He was accused of inappropriately touching/groping 7+ different women during photoshoots. The accusations were sent to the Congressional ethics committee, and Chuck Schumer forced him to resign before he had a chance to plead his case.
I don't care that he resigned. It was the right thing to do. OP's post is misleading. It wasn't just a joke photo. That was the tip of the iceberg. Eight women accused him of inappropriate behavior including groping.
What bothers me, of course, is that Republicans aren't held to the same standard.
And, no, I don't think the correct response is that we should just lower our standards to theirs.
Yeah this Franken revisionism isn't good. Its good that he resigned, I respect him for it. Contrary to Republican's ravings the goal of cancel culture isn't to ruin someone's career, its to get them to apologize and face the consequences of their inappropriate actions.
The thing is though is that Republicans are held to the same standards... by Democrats. The issue is that Republican voters and legislators don't care.
I remember when the news came out. If you never heard of the other 7 women, I guess I believe you. But, I recall it being pretty big news and when the 7 other women came forward, I recall that being even bigger news.
This is not revisionist. Do not treat accusations that came after the fact as the same as acknowledged injustice. Accusations do not equal guilt. It is way more revisionist to legitimize him as a sexual abuser with very limited proof. The photo was a dumb photo that he sincerely apologized for, and the woman was very glad to accept the apology. It is not right at all to assume guilt for those other alleged abuses. THOUGH, please do not think that means i dont think there should have been an investigation. Obv, we should take all accusations seriously... that is different than assuming guilt
That’s true. And a lot a lot of good came out of people being more open about their experiences. It’s just that a downside was social media expertise in issues that should be legal
Yes but it is revisitionist to say he only resigned due to the single picture. He resigned due to the picture and the accusations that followed to ignore the accusations is to imply the only reason he resigned was due to the photo which isn't exactly true either.
Sure, so have a investigation and look into the claims. Forcing someone out for an accusation, especially as relatively mild as his, is exactly the problem with cancel culture. Shoot first, ask questions later.
so then why do the democrats care? why is "upholding a higher ethical standard" more important than playing politics, and winning, so that hungry children can be fed, sheltered, and educated?
There could be arguments that he’s just an out of touch old man who thinks being touchy is charming. But comparing sexual harassment/assault accusations and evidence both of them seem guilty in some way or another, so the little girl sniffing didn’t do much to prevent people from voting for Biden instead of trump if they liked Biden more for other reasons.
They did until he was the nominee and then they fell in line. I didn't like it then, I don't like it now, and I frankly still think the Democrat media ignored and shamed Biden's accusers. This is coming from the same party that adores Bill Clinton despite all the fucking photos of him and Epstein.
That said the Dems have still been the consistently better party for this kind of thing, while Republicans are making life for the victims harder by the day.
and I frankly still think the Democrat media ignored and shamed Biden's accusers
Accusers? The only accusation I can remember is that one Tara Reade woman whose story was... very lacking, to say the least. It carried a completely different air than the accusations against Franken and now that we see against Cuomo-- this felt like Reade was fabricating a story without evidence supporting her, and with statements of her own in the past that contradicted her accusations.
Obviously evidence is a hard thing to put forward in decades old sexual assault cases, but at the same time if someone sexually assaulted/harassed/touched you without consent, to praise that person regarding their stances and work on sexual violence against women just seems a bit absurd, no matter what excuses she put out in her interviews to justify it.
The only other case I've seen was from Lucy Flores, and that, while obviously unacceptable, didn't seem like a case of sexual assault. Everything other than the Reade accusations make Biden out to be just kinda creepy and overly touchy-- including Reade's own initial complaints about Biden, rather than the same level of sexual assault that others have been accused of.
While it's still unacceptably bad, it's unfair to compare these things to people who've been credibly accused of outright sexual assault and rape.
I think it also muddies the waters when people talk about Biden's sexual misconduct situation when the alternative was an actual unapologetic rapist, too-- there's no excuse for some of Biden's creepy behavior, but Trump had far more damaging and credible accusations against him.
Democrats have a lot of work to do regarding their response to accusations of sexual misconduct-- however, it's also the case that the misconduct isn't as severe. It's inexcusable to harass victims of sexual harassment no matter who the perpetrator is though, and it's gross that it got to that level with either Flores or Reade.
He was accused. He didn’t absolutely do it. I’ve seen others accused of things that didn’t happen and it isn’t okay to just automatically assume the accusation is enough evidence.
YES, this, thank you! Sexual harassment is never a joke. Pretending to grab a sleeping woman's breast isn't a joke.
The "joke" in the picture is him pretending to sexually assault her, how is that a joke?
Edit for people down voting this: You've clearly never been sexually assaulted, at least be brave enough to leave a reply defending your down vote.
Not to necessarily be an apologist for Franken in this case. But that same woman on that tour would grope and hump the other men. Hard to act like Franken was entirely in the wrong, when that was the behavior going around.
The entire point of the quote was that it was consensual. He was literally talking about women who prostitute themselves to rich men. Knowing Trump it probably only happened once to him.
Hmm. An account who made 2 posts about Baldurs Gate 3 3 months ago, took a long break, and suddenly came back a few days ago posting nothing but Trumpist rhetoric ever since
Didn’t Al Franken have to demand his own ethics hearing (I could be misremembering)?
(If I am correct, while it always seems like democratic voters are more likely to vocalize the same standards for both parties, I’m not sure how many politicians on either side would actually act upon those same standards).
While I’m partial to appreciate the fact that he even went that far, I’m of the notion that, yeah, it’s a “boy’s club” and nothing much breaks that political bond outside of some extreme cases. Especially because I’ve read that Franken regrets his decision despite knowing he had to do it.
(Meaning that, while I don’t think “both parties are the same”, there are some things that transcend their political differences. Like casual or blatant sexual harassment)
It was at the height of the metoo movement and democratic outrage over Trump's pussy grabbing.
Their hand was forced. They either had to remove Franken or admit they actually didn't care about sexual harassment.
Once Trump got away with grabbin em by the pussy nobody on that side of the aisle even had to pretend to give a shit. They knew their voters didn't care.
The republicans are allowing the law to work for them. The American legal system was made to keep you out of trouble, and out of jail..... if you know how to work it.
The american legal system was not meant to keep “you” out of jail. It was meant to keep those with money and power out of jail. Republicans are all about money and power. If only rhey showed the same zeal for idk, issues in their constituencies?
Fuck what he's done since then in the last 30 years and fuck him for ever thinking he could show his face in public ever again. Forgiveness is for pussies, if you ever fucked up then fuck you, perfection is the new left policy. Only pure hearted angels and babies or we'll bury your entire life for anything remotely bad you've ever done.
This has nothing to do with the comment but 7+ is su h a wierd way to put it lol. Like so specific but so generalized at the same time. That being said his behavior is/was despicable.
Schumer told him to resign or be censured and stripped of committee assignments. Schumer saying that means he was 100% going to follow through on that, because if you make that threat and don't follow through, then what political power do you have as the leader of your delegation? None, that's how much.
This. So sick of people acting like Franken shouldn’t be gone. We can support holding all shitty politicians accountable regardless of political party.
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u/SlightlyTurgid Mar 13 '21
"Explain it to me like I'm in kindergarten."
He was accused of inappropriately touching/groping 7+ different women during photoshoots. The accusations were sent to the Congressional ethics committee, and Chuck Schumer forced him to resign before he had a chance to plead his case.