Kasie Hunt on the other hand was a booster for his ouster.

Ambassador for maggot. I don't watch her.

yuk!

I've watched her a number of times and have not seen a repuggy attitude. But nice try.

She's known to be critical of the Trump admin. Her father, also, is not an ambassador, as far as I can tell.

have Trumpers in the family.

I find no evidence that Kasie Hunt's father is an ambassador.

Sorry it was Huntsman. Crap.

Not Hunt.
Sorry.

reversed what she said about Franken. I was very disappointed in her at the time. Now if some Democratic senators would grow a spine and admit they made a gross mistake, the world will be a slightly better place.

Thank you Stephanie Ruhl!

MSM was perfectly happy throwing him under the bus.

What exactly are you trying to do? Focus on the repubs.

going to understand that it's politics?????????????????????

I can't help but get the idea that way too many folks don't understand politics. It is low down mean and dirty. Anyone watching the repubs would know this. From the comments I see too many folks are emotional about this. With Conyers and Franken gone, the Dems will be able to attack trump and moore. For the non political junkie voters this will play well. Do I wish Franken didn't have to resign? Yes. But I understand why. Focus on beating the crap out of the repubs.

Moore just claimed US was great during slavery, for crying out loud.
Why do you need to get rid of Franken in order to attack Moore?

It's called credibility LisaL. And it's POLITICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When are you going to understand what this is about? It's not about all the folks here commenting emotionally.

They also have to watch which way the wind is blowing. They have to monitor what their voters are thinking. Senators aren't appointed for life.

You're not the only political junky here. Less patronizing & fewer exclamation points, please.

Think again.

Shouldn't all democrats have an opportunity to have their say?

Plus, it isn't over. He hasn't left.

I'll be comforted when people stop telling me to be quiet and start calling Republicans out for being quiet about Gianforte. He is a case study in how republicans act. We are being naive by disarming without any assurances of mutual disarmament. We just lay down our weapons and expect they will be shamed into doing it too.

The republicans broadcast their intention to hold up Conyer's seat, because they have no shame.

This life-long democrat will not be silenced.

It seemed to me that the movement for his ouster was hastily put together and without any respect for the process of ethical review.

I recognize that women and girls - and that goes for men and boys as well - deserve to be taken seriously when they make an accusation of sexual harassment, assault or grievous impropriety. That said, the accused are also due a proper investigation into the allegations made and that they not be subjected to punitive measures before the facts are fully obtained. This was, IMO, a total failure on the part of all the Dems who involved themselves in this behavior ahead of an ethics investigation which was to be forthcoming.

Whether there would have been enough information to obtain credible proof to have removed Franken is moot. We'll never know that because the process was cut short for whatever reason that we'll never know for certain, whether it was because some believed it to genuinely be the "right thing to do" or whether politically motivated by political Machiavellianism. What we DO KNOW is that the allegations first started with a personal Twitter buddy of Donald J. Trump Jr. We know for a fact that Roger Fucking Stone was tweeting what was about to drop more than twelve hours ahead of the news reports. We do know that Tweeden is a right wing talking head in a backwater market radio program. We also know that one of the primary tactics of right wing politics and this administration in particular is to stir up a media controversy to distract the MSM and the American populace during particularly trying circumstances. And, finally, we all know is that Donald J. Trump among others have led the birtherism blather for years. A totally false allegation the President Obama was not born in the United States and that his birth certificate was fraudulent, thereby by making an illegitimately installed leader. Those are the facts that we DO KNOW, and why in the name of god was a valuable Senator made to walk the plank in order to "take the high ground"? Does anyone seriously believe that this will redound to the Democrats' benefit? I certainly do not.

over the collective rush to judgement. That includes the mysterious death of my "gay" nephew on the tracks near Chicago yesterday.

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I am so sorry you are going through that.

There just are no words.

His removal is a slap in the face to all women who are actually abused. To accept the ass pinching as abuse victimizes real victims.
I intend not to dismiss his crass behavior and do support the end of humiliation that women are subject to. I just feel it is important to draw a line between serious abuse, mental or physical, and the behavior of childish men.

is because he is one of the sharpest, most intelligent, people in Congress. This includes his staff who do most of the leg work to get him briefed and as up to date as possible. People were talking Franken for president on 2020 and I personally think he had a real good chance. By eliminating Franken the Republicans took out if not the biggest threat to them and their agenda at least one of the top five threats to the GOP. Every time Franken faced a Republican he shredded them with facts and logic. He did his homework before going to a committee meeting unlike most Democrats. Yeah I am still pissed at them.

