Not a single one of the accused men thus far has been exonerated...

[Gravitycollapse]

That's an important point to make because it demonstrates not only that women (and men) overwhelming are telling the truth when making accusations of sexual assault and harassment, but also that there are so many other women (and men) out there who've been assaulted and harassed and will probably never go public with the claims.

If we suddenly start throwing out counter claims that a woman lies because of A. her political affiliations and B. because we like the accused, we are a bankrupt political movement.

I believe her just as I've believed every other woman and man who's come forward to tell their story.

[BannonsLiver]

1. I dont believe her.

Just like I don’t believe Obama was born in Africa, a point she seemed to advocate for during one of her Hannity appearances. I know a bullshit artist when I see one.

[onecaliberal]

4. THAT

[Gravitycollapse]

7. Serious question. What evidence is there that she's a birther?

I haven't been able to find any.

[BannonsLiver]

10. One poster remembered seeing her on Fox

Media Matters also had a transcript. It’s out there. My read on it was that it was a softer stance of the “We need to make sure we have all the facts” variety.

The kind of inane, obtuse crap you’d see on Fox and Friends.

But in my view if you’re going down that road you’re still a birther. Rational, non racists accepted Obama’s side of the story immediately. Couching it in the way she did is the same as condoning it in my view. It’s just a little slicker.

[Gravitycollapse]

12. Still haven't found any evidence she's a birther. Like, I literally have found nothing.

I have seen a lot of hearsay accusations against her on this board but have not seen anything substantive or evidentiary.

[BannonsLiver]

13. Believe whatever youd like.

I don’t believe any part of her story so I’m probably not the best person to get into a conversation with about her character.

[RandySF]

2. For what it's worth, Franken stepped up and apologized.

And what have others done?

Link to tweet

[Azathoth]

3. That's a specious argument

The fact that none of the accused have been exonerated does not prove that the accusations against them are all true.

Part of the beauty of these kinds of accusations is that they are usually unverifiable. The women can't produce definitive proof, and the men can't definitively disprove them.

[Gravitycollapse]

5. That might be the case if they all haven't been accused by multiple women and/or men...

These situations almost universally reveal multiple and even dozens of victims that make the likelihood of them being false pretty much zero.

[Azathoth]

6. I agree that accusations tend to pile up against genuine predators

Although even in those cases, it's sometimes hard to know which are the truthful stories, and which are the embellished bandwagoners.

But right now, Franken has been accused by only one person, and the accusations are pretty tame by Weinstein/Moore standards. The statistical evidence is far from conclusive.

[Gravitycollapse]

11. So the question is would you treat Franken differently if he wasn't from our part.

I'm fine with consistency even if I fundamentally disagree with you. I find the backlash on DU incredibly suspicious because Franken is a darling of the left.

[Azathoth]

15. No, I wouldn't treat him differently

I wrote a post about how he should come out and tell his side of the story, instead of this vague apologizing and waiting for an investigation. I would argue the same thing about anyone, Republican or Democrat, facing the same set of circumstances (although I will admit I would probably be willing to look the other way if it was someone I considered so dangerous and despicable that the ends justified the means.)

I have long believed that this "believe women" stuff was laying the foundation for a new Salem witch trial, and I stand by that belief. Women don't have the inherent right to be believed just because they say something. They have the right to be believed if they make reasonably credible allegations (ie. there are contemporary witnesses/accounts, the verifiable facts accord with their stories, etc.)

[flotsam]

8. Geepers

I'm bettin' Denial only works for one party right? Like a guy who sits at the apex of government???And if not a single one has been exonerated why aren't you chasing the supposed President out of office?

[Gravitycollapse]

9. Nice whataboutism. Take your bizarre accusations somewhere else.

[SunSeeker]

14. Enough with the false equivalence.

What Franken did was not even in the same ballpark as Moore or Weinstein. Franken did not grope her. That was a (bad) joke picture where he pretended to but did not touch her flak jacket covered chest. She agreed to the rehearsal kiss; her objection was that he did a french kiss instead of a closed mouth kiss.

This does not even compare to stalking teen girls for sex, or forcing terrified starlets to perform fellatio. Those were serious crimes, unlike Franken getting sloppy with an otherwise consensual kiss.

And Franken was the only one to apologize. She accepted his apology. So there is nothing to "exonerate" Franken about.