming that they were out to get Franken?

Why would they want to do that

[brush]

122. I answered your short-memory question. You figure out their motives.

[Trumpocalypse]

133. I don't assign motives to anyone

unless I have facts to back it up. Do you have any facts to back up your accusation?

[brush]

137. Still with the short memory. Do you even remember your original question?

[Trumpocalypse]

139. Yes, you accused people on the left of wanting to take Franken down

My question is what people and why? Several posts later and I’m still waiting for a straight answer.

[Trumpocalypse]

147. Ok that's who

But you still haven’t answered why,

[Ferrets are Cool]

24. Yes, but why bring this up. It's water under the bridge and he didn't fight it.

I hate that he is gone, but why bring it up.

[wellst0nev0ter]

26. Because progressives continue to lie about him

It's one thing if its the lying repukes, it another when it is supposed members of our side calling him a good man a pervert who assaults women.

[Ferrets are Cool]

30. Sorry, I didn't see a recent quote of which you are

referring to. I will look harder next time.

[jberryhill]

38. To establish it as a precedent in the event Biden runs

[druidity33]

58. that's a salient point buried in this thread. nt.

[Volaris]

62. Is there some fear that Biden might be accusable of this?

Or is the fear more that Biden will run as a populist (rabble-rousing) Progressive, and the Establishment won't want that...

[brush]

82. The Anita Hill incident will be re-kindled.

[Volaris]

88. Ah. THAT. Thank you,

And yes I can see how that could be weaponized by the ratfuckers into a shiv (that, at this point, could easily be sharpened by our own side inadvertently...even tho I like to think the absence of a SENATOR Franken would make us slightly more cautious in taking that bait).

[brush]

90. One would hope but that didn't stop the leaps onto the bandwagon...

steered by Gillibrand and it may not stop one driven by ambitious Biden opponents.

[Volaris]

93. Those leaps happened because the Professional Pols have all been trained to jump,

BEFORE the media can ask the question 'well why aren't YOU JUMPING?, how is that FAIR'?

If for profit news were doing actual journalism, instead of having an Interest Stake in having an argument, Al would be in the middle of a Professional Inquest at his own request, but he would still be in the Senate.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

85. Biden would be smart to take that approach... the establishment will just have to grin and bear it.

The populace demands someone who will take up the mantle for them.

[Volaris]

91. I think no one else could sell it quite like he could...

The Liberalism of People Who WORK For A Living, (and want better for their kids), with the attached argument that if you're even remotely paying attention, non-white people have to work that much harder for the same recognition and economic rewards (duhhhh), and that aint ANY kinda fair.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

108. I'm not sure about Joe... but hope you're right. Has had close ties with

corporations in the past. I'm open though to hear what he has to say if he runs in 2020.

[Volaris]

109. I'm open to it as well. Very much hoping that his time as Obamas VP

Opened his eyes to some things he might not have otherwise been aware of. Ehhh...corporate connections...that's The Game he came up in, I wont fault him for being smart enough to play that game as well as he has...but ALSO very much hoping that he understands by this point WHY that game is unfair, and can articulate that to a broad GenElect audience.

If he can demonstrate both those things, he will crush the shit out of the Deplorables, carry both Chambers, and Trump can die in prison sooner than later.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

111. So hope all that's true.

[Volaris]

112. God yes. It doesn't even have to be Biden. It could be fuckin Mickey Mouse at this point.

Scream that Message. Win those elections. Convict those TreasonWeasels. I don't much CARE who gets it done.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

114. And that's IT... we need a clear and unequivocal MESSAGE... a STRATEGY!!

Looking forward to hearing more about that.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

79. EXACTLY what I was thinking... these Repiglicans will stop at nothing.

[progressoid]

40. Huh? Who, of any consequence is lying about Al?

[jodymarie aimee]

28. exactly..

guess they didn't wanna talk about Bernie !!! Just trying to gin stuff up, when we have work to do....

