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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStrange principle is emerging
David Axelrod? @davidaxelrod 5h5 hours agoStrange principle is emerging:
If you admit misconduct, you resign. But if you deny it, however compelling or voluminous the testimony against you, you continue in office-or on to office-with impunity?
Link to tweet
ollie10
(2,091 posts)It's the unwritten rule because the GOP is the party of "values."
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)FuzzyRabbit
(1,969 posts)Nothing new about this. In a few days another Democrat will be accused of some wrongdoing and his fellow democrats will force him to resign.
A Republican accused of worse will be supported by the entire Republican party.
ProfessorPlum
(11,277 posts)question everything
(47,537 posts)democratisphere
(17,235 posts)demmiblue
(36,898 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)was misinterpreted by just about everyone. He said he was sorry the women were remembering the events differently than he did but apologized for them feeling harassed. That was turned into an admission of guilt.
demmiblue
(36,898 posts)Shoot, even Joy was victim to that and spread the lie. Oy!
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)are ready to pounce on any Democrat for any reason whatsoever. You'll also notice that many are trashing Gillibrand (as I do) for her tossing Franken to the wolves. Not one word for Bernie Sanders doing the exact same thing and his audience is MUCH larger than Gillibrand.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)There is evidence all over the place he's thinking of running in 2020.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)The Democrats are going to have their very own clown car in 2020 with a candidate for every flavor of leftist.
demmiblue
(36,898 posts)and voted for Hillary in the General. I am really, really disappointed that he was part of this. I expected better and I feel let down.
I think Senator Gillibrand is getting most of the flak because she was the flashpoint for all of this (as well as her Clinton comments).
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)That's a lonely club you're part of but at least you're honest.
demmiblue
(36,898 posts)Bernie et al. (et al. being the other couple dozen of senators) were not part of the initial take down/hit job. I think that is why you are not seeing a lot of discussion about the people who cosigned this farce.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Over and over and over again.
Then theyll say that they and their buddies NOT resigning shows they arent guilty.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)vomiting out the very same thing. Interesting.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Franken was strong on womens issues - bring him down with Trumped up harassment charges.
Kerry was a decorated veteran - Swift boat.
ACORN was effective at registering voters - create false situation to entrap them.
Sherrod brought equity to her department - paint her as a racist.
Waters has been a champion for her district and tried to ensure minority owned banks werent excluded from bail out - accuse her and husband of doing this to try to profit.
Only it did not work with Waters because she fought back tooth and nail to take the process of trying to force her out from the back room to a public hearing and she was cleared of those phony ethics charges. I remember than that some DUers bought into that one, too and used the same we have to be better than them arguments to argue she should leave rather than have hearings.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)I can't think of one vote of his I had taken exception to. He was well read, well spoken and a true champion for women and minorities. And he got taken out by his own team. I feel sick about this.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Cooking up the next smear campaign. I'm betting it will be about entirely different issue, though again something going after strength of person.
In the meantime, the political calculus some on DU are cheering on in thinking this will reach out to more women voters will not have that effect.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)The only effect it will have is cons crowing "see, even his own team knew he was guilty". Sickening.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Saw an example of that already today by a writer here in liberal Seattle who is the type of voter they think theylll win over and who had been calling for Frankens head on a pike.
https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/12/07/25616000/i-dont-care-about-democrats-setting-a-good-example
I don't care about shaming "Republicans into being better people." I don't care about "unilateral disarmament" when it comes to sexual harassment and sexual assault. I don't care about "asymmetrical warfare." I don't care about high morality, or norm preservation, or any other term people are using to explain the rationale to get rid of Democrats who sexually humiliate their colleagues and constituents.
When it comes to sexual assault and sexual harassment, there is only one thing I care about: Putting an end to it. That is it. Plain and simple. Nothing more, nothing less.
If liberals consider that goal some sort of performative morality without any political calculus, they clearly do not understand my interests, and I don't want to belong to their political party.
kcr
(15,320 posts)Forcing him out before an investigation wasn't high minded. It was stupid, stupid, stupid! Oh, god, so stupid I will never get over this.
flamingdem
(39,328 posts)now, right now. A wrong has been committed. They had better do something to avoid losing us.
Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)flamingdem
(39,328 posts)Hoping for new blood
lame54
(35,326 posts)Is hardly a strong party slogan
Not showing up to the polls is a real consequence
They need to stop slapping themselves on the back and take a peek out of there bubble to see the real damage they are doing and do something about it
Let this country die a horrible flaming death!
Turth has died, justice has died, the whole concept of innocent until *proven* guilty just died... the country is in its death throes.
Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)ollie10
(2,091 posts)Gillebrand, Warren, Brown, Harris, Sanders....all of them!
They took the easy way out, of course.
It would have been far more honorable, however, to defend one of our best instead of throwing him under the bus
This is all about running for president, however, not helping the party.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"This is all about running for president..."
No. This is all about the harassment and abuse of women at the hands of men in power. And the sooner we realize that, the sooner we avoid looking like political hacks.
ollie10
(2,091 posts)I respectfully disagree that this is about harassment, since it is quite a stretch to call what Franken was accused of by mostly anonymous sources harassment. It raises issues of due process and railroading. It is disappointing that Franken was railroaded. I think it is naive to believe that political ambitions had nothing to do with this.
DeadLetterOffice
(1,352 posts)These threads are making me ill.
So disgusted to see all the people here willing to disparage women's voices when said voices are inconvenient.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)Don't pretend we don't stand up for women because I'm questioning some twit who has been friends with donnie junior for years. And the use of anonymous accusations makes me ill. It's fascist.
enough
(13,262 posts)If you're a Democrat accused, you resign. If you're a Republican accused, you don't.
Which will lead very soon to the idea that Democrats are the party with a sexual-misconduct problem, while Republicans are not.
It's like what Trump says about Moore: "He denies all of it." And what all the republicans say about Trump: "He denies all of it." It's all they have to do.
Turn CO Blue
(4,221 posts)But 32 Dem Senators have conveniently not held press conferences going after him to resign. Hmmm.
eleny
(46,166 posts)If only Dem leadership would pull its collective head out of its ass it might see it.
uncletio200
(1 post)I assume thats because Christie is still governor. I wonder if the dems pushing Al Franken out the door would have been so exuberant if Pawlenty was still governor here in Minnesota.
R B Garr
(16,985 posts)I did notice Als emphasis on that portion of the sentence, as if hes disgusted at the stupidity of those who railroaded him. The Republicans dont give a crap about ethics. We just got rid of one of their biggest thorns and gave them a huge out on multiple levels. Stupidest thing ever.
Bye, Al. Sorry your party didnt stick with you. You deserved better.
kairos12
(12,875 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,311 posts)It's called privilege
Or at least that's how the GOP sees it
Perseus
(4,341 posts)He has said repeatedly that he remembers it differently than his accusers do.
He has apologized if anything he did caused them any anguish, but has never admitted wrongdoing.
Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Denzil_DC
(7,266 posts)Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Denzil_DC
(7,266 posts)Apparently, if Franken had been more aggressive in his denials and gone after his accusers, as is expected, he wouldn't be under the bus.
Enjoy the daylight while it lasts.
Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Denzil_DC
(7,266 posts)Not much daylight down there.
To listen to many here (and some in the Democratic hierarchy) who've condemned him, if he'd been more proactive as outlined above, he'd have survived.
Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Denzil_DC
(7,266 posts)Be happy. What you apparently thought should happen did - Franken's going.
Now watch the consequences.
Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Denzil_DC
(7,266 posts)Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)There is nothing in what the tabloid press has so far disclosed that would cause him to be expelled from the Senate.
No One Has Been Expelled From The Senate Since The Civil War
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/16/564229931/no-one-has-been-expelled-from-the-senate-since-the-civil-war
Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
Franken caved unnecessarily.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)the country of equal opportunity and human rights. It's nothing more than empty words now.
debsy
(530 posts)The party in control has absolutely no compunction about lying, cheating, stealing, and letting people die so that they can gain themselves. They are the minority yet their cheating has allowed them to control everything. I'm sure many Germans felt this helpless in the early 30s. The only thing that might work is to stop paying taxes. Let the idiots and billionaires coverall all this opprobrious behavior. We need to organize a tax protest.
PufPuf23
(8,839 posts)with support from his own Party, Franken could have weathered the political storm.
Some Democrats used GOP bullshit for their own inter-party ambitions.