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Democrats, Media: Franken Made a “Mistake,” We Need Him in the Senate

Democrats, Media: Franken Made a “Mistake,” We Need Him in the Senate

If what Franken did was simply a mistake, and he’s too politically valuable to lose, when and to whom is this standard also applied?

http://www.kabc.com/2017/11/16/leeann-tweeden-on-senator-al-franken/

The alleged offenses committed by Roy Moore, Al Franken, and Harvey Weinstein aren’t even in the same ballpark. Al Franken of course, the growing Democrat argument goes, is the lesser offender of the many and because he apologized for his actions in the now famously scandalous photo, he ought to be left alone to live his life in the U.S. Senate.

Several pieces have been penned making this argument for various reasons. They’re little more than fluffy excuses for alleged sexual predators who, without the consent of the other party(ies), prey upon weakness and vulnerability. No matter how you slice their alleged offenses they’re sick, not to mention wrong.

Kate Harding, a self-professed feminist and student of rape culture wrote an op-ed in the WaPo defending Franken, arguing he was too politically valuable to resign. Then there was the Hillary, cognitively dissonant as ever demanding accountability of Trump and Moore who faced their own bevies of sexual assault allegations.

Bill Maher and his crew, too, made this delineation. From Deadline:

Jokes out of the way, Maher got to his point: “He did a bad thing and the condemnation has been universal, which he deserves. What he doesn’t deserve is to be lumped in with Roy Moore. Or Kevin Space. Or Harvey Weinstein. Or Donald Trump, who calls his accusers liars, threatens to sue them, did long riffs at his rallies where he said they were too ugly for him to assault.

“Plus, with Al Franken we’re talking about one incident. Trump has 16 accusers. Roy Moore has nine. Roy Moore spent more time chatting up young girls at the mall than Santa Claus.”

Franken came up again later in the show when comedian and activist Chelsea Handler joined the panel and noted that Franken, facing one allegation, took responsibility, while Trump pretends he’s going to sue his accusers. (Watch the segment above.)

“I agree with you on Al Franken,” Handler said. “I’m sorry, he’s not a predator. Everybody who’s met him knows that’s not true. He made a mistake. He’s not a predator.”

Maher then challenged this afternoon’s cable news wisdom that Franken should resign, decrying a culture that doesn’t know “the difference between zero tolerance and maximum punishment.”

There is some truth to this particular argument. A one-time offender ought not be lumped into the same class as the Weinsteins who were serial predators. But should Franken’s one (or two, actually) offenses be dismissed just because it was only one-off occurrence? Is that really the precedent we want to create? I say ‘no’.

Franken may have accepted responsibility for groping a woman over a tactical vest while she slept (though there’s an entire truther movement suggesting he didn’t actually touch her, they’ve examined the photo closely, you see), but he’s yet to speak to Leeann Tweeden’s second and far more serious charge that Franken forced himself on her during a skit rehearsal. To that charge, Franken has merely said he remembers events differently.

WaEx’s Byron York:

But has Franken acknowledged the misconduct alleged by Tweeden? The answer is no. Franken has acknowledged the actions in a photo in which he mimics groping a sleeping Tweeden. But Franken has not admitted Tweeden’s more serious charge that he physically forced himself on her while rehearsing for a skit during a USA tour in 2006.

“He just put his hand on the back of my head and mashed his face against me,” Tweeden said in a news conference Thursday. “It happened so fast. He mashed his lips against my face and stuck his tongue in my mouth so fast. All I can remember is that his lips were really wet and slimy.”

Franken has not only not admitted that act but has said he has a different memory of the moment.

“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,” Franken said in his first statement after the news broke.

Later, in a more extensive statement – one in which he discussed the photo at length – Franken said, “While I don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.”

On Friday, Franken addressed the subject for a third time, in an email to Tweeden. He apologized for the photo, but said, again: “I remember that rehearsal differently.”

My favorite piece on this subject was published by the NYT who are desperate to paint Franken’s actions as a mistake, not an offense.

But while there was no widespread public showing of support for Mr. Franken, a number of his allies, including three former “Saturday Night Live” colleagues and 10 former aides, all women, said that they did not believe his behavior fit a pattern or was in the same realm of misconduct as other high-profile men accused of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry, including the comedian Louis C. K. and the producer Harvey Weinstein.

“I’m just so upset about this atmosphere and good people being dragged into it,” said Jane Curtin, a member of the original cast of “Saturday Night Live” with Mr. Franken from 1975 to 1980 who has been close with him since. “It’s just like the red menace. You don’t know who’s going to be next.”

This was followed by anecdotes aplenty, all suggesting the photo was not indicative of Franken’s character. And they may be right. Women aplenty have publicly testified to his character, while one accuser says otherwise and yet another accuses Franken of harassment, though not sexual.

This paradox is exactly the issue that seems to escape (intentionally or not) media discussion on the matter:  If Franken’s supporters are to be believed, should not that same benefit of doubt be extended to the supporters of other accused offenders? Should someone’s reputation, future, and career be tried in the court of public opinion as opposed to filing charges with law enforcement?

