Yeah, he was using the basic tools of power and objectification.
Senator Al Franken Kissed and Groped Me Without My Consent [Up: Apology; Apology Accepted]
- Thread starter Smokeymicpot
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Do you know anything about Minnesota politics? We swing to the right all the time. Franken won his seat by a few hundred votes the first time against the notorious piece of shut Norm Coleman. We're the ones who gave you the wonderful Michelle Bachmann and we've been swinging back right for awhile now. Don't believe he's so easily replaced.
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GILLIBRAND says Franken’s response was not sufficient. Calls for investigation.
https://twitter.com/desiderioDC/status/931208083421966341
https://twitter.com/desiderioDC/status/931208083421966341
I've seen teachers put notes on sleeping student's backs or friends draws a dick on a passed out person. I agree the picture is in poor taste and is exploitative, but I don't think it is sexual in nature and shouldn't be described as groping.
Totally gross with the kissing stuff and if true, he needs to resign. The ONLY thing for me that is suspect is how she knows that he groped her while sleeping just by seeing the photo some time later. It's a degrading picture, but not a picture of him actually groping her. It feels like unnecessary embellishment, and puts a shadow on the rest of her story.
If we hear from more regarding his behavior, he needs to go. However, the strength of something like the Roy Moore allegations is the number of people involved. I'm uncomfortable with someone losing their job or being destroyed publicly on the words of one person from over a decade ago.
A little patience before the witch hunt isn't a bad thing. If there is more, it'll come out.
A little patience before the witch hunt isn't a bad thing. If there is more, it'll come out.
a pass... for being a habitual child predator?
that would be an indictment of the right, and only on the right.
He probably ought to resign. Show the stark contrast between the two parties for the tolerance of this behavior.
I do hope he a future in some capacity to continue to fight the cause. He's generally pretty intelligent, thoughtful, and the right side of a lot of issues.
I do hope he a future in some capacity to continue to fight the cause. He's generally pretty intelligent, thoughtful, and the right side of a lot of issues.
Even in the context that he had recently forced a kiss on her and was noticeably angry when she rejected him?
the kiss is bad, obviously franken was just using the skit as an excuse to kiss her, tongue and all. gross. then he retaliated after she refused to kiss him the way he wanted her. not a good environment to work in, and she sucked it up because she was there for the troops and didn't feel like she could fight against franken who was a big shot while she was a relative nobody.
the "grope" is bad too although the photo doesn't show him touching her. she hurts her credibility by claiming that it shows him groping her. it doesn't. maybe a better way to describe it is like a mocking sexual joke without her consent or participation because she was asleep -- which is certainly awful, but groping is on another level.
the "grope" is bad too although the photo doesn't show him touching her. she hurts her credibility by claiming that it shows him groping her. it doesn't. maybe a better way to describe it is like a mocking sexual joke without her consent or participation because she was asleep -- which is certainly awful, but groping is on another level.
Unless you have clear evidence she is lying, there is literally no reason not to believe her. And Franken did apologize for the photo so he is at least admitting the photo was in poor taste.
There is nothing wrong with taking the stance that there's no evidence beyond he said she said but you're making things a lot worse by trying to suss out motivations without any credible evidence yourself.
I get what you are saying, but it is still deflecting attention away from Moore, even if they aren't crimes on the same level.
He didn't flatly deny any of the accusations. If the accusations are grossly inaccurate, why didn't he give his version of what happened? Some of you are defending Franken more than he defended himself. At some point the accused needs to do at least the bare minimum of rebuttal, or else it looks like a tacit admission of guilt.
he apologized for the photo citing it as a joke in poor taste, and said he didn't recall the kiss in the same way ms tweeden did and apologized for how he made her feel. this is going to be a case of he-said-she-said, and given the climate of sexual allegations lately, he won't get a lot of credit here. most will believe the woman, as I do
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.@SenWhitehouse tells reporters: “You guys need to find something more interesting” when asked about Franken allegations.
https://twitter.com/MKhan47/status/931208664333144065
All the Dem responses will be something to see.
https://twitter.com/MKhan47/status/931208664333144065
All the Dem responses will be something to see.
