Please let it happen...........please!

Why on earth would he? I'm sure he doesn't need the money. He did his best. He tried to help all of us, and HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS turned on him savagely. If I were Senator Franken, I'd live out my remaining days in Tahiti. As an overseas department of France, I'm sure the citizens there don't mind if a middle-aged gentleman gives a little hug to some random female.

"A number of Democrats are feeling remorseful." Awww....ain't that a shame?

Yeah.

I hope he comes back, but the Senators don't deserve him. America and Minnesota do.
NO DUE PROCESS!!

Sometimes we get what we deserve, and sometimes we don't. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to turn back the clock and have the vilification of Senator Franken never happen at all.

from that bunch. My respect went from very high to very low for many, and it will remain totally gone for others.

They could restore faith in the system and demand a right to due process, say we were wrong and we rushed to judgment. They could Raise their standing, the adults taking charge. What are the odds?

That's important.

==========

frankin is not personally in charge of having to fix the rest of us....

Green w envy people.

one Democratic senator after another sought publicly and privately to remove a highly effective colleague from another state. Now we're left with a situation where any accusation of sexual misconduct, no matter how credible, recent, or severe, can lead to dismissal from office. By now, one would surely hope that the obvious problems with this approach, from the lack of due process to the vulnerability to swiftboating to the cringe worthy optics of Franken's actual resignation, would be abundantly clear to the entire party leadership. I think this whole affair needs a well thought-out public response that acknowledges the overreach and underscores the importance of addressing the issue of sexual harrassment, similar to Obama's campaign speech on race. Not holding my breath for that.

Neither am I, BlueWI...neither am I.

walk back precedents. Dems seem to be lacking in foresight, or ability to see logical consequences to an action.

For Franken's "Un-resigning" He hasn't resigned yet. He might have left the door ajar. Plus, most important, the reversal no less than Sen. Patrick Leahy against the Gillibrand "No gradient" tolerance on sex misconduct.

women came forward. The Dems who encouraged Franken to resign were wrong.

...in a different thread yesterday - no more claims. I find that odd.

...especially with a due process investigation of the facts, evidence, and witnesses.

for who knows how long.

would not be be voted on now. He was calling out the lies.

It is not a tax.break for the middle class. So what if Rump says it is. So much winning.

His colleagues, the week this was being formulated,
1. Were too busy getting rid of Al to educate the public in time to do something,
2. Provided cover for the Repubs tax heist, inadvertently, in their obsession to throw Franken over.
3. Got rid of the most effective voice , with the will, skill and apptitude to confront the Repubs.

Just like thst, off a cliff bases on accusations, NOT investigated. In one case, there was an admission of consent, Tweeden had been hired to do the same skit Al had done 3 years. (He was an SNL comedian, not a preecher boy.) Tweeden knew the bloody kiss was in the skit, and she was supposed to say after, the big, bold, long, backdropping kiss, I bet one of you soldiers can give me a better kiss than that. She did the kiss and said her line. Of course, the young soldiers were jumping up and down and volunteering to give her a better kiss. She was a sexy lady, former nude model. She chose one to do that.

It was not a part of the shit for her to walk around and grab men's crotches, and massage a little, which another clip saw her doing.

no coming back from that.

...Gillibranded.

nm

He should reconsider for the sake of his constituents, not the back stabbers.

He deserves to not be lumped into the same group as a bunch of perverts and pedophiles.

He should not be put in the same category as Barton.

Many of the Dem senators, and some for Franken.

Now, I will not raise money for any of them...unless Franken is back. I will vote Dem, of course.

I feel like it all culminated in what the RW did to Franken, and the senators I helped elect, ratified.

As always, Rhiannon, you post is the best!

recognition. I was not attempting to get recognition, but just making a point. However, you reminded me of all of those years. Thank you! You Made my day .

This is my Senator. I think he should come back for the people and a screw you to those who railroaded him.

The governor has already appointed his temporary replacement, and SHE has made it known she's not going to be just a placeholder.

But I want Franken back too.

