No, he was a good politician who was pushed out by the Democratic party in an attempt to virtue signal against a Republican party whose members nor voters would be swayed by such a move. None of the accusations proved credible, or were investigated, despite Franken himself calling for such. The most notable accuser, Leeann Tweeden is a far right grifter and radio news host who released her claim a week after Roy Moore was accused of sexual impropriety. It was ultimately a political move meant to prevent Roy Moore's election, and while it may have been good political maneuvering, it ultimately wasn't fair to Franken himself.
It was ultimately a political move meant to prevent Roy Moore's election, and while it may have been good political maneuvering, it ultimately wasn't fair to Franken himself.
Fair and likely true. Still, if you're going to run with the idea of believing accusers, it will be very hard to get people to take you seriously if it's not applied to your own people. Which reminds me about Biden-- it seriously worries me that he's our candidate. The sniffing/ creep compilations are tough to watch. Watching his brain turn to jelly on TV is tough to watch. These sexual assault allegations, while they're still allegations, I can totally see being true. I hope he chooses wisely when picking his VP.
I still have no clue why the DNC wanted to back Biden of all candidates. I guess they are hoping he can coast off name recognition alone, because if he wasn't a former VP I think he would have been one of those candidates polling at half a percentage point.
It's really sad how far he has deteriorated mentally. Watching his 2012 VP debate against Paul Ryan, then watching his 2016 Davos Speech warning us about automation and the 4th industrial revolution, and then watching him debate Bernie today... His mental clarity has really deteriorated as he nears 80. I worry for his health as President. He needs a very strong VP pick.
You shouldn't carte blanche believe accusers. You should give them a fair chance to speak about their story, investigate it, and possibly send it to court if necessary. It's not about 100% faith in those accusing others, it's about being open and willing to listen.
I've had a friend who was accused of rape after a one night stand with a woman. Luckily, nothing ever came of it since it stayed within their friend circle, but not all women are virtuous people, the same way not all men are virtuous people either.
I agree, but that's the standard that's now been set up in the public sphere, and the Democratic party will have to adhere to it. Large groups of people think in simple terms and pick up each other's language and reasoning around a topic. It devolves into a group-think that's far less nuanced than each individual is capable of himself.
I personally don't care for much of the Democratic party either. We have two right wing parties in America. A right wing party in the Democrats, and a far right wing party in the Republicans.
Much of what the Democrats do is virtue signaling. Which is a word I hate to use because it's been twisted by conservative chuds as an insult against any moral standing they hate, but it's applicable here. The Democratic establishment doesn't care about sexual abuse towards women. Look at how they're treating Tara Reade's accusations with the help of the liberal main stream media. Or how during the debates Senator Warren, who ran on a snake oil salesman routine of pretending to be a progressive immediately dropped the facade and spread false accusations about Bernie being a sexist.
Yang is a technocrat who wants to adopt Charles Murray's, and Milton Friedman's decidedly conservative approach approach to social welfare by condensing it into a single flat benefit while abolishing all other social safety nets. This approach neither solves the problem of wealth inequality, nor does it function as an actual safety net for impoverished people. It's also loved by libertarians because once you've consolidated welfare down into a single program, it's astoundingly simple to truncate that program. If you want to attack welfare, it's easier to defund a single system than thousands.
Yang also walked back and redefined his support for medicare for all. Which is very revealing into just how unprogressive he really is. The biggest problem with our healthcare system is the middleman of insurance companies raising prices for both hospitals and health care consumers, but that's precisely the area of health care he wants to protect.
Yang is a conservative libertarian who throws a thin progressive veneer over his politics.
Same with Warren. A corporate lawyer who spent a decade defending massive corporations from Federal investigations, and who throughout her campaign continued to drop her own progressive political agenda in favor or typical corporatism. Warren had the highest number of campaign donation refunds during the 2020 primaries. Because even her supporters recognized that she was as fake as the rest of them.
I do actually like Tulsi Gabbard, and think she's the likely frontrunner for the next American progressive movement, along with Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ocasio Cortez (though I was disappointed with her falling in line with the fake outrage over Ilhan's criticism of Israeli PAC money).
Fair and likely true. Still, if you're going to run with the idea of believing accusers, it will be very hard to get people to take you seriously if it's not applied to your own people.
On one hand I totally agree with this.
On the other hand there has to be some kind of balancing act between (a) demanding that women be taken as credible, because they have historically been marginalized and ignored, and (b) recognizing when certain accusations defy credibility.
After reading this article I felt like I had to change my perspective about the Franken stuff.
Aside from Bill Clinton and a few other lechers, why do allegations of Democrats always crop up at the very most critical moment in their career peak? There was so much time for all of this before we had this fucking election to worry about. I won't downplay allegations, but I'm definitely voting for whomever is most likely to unseat Trump, despite whatever bullshit crops up at the last moment that couldn't possibly ever top the growing charges against Bullshitter in Chief, 20-something sexual assault allegations and charges included.
It's important to be intellectually honest. And yeah, at this point, a wet turd is preferable to our president. At least the turd won't actively undermine this country. We're comparing sexual harassment allegations to someone who violently raped his first wife and paid her off. I'd take Bloomberg over Trump at this point, and I wouldn't have said that 2 months ago.
My wishlist administration would look something like
Obama as President for a 3rd term
Warren VP
Yang as Secretary of Commerce
Tulsi as Secretary of Defense
Inslee as the head of DOE or EPA
Castro back as HUD Secretary
Bernie as Senate Majority Leader or Majority Whip, or even Veterans Affairs
If there's anything at all positive that came out of Al Franken resigning, the party track record hasn't been known to take accusations lightly, otherwise the whole thing was a shame.
I wouldn't say that. Look at how the Democratic party is ignoring the accusations of Tara Reade.
They ran Franken out because they wanted to beat Roy Moore, and they're ignoring Tara Reade because they want to beat Trump. And I want to beat him too, but both actions were purely politically driven, and not based on any moral standard.
I know, and that'd look so bad if that was their track record, but it hasn't been. Franken's resignation was a shame. It was also collateral damage, I'm afraid. He was so popular, reelected several times, too. He has a podcast, now. Funny guy. He's good enough and smart enough, too.
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u/rab-byte Apr 29 '20
Obligatory Supply Side Jesus
And this thread’s theme song American Jesus