Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Don’t get mad, get even

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    SenyorDave

    Yahoo headline:

    Al Franken Accused of Groping Female Army Officer on 2003 USO Tour

    He has to resign by end of day. And Conyers, although I heard Pelosi called for his resignation.

  3. 3.

    Hildebrand

    I have the very bad feeling that the tax bill is a done deal. I have the even worse feeling that Roy Moore is going to win. The worst feeling of all is that the Republicans won’t suffer one whit for all of their outrageous knavery.

  4. 4.

    TenguPhule

    @SenyorDave: Would you like to take a wild guess as to which party that woman belongs to?

    Franken Stays.

    He can skullfuck Collins on the Senate floor for all I care at this point.

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    @Hildebrand:

    The worst feeling of all is that the Republicans won’t suffer one whit for all of their outrageous knavery.

    Rest Assured, this one at least is wrong.

    Everyone is going to suffer. Some of us may suffer more then others.

  7. 7.

    Cacti

    @SenyorDave:

    Al Franken Accused of Groping Female Army Officer on 2003 USO Tour

    He has to resign by end of day. And Conyers, although I heard Pelosi called for his resignation.

    Have you seen the “incriminating” photo of the event?

    I guess the victim’s breasts must grow out of her shoulder blade area.

  10. 10.

    SenyorDave

    How the f*** can Donald Trump be the barometer for what is right? I wouldn’t want Franken near my wife. In his own words he admits that there might more coming. He did it.

  11. 11.

    Yutsano

    Saw an article (can’t find it now) that there has been very little minority outreach in the Alabama Senate race so far. If enough AA voters get out there it might be enough to get Jones over the top. What alarm bbels do we need to do to get this taken care of?

  13. 13.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    @Hildebrand:

    Well, if Moore wins, and I think he’s going to end up squeaking through, Republicans will suffer for it. There are 435 candidates running for the House next year and 33 running for the Senate, and every state and every district in 2018 is going to see and hear about Roy Moore in every other ad any Democrat runs for months. Roy Moore is going to be Mr. Republican next year, and every year he sits in the U.S. Senate, and that’s going to hurt.

  14. 14.

    debit

    @SenyorDave: Go huddle in a corner with your blanket, pop your thumb in your mouth and rock back and forth. I promise it will give you more comfort than what you’ll find here.

    ETA: I momentarily felt bad, but fuck this shit. He’s asked for an investigation. LET IT PLAY OUT. In the meantime, stop with the hysterics.

  18. 18.

    Raoul

    @Cacti: Indeed, that shoulder looks Charmin-like in its squeezable softness.
    BTW, did the State Fair gropee ever produce the photo her husband took? Not that victims have to produce photos, but I found the whole story strange given that she says he groped her while her husband was feet away taking the damn picture.

  24. 24.

    Cacti

    @Raoul:

    Indeed, that shoulder looks Charmin-like in its squeezable softness.
    BTW, did the State Fair gropee ever produce the photo her husband took? Not that victims have to produce photos, but I found the whole story strange given that she says he groped her while her husband was feet away taking the damn picture.

    Of all the high profile men recently accused of inappropriate behavior, the accusations against Franken are the ones that don’t pass the smell test for me.

    Original accuser is a Fox bot in cahoots with Hannity and Roger Stone.

    Two who say they were groped in photos produced photos that showed nothing of the sort.

    Three won’t even give their names.

  27. 27.

    Raoul

    I feel slightly tinfoil hat about this, but given Franken’s effectiveness at dinging AG Beauregard Elf during hearings, I think the GOP ratfkrs are working every possible angle to tank the Junior Senator from my state. That he is also a strong voice on Net Neutrality, a key plank in the GOP effort to swindle us all, adds to my paranoia.

    ETA: Let the ethics investigation run says this Minnesotan constituent (and lots of others, including women I know).

  29. 29.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @debit: Amen. Too many people on our side want Democrats to bring a sternly-worded letter to a gunfight and then wonder why we lose.

  31. 31.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cacti: I’m usually extremely skeptical of conspiracy theories, but it does strike me as odd that all these stories come from the time after he had more or less decided to enter politics. Nothing from thirty years in show business, including the coke- and booze-fueled days of the Belushi-era SNL.

