Al Franken......WHOOPS....Next to go....

a reply to: butcherguy

Good thing he didn't make a stabbing or strangling gesture, or he would be convicted of attempted murder in the court of public opinion.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Tick Tock Creepy Joe

One by one they will all fall, Tick Tock.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., apologized to a radio anchor and model after she released a photo that appeared to show him grabbing her chest and looking toward the camera on a flight back from Afghanistan.

Leeann Tweeden wrote in a blog post Thursday that Franken “mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth” during a rehearsal for a skit the pair were performing for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2006. Tweeden told Franken she didn’t want to rehearse the kiss, but he insisted, Tweeden wrote.

“I felt disgusted and violated,” she said.

Later, on their flight home, Franken posed for a photo of himself with his hands over Tweeden’s chest as she slept. Tweeden posted the photo on the website of KABC Radio in Los Angeles, where she now works.

originally posted by: knoxie

originally posted by: visitedbythem

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: visitedbythem

If Trump did that, what would your statement be?
I notice the [people on the right are more honest. Those on the left seem to have some serious morality problems. The left uses the "Ends justify the means" method. That says a lot about them.

I would say the exact same thing.

Not me!
I would say remove Trump from office for a stunt like that. These people are on the job and so is he

you would remove trump from office if this were a photo of him.

then why did you elect him after he bragged about walking in on unsuspecting women dressing because he could? or, kissing women without asking? or, grabbing their privates because he's a star.

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope

originally posted by: ClovenSky

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: seagull

So, that somehow excuses it? Does this sort of behavior suddenly disappear from the record when elected to high office?

No, he wasn't yet a Senator at the time. Oops, my mistake.

Doesn't change anything about the inappropriate behavior, at all.

Would you care to make a wager that that sort of behavior wasn't the first time, or the last?

Making gags and jokes? Well, for a comedian it is quite common.

I think a lot of people recognize this was possibly related to his job at the time. That does not change anything in this case. There is no way we can interject 'humor' into this situation and make it go away. That would distort the defined lines of what is acceptable and what isn't. We need to start getting to black and white for all contact between humans. That is where this scenario ultimately leads.

When joking about sexual assault is construed as sexual assault, all is lost. Time to break out the consent forms.

Yup. Have you heard Carlin's rape jokes?

I dont think the picture is that big a deal, as I have said.

I also have no problem with the crudest of jokes including rape jokes.

But forcing your tongue in someones mouth is not a joke; period.

Now I feel he should be allowed to face these accusations and be inncoent until proven guilty.

However, that is not the tact that many have chosen with others accused of abusing women.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope


Making gags and jokes? Well, for a comedian it is quite common.

Yeah, but it wasn't even remotely humorous...even if there were no ethical questions about it, at all. It was just a cringey attempt at a really lame gag/joke.

a reply to: Grambler

Why do you keep ignoring the part about him forcing his tongue in her mouth?

Is that a joke too?

She said the picture is proof of him "grabbing her breasts while sleeping". He isn't even touching her. Excuse me if I take her accusations with a grain of salt.

I predict that baby production in the US will end within 5 years. Nobody is going to want to even look at the opposite sex for fear of reprisal. Seriously, is someone from 3rd grade going to come forward and accuse someone 60 years ago of sexual misconduct? It WILL get that stupid...and dilute true sex crimes.

originally posted by: JBurns
a reply to: soberbacchus


What you just described isn't humor, it is battery. Possibly sexual battery depending on where it occurred.

???

So, a consensual kiss that includes a non-consensual tongue is sexual battery?

This partisan rush to accuse a political opponent of sexual misconduct says much more about those calling for mob justice than it does Al Franken.

Whilst the "left" is rightly policing their own in Hollywood etc.
The right is defending pseudo-pedophilias.

And seem unable to tell the difference between a poor choice for a gag photo and attempting to rape a 14 year old girl in a car behind a diner.

It is like there is some vast hole in certain peoples reasoning where, as you put it, a consensual kiss that included a non-consensual tongue, qualifies as "sexual battery".

