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Member Posts: 3945 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 10.0 |
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Author | Topic: Senator Al Franken? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Finally, belatedly in my opinion, a group of Senate Democrats is calling upon Senator Al Franken to resign: Senate Democrats call on Franken to resign amid further allegations of sexual harassment.
I'm an independent, neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but given the Trump takeover of the Republican party, and given the repugnance of all things Trump, it is gratifying that Democrats at last stood up for what is right, in contrast to the Republicans who are supporting Roy Moore for Senator in Alabama. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
A news report of another woman sexually harassed by Senator Al Franken was just posted to The Atlantic: I Believe Franken’s Accusers Because He Groped Me, Too
Who knows how many more woman are out there. My bet is that if you were young and alone and Al Franken found you attractive, you got the standard treatment. It seems impossible that all Franken's escapades invariably ended at groping and/or kissing. I wonder if there will eventually be a report of more. Franken has been married to Franni Bryson since 1975. They have two adult children. An editorial questioning what took Senate Democrats so long was just posted to the Washington Post: Why are Senate Democrats just now calling on Al Franken to resign? --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
I can tell you have high regard and warm feelings for Senator Al Franken. I like him very much, too.
Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4
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Phat writes: Percy likely does not have the natural sympathy for you as he does for these women. That’s not true. If you click on Rrhain posts only and read all his posts in this thread you’ll see he has two topics, neither having to do with the topic of this thread (one is a moderation issue from 2008). Combined with the combative tone I thought it best not to respond. Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4
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Senator Al Franken (D-MN) today announced he will be resigning from the Senate. His successor will be appointed by Minnesota governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat. There will then be a special election in 2018 to decide who serves out the remainder of Franken's term until 2020. Article here: Sen. Al Franken Announces He Will Resign
--Percy Edited by Percy, : "R-MN"=> "D-MN".
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
caffeine writes: Senator Al Franken (R-MN) today announced he will be resigning from the Senate.
Freudian slip now he's accused of sexual impropriety? Ah, how'd that "R" get in there - good catch. I'll fix it. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Phat writes: For example, if the incident occurred at a party in a social setting, would it be any different than were it at work? This reminds me of a sentiment expressed in one of the news articles I read concerning the Tweeden image: photo of a famous comedian hamming it up a year before he knew he'd be running for the Senate. To be clear, they said a lot more, that was just one of the possible ways they described of viewing the matter. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4
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Minnemooseus writes: Nobody responded to my message. Well, you got my attention this time.
What I suspect would come out of an ethics committee hearing, is that some of those "women should be believed" would be exposed as "women whose truth should be doubted". Yeah, there's such an upside to coming forward with accusations of sexual harassment. I can't believe all women don't do it. Why can't everyone understand this and just ignore the obviously spurious charges against Franken and Trump and Moore and Weinstein and all the rest? Apologies for the sarcasm. There does seem to me a difference in magnitude of offense between Franken on the one hand and all the rest on the other. And I do strongly believe that Franken is entitled to a hearing before the Ethics Committee. I know that last must seem contradictory given my calls for Franken's resignation right from the first, but that was when I truly believed that he knew what he had done. Now I'm not so sure. The human mind is a strange and complex thing, and though deep in my heart I believe the women, Franken does seem to genuinely believe they are mistaken. Of course, since I believe the women I think he's lucky to have avoided the Ethics Committee, believing it would have come out very badly for him. Still, I've stated that I liked Franken, and I still like Franken, and were I a Minnesota resident I would vote for him for Senator again, but only after he'd risen before microphones and stated, "I did it, I regret it, and I apologize, both for my actions and for my later denials." --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
From Sen. Al Franken's accusers and their allegations against him
This is a lot of women to not believe, especially because of the pattern, and more especially because it's likely just the tip of the iceberg.
Franken is a self-confessed "hugger". Glad you put "hugger" in quotes. How convenient for him, as if that makes it okay.