  33. 33.

    TenguPhule

    @Raoul:

    BTW, did the State Fair gropee ever produce the photo her husband took?

    She did. It shows nothing to support her claim.

  35. 35.

    Raoul

    Meanwhile, The Federalist ran two tweets this morning, sequentially. The earlier used Woody Allen as the photo and decried decades of Hollywood liberalism for our moral decay. The second was an item link that said, basically, “I’d kick Moore in the nuts if he got near my 14 year old daugher, but we should vote for him anyway.”

    Ladies and gentlemen, your principled conservatives, right there!

  36. 36.

    Cacti

    @Raoul:

    I feel slightly tinfoil hat about this

    No need to. James O’Keefe and his accomplice were just caught red handed fabricating a false report and trying to weaponize it.

    Roger Stone’s fingerprints are all over the original accusation against Franken.

    The GOP ratfuckers are actively involved in this.

  37. 37.

    jeffreyw

    Franken should stay. Fuck this unilateral disarmament and the foes of liberalism urging it. You first, motherfuckers, and we’ll think about it.

  38. 38.

    debit

    @Cacti: Honestly, the picture of him honk honking her breasts is repulsive and I am ashamed of him for it. It also makes him look like a total creeper and makes it hard for him to be believable when he says he wouldn’t touch someone inappropriately. But like I’ve said, let’s have the investigation and see what the findings are.

  39. 39.

    Duane

    @SenyorDave: Franken did what? Flirted up with some women on a USO TOUR? Big deal. It requires an apology, that’s all. Meanwhile Alabama may send Moore, accused of actual crimes, to the Senate. Republicans going to seat him?

  42. 42.

    ? Martin

    I’m of the view that Franken should resign on Dec 12 with a replacement ready on that date. Keep him in place to vote on the tax bill because that carries consequences as well, but he needs to go as does Conyers. I’m not interested in splitting hairs over magnitudes of harassment or victim blaming or anything of the sort. As an upper-middle class white male, I know all of the advantages afforded to me, including passes on all sorts of behavior that would not be tolerated in someone outside of my class. That shit has to end. It’s not so much about hypocrisy or not, it’s about sending a message to people like me that those advantages are going away. The only way the behavior changes is by holding people accountable, especially if they are well liked by the people who provided those advantages.

    I’ve always thought Franken was wonderful, and I hope he can maintain some sort of public role and make amends for his acts, but it’s not worth allowing this societal problem to continue, and I cannot say that Franken’s benefits to me are close to outweighing the cost to people that have been victims of him and others – all the way out to Terry Motherfucking Crews. Everybody has to go from Matt Lauer to Franken to Moore to Trump to the doctors and executives and high level administrators that have yet to be swept up in this. No exceptions. I don’t care who has to go down. I don’t care how popular they are, or how much enjoyment I have received from them, power and popularity have always been allowed to be asterisks under bad behavior for why they weren’t punished. How much complaining did we make about the rich white men that blew up our economy in 2008 and are about to do so again? Holding people in power accountable needs to be something we get comfortable with again as a country. Taking down popular people is necessary to getting there.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    @Raoul: You also missed out on how the ones who didn’t give their names had their stories completely fall apart under scrutiny. One changed hers into something completely unbelievable and was swiftly rebutted by Franken as untrue. The other one he has an alibi and his wife vouches that she was with him at all times at the event.

    So lies, damn lies, Fucking Republicans

  44. 44.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Raoul:

    The second was an item link that said, basically, “I’d kick Moore in the nuts if he got near my 14 year old daugher, but we should vote for him anyway.”

    I saw that on Memeorandum and skimmed it and it was literally that.

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Why do guys grope people? I just don’t understand this. Yeah, I see amazing looking women every day, and have all my life. Sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to sleep with them. But I don’t touch them, or even stare obnoxiously. Why is this so hard?

    Excuse me, Why is what so hard?

    This gives you a clue about some guys.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    @? Martin:

    I’m of the view that Franken should resign on Dec 12 with a replacement ready on that date.

    Franken Stays.

    I’ll take an accusation against him seriously when there’s credible evidence and its not a ratfucking Republican making the claim.

