Some are calling him a misogynist and others are saying that "things are looking bad for Franken".

...because he doesn't need one.

Are you aware that 1) Al Franken isn't up for re-election (Amy Klobuchar is; how much did you give her?); and 2) already has $3 M cash on hand? With the number of House, Senate and State-level races, contributing for Franken for emotional reasons or to "send a message" is a terrible idea.

to Amy Klobuchar too. Also Doug Jones and for me, most importantly, Doug Applegate whose running for the seat currently slimed by Darryl Issa.

I'm donating to him to provide support. My emotions are my biz. Aloha brooklynite.

...My only comment with respect to Applegate is that there are two other Democrats running as well. I'll wait for the Primary to decide things.

Aloha no sista

Thanks for putting the link in this thread, mahina.

Are we going to go along with that?

Anyone who wants him to resign is an idiot and if a Dem, a masochist.

He's one of our top, top fighters.

Right before the most recent 2 women came out with their allegations against Franken, a poll was done asking Democrats and Republicans if someone should resign if accused of sexual harassment.

It was like 80% Democrats said yes, around 40% Republicans said yes.

Now I swear the question I read was if "if half a dozen or more" which seemed oddly specific. But I can't find it, so I could be wrong. But then 2 more accusations came out and I was like ok that's 4 apparently they think 2 more will be Al's tipping point.

But they are really, really grasping at trying to find these women. And it's not reporters doing dogged research for months (like Weinstein and Moore) who well researched and inteverviewed dozens of victims and witnesses. And then once the story came out, other victims came out publicly to share their stories.

After the first 2 accusations were pretty much shown to be sketchy (as far as from conservative women who had ties to Roger Stone, Hannity or just admitted to voted for Trump), coincidentally the next 2 women just happened to be progressives. I'm shocked...and so afraid that they will be attacked they had to remain anonymous. Bunch of bullshit...what...afraid a Minnesotan will show up with a hot dish and ask if you are ok?

The women who came forward in Alabama are much braver...we know how ugly victim blaming gets on the Republican side...see pussy grabber in chief and the remarks he has made against his accusers. And most of Moore's supporters are armed I would guess. These women live in small towns where EVERYONE knew what a creep he was and never said anything, and they had the audacity to talk to CNN (Fake News!) and expose the truth. Their lives have to be hellish. And what they described was more awful and terrifying (umm having the DA call you at school? Push you out of a car because you won't let him molest you? Take you to an isolated cabin and try to take your clothes off) than (if true) a butt graze or grab when you are an adult in a room full of people.

Yet, once that poll came out about how quick Democrats would be to say resign...I knew more allegations would come out.

assault, no problem.

No way should we accept this.

It was right after Paul Wellstone was killed in 2002. I was working at a phone bank trying to get out the vote for Walter Mondale, who stepped in at the last minute to fill the vacancy. Everybody was pretty upset, of course, and doubly so about the horrible behavior of the GOP and the way they were lying about pretty much everything about Wellstone. They particularly had a bug up their butt about some political comments that were made at Wellstone's memorial service and were totally trashing everything Wellstone stood for. The opponent was Norm Coleman, a weasel if there ever was one. Franken defeated him in a squeaker in 2008, after two recounts (by Coleman) and a state supreme court appeal (which Coleman lost).

Anyhow, we're all feeling pretty sad and defeated at this phone bank, which was IIRC the Saturday before the election - and Al Franken showed up at this seedy little office to encourage us. I was so impressed with how real he was. He's not a phony or a liar; he's a mensch, and he's the perfect person to have taken Wellstone's seat in the Senate.

And this is why the GOP is trying to take him down.

Al Franken is one of the good guys. This is a right-wing plot to take him down because of Jeff Sessions. The irony is that Sessions will go down anyway, and it will be entirely his own doing. So this is just nasty for the sake of being nasty.

On DU we're all rooting for Al Franken!

+10000

who would like to see him gone. Not. going. to. happen..

is the fact that the media has made more noise about Franken than Moore, who is a pedophile, and Trump who is an abuser and has been accused of rape to a 13-year-old, which I guess would place him in the same pedophile category as Moore.