Has he officially resigned? Has he signed the papers?

since he hasn't actually resigned yet. She was promised the job once Franken quits. Franken hasn't quit yet, he could decide not to. It would be a bummer for Smith, but she's still got the Lt. Gov. job. And her being promised the job by one Minnesotan voter doesn't trump the 1 million Minnesotans who voted for Franken in the last election.

..a thousand times over.

"The group directly counters Gillibrand’s statement that there should be no gradations made in assessing problematic sexual conduct: “We believe it is crucial to make distinctions and to respond proportionally,” the group’s mission statement reads."

... Gillibrand used Al Franken as a stepping stone to get to where she is today, and that would be in the spotlight for 2020. The others followed suit, as did many here on DU, out of fear of being seen as an enabler, such as kellyanne Conway is to drump. Many of us predicted that regret would soon set in, and it seems It's beginning to happen. I believe more of those Senators who followed gillibrand's lead will add to the regrets once they have looked in the mirror and asked themselves, "What was I so afraid of?"

Roger Stone started “this”. Every time some one acts as if this was some conspiracy dreamed up by a fellow Democrat, the GOP laughs itself silly.

... say or suggest in any way that there was a conspiracy against Al Franken by another Democrat. I do believe it was a conspiracy brought on by the right-wing and that Rodger Stone was a part of it. As for my other statement it is my opinion that gillibrand saw an opportunity and took full advantage of it. My statement concerning the Senators who followed suit stand as stated in my previous post.
I do not believe that simple burglary is the same as armed robbery and should be punished equally. The burglar took something that was not his and except for rare circumstances no one is injured or killed in that crime. By the same token the armed robber took something that is not his, but in this situation there is a high probability that someone will either be injured or killed. If you follow gillibrand's logic, both of these crimes should be punished equally. That is the tragic flaw in her thinking and actions, and Al Franken is paying for it.

... in the drug wars, with marijuana being punished like cocaine. Weird, cuz I thought Democrats generally regarded that as wrong.

==========

For me it's simply a matter of logic and common sense. Two characteristics that seem to be lacking for some progressives. This is one subject that evokes more fear than common sense and logic except for at least one case where it is seen as a stepping stone on the way up.

because many of us feel disheartened, not listened to.

But I fear he is decided already.

I was on so many Dems lists. Every Senator, many Reps and, of course the orgs and pacs.

Many asked why I was unsubscribing in their forms. I told them it was the Franken hit job. They don't have a fellow Senator's back, i can't bring myself to have theirs.

Do not resign, Senator Franken. We have your back and will demand an investigation.

Public testimony by all under oath is required. No anonymous off camera testimony permitted.

I wrote to all Democratic Senators and the DNC and told them I was leaving the party after 50 years because of their back stabbing. Then I called the DNC to make sure I was removed from all mailing lists. Same for DCCC and DSCC.

Finally wrote to Sen. Franken and have called his office daily urging him not to resign.

Also Sen. Franken's office?

Good for you. Just wondering about their responses...

I might get an email response to the one I wrote to Tom Perez, but nothing yet.

...and let the ethics investigation play out.

and gave them an honest piece of my mind
and i was pretty pissed off when i wrote them.
shame on them!

Demanding they treat Senator Franken fairly.

I let them know how angry I was for them condemning him for frigging hugging people.

Is touching/hugging really the line?

I am not sure I want to live in a country I can't hug someone.

Lock him up!

What have we become Caesar?

I'm glad there are Senator's feeling remorse for this, but I'd feel better about it if they did this on the record. I hope that Senator Franken reconsiders and stays but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. The damage has been done. How could he ever trust his colleagues again?

Its a bit ironic that one of the Democrats most conservative Senators was the most supportive of his very liberal colleague. I often disagree with Senator Manchin but he's earned my respect for this.

Edit: K&R

I already sent him a tweet to this effect weeks ago.

Sen. Franken's does also.

I've done round 2 or round 3 on this. To Gillibrand and Harris too.

He's one of the most effective Senators there. But what if still ANOTHER woman comes out with a story?