  47. 47.

    ruemara

    @debit: He. Didn’t. Touch. Her. This is ridiculous. Yes, he’s making a grabbing gesture in a photo. He’s not touching her, she’s wearing fucking armour and can I ask why people keep seeing that photo and interpreting it as he’s grabbing her?

  50. 50.

    debit

    @ruemara: I understand that he’s obviously not touching her. It’s still repulsive and demeaning.

    ETA: Please, everyone who defends that picture. If it were you sleeping there, or any other woman you knew, would you find it funny? Seriously?

  51. 51.

    ? Martin

    @Cacti: Roger Stone didn’t invent that photo out of thin air. Franken admitted to the photo. If I did that to a colleague I’d be fired, and rightly so. I don’t see why Franken is so unique here – surely Amy Klobuchar and Mark Dayton can find a solid replacement until an election is held. It’s not like we even lose a vote here.

  52. 52.

    Raoul

    @debit: Is this re: the flack vest/air transport photo? I haven’t said much about it, but it looks very different to me (but I’m a dude – a gay one who hasn’t honked a female breast in 30 years (and it was consensual and in private when I did)). His left hand seems fairly likely to not be touching her flack vest at all. The angle is difficult, but his hand sure looks free-floating. Is the right hand touching? Maybe, IMO. But again, if he is, it is through a heavy military vest. That would not make it right, but given his dumb grin, and the obvious participation of the photographer, I think the whole damn thing is somehow off.

    Has the person who took that photo come forward? I guess I don’t actually follow all this that closely, what with tax-mageddon, Puerto Rico humanitarian disasters, and other general decay and collapse to track.

    ETA: What rumara said.

  53. 53.

    Cacti

    @ Martin:

    Roger Stone didn’t invent that photo out of thin air. Franken admitted to the photo.

    The photo where he’s not touching her?

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    @? Martin:

    I don’t see why Franken is so unique here

    Well he was only leading the fight against the tax bill and the gutting of net neutrality, but obviously a complete newbie would be able to fill his shoes just like that. //

  56. 56.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @? Martin:

    I am not sure that color matters. India has had a huge problem with sexual assault. Commuter trains in Japan are said to be a grope-fest. Historically, Nanjing was brutal. I think it’s more a patriarchal thing.

  57. 57.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @? Martin: I remember a wise BJ comment that observed “Americans don’t do nuance.”

    This call for unilateral disarmament reflects exactly that weakness. How about a little differentiation between men using power positions to harass/abuse/threaten those with less power (Trump, Moore, Lauer, Conyers, et al) and men acting stupid around women who are more or less peers, such as Franken and the woman in the USO show. Franken’s behavior was gross, but until further evidence comes out, not in the same abuse of power category as the others. Punishments should fit the crime: ouster for the power abusers, reprimand and a cease-and-desist order for opportunistic butt squeezers.

  58. 58.

    But her emails!!!

    @Marcopolo:

    There are a lot of minorities in Alabama. It’s possible for the campaign to be conducting a lot of minority outreach, but it still be insufficient. Alternately, it’s possible that the campaign is focused on outreach in urban areas, but neglecting sizable numbers of individuals in rural areas.

  59. 59.

    Raoul

    @TenguPhule: And Franken landed a very serious punch on Sessions. I don’t put it past his ratfvker friends to be after Franken as vendetta for that.

  60. 60.

    debit

    @Raoul: Let me be clear that I can clearly see he’s not touching her. That’s not the issue. She was sleeping. It wasn’t staged. It was taken without her consent. I support the guy and I can still be disgusted that he thought it was funny, and that he thought it would be funny to capture on film. I can only imagine the humiliation when she first saw that picture.

  61. 61.

    Raoul

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): A top tech woman went on twitter last night to describe the horrendous treatment she received flying Alaska Air next to a top-tier elite who got drunk and verbally assaulted her for an entire 3+ hour flight. The flight attendants apparently knew the guy, he did this route so often, and took a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude and served him doubles. So it’s local to the US, too.

    Alaska has now suspended the dude’s flight privileges pending investigation, but until she ranted on twitter with her blue checkmark, he was apparently terrorizing passengers with uniformed employee winks. So. Gross.

