Franken to resign

One upside is that the Democrats are at least on stronger moral ground longer-term. The GOP can’t point to Franken and do “whatabout”.

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I disagree. Doing the right thing shouldn’t depend on making sure everyone else does the right thing.

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What road now, though?

Clearly, Franken has proven to be a very intelligent adversary to more predatory GOP politicians (context), despite his own personal failings. He has made strides towards equity for the people, as opposed to someone like Weinstein, who was purely profit-driven.
Is there any possible way to work towards redemption (in a far off future) by doubling efforts to help the marginalized? Lobbyist, perhaps?

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I have no idea, honestly.

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I’d like to see Franken work to redeem himself. Hell, I’d like to see Moore work to redeem himself. Just not in the Senate.

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Personally, I think this could free him up to to more direct “wetwork” against the more insidious elements in politics in the name of feminism and civil rights. Cheney, Kochs, O’Keefe, etc.

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h473

If he wants to keep his job, he should just become a Republican.

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yeah, if the dems closed ranks and defended franken after multiple allegations, they would have non-positive credibility with me.

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it’s not diabolical. i think that most republicans don’t believe that old men shouldn’t have sex with teenage girls (boys—that’s a different story). i think they mostly believe that this is OK or tolerable—or justified by the bible, or at least nearly so. they do believe that women “are responsible” for inciting sexual harassment and violence upon themselves etc etc. so it’s no fucking surprise they tolerate it and carry on.

and most democrats do believe that sexual harassment is a disease that will tear the left apart if untreated, and should be approached as such.

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Why be right when you can win?

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Well to be more precise it’s told from the perspective of the author, who happens to be black. And it’s more about the campaign as a whole than the specific ad (which is weirdly darkened OJ Simpson style in the article). Either way I don’t know how widely shared that perspective is among other black people (or black voters in Alabama).

Personally I suspect the ad was targeted at white voters either torn between Jones and Moore, or who were reluctant to vote for Moore, depending on the distribution this could be a fairly precise targeting.

As for the intent of the ad. The charitable interpretation is they were trying to confront the readers with their own racism and double-standards, and trigger a backlash against the racist elements of the Alabama GOP.

A cynical interpretation is they were also trying to use the reader’s racism, to associate Moore with a black man (or at least make the reader feel threatened) and then bring up the allegations so that Moore would be viewed as a sexual predator.

I suspect the charitable interpretation was the main intent, I don’t know if the cynical interpretation was a deliberate or not.

One of the most popular and progressive voices, accused by a FOX media personality who drops the matter once he suggests that testimony be given under oath. A half a dozen Trump voters who allegedly met him once adding unverified accusations while an endless stream of women he’s worked with line up to vouch for his character.

I seriously think y’all have just been played, and I honestly expect that this is going to become the right’s new go-to tactic.

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Getting back on topic,

Unfortunately, Amy Klobuchar’s term is up in 2018. In a state that often has senators from both parties, there is a good chance that this means that after 2018 there will be one fewer D in the Senate.

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Eh, 2018 is shaping up to be a wave year for dems, if current trends hold. If that happens, both the regular and special elections should return D-Minn senators to Washington. If there is no wave election, Minnesota is not going to be the tipping-point state between a dem majority and not.

Even if things tilt the other way I don’t think it’d be the tipping point state between a repub majority and supermajority.

I don’t think there’s much to be lost tactically with the two seats being up for re-election.

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A lot of the accusers were Democrats, even paid staffers, and several mentioned the incidents to 3rd parties at the time they happened (including in timestamped FB messages).

I’ve no doubt that GOP operatives are looking for dirt, and some may be planning to fabricate accusations, but there should be little doubt that Franken is largely guilty of the charges laid against him.

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So…

In a previous thread on this, when Tweeden and 1 other accuser had as yet come forward, I counseled a wait-and-see approach. Though it got into angels-on-a-head-of-a-pin-territory, my guesstimate was that 5 verifiable* accusers total would get us into “this certainly isn’t just some anti-Franken conspiracy” territory, and it was time to talk resignation.

Yeah, that’s about how it went. Sad for the women involved, and sad that Franken couldn’t just be a better version of himself to begin with. :frowning:

()* Verifiable, in this case, meaning that at least they told the story to a few confidants at the time. Maybe sent texts or Facebook messages about it. I don’t see how you spring a trap on someone based on things you beyond-a-reasonable-doubt said about them 7-10+ years in the past.

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Sure they can. They’ll point their finger and say ‘look, he just admitted he was wrong and resigned’, along with Conyers and Weiner and remember Gary Hart? And how many others will now be forced to resign? But if Moore and other GOP candidates and politicians just keep denying it, well, in their minds and in the minds of their supporters, there is only one party that is filled with sexual deviants… the Democratic Party. I’ll bet dollars to donuts, this will work for them, because the Dems try to win tactical battles while the GOP tries to win strategic wars. This nation is doomed uder the weight of our own doing. The Republic is dead…

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This is horrible news. Yes, I’d like to punch Franken in the nose for his indiscretions. But he made a sincere apology and his victim accepted it. Franken has in the past and would in the future, do much more good as a Progressive warrior then being castigated and drummed out of the party. We have lost a person who has fought tooth and nail for Progressive values. Meanwhile, in other news… Roy Moore…

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And yet, this was still the right thing to do.

The word you’re looking for is assault.

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