Of course, since I believe the women I think he's lucky to have avoided the Ethics Committee, believing it would have come out very badly for him. I can't see how he could come out looking worse that he currently does. The women's stories would have changed category from allegations to testimony before a congressional committee which can make recommendations to the full Senate such as censure and expulsion. The ethics committee hasn't investigated sexual harassment or assault allegations in 25 years, Axios reports - I wonder if Franken knew that when he invited investigation. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
For those who doubt the women's stories, a series of audio items in today's New York Times describes the process women endure to report sexual harassment and what happens to them: What Happens When You Report Sexual Harassment?. Here I summarize some of the information:
Reporting sexual harassment has lots of downsides and very little upside. Woman report sexual harassment in the hope that it will make it go away. That's not what usually happens. What usually happens is a chain of negative consequences for the women. Sidenote: Since most sexual harassment occurs in the workplace, I'd like to provide my impressions of HR departments. HR is not a reliable ally for employees with sexual harassment issues. In fact, HR is often not a reliable ally for any low level employee on any issue. Their primary job responsibility is to propagate corporate policy down, not solve employee problems. Is your birthdate improperly recorded in the corporate database? They can help you, and with all kinds of things of that nature. Anything else? Forget it. I've experienced HR from both the management and individual contributor roles. As a manager, they made things happen regarding those reporting to me. As an individual contributor? Zilch. HR is composed of people just like you and me, and they're as baffled and nervous and full of trepidation concerning how to deal with harassment situations as we would be, despite the training they receive. Women should be very wary of reporting sexual harassment to HR. HR departments report to upper management, the head of HR is usually a VP who reports to the CEO, it isn't unusual for harassment claims to go straight to the top, and the response is usually to seek how to most quietly and inexpensively make the problem go away. That usually means sacrificing the person with the least power, the woman. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
From today's New York Times: Catherine Deneuve and Others Denounce the #MeToo Movement. The public letter says in part:
Damn, it's in French: Nous dfendons une libert d’importuner, indispensable la libert sexuelle. Looking for the English translation. I want to quote from the whole letter, not just from the excerpts in the NYT article... Tried Google Translate, but it's too rough, still looking... Okay, here we go, found it at WorldCrunch: Full Translation Of French Anti-#MeToo Manifesto Signed By Catherine Deneuve. I use the New York Times excerpts where possible:
quote: She says some important things, like that women shouldn't be forced into the role of perpetual victim, and that the interplay between the sexes isn't possible without the freedom to bother. As Garrison Keillor said long before he was fired from Prairie Home Companion, "A world in which there is no sexual harassment at all, is a world in which there will not be any flirtation." But she also says that woman should tolerate some level of, well, there are no other words for it, sexual harassment. Is a crotch feel (DeNeuve's words: "a man who rubs himself against her in the subway") really to be tolerated? But I do see strength in the pragmatism of DeNeuve's view, less because I like it and more because, as much as I favor the #MeToo movement, I don't believe human nature will ever change. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
From Michael Avenatti 'still considering' running for president after domestic violence arrest:
quote: Who is the victim? Where is the LAPD report? Where is any indication that Avenatti has been charged with anything? From What’s Going on With Michael Avenatti’s Arrest?:
quote: So if LAPD is still investigating then they could not yet have charged Avenatti with anything, yet the previous report I cited said the LAPD had claimed he'd been charged, while there's nothing in the news quoting anyone in the LAPD nor an LAPD report saying this. Between his law firm getting evicted and his prior law firm being dissolved while he forms another one and the Julie Swetnick accusations going nowhere and the divorce and the bankruptcies, there just seems too much going on. These seem enormous blinking red warning lights that Avenatti is not the guy for 2020, nor even the guy for some city council position. I need open and full disclosures as well as positive resolutions of all these things with no more incidents before I could even consider considering Avenatti as a possible presidential candidate. I keep open this possibility only because Avenatti seems the only Democrat capable of speaking Trump to Trump. Regarding the recent LAPD arrest I remain perplexed and await more news. Either Aventti's in trouble for domestic abuse, or someone else is in trouble for filing a false report and (if the report is true that the LAPD had been shown visible injuries) fabricating evidence. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Tanypteryx writes: I keep open this possibility only because Avenatti seems the only Democrat capable of speaking Trump to Trump.
In my mind speaking Trump to Trump would be lying continuously. Then I'll go back to the phrase I was using before, but add something: Avenatti speaks truth to lies in a way that is effective against the Trump style.
I haven't paid much attention to Avenatti, mainly because he mimics Trump's promises of damaging revelations in the future instead of just telling it. I've paid a lot of attention to Avenatti, and what I learned drew me to him. As I said last spring in Message 2080, when he first burst on the scene it was as the self-promoting and attention-grabbing Stormy Daniels lawyer, but I've now heard him speak in interviews quite a bit, and I don't think that's who he is.
