What Franken did was done for the camera, deliberately shared, in his role as wacky comedian.

[Binkie The Clown]

What Moore did was done hidden from view, in secret, in his role as an officer of the court.

Does anyone notice the difference?

[mucifer]

1. Don't you think that was a sick twisted joke? I sure do.

She also said he did some awful things back stage. Yes, it's different than attacking lots of teenagers.

[SunSeeker]

7. She did not say he "did some awful things back stage."

She said that during a VOLUNTARY practice kiss as they were rehearsing for a skit, he stuck his tongue in her mouth. That is it. "Twisted" is Moore trolling a mall to corner 14 year olds into having sex with him. What Moore did was simply not equivalent to what Franken did.

[Ms. Toad]

9. That's a bit of a misreading of what she said.

"He said to me, 'We need to rehearse the kiss.' I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again. I said something like, 'Relax Al, this isn't SNL. … We don’t need to rehearse the kiss'," she wrote in a lengthy and detailed post on KABC's website.

"He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable."

Tweeden said she reluctantly agreed to rehearse the line leading up to the kiss and that's when Franken "came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."

What she is describing is not a voluntary practice kiss.

Persistence by men in the face is not voluntary participation by women, even if the woman involved ultimately feels pressured to go along.

[SunSeeker]

17. You cut out the part where she said she told him "ok."

And you don't quote where she said "awful things" happened "back stage."

What is the "awful" stuff, other than an unwelcome tongue in a rehearsal kiss?

[Ms. Toad]

18. No. I didn't omit it. And she agreed to rehearse the line, not the kiss

Reread my post (relevant portion excerpted here):

Tweeden said she reluctantly agreed to rehearse the line leading up to the kiss

But the primary reason for my post was to remind you of the dynamics of sexual assault. Many, many victims of sexual assault/sexual harassment ultimately "agree" to a request from a more powerful person who repeatedly pressures them to agree. That does not make participation volunatary.

Where did I say anything about "awful things" happening "back stage"?

I'm responding to your offensive assertion that rehearsing the kiss was voluntary.

[SunSeeker]

19. You said in Post #1: "She also said he did some awful things back stage."

You were not responding to me, you were responding to the OP. What are those "awful things"?

[Ms. Toad]

20. I am not mucifer.

mucifer (12,442 posts)
1. Don't you think that was a sick twisted joke? I sure do.

[SunSeeker]

21. Ok, but you did omit where she explicitly consented to the kiss.

You are quoting inaccurate media summaries, not her actual words. As she says in the video, Franken asked to "do the kissing scene." And she said "ok, fine." It is right in video at the link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/politics/leeann-tweeden-al-franken-the-lead/index.html

and here, starting at 0:09:

What she describes is him going overboard with a wet, aggressive kiss she was not expecting, but she was expecting a kiss. This is not like how Moore and Weinstein latched onto their victims, who did not consent to contact in any way. Was Franken's 2006 conduct, as Tweeden describes it, boorish and obnoxious? Yes. But he apologized and she accepted his apology.

[Nevernose]

8. Which part was sick and twisted?

The part where he was near someone’s boobs but not actually touching them? Or the part where he and a grown woman consensually kissed but he turned out to be a lousy kisser?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

12. The lady had a flack jacket/body armour on...

... so he really was going to cop a feel , but that is part of the irony/comedy in it. Context, context, context ... I tell my right wing acquaintances, and it really upsets them... ha

[VMA131Marine]

2. Comedians by nature push against social barriers and mores

Sometimes they go too far in the name of a laugh (see Andrew Dice Clay, Michael Richardson, and many others) and, absent any context, at face value this photo is in the goes too far category. The difference is the Franken has acknowledged the transgression and seems contrite while Moore is still smearing his accusers to the point of absurdity.

[rzemanfl]

3. I don't think he did that as an officer of the court.

What Franken should have done is said-

"My accuser is a lying sinner, defying the will of gawd, who posed in Playboy. This is all part of a right wing conspiracy to defile my name and thwart the will of the people of the state of Minnesota and Gawd. I plan to sue her pants off and expose her evil scheme. Fake news I tell yah, fake news."

[pansypoo53219]

4. benny hillbuilt his career on this stuff. evolution.

[spanone]

5. was franken's victim 14?

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Big fat hairy difference between a comedy gig gone raunchy. . .

. . .and statutory rape.

[bdamomma]

11. exactly

Could this allegation be a set up??? Distraction from the Tax bill getting through the House today, and that freaking Ryan smirking about it, this is another assault on the American people.

[They_Live]

13. distraction acheived

very successfully! Thanks social media!

[Pepsidog]

10. You nailed it

[SCVDem]

14. I doubt her version

How can you grab a boob if they are under 3 layers plus a flak jacket?

They weren't alone either. Besides the photographer.

That said, it was juvenile and stupid.

She is relishing the spotlight and will embellish the tale as necessary. IMO

[BannonsLiver]

15. SHEs also apparently a birther

People can say whatever they want but there’s an agenda here.

[marble falls]

16. Stooooopid wacky comedian. If he'd have guessed he was going to be a Senator ....

he'd never done it. It was juvenile and stupid.

Moore, however is a child rapist among other disgusting things. He felt privileged and felt he was never ever going to face any sort of consequences. How can he possibly say he can't remember having sex with a fourteen year old girl or not as a twenty-eight year old prosecutor.

I know I remember NEVER EVER doing such a thing when I was twenty eight. And I bet you remember never raping a fourteen year old when you were twenty-eight, too. Its just not a maybe I did, maybe I didn't sort of question.

[cwydro]

22. Yes.

Astounded at the Franken hate on here.

Kinda makes me wonder.

[Ninga]

23. Context is too nuanced for some folks. The visceral response is emotional and

Mostly without context. Franken was juvenile and not funny mugging for the camera...
The context surrounding the rehearsed skit, matters. I welcome an ethics hearing, although I don't know how he could be censured for actions before he was a Senator..

[SCVDem]

24. Same as David Vitter

The diaper dude!