That vacancy of reason helps explain the inability to recognize degrees of malfeasance by some on the right.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: Grambler

Why do you keep ignoring the part about him forcing his tongue in her mouth?

Is that a joke too?

She said the picture is proof of him "grabbing her breasts while sleeping". He isn't even touching her. Excuse me if I take her accusations with a grain of salt.

I can not tell if he is touching them or not in that picture.

regardless, you keep making it seem as if this is all about the picture, which I agree with you was a joke most likely.

The fact that you dont believe her is irrelevant.

The point is, you continue to act as if this is all just people being upset at a bad joke, and there are more to the accusations than that.

originally posted by: lakenheath24
I predict that baby production in the US will end within 5 years. Nobody is going to want to even look at the opposite sex for fear of reprisal. Seriously, is someone from 3rd grade going to come forward and accuse someone 60 years ago of sexual misconduct? It WILL get that stupid...and dilute true sex crimes.

Nah....it will be people who "identify" as a 6 year old that was raped by a politician. Wonder where that narrative started....BACKFIRE!

a reply to: Grambler


apparently, al is open to an investigation.

why hasn't an investigation been opened against moore? or, trump?

Where is this rational analysis and benefit of the doubt when it is one of your opponent's being accused?

The double standard I'm seeing is truly disturbing. You can't only support the accusations that further your political views and goals. If we're going to take unproven accusations at their face value for one person, then we must take them all at face value for all people.

This is exactly why I've been crushing the Russia narrative for years (check my post history, 2015-ish). There is absolutely no evidence of illegal activity, yet so many continue to push the narrative as if it is already a settled matter. This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say you set a precedent for future unfounded accusations to be taken as fact when you parade unsubstantiated claims around as if they're facts.

This, like every other unproven accusation out there, should be taken with a grain of salt until evidence comes to light supporting the claims. Sadly, his own admission and the evidence at hand demonstrates simple battery at a bare minimum. At worst, it is sexual assault or possibly even sexual battery. The statement from the photographer will be crucial.

originally posted by: Grambler

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope

originally posted by: ClovenSky

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: seagull

So, that somehow excuses it? Does this sort of behavior suddenly disappear from the record when elected to high office?

No, he wasn't yet a Senator at the time. Oops, my mistake.

Doesn't change anything about the inappropriate behavior, at all.

Would you care to make a wager that that sort of behavior wasn't the first time, or the last?

Making gags and jokes? Well, for a comedian it is quite common.

I think a lot of people recognize this was possibly related to his job at the time. That does not change anything in this case. There is no way we can interject 'humor' into this situation and make it go away. That would distort the defined lines of what is acceptable and what isn't. We need to start getting to black and white for all contact between humans. That is where this scenario ultimately leads.

When joking about sexual assault is construed as sexual assault, all is lost. Time to break out the consent forms.

Yup. Have you heard Carlin's rape jokes?

I dont think the picture is that big a deal, as I have said.

I also have no problem with the crudest of jokes including rape jokes.

But forcing your tongue in someones mouth is not a joke; period.

Now I feel he should be allowed to face these accusations and be inncoent until proven guilty.

However, that is not the tact that many have chosen with others accused of abusing women.

Gotta go with what he said;;

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

I think this is a limp attempt because of partisan politics. In other words...status quo.

originally posted by: soberbacchus

originally posted by: JBurns
a reply to: soberbacchus


What you just described isn't humor, it is battery. Possibly sexual battery depending on where it occurred.

???

So, a consensual kiss that includes a non-consensual tongue is sexual battery?

This partisan rush to accuse a political opponent of sexual misconduct says much more about those calling for mob justice than it does Al Franken.

Whilst the "left" is rightly policing their own in Hollywood etc.
The right is defending pseudo-pedophilias.

And seem unable to tell the difference between a poor choice for a gag photo and attempting to rape a 14 year old girl in a car behind a diner.

It is like there is some vast hole in certain peoples reasoning where, as you put it, a consensual kiss that included a non-consensual tongue, qualifies as "sexual battery".