If what Franken did was simply a mistake, and he’s too politically valuable to lose, when and to whom is this standard also applied? The obvious answer is only to those who are Democrats, but that answer is hardly sufficient for the public who grow weary of double-standards and perverted logic in order to defend some while prosecuting others for the same offenses.

Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye

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Comments

And silence from the Republicans

But Moore of course must go

Sorry but I lOVE it’s sexual misconduct when a liberal perv does it but it’s sexual predator, rapist when a Republican does much less

The new left men’s is to admit to some of it, like the BS C.K. “I always asked first if they wanted to see my dick”… right and Frankens “ I remember it differently “… geez, how smooth can you get?

Franken’s “mistake” was deciding to live his entire life as an asshole.

The left knows it’s in trouble, because ALL of their front people – especially Biden – have been outed as perverts. They’re in a position of having their entire roster of legacy players go down the perv drain: bill clinton, hillary biden, ted kennedy, on and on and on.

So what do they do? Their usual: projection. Thus, the fake Roy Moore scandal, and the trotting out of that fraud and media whore, gloria alred.

And of course, the GOPe arm of the democrat party takes their marching orders, like the compliant rats they are.

The hell with franken: don’t let up for a minute till he’s out. Support Roy Moore, and destroy mcconnell and the rest of the rats of the GOPe. When the GOPe is dead, the left will eventually die on the vine.

I can’t help but think of Western European women who are being groped, fondled and sexually assaulted by the rape culture brought to the region by Muslim immigrants. It’s politically incorrect to acknowledge or make a big deal of it. Meanwhile, its dittos here as liberal men paw paw the chicks. It’s yet another area where Islam and the left find common ground as they, evidently, expect women to “give it up for the cause”

    “It’s yet another area where Islam and the left find common ground….”

    Don’t believe in coincidences anymore. Islam aligns with any fascist movement; same with the left.

    Never forget traitor and perv-enabler barry obama so anxious to grovel before before every leftist and islamic dictator, inclugin hugo chavez.

    Obama’s atrocious statement on Chavez’s death
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/03/06/obamas-atrocious-statement-on-tyrant-chavezs-death/

    And don’t forget how anxious Crazy Pelosi was to run to the middle east to hob-nob with Islamic dictators the first chance she got.

    gonzotx in reply to bt1. | November 19, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    And children, the cover up in England is insane

    C. Lashown in reply to bt1. | November 20, 2017 at 7:53 am

    I would love to feel sorry or enraged for the women suffering the indignity of rape and abuse in Europe….sadly, I don’t.

    For DECADES Europe has brainwashed their men into serving the state, being effeminate place-holders of manhood, nothing more than sperm donors for women. The culture is dying and has been dying long before the Muslims showed up.

    People wanted to accumulate “stuff” instead of raising families, having all the free personal time available – now they’re paying the price for their lifestyles. Men who are only men biologically and don’t have the honor to protect their daughters or wives or country. A people who know only one thing: Obey the State. Women got what they wanted and now the bill has come due, it’s just being delivered by the local Mosque.

Dems know how to fight this war. They will do so and probably prevail. Power and control are the goals and they play it to win. Republicans use a “We need to lose” playbook: We demand standards, Dems want power. The stupid party vs the evil party.

    Come on, rethink that. Who just won the presidency?

    One SURE way we’re going to lose is if we don’t destroy the GOPe: they are not on our side – they are an arm of the democrat party.

    Our war is not with the democrats. It is with the Manchurian Candidates of the GOPe.

      Your overall point is correct. I am only speaking about the title of Kemberlee’s article re: Franken. He will stay in the Senate because the Dems NEED him. They will dirty him a bit, but still keep him since he is one of theirs. Remember Kennedy, Dodd, Studds and a few more?

Republican or Democrat knowingly rapes a .38

Franken, like Louis CK, , like Bill Clinton, used his star power to gain/seek acquiescence. He should, like Louis CK, be stripped of his star power. As to Moore, I am a single issue voter. The timing has taintedstained/stunk up all the allegations.

Posted this in the Ohio judge article also.

https://spectator.org/shall-we-dance-al-franken-what-about-that-time-in-montana/

I thought it was nice that Al Franken mentioned his wife had very recently (the previous week?) given birth to (if I recall correctly) his first child, a son. Good for him. A proud father. (snip)

Front row, right side at Student Union Ballroom of Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana. Winter of 1979 or 1980. Actually, I witnessed both Al Franken and his then partner, Tom Davis, commit acts of unwanted sexual harassment. (snip)

Franken (or was it Davis?) announced it was time to take a break from the rollicking hilarity and laughter. It was time to dance!

They each stepped off the front of the stage and into the chairs and picked out two comely young college girls and brought them up to the stage. The lights dimmed. Soft, romantic music began to play. Franken and Davis wrapped their arms around their partners and pressed their bodies close. The girls complied.