  62. 62.

    ruemara

    @debit: I’ve already said I’d be pissed, but I wouldn’t even have called it harassment. Juvenile, stupid, but I’m also traveling with a bunch of males, he’s a comedian and I could just deck him to resolve whether that’s ok with me.

    The photographer says it was also staged, so the story is not exactly clear. No one thinks it’s awesome, but, good lord. I forgot who it was said the tongue during the kiss rehearsal was a lesser thing, but mind boggled. Photo bad as assault, but the actual only assault was less bad. k

  63. 63.

    TenguPhule

    @ruemara:

    he’s a comedian and I could just deck him to resolve whether that’s ok with me.

    Hey now, he can’t perform if you damage his face.

    A kick to the nuts would suffice.

  64. 64.

    But her emails!!!

    @debit:

    You’re 100% it wasn’t staged? If so, why is she wearing a helmet and a flack vest instead of civilian attire like Franken? And why isn’t she in the VIP portion of the transport plane?

  66. 66.

    Raoul

    @debit: Got it.

    It was bad judgement and gross sexism, and her humiliation is deeply regrettable. But not sexual assault. What Trump, Moore, Conyers, Lauer, Halperin, etc etc have done appear to be assault. Some of it quite possibly criminal.

    I am not happy with Franken, but he has apologized and volunteered to be investigated. I hope we can let that unfold.

  67. 67.

    d58826

    As I watch the tax bill hurtle toward passage I am reminded of something that James Clavell said when the Paula Jones story broke. He said that if you drag a one hundred dollar bill thru a trailer park there is no telling what you will attract. Well in the case of the GOP it doesn’t even take a 100 dollar bill, even thought there are plenty of those floating around. The ‘honorable’ GOP senators would sell their children into slavery if they thought that they would get their name placed on a fire plug.

    The AL race takes on a larger significance at this point, beyond just voting for a pedophile. After one year of Trump the red state voters have a chance to say whither they want the 1% to continue picking their pockets, impoverishing their children and denying medical care to their elderly parents. Obviously a vote against Moore will not correct all that is wrong with the GOP and the country but a vote for him will tell us that when they bend over no Vaseline is required.

  68. 68.

    But her emails!!!

    @debit: As far as I know, Franken hasn’t said anything about the context of the photo one way or the other. Whether it is staged or not has nothing to do with whether it’s acceptable behavior which is what he commented on. I’m assuming the context of the photo will come out in the investigation he asked for.

  69. 69.

    debit

    @Raoul: Totally agreed. And that’s why I’m content for the investigations to play out. The picture just tarnishes his image when he really needs it to be squeaky clean.

  70. 70.

    d58826

    @debit:

    She was sleeping

    It is just possible that she staged being asleep as part of the gag. Not saying it wasn’t juvenile but from the photo can’t really tell as to whither she was asleep or awake. And if it is a setup of course she is going to say she was really asleep.

    And as an aside. Funny that no one else on that flight has gone public. Someone was taking that photo. What is his/her version of events.

  71. 71.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Raoul:

    Absolutely in agreement that sexual abuse is here in huge abundance. I’m saying its everywhere. Maybe less in Scandinavia because of progressive governance?

  72. 72.

    Leto

    @But her emails!!!: Hahahaha, you think there’s a “VIP portion” on military cargo aircraft; bless your heart! You can remove your helmet and Kevlar (flak vest hasn’t been a term, or item, since the 1970’s; wish people would stop using it) once you’re at cruising height (out of small arm range), but she said she promptly fell asleep so on it stayed.

  73. 73.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    @? Martin: The decision on Franken is ultimately a conversation that I as a man shouldn’t be a part of. Not my lane. But I will say that I know so many women who work in Hollywood (and gov too) who have experienced the kind of harassment alleged to Franken and are fed up by it. They are life-long Dems. They KNOW the political stakes. They KNOW where the accusations are coming from. They still want him to step down. They’ve thought about it long and hard and reached that conclusion. And it’s incredibly sad to see so many people on the Left telling them to STFU, calling them politically ignorant, claiming they lack fortitude for gun-fight politics, calling them surrender-monkeys. They don’t deserve that sort of treatment and dismissal.

    Note to everyone reading ^^^if this doesn’t refer to you, it doesn’t refer to you. No need to waste everyone’s time with #NotAll responses

  74. 74.

