Today’s newest sexual assaulter: Al Franken

Will someone please smash that old fucking chestnut?

6 Likes

OW. My Balls!

5 Likes

Sorry, wrong chestnuts.

2 Likes

I wonder if he went further than what is shown in the photo? Read the original article: he thrust his tongue into her mouth supposedly “rehearsing” the kiss for the skit, and she didn’t want him to. He badgered her into it.

2 Likes

Yeah for sure, that’s totally inappropriate and maybe assault to force a kiss on someone.

But that picture is from a different time and place, right? And it’s going to get conflated in everyone’s minds because we’re all busy and there’s lots to read and take in, and the picture everyone’s going to have is that he felt her up, which isn’t what happened from what I’ve read. The picture is him being offensive and clowning around (knowing his audience inside the military transport?) but is still separate from the forced “practice” kiss.

As I understand it. Is it wrong to keep those two incidents separate? I don’t think so.

I’m not defending him, I just think we should be clear about what we’re condemning.

2 Likes

It was taken during part of the same USO tour during which Franken was relentlessly creeping on her. Not exactly irrelevant to the topic at hand.

2 Likes

I agree with that.

Yes. Two separate events, but not disconnected. They were both part of the bigger USO tour.

A glimmer of hope: other leading Democrats are calling for an ethics investigation against Franken instead of downplaying his actions or dismissing his accusers’ story.

Republicans please take note.

12 Likes

We’re going to need another thread:

4 Likes

OMG also from pagesix:

Say it ain’t so, hedgehog.

3 Likes

I thought that was kinda, well, his job.

1 Like

Hard to grope breasts though a flak vest, just sayin’.

1 Like

It’s still fundamentally inappropriate to try.

8 Likes

Damn it, Franken. Et tu?

I’m seriously considering the possibility that the combination of male and money/power is the root of the problem here. No woman asks to be assaulted. Yet men with some amount of money and/or power seem to feel absolutely entitled to take sexual gratification whenever or wherever they please. Consent? That’s for little people. Just like laws and consequences for bad behavior are only for little people.

8 Likes

That’s like saying assault and battery was Mike Tyson’s job.

4 Likes

Try? Do you think he didn’t know it wouldn’t be possible? I would go with pretend; while it is in poor taste to pretend to cop a feel, it’s not criminal…unless you’re the thought police.

1 Like

Current governor of MN is DFL party, so there’s not a political reason to think twice about Franken stepping down.

That seat in Minnesota has traditionally been held by Jewish legislators (Boschwitz, Wellstone, Coleman, Franken), so as a Jewish ex-Minnesotan I do hope that this is respected by the Governor when he appoints an interim.

You think Franken is in hot water because of what he was thinking?

4 Likes

Pretending to cop a feel, especially on a woman who is sleeping, is still sexual harassment, and that is still very much illegal.

This. Is. Not. Hard.

10 Likes