The tar and feathers folks won’t be happy about that.

seriously, FUCK THEM

they're all for liberty and justice until it's some kind of pet peeve of theirs and then all logic and common sense go out the window

FUCK THEM

reference to Gillibrand.

They're going hard on the Democrats who stabbed Al in the back.

First of all, Bill's alleged sins have nothing to do with Hillary. The claim that she was targeting women who accused Bill is a nonsense right-wing talking point, with no basis in history.

Second, there were unbelievable problems with the credibility of the accusations launched against Bill Clinton in the 90s.

Gillibrands hypocrisy.

The scandal would have made him vulnerable to attacks on the issue come time for re-election. He may hve weathered that storm and won, but it would have done him no favors.

Now is you have the scandal, plus him resigning and then deciding to not resign after all, that doubles down on how this hurts him. It would be used to dogg him every step, anything he said “Are you sure Senator Franken, or are you telling the people one thing and then changing your mind again?”.

If he was going to stay, and I think he should have, he should have stayed and dealt with the accusations head on and directly. Now that he’s announced his resignation he has damaged his brand enough that changing his mind would be political suicide come re-Election time.

And him resigning now and allowing a candidate who intends to run for the seat as an incumbent be appointed puts Democrats in a much stronger position to retain the seat than him finishing the term and not running again.

Fairness and the right to due process, fixing mistakes quickly, not caving to right-wing smears any longer, etc. Old time pols knew how to finesse this sort of thing. Do our senators have the political courage and savvy to make a stand for American values? That's the test. Politics is not about branding, it's about showing leadership.

Franken's resignation moved up the election cycle by 2 years, into a non-presidential year with typically lower turnout. Why defend an extra seat? The new candidate can always run in 2020.

involved needs to testify...no more secret 'victims'. The GOP should not succeed with this shit or it will never stop.

All we can do is take the course that minimizes it.

If he had never announced his resignation that would probably be staying and fighting.

Since he has that changes the situation.

Thus he should stay. And if the GOP get away with this, they will do it again...we need to go after them and hard...so as to dissuade them from this sort of attack ever again.

what would be the best course of action for the party as a whole.

Have him investigated and, if found guilty, send him packing. I still think there are plenty of things to be suspicious about regarding the Franken allegations.

But one good thing to come of it might be some blowback Gillibrand and Schumer richly deserve.

I'm not sure, however, if this bell can be "unrung". I thought that Democrats were supposed to be better than to "shoot first and ask questions later." And this "standard" that some Democrats have claimed have been established in the wake of Franken's resignation are going to come back to bite us in the backside big time IMHO when random accusations start hitting somebody else (as somebody tried on Schumer, albeit unsuccessfully).

Over ethics accusations, that’s a powerful endorsement.

Al Franken should never have been asked to resign and should not have resigned. There will be a backlash when men are forced to resign without an investigation. Certainly there are gradations of misbehavior. Please, Mr. Franken, reconsider. Signed, a Texan for fair treatment.

and welcome to DU Henry1!

Welcome to DU.

It's not just that she threw Franken under the bus for her own political expediency.

It's her poor judgement. And carrying the water for the Republican hate machine.

He will be ok.

precedence over an *APPOINTED,NOT ELECTED* "senator"

I can't imagine why he would want anything to do with either Democrats or Republicans. Dems took out a good man in their rush to punishment.

damage to a person, voters of Minnesota, and winning in 2018.

No good comes from being know as the party that rejects due process.

The Dems have no sense of direction or teamwork.

our warriors because after today we have been really screwed royally until we can get rid of the foul stench of Republicans in Congress.

Part of me is so damned disappointed in the crappy way they piled on without due process or any loyalty towards a man who was openly cooperating from the moment these allegations were made (and miraculously stopped the moment he said he would resign) that I hope he never has to be subjected to that kind of treatment by his party again but...
We need fighters.
Now more than ever.

These Republicans are killing our country.
With glee.

crisis and he is needed ...so he's gonna have to wait to resign for awhile. FUCK THIS.