[Wwcd]

36. Umm. Bernie stood with Gillibrand against Al.

You didn't know that?

[NY_20th]

31. "Do they really want to set such a dangerous zero-tolerance precedent?"

Minnesota holds open primaries, so I'm not sure what you are proposing is an effective GOTV strategy for Democrats.

[rainin]

32. This. At this point, it is so clear, that he was wronged. It is so clear he deserved due process

as many of us here argued strongly for, that to continue to support what happened to him is either willful ignorance or deliberate deception. We should be very careful accepting that here at DU or in our party.

We did not succeed in holding the republicans to a higher standard. We turned our back on a decent man.

[CrispyQ]

39. We lost one of our best bulldogs, & now a career republican is running for his seat as a dem.

I'm as glad as the next person that Richard Painter is speaking out against Trump, but what does that say about the Democratic Party that a long time career republican is comfortable running as a dem?

[JNelson6563]

42. It says much about those who

support him. But some are really fond of supporting non Dems as Dems. today I saw stuff posted from when he worked to get W's guys on the SCOTUS. You'd think with today's decision on voter purges in OH folks wouldn't be so quick to celebrate that.

[Wwcd]

49. As an Independent, Painter's candidacy just might ensure that Donald Trump names lifetime judges

Article from March 2018
This is how the Intelligencer sees it.
Just sayin, Buyer Beware

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/painter-mulls-throwing-senate-race-to-pro-trump-republican.html


SNIP

Meanwhile, the chances of a lifelong Republican ousting Tina Smith for the Democratic nomination are slim.
Which means that if Painter wants to run a vanity campaign through November, he’s going to have to run as an independent.

And such a candidacy just might win enough left-leaning voters who enjoy Painter’s MSNBC appearances to throw the election to a Republican — which is to say, Painter’s candidacy just might ensure that Donald Trump gets to keep making lifetime judicial appointments from now until (at least) 2021.

Careful what you wish for...
There's that 3rd Party threat again. (We see you Jane)
They'd actually re-elect Trump than protect the salvation of the USA.

What a bunch of chumps..

[tblue37]

87. At least Painter keeps saying loudly that Franken was railroaded and that he was an

excellent senator and should still be in the senate.

[Vinca]

46. I'm still so pissed over that and I blame Gillebrand.

[Wwcd]

55. She held no power without the rest. Name Them All

[calimary]

56. You're certainly not alone.

I feel the same way. This story was - shall we say “ “trumped up.” Self-proclaimed CONservative accuser on the air at known wrongward-leaning radio station that was long ago past its better days. Whiffs of Roger Stone in there.

The station had NEVER broken a story in all the years I knew of it, listened on occasion, and/or worked across the hall. It used to be nonpartisan and apolitical in the early mornings, liberal in the late mornings, Dr. Laura Schlesinger in the early afternoons, and sports talk during afternoon drive. Programming frequently interrupted for Dodger games. There’d be some “answer-man” type talk show guy all evening, and one old conservative crank all night. The dude would always sign off with “...don’t give up the Panama Canal!” When I worked mornings on the FM sometimes, I’d hear him on the way in.

That was back when conservatives on the air were all a bunch of old cranks who the rest of us just laughed at. They wised up and got “respectable” with the rise of love mvaugh, which started them on the road to being taken more seriously.

That same L A station today is still a low-power AMer trying to compete and out-CON-talk the huge and primary AM CONservative monster with 50-thousand watts and a clear channel signal that bombs in everywhere and can be heard over all of the western states after dark. The lesser AMer can’t even begin to compete. Lousy signal can’t even be heard in parts of Los Angeles in daytime!

[Blue_true]

96. If she is that powerful, maybe she should be President.

If I follow the tone of your logic, Gillibrand:

Singlehandedly took out Al Franken, or she convinced a LOT of democratic Senators to take Franken out.

