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. 
()* 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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Still, it leaves the Dems wide open for this to happen to other Progressive voices. Even after only one false accusation is levied, where does it stop? I feel for the good of our future, Franken needed to stay.
So the fact that Franken fought for fair taxes, our social safety nets, child welfare and health programs, a woman’s right to choose, DACA, Net Neutrality, sensible foreign policies, fair trade policies, consumer rights, heatlh care for all, gun control, the list goes on and on… you couldn’t get behind that? This is why we can’t have nice things in this country.
Al Franken is accused of sexual assault and resigns.
Roy Moore is accused of sexual assault and basically says “What, me worry?”
Sexual assault is never something to take lightly, but when one side takes the high road and resigns, while the other side considers it business as usual with no repercussions, something is seriously broken.
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Alan Sweibel wrote this speech for Al Franken… it’s the one Franken should have given:
"You think it’s a coincidence that all of these allegations surfaced after I was the only Democrat to pose tough questions to Sessions about the Trump-Russia collusion? Could you possibly be that stupid? After all these years, you don’t know a Republican smear job when you see it?
"I would tell my Democratic colleagues to smarten up, wake the hell up and show some spine for once. Why are you obsessing about me, and not about Trump and his 24 rape charges, and Roy Moore and his 20 molestation charges? Have you lost your minds? Why do you think we’ve lost 800 seats in Congress and State legislatures in the last 8 years?
"The reason is because the public thinks we’re wimps, and that we lack a backbone, and we don’t stand up enough for what is right, and we don’t fight for liberal values and for the working men and women.
"Waging this campaign against me, in the context of the Trump horror show, is absolutely immoral – a clear signal to everyday Americans that you don’t give a shit about them or about what is right – that you have again allowed yourselves to be dictated by uninformed public opinion.
"Do you like what Republican monsters and psychopaths did on this tax bill? Do you want to see Obamacare repealed, and 20 million people lose their insurance? Do you like the Trump horror show?
"If so, then by all means, continue this raging jihad against me, and accept that America will again see you as spineless corporatists, who have no backbone and don’t stand for anything.
“If you don’t like the nightmare that Republicans have unleashed on America, then shut your prissy sanctimonious mouths and allow me to have my right to due process. Or are you opposed to THAT constitutional guarantee as well, you snide little shits?”
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Yes, maybe, but it does invalidate what I wrote.
I think the mistake they made with Franken is not that they should have demanded a resignation after the initial allegation.
I think the mistake was not having staked out a clear position.
For instance imaging the party said something like the following at the start: “We treat this allegation very seriously but need more time to investigate as well as to allow more women time to step forward. If we find convincing evidence of wrongdoing, or a pattern of troubling behaviour, we will ask Senator Franken to step down.”
You can argue about the specific wording, or where to draw the line in the sand, but if they’d laid out clear expectations and standards I think the whole situation would have played out better.
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