Sacrificial man Al Franken resignation effective January 2
Dems like Kirsten Gillibrand threw Franken overboard to score points against Moore and Trump, progressive regrets too little, too late
Just breaking, Al Franken’s office has announced that his previously announced resignation will be effective January 2, 2018.
The snowball started rolling downhill for Franken when he was accused of groping and non-consensually tongue-kissing a woman on USO tour, as detailed in our post News Anchor accuses Al Franken of non-consensual kissing, groping in 2006.
The photo of the grope went viral, and will be the lasting image of Franken.
With the accusations against Roy Moore in the Alabama special election, and the old allegations against Donald Trump, this was really inconvenient timing for Democrats. That it came on the heels of the evidence of pervasive sexual harassment and assault in the liberal entertainment industry, Democrat politicians were caught between loyalty to a fellow progressive and their War on Women attacks on Republicans.
The initial reactions from Democrats and the media was to try to excuse Franken’s conduct, Democrats, Media: Franken Made a “Mistake,” We Need Him in the Senate. Women who worked with Franken at Saturday Night Live defended him.
Female Democrat like Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand were evasive as to whether he should resign.
But then additional accusers stepped forward
- Woman Claims Franken Groped Her Butt During Photo-Op in 2010
- HuffPo: Two Anonymous Women Accuse Al Franken of Inappropriate Touching
- Two More Women, Including an Army Vet, Accuse Franken of Sexual Misconduct
When John Conyers in the House was pressured to resign because of sexual harassment allegation, Democrats were accused by Congressional Black Caucus members of a double standard for demanding that the black Conyers resign, but not the white Franken.
Franken initially refused to resign.
Female Democrat Senators, led by Gillibrand, finally decided that Franken needed to be thrown overboard for the more pressing need of trying to defeat Roy Moore and ultimately going after Trump. Once Gillibrand broke the dam, the demands for Franken to resign flowed so quickly that in a day over 30 Democrat Senators joined the call for Franken to resign. There was no principle there, many of the resignation demands came only after word got out that Franken was going to resign anyway.
Then the deed was done. In a speech on the Senate floor on December 7, 2016, that was bitter in its tone, and non-apologetic, Franken announced that he would resign at some unspecified future date. Progressive supporters of Franken were furious at how he was treated.
When Roy Moore lost in Alabama, the regrets at how Franken was treated grew. But when the Governor of Minnesota named a female replacement for Franken just after the Moore election, there was no turning back for Franken. If he had thought he might unresign, it became impossible.
Nonetheless, the regrets have grown in recent days, as as Four Democrat Senators Ask Franken to Reconsider Resignation.
But it was too little too late. Franken is leaving. The bitterness in the Democrat Party lingers. They sacrificed a progressive leader for a greater goal, getting Donald Trump.
We’ll see how that works out.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Well! Good to see that p.o.s. go, after all.
The geniuses around Pelosi-Scumer must be planning an offensive on that theme against Trump. (Couldn’t be simplyrinciple, couldn’t it.
A “knight”?, a “bishop”?…aspiring to he a “king”?… in the end just a pawn. So he was boarish, but compared to many past “great” Dem senators that got away with more and are still worshiped, he was just a lout.
Hey, bitter little “man”, don’t let the screen door grope your butt on the way out.
What a tool…… how does it feel to get used and abused?
Like a dog on a chain
He ain’t got no name
But it ain’t him to blame
He’s only a pawn in their game
But as someone else pointed out, he’s probably hanging on till the to qualify for full Congressional Retirement Benefits! YUCK.
…which allows him to push any lump sum payments out of his retirement or other money into the next tax year, where they will be taxed at a lower rate due to the bill he opposed.
He’s not stupid. Just really, really dumb.
Burning Man.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” It can cut both ways.
The female chauvinists have deemed Franken nonviable.
Get your pleasure by Pro-Choice. Get aborted by Pro-Choice.
Deny due process (i.e. presumption of innocent). Advocate for cruel and unusual punishments (e.g. selective-child, recycled-child).
The corruption and dysfunction are progressive and wholly predictable.
‘Progressive leader’. Hardly. He’s another leftist, Godless American Jew who stole an election He has even fewer ‘accomplishments’ than Hillary. And he was never funny.
Dude, not cool. Franken may be an ass, but his religion has nothing to do with it.
Be better. And if not, how about you go find somewhere else to be worse?
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving individual.
But when the Governor of Minnesota named a female replacement for Franken just after the Moore election, there was no turning back for Franken.
Actually, there’s no way for the Governor to remove Franken, or to force him to resign. His appointment of Franken’s replacement signals that the Governor fully expects the resignation, and weaseling out would make Franken look like an even bigger jerk than he does now … but that’s never bothered him before.
Pension decision.
On the nose. Senators are vested in FERS after five years and can retire at age 62. Al is 66, and started in Congress in 2008.
https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/ac0d1dd5-7316-4390-87e6-353589586a89.pdf
Lanceman describes Franken as a “Godless American Jew.” That’s pretty sleezy language. What does Franken’s religion have to do with the matter for which he resigned. Conyers is not Jewish and neither is Trump, but they’ve both been charged with sexual misbehavior.
Moral equivalence amongst the three?
I’m shocked!
Not kidding.
I figured he would “unresign” as soon as the Moore election was over, maybe a few weeks later after the smoke had cleared and the news cycle had moved on.