Either way you slice it, she has great persuasive power, if one follows your logic. Why not make her President vis acclimation. She can sit across from Angela Merkel and say, "Angela, give America all of Germany's money". And Angela will say "Kristin, you are so convincing, all German accounts will be routed to the US Treasury tomorrow morning". I didn't make the claim, you did.

[Wwcd]

113. Haahaa. That's pretty funny. And your point was was well made.

Its damned near pavlovian anymore.

[Vinca]

116. I think there would have been a different outcome for Franken if an investigation was done before

sentence was passed. And I hope I don't have to support Gillibrand in 2020.

[zentrum]

125. Exactly.

[mythology]

52. As a reminder, Franken himself apologized for how he treated women

And no, the women weren't unverifiable any more than the women who accused Matt Lauer or many of those who accused Kevin Spacey, or John Conyers etc. Just because the women weren't named doesn't mean the news media didn't investigate. But because of the personal nature of these assaults, we respect the right of the victim to remain anonymous. Unless you also think that all women who anonymously report a rape are lying, you're being hypocritical.

The denial on this is kind of amazing to me.

[Trumpocalypse]

100. Well said

But I doubt that many here will agree with you. Unfortunately a cult of personality has been built around Franken that distorts his actual record and the events that led to his resignation.

[ProfessorGAC]

121. Your Rush To Judgment On This Is Kind Of Amazing To Me

See how easy that statement is?

[The Wizard]

57. Say what you will about Repubics

They don't eat their young like Democrats do. Democratic leadership is so frightened that Repubics will say bad things about them that they can't think straight. Kirsten Gillibrand used Franken to advance her political aspirations. Now she'll never go any farther than where she is now. A political miscalculation to say the least.

[Tarc]

59. Al Franken did was he did, admitted to it, and apologized. He doesn't need excuse-making

from "concerned" liberals.

The shaming, particularly against Gillibrand, is just pathetic.

[Trumpocalypse]

102. Well said nt

[zentrum]

63. What Progressive trashed Franken?

Every progressive I know, myself included, are furious at Gillibrand and heart broken that he's gone.

[wellst0nev0ter]

71. I just got in a twitter fight

with those whose opinions I otherwise respect, but they are accepting it as conventional wisdom that Franken is some kind of monster.

I think they are redigging the trenches now that Bill Clinton came out with a lukewarm defense of Franken.

[Wwcd]

74. Bernie Sanders backed Gillibrand

Last I heard he calls himself a progressive Independent, now that he's dropped the progressive Dem Party label.
Don't know what happened to the socialist, progressive socialist or Dem socialist turned Independent socialist.

Its like whiplash!

[zentrum]

81. How painful. Take two aspirin.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Wwcd]

107. No pain for me. I can't imagine being a loyalist to him tho.

And trying to explain to people why you keep switching political labels.

Glad I'm a Dem, always been a Dem & I know what I stand for & I know the great rich history of this Democratic Party that evolves & grows & stands strong in the face of usurpers & thieves whose word comes with a sly sort of smile and fingers crossed behind their back.

I am the proud Party of JFK, RFK & MLK
I am a Democrat.
The Party of human rights & equality for all, the Party that built this fine nation and welcomed those seeking a better way of life.

And THAT my friend is the great & always constant, Democratic Party.

I know their great celebrations, & I know their days of struggle in lifting humankind above the self appointed priviledged few.
The Democratic Party is the Party of humanity and all that encompasses.
And that is who we are.

I have no question as to where I belong.

[brush]

86. One poster, #59, just above your post on this thread, for one.

[Gothmog]

65. Senator Al Franken was screwed

[MrPool]

67. One wonders if Kristen Gillibrand

has other Dems in her sights using that tacit to take them out. She needs to be primaried.

[brooklynite]

68. You'll get right on that, right?

The NY Primary is next Tuesday. The one candidate that the outraged anti-Gillibrand folks found to "run" against her was a Dentist who raised a grand total of $11,000, and didn't make it on the ballot. Amazingly, nobody has brought up "shivving" Al Franken in the campaign.