Welp, I disagree. Why must Democrats shoot themselves in the foot to maintain a sense of moral and ideological purity that our opponents, literal fascists committed to fundamentally reshaping this country into an ethnostate, don't hold themselves to. If Franken were a teacher and he did this to a co-worker, it's grounds for some kind of reprimand, if not termination. Sure, I'll give you that. But he's a Senator in the only viable opposition party, a damn popular one, and someone heavily rumored to be among the leading prospects to take on the fascist-in-chief in 2020's general election. I'm not being dismissive of the alleged victim. I just think we need some perspective.
As someone who enthusiastically voted Al Franken in the past, I have a broken heart. I thought he was better than that, but it’s taught me (again) that you never truly know your heroes.
I hope he resigns immediately. Not only is it the right thing to do, but would demonstrate Dems are a party of standards and accountability vs the party of Trump, [pick a FOX News guy], Moore, or [pick a right wing church sex controversy].
I hope he resigns immediately. Not only is it the right thing to do, but would demonstrate Dems are a party of standards and accountability vs the party of Trump, [pick a FOX News guy], Moore, or [pick a right wing church sex controversy].
There needs to be an investigation. Tossing people out on hearsay is a terrible precedent to set. Only should go if he admits it's true.
Well something definitely is wrong where AFAIK, all of the recent accused have been men and none have been women.
We still have gay men like Kevin Spacey and others who are also guilty of similar inappropriate situations with other men. It's not clear how being socialized into viewing women as sex objects led them to their behavior.
Yeah if thats the context then it makes it worse than the picture and act itself. Franken cannot have a holier than thou attitude from a seat of power that requires a holier than thou life, so he needs to step down or make up for this in the most public fashion, as in having a public conversation with Tweeden herself or something.
I'm not saying he should immediately be kicked out, but it's not a nothingbuger. He's obviously at fault, the only question is the severity of his actions.
Yeah. Time to resign. This isn't going to well for him especially with all of the Roy Moore stuff going on. Just resign man. Its over.
It was sexual in nature. He was highlighting the idea of groping her breasts.
It's not a nothing burger; it's damning; and I don't know if it's enough for him to step down.
In an ideal world, he wouldn't have done it. In a less ideal world, he'd say, "I did something terrible and inappropriate. I didn't actively intend to marginalize and objectify Ms. Tweeden, but effect matters. I had a position of power over her, and I misinterpreted her hesitant willingness to go along with my actions as consent. That wasn't true consent. In my career as a comedian, I've probably done similar things. In fact, when I say I don't recall, it's true: this is how I acted, but it's not how I act anymore. I'm older, wiser, and will listen. I will dedicate myself to holding my fellow men accountable."
Or something like that. I don't know. It's obviously not Moore or Trump or Weiner level, but it's not nothing.
It's good for there to actually be an investigation. Whatever the outcome, it would be great to finally set the precedent that serious accusations merit an actual investigation and are not just brushed off.
Having healthy skepticism isn’t a terrible thing given GOP tactics, though.
Should be investigated and calls to resign are premature.
This puts the WhiteHouse between a rock and a hard place come Press Briefing time. If they condemn Franken then they must condemn Moore.. If they condemn either they are opening the door to being called hypocrites by the media and Dems due to not addressing Trumps own accusations.
I mean, there is a third option ya know. Maybe she truly did feel violated and angry at him pestering her to do the rehearsal and sticking his tongue in her mouth. And maybe the recent stories really did encourage her to finally feel the empowerment necessary to come forward without fear. Maybe over the years her mental framing of how things played out shifted to become less credible than the details seem to suggest. We need not assume that in the event she is mischaracterizing the events that she therefore must have a political agenda.
There's literally a photo already. What do you people want?
Because as important as it is to resist white supremacy, we should not compromise with misogynists and sexual assaulters in order to do it, nor should it be necessary.
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