I think his apology seems sincere - but he needs to put his money where his mouth is and step down for it to mean anything. I do think that there are men who have done problematic things in the past and maybe they are now beginning to realize that they were so wrong for it and will do better in the future. But they have to be true to their word and do the right thing to atone. And for someone like Franken, that means stepping down and continuing to fight the good fight, but not as a representitive.
The fact that the senators are not calling for his resignation suggests that they are both tone deaf and interested in protecting other people in the party who have done much worse.
Al Franken has been given a golden opportunity here. We are in the middle of a moment. He can either weaken that moment by staying in his seat, or he can do the right thing, resign, and allow the momentum to build and for new standards to be set. If he is truly sorry, if he truly wants to be an ally to women, and if he truly wants to see justice done, he can show that right here, right now, by giving up his seat. So that when the next asshole gets outed, and the next one, and the next one, they can all be judged against this bar.
He needs to do it before the party realizes that mere ethics investigations are not enough. He needs to do it before an ethics investigation turns up anything else. He needs to do it before the GOP tries to re-occupy the moral high ground.
This needs to be set to him, his staff, family, anyone who has influence in his decisions.
I think Franken will resign. It may not have been his first response, but I bet you either by the end of today or tomorrow he will submit his resignation.
I have no such faith in him. If he were a good guy, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
I think Franken will resign. It may not have been his first response, but I bet you either by the end of today or tomorrow he will submit his resignation.
I have no such faith in him. If he were a good guy, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
I don't think he will do it because he's a good guy, I think he will do it because other Dems are going to be making the same calculation ESF made above and they'll force his hand.
I will say though, an hour ago I felt very strongly about that, but now that he issued the second apology and called on the ethics committee to investigate him, I am much less sure.
JFC. One of my liberal male "friends" said that the photographer said that the photo is staged and that there's another side. So, the forced kiss was staged too asshole? Fuck off.
Ugh, I am nauseated by some of the responses to this in my anti-Trump FB groups. The mental gymnastics of why we shouldn't hold Franken accountable, the boys will be boys excuses, the well he didn't masturbate in front of her, the focusing on how it doesn't look like he was "actually touching her" excuses. How he is really a good guy. JFC.
And I am sure if you asked them, most of these people would ID as a Dem. Showing again that the Dems don't hold any sort of high ground when it comes to making excuses for the disgusting behavior of their party members.
So the man on my facebook feed who defended Louis CK last week? He put up a passive aggressive post on his facebook feed now that appears to be in direct response to mine, pointing out that people calling for his resignation might feel differently if Norm Coleman were appointing his replacement.
Yeah, fuckface, I would. Because the cruelty of the anti-choice movement haunts me in a way that sexual harassment does not. And frankly, I don't think the consequence for sexual harassment should be that even more women are denied bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. I'd like ICE not to try to force teenagers to give birth. I'd like not to have to die if I ever needed a life saving abortion. I'd also simply like not to be forced to carry a baby I didn't want, and I'd especially like not to be forced to carry a rapist's baby. And I'd really like these things to be the case for every woman everywhere, not just a wealthy white woman in a super blue city.
Just because I don't want Al Franken in the senate doesn't mean that I am OK with making women shoulder the life or death consequences of his actions.
So the man on my facebook feed who defended Louis CK last week? He put up a passive aggressive post on his facebook feed now that appears to be in direct response to mine, pointing out that people calling for his resignation might feel differently if Norm Coleman were appointing his replacement.
Yeah, fuckface, I would. Because the cruelty of the anti-choice movement haunts me in a way that sexual harassment does not. And frankly, I don't think the consequence for sexual harassment should be that even more women are denied bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. I'd like ICE not to try to force teenagers to give birth. I'd like not to have to die if I ever needed a life saving abortion. I'd also simply like not to be forced to carry a baby I didn't want, and I'd especially like not to be forced to carry a rapist's baby. And I'd really like these things to be the case for every woman everywhere, not just a wealthy white woman in a super blue city.
Just because I don't want Al Franken in the senate doesn't mean that I am OK with making women shoulder the life or death consequences of his actions.
Seriously, I'm done with men. DONE.
YES THIS. I can be horrified at the prospect that him rightfully stepping down after being a shitpig harasser could, in other circumstances, be directly responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans who will lose health coverage under a bill that is poised to pass the Senate in the next couple of weeks on a party line vote. That is reasonable. But also that's not the case here so I have no fucks to give. I am relieved, though, because it shouldn't have to be a choice between believing women and destroying the health care system, or denying abortion rights, or any other one of the multitude of things that is impacted by the precarious balance of power in the Senate.
Since 2007, the committee has received 613 allegations of wrongdoing and has summarily dismissed more than 90% of them. Only 75 have had even a preliminary investigation.
"Senate Ethics has a reputation of being a black hole for allegations," said Jordan Libowitz of the left-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Information tends to go into the committee and nothing comes out of it."
Wasn't someone here commenting on how curious it is that so many of the liberal offenders are Jewish? I'm not saying that to indicate that only Jewish men are engaging in this behavior; on the contrary - why aren't more non-jewish men getting called out for this?
yes, me. i've been deeply uncomfortable with how this has been playing out thus far.
Same. It's not a coincidence. I'm actually surprised the Jewish media hasn't picked up on it (like The Forward or Tablet)
If Schumer doesnāt come out against this and demand Frankenās resignation itās going to kill any legitimacy to the āMoore doesnāt deserve to be in the Senateā narrative going on in AL right now. Frankens seat is safely D if he resigns, Schumer needs to make that happen.
I'm just seeing this now, but I'm calling him tomorrow.
Why arenāt non- Jewish men getting called out more? I donāt think thereās any difference in the behavior.
And when it is a Jewish man the right is much more likely to jump on it than when it is a Christian. (Roy Moore vs al Franken).
I mean, itās always easier to point the finger at the āotherā and, historically, Jews are a favorite target of finger pointing, especially by the right and especially as a the reason behind āmoral decayā in society.
There is a fair bit of mental gymnastics going on in a thread on my FB page. Someone said that since it was an "isolated incident" when he wasn't senator so he shouldn't lose his job. Another said that Franken's behavior wasn't like Moore's, er go not that bad, i.e. no need to resign.
The hypocrisy burns.
Signed, Liberal Dem who thinks that Franken should step down
There is a fair bit of mental gymnastics going on in a thread on my FB page. Someone said that since it was an "isolated incident" when he wasn't senator so he shouldn't lose his job. Another said that Franken's behavior wasn't like Moore's, er go not that bad, i.e. no need to resign.
The hypocrisy burns.
Signed, Liberal Dem who thinks that Franken should step down
ARGH.
I am so sick of this, "well, X's conduct is not as bad as Y's conduct." You can play that game all day long. Sure, some individual acts are more reprehensible than each other. Nobody is going to say that a grab is the same as rape. But ultimately they all have more in common with each other than they do with decent people, so they can all just hop right in the damn pervert basket together.