Al Franken accused of sexual harassment

[Koharu]

Yep, as much as I love what Franken has done, he needs to get out. I would be okay with him finishing out his term (as I would be with anyone else already seated in Congress), but he then needs to be done. Resignation would be better, obviously, because it shows initiative and on the politics side, Dayton would appoint the replacement.

C'mon, Al. Own up, apologize, resign, and show 'em how to behave after.

I would love if, perhaps, Dayton would appoint Walz to replace him. But I think Walz wants to get out of Washington, hence his governor bid.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

[GeorgiaModerate]

Franken needs to resign (which makes me sad, since I've thought he was a good Senator) not for the politics of it, but because it's the right thing to do.

[Santander]

The reason why everyone is coming out with such accusations is that at least 50% of men have done something like this at least once in their life. Of course, that doesn't make it less wrong, but you can make mistakes and still be a good person. I see no reason for him to resign as long as he owns up to it and apologizes.

[Jeppe]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

All sexual predators should be removed from office, period. This isn't his only incident, other people have complained about him groping women without their consent before.

[Santander]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

All sexual predators should be removed from office, period.

Congress would be empty.

[Gass3268]

He should resign.

[JerryArkansas]

Anything short of Franken resigning today, before lunch, eliminates the Democrat moral high ground in the Roy Moore fiasco.

Honey, we aren't the ones going to elect a paedophile to the US Senate.  And who have been defending him for a while now.

[Koharu]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

And I hope that Mr. Franken shows himself to be a much more upstanding person by owning his mistakes and taking the consequences--resignation.

[Jeppe]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

All sexual predators should be removed from office, period.

Congress would be empty.

You know who hasn't had any sexual allegations thrown at them? Women. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that women can't sexually assault others, but it's exceedingly rare compared to men. I think it's about high time we elect more women to Congress.

[user12345]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

All sexual predators should be removed from office, period.

Congress would be empty.

Trump is inadvertently draining the swamp.

[Brittain33]

Anything short of Franken resigning today, before lunch, eliminates the Democrat moral high ground in the Roy Moore fiasco.

This.

Democrats: Unless you want a Senator who represents the toothless hillbilly coalition for 3 years, you'd better clean up this Franken mess post-haste.

Whatever the merits of the allegations here--it is ridiculous to say that Moore's election is down to anyone BUT the Republican voters of Alabama and what they make of Moore's allegations. Whether Franken resigns, weasels out of it, or whatever, AL voters have made it clear they won't let people outside their state decide who they elect.

[DavidB.]

Bye, Felicia!

[RogueBeaver]

Franken says he's sorry and shouldn't have done it.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Does anyone else remember the poster Sam Spade saying that Franken groped his aunt on the subway and that's why he hated him?

What I learned about Al Franken...
« on: December 25, 2008, 01:31:08 pm »   

No reason to make this longer than need be, so I'll start from the top.  I'd prefer not to have to do this, but...

As I've mentioned before, most of my relatives are from the South.  However, I do have an aunt who lives in NYC (Queens exactly).  She's not blood-related, but she married my blood-related uncle who was a bit actor who moved to New York, and who unfortunately passed away a number of years because of a freak accident.  She was actually the more financially successful of the two and has not remarried since his death.

Anyway, she was always my favorite aunt when I was a child because she always sent me the best gifts.  And since I've moved to NYC, I always try to see her every so often, which is often difficult considering her schedule and mine.

One of those times was a couple of weeks before the election this year when I had lunch with her.  Naturally, the conversation turned to politics and Obama-McCain.  Eventually, I mentioned Al Franken and she said "Don't get me started there.  What an outright disgusting sicko perv!"  I asked why...  She said, "Well, I guess you're old enough now to know these types of things..." As follows...

One day, sometime in 1976 or 1977 (she doesn't remember the year), but it was in October, she was riding the subway back into Manhattan in the early evening to finish some stuff at work.  The train was fairly empty.  A guy sat down in the seat next to her and started talking to her.  She responded.  Well, this person was Al Franken.

After a couple of minutes, he started to try and pick her up, using some lines which she told me were "lame".  I should mention that she hadn't met my uncle yet - they didn't meet until 1980 or get married until 1982.  She didn't say whether was actually single at the time.  I didn't ask.  Anyway, she thought he looked like a weirdo, not to mention that his eyes looked a bit glazed over, and she said "No thanks."  He kept pressing and she said no.

I'm not going to go into details as to what happened next after this insistence, but let's say that the groping and grabbing done by Franken done towards certain private regions of my aunt would probably constitute sexual harassment today, if not more.  It didn't constitute much back in those days.  Anyway, as he did this for a few seconds, my aunt pushed him off, said "Get away you f-ing creep," which he did and ran quickly off the next stop.  She never saw him again (well, except on television).
The only person on the forum who I've already told this was MW08, because he asked insistently on the forum, but I know I told him only the essentials (not the back story and a few of the details).  

This is all I'm going to say about it.  And I don't want commentary, so the thread gets locked.

I see no reason to think about supporting a political party who has a creep like this in their midst, and allow him to be anywhere near government.  Also, I feel like getting involved in politics in some way to see if, in some way, I can prevent people like this from getting into positions of power in the future.  That's the reason why this will lead to less time on the forum.  We'll see whether I can sustain either of those things (successfulness on the perv front is probably an illusion), but I certainly feel it to an extent.

Of course, maybe all political parties do have a certain amount of creeps, and that's probably true, but when it affects a close family member, you tend to feel a bit more involved.  I can't help but feeling a good bit angry whenever Al Franken is mentioned now.  Maybe that'll pass, it probably won't.

I believe I've said my piece, however short it may be.




Which is probably why he said this too:

I wish he would die a slow and painful death.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Ummmmm Moore is accused of being a pedophile that is a whole lot worse then what Al did

All sexual predators should be removed from office, period.

Congress would be empty.

Best reason ever.

[Shadows]

He needs to go. Dems can't be hypocrites, encouraging these sort of behaviour while condemning Moore & the republicans !

[Gass3268]

Franken says he's sorry and shouldn't have done it.

Sigh

[Illiniwek]

It really sucks seeing people you believed in let you down. He most certainly won't be the last one though.

[Jeppe]

I imagine a lot more women will come out of the woodwork now, given that Franken has a history of sexual assault. I think he's finished.

[MAINEiac4434]

Feel the Franken now seems really inappropriate now.

The TL is suspended indefinitely. I’m contemplating just outright ending it.

And he should resign.

[libertpaulian]

Feel the Franken now seems really inappropriate now.

The TL is suspended indefinitely. I’m contemplating just outright ending it.

And he should resign.

Maybe you can do Can't Tar the 'Char? (Amy Klobuchar) instead?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Does his statement seem a bit  "oops, my bad, it was just like locker room talk"

[adrac]

Very sorry to hear this, hope he has the decency to step down.

[RINO Tom]

Hate to sound all cliche or holier than [them], but what is wrong with these dudes?  It's one thing to make some regrettable statements or jokes with your buddies behind closed doors (still not "acceptable," but we all know it happens), but it takes a truly messed up man to think you can just do something - anything - to a girl that she hasn't given you a very clear sign that it's okay to do.  Obviously, I am QUITE naive, but that seems like common sense.

I know "politicians" encompass some of the worst people, but damn ... this is depressingly more widespread than I think most people would have liked to believe.