    Leto

    @d58826: Frankin’s brother was the photographer. This has already been reported. I’m sure the ethics committee will get with him soon enough.

  75. 75.

    Yutsano

    @Marcopolo: The article was a bit “anecdote is not data” but it suggested that a majority of the AA population wasn’t aware that there was an election next Tuesday. That seems very strange to me as I’m certain the AA press down there is promoting Jones like crazy.

    It would also be cool if Barkley could do a drive to the polls like Alyssa Milano did in Georgia.

  76. 76.

    d58826

    @Leto: ah. thanks for update. Hadn’t seen that. Of course that then goes to witness credibility.

    There simply more news sites than you can keep up with. But then I always preferred the town crier approach :-)

  77. 77.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    Franken stays until the tax fight ends one way or the other. Then I want him gone. Conyers should have been gone yesterday.

    And every Republican should be gone, if we have to vote them out and/or impeach them ourselves. Roy Moore is a start.

  81. 81.

    Raoul

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): My mom was born and raised in Sweden. I visit my many cousins every couple years. They are lovely, but one was married to a classic sexist jerk, no different than many Americans I encounter. Maybe there is somewhat less in Scandinavia, but if so it’s because Nordic countries probably actually enforce their HR policies and have a culture that supports reporting.

  83. 83.

    TenguPhule

    @Uncle Ebeneezer:

    They KNOW the political stakes. They KNOW where the accusations are coming from. They still want him to step down.

    One of these suppositions is definitely wrong.

  86. 86.

    Citizen Alan

    Why is it that all the people who insist that Franken should resign are people whose nyms I don’t recognize? Funny that.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: Yes to every word you spoke.

    Please please please can this be a rotating tag line?

    You first, motherfuckers, and we’ll think about it.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    My question about all the Franken butt-grabbing is this: Apparently the incidents happened at state fairs, photo ops and other public events. Presumably lots of people around. Why is there zero corroboration—that I’ve heard about, anyway—from anyone other than the victims? I would think that just by the law of averages there would be at least a few cases of “Hey, honey, look, there’s Senator Franken! Wait, is he groping that woman’s ass?!”

    I have tried to stay out of the debate and agree that there should be an investigation, but this one aspect keeps nagging at me. That and the fact that I wouldn’t put anything past the Republicans.

  94. 94.

    TenguPhule

    @Steeplejack:

    Why is there zero corroboration—that I’ve heard about, anyway—from anyone other than the victims?

    Gee, I wonder.

    I also wonder why every accuser is a Republican. And presumably a Trump supporter.

  95. 95.

    ? Martin

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): Color only matters inside of culture. India has a completely different culture. This isn’t a genetic argument, it’s an argument that this sexual assault problem (and many others) are just another manifestation of white supremacy. The ability of people like Donald Trump to do completely outrageous things and not only not get punished for them, but to be actively rewarded.

    My argument is that in terms of how this bad behavior is accepted, Donald Trump and I are very similar. I can get away with things that a black man or a white woman or a white gay man or probably a lower educated credentialed individual could not. That’s just straight up white supremacy. The idea that in the entire state of Minnesota there isn’t a black woman that could reach the same viewpoints on net neutrality and taxation as Al Franken is, frankly, more than a bit insulting. Finding someone who can dissect a witness in as entertaining a manner is quite a bit harder, but I don’t see how that needs to be paid for by allowing others to be degraded. And this isn’t just about Franken’s specific actions, but about whether or not we should tolerate in any form an argument about whether a person should be held accountable based on the perceived properties of the victim – certainly once you have multiple accusations and an admission, then any questions about motive from the victims is beside the point. Franken like the others are examples of positions of power harming others in positions out of power. Anyone who has been assaulted and their assaulter not held accountable will look at Franken and say ‘some people always get a pass’. That can’t stand, not for Moore and not for Franken.

    Sorry, but I’m going to be a bit of an absolutist on this one. If you want to solve deep societal problems, you have to be unsparing in your remedies. This isn’t about reforming Franken, it’s about reforming whites, men, the rich, and people in power.

  96. 96.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: Franken doesn’t resign until after the Senate ethics committee makes a determination. Period. Anyone suggesting otherwise is officially a ratfucker to me.

  97. 97.