[MrPool]

70. That's a shame. Memories are short.

[Blue_true]

94. Or maybe her constituents are perfectly happy with her.

If they weren't, a challenger would have gotten more traction.

[MrPool]

95. Granted,and I'm sure Mitch McConnell

is beloved by his constituents but those not of his state no different don't we?

[Blue_true]

97. All politics are locally friend. I hate Mitch, but all he needs to do is convince a majority in his

state. That is the way elective politics work. New York is a populous state, I would guess that if Gillibrand was truly hated there, she would have drawn several seriously powerful primary challengers, she didn't, simple as that.

[MrPool]

101. Agree totally with this. But still despise

her.

[wellst0nev0ter]

72. Still voting for Scott Noren

but I'll be the good dem and vote for Gillibrand in the general.

[dflprincess]

78. One has to wonder how bright she is that she walked into a right wing trap

of course, she also thought it would help her own ambitions.

She's dead to me.

[oberliner]

83. Kirsten Gillibrand is dead to you?

What does that mean?

[MrPool]

99. Agree with this she is a political

arsonist and a back stabber of those who were her biggest supporters.

[NY_20th]

103. What a perfect example

of sexism from the left.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

104. Over reacted to Al

And he's not been heard of. Very few can rake someone over the coals like Al. I'm w you re. KG.

[dawg day]

92. Hey, seriously, stand your ground

Franken quit. Yeah, he thought he was being shoved out, but he was elected by the citizens of Minnesota, and they should have been the ones who decided-- not other senators. I love Al, I think what he did was pretty minimal (compared with others), and what he should have done was pulled a Bill Clinton: "I was wrong, boy was I wrong, and now I'm going to spend the rest of my term doing a great job."

Sorry-- I also think Eliot Spitzer should never have quit. They would have rode it out. But this requires the politicians to keep their eyes on the prize, analyze what they did (how bad in this case?), make apologies and amends, but most important, remember what your job is and do it.

Franken was stampeded into quitting, but he let himself be stampeded. What would have happened if he abjectly apologized and stayed in the job? Sure, there might have been an ethics investigation, but those almost never result in expulsion. An awful awkward few months or year, but he'd still be senator now.

I know this is unfashionable, but be like Bill. Hunker down, suffer the slings and arrows, do your job, wait for it to pass. It will. There will be another scandal soon.
And if people complain, say, "I'll quit when the predator in the White House quits."

We are letting the GOP be ruthlessly resistant to "norms'-- no one pushed DAVID VITTER or Larry Craig out. It does no good to be all abject and quick to quit-- they don't do that.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

105. Here here.

and chim cheerio. No more quitting.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

110. Franken deserved, but was denied, due process, plain and simple.

The initial response by a select few - which was an overreaction IMHO - caused a #metoo landslide that could not be stopped and swept Al out the door.

[Tarc]

117. Franken waived his right to due process by admitting to it, apologizing, and resigning

Really, how hard is this to understand?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

118. Sorry, but no... Franken was basically forced to resign.

[Tarc]

120. No one forced Franken to resign, just as no one forced him to commit acts against 8 women

This is the sort of victim-shaming that one usually finds in the alt-right.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

124. LOL, riiiiight... are you okay?! You might want to check yourself...

So, now you're comparing me and my views to the alt-right?! Are you serious?! I didn't say jack shit about the underlying accusations... I said Franken was denied due process and, no doubt, was forced to resign, your insult notwithstanding.

[Tarc]

128. He was not denied due process. You keep lying and expecting to get away with it

When one admits guilt, that alleviates all due process concerns. There's no need to conduct a trial when there is a guilty plea.

This is pretty basic stuff here.

[wellst0nev0ter]

131. Show me where Al admitted groping women

Take your time, I'll wait.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

135. Crickets... chirp! chirp! And he has the nerve to accuse me of being alt-right and lying...

Weak!