The media is so complicit about the state of affairs in the USA, it is disgusting!

.

I still don't see how it would disqualify him.

And, I don't believe they actually are true either.

The RW GOP know plenty of D's will thrown their own to the wolves over dumb shit like this and are taking full advantage of our stupidity.

Even Franken has said he's let women down. That says there is something there.

I don't understand how he says he can't remember if he groped anybody. I can remember that I've never groped anybody. I'm not a public figure and I learned how to do things like turn my hands in on public transit to make sure I didn't accidentally come across as groping.

Let’s all get a grip and think about how we stand next to one another to take a photo.
Are you sure YOU have never grazed a butt in getting in position?
I’m sure i have.

I've ridden city buses and light rail for 37 years. Envision this:

You're on the bus, it's lousy weather, snowy or rainy or freezing rain. The streets are a mess, and the bus is packed. You're on early, but you give up your seat because you're a gentleman. Several other people are standing, including a woman behind you in the aisle. At first, you're able to maintain a discreet distance. As the bus continues its route, more people pack on, and you're forced closer to the woman. You suck in your gut, tighten your stance, and try to maintain everyone's personal space as much as possible. Soon, though, you're cheek to cheek with the person ahead of you and the woman behind you. The bus gets to an intersection with a stubborn patch of ice. As the bus stops for the light, everyone pitches a little forward, then it hits the ice, and everyone sways back, before the bus gets to a clear patch of pavement and stops abruptly. You're facing the back part of the bus, and the woman behind you (let's say she's facing the passenger side) loses her balance and is about to pile into you. Your instinctive move raises your left hand and you catch her momentarily by the upper left arm. The bus finally halts, everyone regains his balance, and the woman straightens up. Everyone smiles, a little sheepish, a little self-conscious, but nobody fell and nobody's hurt. You ride on to your stop, get off, and walk home, glad to be safe.

Twelve years pass. You continue riding the bus, and one day you decide to be somebody and run for office.

The woman on the bus comes forward and tells a harrowing tale of how you groped her that day. She says that when you first got on the bus that day, you stood a bit away from her, but as the bus drove on, you started getting closer and closer, making her very uncomfortable. She doesn't mention the weather or the fact that the bus was getting more crowded, just that you were moving closer to her. She retails the stop-slide-stop at the intersection, but she says that she was perfectly balanced and under control when you reached up and grabbed not her upper arm, but her left breast. In her telling, you even squeezed a little. It all happened in a split second, but after you dropped your hand, you leered at her with a wolfish smile. She smiled back uncertainly, concerned that you might pull something else.

The facts are all there: Both you and the woman were standing on the bus, you were standing in front of her, you moved closer, the bus lurched back and forth, you put your hand up, you smiled at her and she smiled back, and now you're in a shit world of hurt, because you don't remember every detail of one bus ride from 12 years ago, and you don't remember for certain whether you grabbed her upper arm or her breast. What would you say?

Let me get some clarification here: Other than Leann Tweeden, the other accusations have been that he groped women while they were getting their pictures taken with him. Is that correct?

So, out of many thousands of pictures of Franken taken over the years at fairs, festivals, book signings, sporting events and wherever else around Minnesota, DC and elsewhere that politicians show up to meet and greet people, he touched two or three women inappropriately. Now, this is a profession where politicians are expected to kiss babies and "press the flesh" in order to be seen as relatable and one of the people as well. And, out of these thousands of pictures, his hand (IMO mistakenly/accidentally) grabbed a woman by the butt a few times while they were likely surrounded by friends and/or family of the person getting the picture taken and many others. While I could be wrong, it seems unlikely to me that it was intentional on his part. I mean, what's to stop the woman from turning around and slapping him or if an angry/jealous husband or boyfriend saw the touching, he could slug Franken?

Moving a hand into position for a pic is not a grab.

I STAND WITH AL

I looked at the almost 5000 pics on his Flickr site. He is not remotely posing for any of those photos in a way that could be interpreted as sexual.

I hope they all get called to testify under oath - publically. Franken will come through as the honest, decent, intelligent, hard working, fine human being that he is.

Though my notion of pushing him as a presidential nominee is on hold for now.