Like Trump he spends most of his time prepping his audience for his sensational announcements. In chronological order as I remember them:
There are other Avenatti predictions that came true that I don't recall at the moment, but together they convinced me he was much more than just the shyster lawyer he initially appeared to be. What were these sensational announcements you mentioned that never came to pass? You mean like the Swetnick evidence? I'm wondering about that, too, but the committee didn't call Swetnick to testify, and the FBI never interviewed her, so I don't know where the opportunity was to present evidence. Or you mean like the additional Stormy Daniels evidence? Avenatti's still fighting in court for the right to depose Trump, so I think it's still too early for that evidence. Is there something else?
I have little doubt the Avenatti is likely to be another victim of the right wing smear machine that has become completely merged with the Trump propaganda operation. Avenatti didn't blame "the right wing smear machine." He actually blamed someone very specific, Jacob Wohl, the mind behind the failed scam to take down Robert Mueller from a month or two ago (he tried to recruit women to falsely testify they'd been sexually abused by Mueller).
I need open and full disclosures as well as positive resolutions of all these things with no more incidents before I could even consider considering Avenatti as a possible presidential candidate. Avenatti doesn't strike me as a leader who inspires confidence that he is interested in actually trying to solve the major issues facing our country and our planet. What do you base this on, given that you just above said, "I haven't paid much attention to Avenatti"? That question posed, it is true he has no experience in government. But if you listen to his speech to the Hillsborough County Democratic Picnic in Message 2438 of the The Trump Presidency thread you'll see that he has a good grasp of the major issues. There's also his speech at the Iowa Wing Ding in Message 2388.
I don't see any viable way that engaging Trump can be a winning strategy. Trump and his minions repeat the lies, chant the lies, and are completely delusional about the truth even when it is shown to them clearly. Then you haven't listened to Avenatti engaging Trump liars enough. Look up some YouTube videos of Avenatti engaging Michael Cohen's lawyer David Schwartz. The one where Avenatti responds to Schwartz nonsense by repeatedly calling Cohen a thug (a charge later proven even if you don't agree with the term Avenatti chose) is especially precious (Schwartz might have been trying to justify the arbitration hearing that ruled against Daniels where neither Daniels nor Avenatti were invited nor even notified, but I might be misremembering). Avenatti is the guy who can best Trump in verbal jousting, because he has the rare, indeed heretofore unheard of, ability to deep six Trump lies as he tells them, something you've never seen any reporter do, not even Jim Acosta who wants to do it but hasn't the ability. Maybe you've seen the two Lesley Stahl interviews of Trump, where she just let one Trump lie after another slip by as if unnoticed. But as I said in another post that included the text of an email I sent to Avenatti after his law firm and IRS problems were revealed, I have no interest in trading one combative, secretive liar for another.
The Trump propaganda operation's effectiveness could be dulled if the press quit showing Trump's lies over and over. He has suckered them into becoming his tool and he routinely uses them to "Franken-boat" his enemies. The propagandists at Fox have honed their character assassination tools since the Clinton years very effectively. All the press has figured out how to do is give Trump more publicity. They'll never change their approach because reporting the news is their job. Because he's president everything Trump says is news, so that's what gets broadcast. And what the liberal pundits say isn't listened to by conservatives. Trump has special gifts of communication that can only be countered by someone with the same special gifts. Avenatti has these special gifts, and those who understand the threat Trump poses to our country's future should welcome his voice on their side, but only if he can clean up immaculately, completely and unambiguously the recent messes he has created. --Percy
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Tanypteryx writes: In chronological order as I remember them:
Actually I think most of America suspected those things also, I know I did. First, a very large segment of America believes most anything Trump says or anything remotely Trumpian, and another very large segment wasn't paying any attention, so no, "most of America" never suspected these things. Second, Michael Cohen was saying these things months before anyone else was saying them.
What were these sensational announcements you mentioned that never came to pass? Sorry, I guess I was not clear. I didn't say he didn't follow through,... If you're now saying you didn't mean that Avenatii makes false implications for which he never provides evidence, just like Trump, then okay.
...I'm just sick of the sentimentalization. Just quit building it up and spit it out. What sentimentalization? Avenatti's no sentimentalist. He's a pragmatist. Are we even talking about the same person?
What do you base this on, given that you just above said, "I haven't paid much attention to Avenatti"? That question posed, it is true he has no experience in government. It seemed that for a period before he talked about running for the presidency every time I wanted to watch the news there he was talking about all the Stormy stuff but not about the issues beyond Trump's treatment of women. You're criticizing Avenatti for talking about "Stormy stuff" before he ever began testing the presidential waters? Seriously?