[Tarc]

142. A spade is a spade.

And what's with the "chip chip" tripe? Some of us have things to do other than furiously hit the refresh button on an internet forum, bud.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

143. Weak again... your shtick is getting old.

[Tarc]

141. "I feel that you have to respect women's experience. I apologized to her, and I meant it"

For starters.

Franken manned up and took responsibility for his actions. More than can be said about some of his acolytes.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

144. Now THAT I can agree with.

[wellst0nev0ter]

148. Errrrp wrong, buddy

Al was apologizing for taking a gag photo, not for groping. Try again, and this time *REALLY* try

[Tarc]

152. You continue to lie, and I'm not sure why when it is easily disproven

Franken took responsibility for the totality of the accusations, that's what a man does.

I'm sorry you cannot rise up to his standard.

[wellst0nev0ter]

153. No that's false

You're bad at this.

Show me where he admitted committing the "totality" of the accusations. Either do that, or just walk away. It's not rocket science.

[Tarc]

155. I just did show you

"You can lead a horse to water..."

How long do you plan to bump this? I'm beginning to feel some pity for you.

[wellst0nev0ter]

156. You're the one bumping up a dead thread

Your "quote" lacked context.

Do better.

[Tarc]

157. I'm sorry, but you are beyond my ability to assist

The Ignore List is a wonderful thing. Enjoy!

[wellst0nev0ter]

158. This always happens with Franken bashers

they can't back up their claims, so they block, whether it's here or on twitter.

[disillusioned73]

127. Completely agree..

stand your ground.. all the blaming NOW is just more political posturing by folks with agendas.. I didn't agree with the Senators/ Congress critters that turned on this one, but I am not going to sling arrows at them at this point either - if he was in the right he should have stood his ground against the establishment that backdoored him.. simple

[NY_20th]

106. Ain't this thread just great?

It's the night before another major primary that is of the utmost importance in taking back the House, but gosh, can't you just feel the love?

[ucrdem]

115. Not just Franken either.

Franken, Conyers, and Garrison Keillor all went down in one wild week. Funny how that works eh

[Progressive dog]

119. Franken has taken himself out of politics.

He's gone and he wasn't shiivved, he was accused of groping by multiple women and he resigned.

[DFW]

123. There appear to be a few here ready to condemn Al Franken knowing none of the players

He was blindsided by the whole stream of accusations. He did not react for quite a while, because he knew full well that the accusations were bogus, and could only have come from an orchestrated Republican defamation campaign, O'Keefe style, and figured no one would buy it. When the press and a few dozen Democratic Senators jumped on the bandwagon, he then realized he was in trouble--sort of like the innocent guy on death row who didn't realize that even innocent people get wrongly convicted and condemned, especially if the cops, prosecutor and judge find it convenient. He finally threw in the towel not because he was guilty of any of this, but because he saw the Governor of Minnesota had jumped on the bandwagon and already designated his successor.

Gillibrand was only the most vocal and offensive of his Senate colleagues who abandoned him to toot their own horn. There were more than two dozen others, some of whom, I am sure, regret their actions mightily, but are too cowardly to publicly apologize. If there had been anything to the accusations, they would have been pursued. Having achieved their purpose, his accusers vanished into the mist within days, maybe hours.

No amount of trolling, here or elsewhere, will change what happened. Just because some on here want his accusers to have been truthful, whatever their motivation for doing so, does not make it true.

Al Franken was, for lack of a better word, indeed shivved.

[Tarc]

129. "because he knew full well that the accusations were bogus" is a lie

Franken admitted that the accusations were true, apologize,d and resigned.

It's funny how some on the left held up the accusers of Roy Moore as honest and truthful (because they were), but then turn around and savage the accusers of Franken as a part of some organized conspiracy.

You can't have it both ways, we have to treat accusations of sexual misconduct the same, even if it hits a politician like Franken that is on our side.