That vacancy of reason helps explain the inability to recognize degrees of malfeasance by some on the right.

Menendenz? Oh thats right, you have no interests in talking about a democratic senator accused of having actual sex with minors.

But you are right, the left is policing its own.

hahahaha!

And funny, you assert Moores guilt, which is fine, and yet make excuses for Franken.

Of course the accusations arent on the same level (unlike with Menendenz) but your gut reaction that one is guilty with no proof while the other was not a big deal is telling about where your motivations really come from.

a reply to: Grambler

I can not tell if he is touching them or not in that picture.

regardless, you keep making it seem as if this is all about the picture, which I agree with you was a joke most likely.

The fact that you dont believe her is irrelevant.

The point is, you continue to act as if this is all just people being upset at a bad joke, and there are more to the accusations than that.

Even assuming he did stick his tongue down her throat, she said no, don't do that again, and he didn't do it again. Human interaction has a little more nuance than some of us might think.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

Looks like Al may be the next politician in line for leaving politics...

source

Not to downplay scenarios like this, but he's not even touching her, and if so its very slightly. Its not like youre truly groping something thats under a Kevlar plate, right?

The shadows under his fingers and the (miniscule) space between the tip of his fingers and the best says that it wasn't "real," its a stupid "comedic" stunt. I can see this being a form of crude humor, but nonetheless its not good in this day and age.

Her media interviews seem off also. Shes not making eye contact, hardly opening her eyes while shes speaking. Say whatever you want, but those are all signs of someone being dishonest.

Shes been sitting on this picture for 11 years; why now? And not that it makes the situation any better, but he wasnt elected until 2008. If it was such a big deal to her, why didnt she come out during that election period and stop someone like that from being an elected official? People can scream all they want about her being scared or embarrassed, but why? She wasn't raped. She wasn't really even molested. Maybe, maybe he attempted to kiss her, but how will that ever be proven?

Its just like the Roy Moore case (by the way I am NOT sticking up for him), but how will those accusations ever be proven true? If he did commit the heinous acts these women claim, how will it be proven? Its a literal "he said, she said" case, and I don't understand how that could be upheld in a court of law.

Kind of off topic, but why arent they calling for Menendez to step down since he's going through a court battle on corruption charges? They're saying he can just go back to work. Shouldn't anyone, who is accused of any crime, step down from their position? Or is it okay for democrats to be tried for corruption and keep their jobs? My point is that he was charged for the crime, in most of these cases theyre merely accusations, but Menendez can keep his job, while everyone else is being called to resign. Hypocrisy on the left? Nah, cant be.

If you're aware of Al's comedy you'll know it isn't exactly high brow:

originally posted by: ClovenSky
a reply to: soberbacchus

According to her:

She wrote that it was her ninth time on such a tour, which Franken, then a comedian, headlined. Tweeden said she agreed to play a part in one of Franken’s skits. “When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a ‘kiss’. I suspected what he was after, but I figured I could turn my head at the last minute, or put my hand over his mouth, to get more laughs from the crowd,” she wrote.

According to Tweeden, Franken insisted on rehearsing the kiss backstage, and “continued to insist” over her protestations until she agreed so he would stop “badgering” her.

“We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Tweeden wrote. “I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time.”

Sounds like he definitively took advantage of his power and status here.

Sure does.

And?

She agreed to rehearse the kiss and got a tongue that she did not want and pushed him away.

OK or not OK?

Not OK.

Now how is that scenario the same as Kevin Spacey trying to hook up with a 14 year old boy? Or Roy Moore offering a 14 year old girl a ride home and parking and locking the doors and groping her against her will?

Folks pretending there is no difference for partisan rhetorical purposes are abasing their own thinking abilities and credibility much more than anyone else's.

a reply to: Grambler


Their reaction is very telling. If nothing else, it proves the double standards and hypocrisy apologists of the left will employ. Look at their reaction RE: Bill Clinton in the 1990's. Fortunately, many of these people have changed their outlook on him. For instance, no Democrats would go on record to support Bill Clinton recently.