They danced. They swayed.

And then Al’s hands slid down to his dancing partner’s ass. And I use the word ‘ass’ because in that context, that’s the word you’d use. Not buttocks or fanny or tail or bottom. Ass.

His hands began fondling her ass.

Same with Davis.

Ha ha ha. There was laughter from the assembled voyeurs, excuse me, spectators.

The girls both reached behind and moved the roving hands up.

After which the hands slid back down to cop another slow, sensuous feel. Over and over and over. (snip)

These were two young Montana girls, 18 to 20, and Franken and Davis were a seasoned pair of high power comedians at the height of Saturday Night Live fame. They were stars. They owned New York City, for crying out loud. These girls might have been cheerleaders at Three Forks High School. Maybe even prom princesses. Not cosmopolitan New Yorkers.

These two successful entertainers put two girls on stage, in front of maybe two hundred people, in roles of dancers, and began fondling them. Straight and simple as that. Maybe Franken and Davis whispered instructions into the girls’ ears, I don’t know. (snip)

The discussion was about to tick up a notch when, surprise, the two girls (the fondlees, shall we say) approached. All smiles and giggles. All starry-eyed and excited. Again I metaphorically scratched my head.

They invited Franken and Davis to a party.

A small party in the town of Logan, some twenty miles away. I assumed it was a small party because at the time there were maybe four, maybe five houses in Logan. And I also assumed, judging from their starry eyes, that Franken and Davis would have thought they had a good chance of perfecting their Fanny Fondle routine that night. I would have thought that. I’d have bet money on it, if I had been the recipient of such gazes and smiles.

Subotai Bahadur | November 20, 2017 at 12:05 am

You have to understand that in the United States today [which is not coterminous with “America”] Any criminal act committed by a Democrat, other Leftist, or any Protected Class is sanctified by the nature of the person committing it and the victim is deplorably ungrateful if they do not appreciate the honor that has been given them.

Fun fact. Chuck Schumer had a press conference scheduled last week. Word has leaked he was going to make a pontificating, finger-wagging speech about Roy Moore.

As soon as the Franken business broke he instantly cancelled it.

Franken, only 1 transgression? Ha Ha Ha. Only 1 so far.

    stevewhitemd in reply to kjon. | November 20, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Yup. These things don’t happen in isolation. Abusers don’t abuse just once.

    Mr. Franken’s people have to be going crazy right now worrying about when and how the next allegation will come out. And it isn’t as if they can go ask the boss. “So boss, any other skeletons in the closet?” That’s not a career-enhancing question at a staff meeting.

    Franken is a creature of Hollywood. Plus he’s a jerk of a human being. So I have no doubt that there are more ‘incidents’. Now, will anyone else come forward? That’s the real question.

He has admitted access to cocaine to ‘stay awake’. What’s the probability he was high when the picture was taken? More puzzling, is he, a U.S. Senator, still using?

It didn’t take long for Democrat hypocrisy to surface, did it?

“But Adolph makes the trains run on time”

Den morality in a nutshell.Transgressions will be tolerated because the Jew is the greater threat.

Witness Weinstein’s apology letter declaring his penance would be to spend millions attacking the NRA. That wasn’t by accident, it was as deliberate as a poll-tested talking point. It only looked ridiculous because it was too much too soon.

We have been taught that to sacrifice for the greater good is noble and just. The Dems are applying that rule to Franken. But for some reason, all of the things that Repubs stand for will be jeopardized if Moore is not supported in AL. Even if all the things that have been written about him are true, is it not better to still elect him for the greater good of the country? Do any of you support killing a full term baby? Are you all on board with total amnesty for DACA people? Is the “Wall” too expensive to build? Is gun control the number one issue? How about transgender bathrooms for your kids? These are at stake if Jones is elected in AL. So even if we have to hold our collective noses, it is still better to elect Moore than Jones, for the greater good.

    “Even if we have to hold our collective noses…” That, everyone, is precisely how we got the last election. At this point, we need gas masks.

    Frankly, I’m not willing to accept elections where the best argument for a candidate is a negative vote against his/her opponent. Although this may be unpopular to many in this forum, I want someone who will get things done, not someone who will campaign against something and then once elected can’t do what they promised.

But we can see the problem with the greater good philosophy played out here – ” we need to support Franken to stop the Republicans from rounding up gays and blacks for concentration camps”

GreaterGood eventually meets up with his historic sidekick, Fearmongering.

Sorry, this is somewhat hypocritical. If we are to condemn sexual predators, this must be across the board. Franken should pay a price for his actions, and since the accusers are credible, Moore should step aside. This is a bipartisan problem. And, I am tired of the idea of “at least voting for the predator is better than the opponent”–that’s only a “negative” reason for voting for someone. If that’s the only argument for your candidate, then just remember that’s how we got the current administration.

Franken is a Democrat , Moore is a Republican , that is all that is needed to be said.