I'm hoping there will be someone who doesn't just want to be the anti-Trump, but that really has some practical suggestions for addressing the issues that threaten our people and our land and all the other life that lives here also. This doesn't reflect any knowledge of Avenatti's stated positions on the issues. In case you're interested, here are the videos from the posts I referenced. This one's from the Iowa Wing Ding:
This one's from the Hillsborough County Democratic Picnic:
[ Video removed because it takes 2GB of space. --Percy] I don't mind if you don't watch them, but neither should you criticize Avenatti from a position of ignorance.
Avenatti didn't blame "the right wing smear machine." He actually blamed someone very specific, Jacob Wohl, the mind behind the failed scam to take down Robert Mueller from a month or two ago (he tried to recruit women to falsely testify they'd been sexually abused by Mueller). I am not talking about who he blames, I'm talking about Hannity and the rest who have spent lots the past 25 years on character assassination of anyone on the left who dares to point out their treachery. If he tries to tell the truth about any of the Republicans or Trump, they will do the same thing they are continuously doing to the Clintons and Gore and Kerry, and every climate scientist, in fact any scientist. My point is that Avenatti is better equipped to deal with this stuff than almost any Democrats or scientists.
I suspect that he has been set up with the charges considering that there doesn't seem to be any corroboration when it is really looked into. I'm waiting for more info. Avenatti's waffling about releasing his tax returns and his problems with the IRS and his law firm really shook my trust. He'll have to earn it back.
I hope he will get it cleared up and I cheer any black eyes he can give Trump and the rest of his crime organization. I'm not looking for Avenatti or anyone to give Trump and his cronies black eyes. I'm looking for someone who can speak truth to lies in a way that makes the truth clear to people, at which point they can make up their own minds.
The trouble with matching Trump's behavior is that it demeans us all and you know what they say about wrestling pigs. Trump's behavior is lying and name-calling that is actually just more lying. Avenatti's behavior is speaking the truth, including any names he uses. Avenatti is needed not because he can out-Trump Trump but because he is kryptonite to Trump. Imagine if Avenatti had participated in the 2016 Republican presidential candidate debates - he would not have been eaten alive like the other candidates. --PercyEdited by Percy, : Remove video of Avenatti talk
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Percy Member Posts: 22505 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.4 |
Minnemooseus writes: Trump has special gifts of communication that can only be countered by someone with the same special gifts. Avenatti has these special gifts, and those who understand the threat Trump poses to our country's future should welcome his voice on their side, but only if he can clean up immaculately, completely and unambiguously the recent messes he has created.
"... he has created"??? Might these be completely bogus charges created by someone else? Concerning the arrest on suspicion of domestic abuse, it is possible they're bogus, it is also possible they're true. I await further information. Concerning the problems with the IRS, his waffling about releasing his tax returns, the eviction of his law firm by his landlord, his problems splitting with his old law partner, his public criticism of a former employee who sued him and won, and his divorce, these are his messes. I hope I am taking as firm a stand on Avenatti as I did on Franken, particularly as this is the Franken thread. Franken is a politician I deeply believed in. I wonder if a comeback is in cards for him - I hope so, but I haven't seen true contrition yet. Avenatti is a person I think could be very effective in some appropriate role in the 2020 election, either as a candidate (he'd make a great vice-presidential candidate) or perhaps in some role of responsibility in the Democratic National Election Committee, but he's created quite a mess and I can't support him in any role until he completely straightens it all out.
Trump has special gifts of communication that can only be countered by someone with the same special gifts. Al Franken, the author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them"? I haven't read the book, but I've heard Franken talk plenty. He's no Avenatti.
Al was run out of Congress based on some pretty flimsy allegations. The big damage was the Leanne Tweeden photo, of which Al was guilty of posing for a staged (I think probably with Tweeden's active participation) photograph of a bad joke - "Al Franken groping the ungropable". This was followed up by a number of women saying "Oh my God, he touched my butt while we were having a photo taken at the Minnesota state fair". In the name of a political assassination, might well there not indeed be a number of women willing to lie or at least distort the truth to eliminate a good and powerful democrat Senate voice? And with all the people with all the cameras at the state fair, wouldn't you think that someone might of captured a photo or video of Al doing something bad? I believe the women. #MeToo (it wouldn't be too hard to make the software turn hashtags into links) --Percy
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