I wonder if the democratic donor class wanted him gone. It fits with the notion that democracy is an illusion. As long as the democrats stay at 49% and protect the institution, they can stay. Franken threatened the institution.

He was a force to be reckoned with on the judiciary committee. They had pressing reasons to get rid of him.

Should get a prime time slot, they are both the kind of folks we progressives should fight for.

The Democratic senators should all reverse course because in their haste they ignored:

1) Roger Stone announced his prank in advance of Tweeden's initial message.

2) Video of Tweeden at the USO tour reveals she's as much engaged in hammy Vaudevillian SATIRE as Franken. In fact her satire suggested both ass slapping and wrapping a leg around a man. The USO tour's mission was to entertain the troops and it has a tradition of x-rated tomfoolery. Whether the tomfoolery is scripted or improv, it is still theater.

3) Did I mention Franken's photo was posed? It was SATIRE, even if crudely done. All satire implies one is NOT endorsing the act. (Ever seen a teenage boy playfully wringing the neck of his best friend? He's not endorsing murder!) And how do we know it's satire? He's flaring his eyes and grinning like a Cheshire Cat! His body is frozen and shadows clearly show he is not actually touching Tweeden. Honestly, when I first heard there were people interpreting that photo as actual groping, I thought "what a bunch of hair-brained politicians! They are clueless about satire, theater, pop culture, body language, possibly even the First Amendment!"

4) Tweeden was so NOT upset about Franken's Vaudevillian exercise, she evidently sent a positive USO anniversary note to Franken.

5) After the media circus thoroughly misinterpreted Franken's goofy sketch (it was SATIRE) a number of accusations followed, much of which Franken has questioned for interpreting group hugs/photos.

6) Franken's staff and close colleagues in both the Senate and in the (SATIRE-drenched) TV world have stood by him. Women who have been alone with him have stood by him.

7) To his credit Franken, when accused, immediately wrote a statement respecting all people's sensitivities. He was not condemning anyone's subjective impressions. He was honest about the possibility that in the hundreds of huggy, jostling, photo op situations some confusion may result. But he did not admit to any wrongdoing and no one has provided any evidence of wrongdoing.

8) Some accusers did not use their names and could just as easily been Republican spin doctors (a la Roger Stone). At least one accuser complained that Franken put his arm around her waist during a photo shoot! Really??? In my humble opinion that is within the continuum of normal group photo behaviour, especially for a short man whose arms don't easily reach shoulder to shoulder.

9) All of the above does not come close to Trump and Roy's stack of evidence for exploiting underage women, including 13 and 14 year olds. There is no equivalence whatsover. Even a crude kiss on the mouth, adult to adult, is lightyears away from being barred from a mall for stalking teenagers (Roy), stripping down to your underwear while alone with a 14 year old (Roy) or raping a 13/14 yr old and scaring the child out of going to court (Trump).

10) I'm willing to accept any real evidence that Franken over-stepped common standards of etiquette. An ethics inquiry is in order, nothing more, nothing less. If he was over-zealous about placing a big smacker on a woman (or man!) then let him be scolded vociferously and publically. But he has worked tirelessly for this country – including his zany, if bumbling, efforts on a USO tour – and does not deserve what appears to have been a media lynching driven by Republicans.

The lynch mob don't need any hearings, they got fresh rope and democratic liberals to use it on!

do not seem to understand the voters. Too much daily polls watching and not enough listening to us.

Immediately after election 2016, they started telling us why Clinton "lost." turns out they were wrong.

Last year they told us we had to reach out to blue collar white guys in the rust belt or we could not win elections.

this year we must end due process and rush to judgement

What's coming next? Who knows, maybe they will eventually get it right, maybe they won't.

Every single time he said "well the people in my district are telling me..." he was about to say something so out of touch I would have thought an older man might have been senile.

I didn't want to get adversarial with him, but most of what he was saying was just plain nonsense.

The people in this guy's district are concerned about forces that are undermining industrial and manufacturing jobs and probably not a whole lot else, but he brushed those off as a local issue. Okay fine, that isn't really true but are you advocating for your constituents or not?

I don't think she realized that camera was on her.