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Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
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Author | Topic: Senator Al Franken? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnemooseus Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2
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2 messages from Percy:
Message 2608 - I'm Done with Michael Avenatti:
Percy writes: Today's New York Times reports that Michael Avenatti has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. I hope that lawyer gig continues to work out for him, because his political future is dead. I'm nonetheless saddened. The Democrats need someone who can dish it out as well as Trump can, and Avenatti has the additional advantage that the things he says are true. Avenatti would have been an unlikely 2020 candidate, but it would still have been nice to have his forceful voice articulating Democrat viewpoints. And the followup Message 2610 - Re: I'm Done with Michael Avenatti Percy writes: More on the Michael Avenatti arrest on suspicion of domestic violence in today's Washington Post: Michael Avenatti arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, calls allegations ‘completely bogus’ I, like probably everyone else, assumed the complainant was Avenatti's wife. They are separated and getting a divorce. But Avenatti's wife denies she filed any complaint, and says that Avenatti never exhibited a violent side during their relationship. Avenatti says he wasn't with his wife on the night in question. And Avenatti's first wife posted on social media that Avenatti was a "loving father" who has "never been abusive." And though Avenatti was arrested on "suspicion of domestic violence" (whatever that is), no charges were filed. I originally assumed that Avenatti was arrested because a woman had reported him to the police for abusing her, but no victim filed a complaint. So who filed the complaint? Who was the abused woman? Where is the name, where are the pictures of black eyes and bruises. Nobody's talking, nobody has any hard information, so who knows. That Avenatti was arrested for "suspicion of domestic violence" instead of just "domestic violence" and that no victim has been named or evidence of any sort described raises suspicions. Is it possible that someone reported Avenatti to the LAPD for abusing a woman, and for some reason the LAPD acted on it? That seems strange, but recall that police departments have called out entire swat teams based on fake 911 calls. Avenatti has already suffered from this arrest. Stormy Daniels says she will drop him as her lawyer if there's any truth to the abuse complaint, and the Vermont Democratic Party has cancelled his upcoming scheduled appearances. I've shifted from condemning Avenatti to waiting for more news. Smells of of "Metoo Swift Boating", aka an "Al Frankening". Not unlike the Keith Ellison situation (he still did get elected as Minnesota Attorney General, and he had my vote). More to follow (someday). Moose
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
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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Tanypteryx Member Posts: 4597 From: Oregon, USA Joined: Member Rating: 9.8
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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. 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. Like Trump he spends most of his time prepping his audience for his sensational announcements. I have little doubt the Avenatti is likely to be another victim of the rightwing smear machine that has become completely merged with the Trump propaganda operation.
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. 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. 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.What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
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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Tanypteryx Member Posts: 4597 From: Oregon, USA Joined: Member Rating: 9.8 |
In chronological order as I remember them:
Actually I think most of America suspected those things also, I know I did.
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, I'm just sick of the sensationalization. Just quit building it up and spit it out.
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. 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.
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. I welcome Avenetti's criticism of Trump and his thugs, more power to him. 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 hope he will get it cleared up and I cheer any black eyes he can give Trump and the rest of his crime organization. The trouble with matching Trump's behavior is that it demeans us all and you know what they say about wrestling pigs. Edited by Tanypteryx, : spellingWhat if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq
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Minnemooseus Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
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? Again -
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"? 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? MooseProfessor, geology, Whatsamatta U Evolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment. "Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith "Yesterday on Fox News, commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." - Conan O'Brien "I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
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: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
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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Tanypteryx Member Posts: 4597 From: Oregon, USA Joined: Member Rating: 9.8 |
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? I meant sensationalization, which my spell checker thought was misspelled and its suggested correction was sentimentalization, which I didn't look at closely enough. I will go back and edit the post. I don't know enough about Avenatti to discuss him and I should stayed out of it. I would like to see someone destroy Trump and the rest of those traitors at the polls, but I worry that the damage they are doing cannot be undone.What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
Tanypteryx writes: I meant sensationalization, which my spell checker thought was misspelled and its suggested correction was sentimentalization... Been there. My wife once had an incredibly embarrassing spell correction from something innocuous to something sexually suggestive, I've forgotten the specifics unfortunately.
I don't know enough about Avenatti to discuss him and I should stayed out of it. I thought the impressions you related about Avenatti were very helpful in understanding how the public perceives him, even if I have a different view.
I don't know enough about Avenatti to discuss him and I should stayed out of it. I would like to see someone destroy Trump and the rest of those traitors at the polls, but I worry that the damage they are doing cannot be undone. It would be nice if Trump supporters could make clear why, for example and just to choose one significant thing, they don't think Trump is hostile and disrespectful toward everyone and everything, from his cabinet to the press to his intelligence services to many members of Congress to the judiciary to California to Puerto Rico to our allies to free trade and so forth. --Percy
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Minnemooseus Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
I believe the women. #MeToo And that is what puts Franken in such a difficult position - He too is a supporter of "believe the women". BUT - You don't think there is a real possibility that a number of women who might somehow be induced to lie or at least distort the truth? More via a reply to another older message coming. Moose
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9
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Minnemooseus writes: BUT - You don't think there is a real possibility that a number of women who might somehow be induced to lie or at least distort the truth? By "real possibility" you mean a probability greater than zero? Sure. But if by "real possibility" you mean something like "as likely as not" then no, absolutely not, not even close. I know you like Franken. I like him, too, both as a person and as a Senator. But we can't forget the sexual misconduct allegations. They're consistent over a period of years. AbE: Good news: Al Franken's return to politics seems more and more likely. I don't believe in life sentences for any but the most serious crimes, and I think the sentence should fit the crime. It could well be argued whether Franken has yet paid a sufficient price, but he'll already be known for the rest of his life as the senator who resigned over sexual misconduct allegations. He's already paid a price and will continue paying a price until the day he dies. I think that's enough. --Percy Edited by Percy, : AbE.
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Minnemooseus Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
Reference material - Read if you wish:
Franken Wades Into A Comeback In The #MeToo Era - TPM – Talking Points Memo Moose
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Minnemooseus Member Posts: 3971 From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior) Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
For future reference - I haven't yet listened to it.
Al Franken has a Podcast | Greg Laden's Blog Moose
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Percy Member Posts: 22940 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 6.9
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I hope Franken makes a comeback, but he'll have to find the right voice to talk about what he's accused of doing. This will be very difficult for him because in his heart he believes he did nothing or almost nothing wrong. Even enthusiastic supporters like myself believe that on a scale of 1 to Trump he's only a 2 or 3. But how does Franken talk about respecting women when on the Trump scale he did almost nothing, but just discussing the subject brings to mind images of grabbing women by the pussy and cheating on your pregnant wife? The Trump approach of "lie and deny," apparently so effective with Trump's base, isn't available to people of integrity.
--Percy
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