    TenguPhule

    @? Martin:

    The idea that in the entire state of Minnesota there isn’t a black woman that could reach the same viewpoints on net neutrality and taxation as Al Franken is, frankly, more than a bit insulting.

    You don’t replace an admiral with an ensign in the middle of the battle for Midway.

  98. 98.

    Major Major Major Major

    @? Martin:

    I can get away with things that a black man or a white woman or a white gay man or probably a lower educated credentialed individual could not. That’s just straight up white supremacy.

    Not sure why you’re ignoring sexism, homophobia, and credentialism.

  99. 99.

    TenguPhule

    @? Martin:

    And this isn’t just about Franken’s specific actions, but about whether or not we should tolerate in any form an argument about whether a person should be held accountable based on the perceived properties of the victim – certainly once you have multiple accusations and an admission, then any questions about motive from the victims is beside the point.

    If you want to start booting our Democrats based on 5 accusations by Republicans with zero evidence in support, we’re not going to have any Senators or Representatives left.

  100. 100.

    TenguPhule

    @? Martin:

    If you want to solve deep societal problems, you have to be unsparing in your remedies.

    So I assume you’re 100% in support of my “Purge the Republicans from the Land in fire and blood” campaign?

  101. 101.

    Another Scott

    @? Martin:

    If you want to solve deep societal problems, you have to be unsparing in your remedies.

    I don’t accept your framing.

    Progress is always, always incremental. Insisting on absolute purity in reactions every sexual assault and every sexual abuse incident is not going to make the situation better. It will remove flawed people from office who have the ability to make things better, and keep imperfect people who can make things better from even running for office in the future. But we’re all flawed and imperfect in some way.

    (I’m not condoning or minimizing anyone’s actions, here.)

    It used to be applauded when we saw people change their minds and think and act differently. Now it seems that too many people want to say ‘one strike and you’re out’. No matter what the context or the evidence. Because Trump and Moore and Rivera and Lauer and Weinstein and many others were monsters, everyone has to go. I can’t accept that way of thinking, myself

    Let the investigations take their course, lets see what they come up with, and then lets talk about what should happen.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  102. 102.

    catclub

    @TenguPhule: also, I am respecting more and more his decision to call for an ethics panel investigation, as being incredibly smart.

    It allows things to spin out over time – and emotions to cool.
    It allows the other senators to figure out what they are willing to actually punish.
    It makes sure that accusations are investigated/verified.

    It gives a reason NOT to simply resign.

  103. 103.

    TenguPhule

    @catclub: Yep, he’s behaving like an innocent man caught in an intolerable situation and doing the best he can.

    And then we see all the Republicans behaving guilty AF and wonder why all the attention is on Franken.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @? Martin:

    My argument is that in terms of how this bad behavior is accepted, Donald Trump and I are very similar. I can get away with things that a black man or a white woman or a white gay man or probably a lower [educated] credentialed individual could not. That’s just straight up white supremacy.

    With a side of horseshit.

    Sorry, but I’m going to be a bit of an absolutist on this one. If you want to solve deep societal problems, you have to be unsparing in your remedies.

    Once again, this shows that the Internets leans toward mob rule and is not a good place to resolve complex issues.

    .

  105. 105.

    Ben Cisco

    There’s been plenty of coverage of this race, in both the urban and rural areas of the state. Having grown up in the latter, rest comfortably assured that black people with a pulse, even in the sticks, are very much aware of what is at stake. “Birmingham Church Bombing” isn’t just a bit of history that we passively take notice of – those four little girls were OURS. Any jibber-jabber you hear about AfAm not being “engaged” or “outreached to” is the same bullshit that gets tossed out during every one of these races – as if we needed extra motivation to vote against a pedo, Constitution-defying bigot. Quit falling for the banana in the tailpipe!!!

  111. 111.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Steeplejack: Now that it’s come up, you know the slimy mofos will come up with “eyewitnesses” who just happened to remember –

    & a week later, after everyone has had a shit-fit & the damage has been done, it’ll turn out that the “eyewitnesses” were nowhere near the fair that day. You know it’ll happen.

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @Uncle Cosmo: I hope that any “Fake” witnesses will enjoy having their countertops inspected. Of course, if they come forward the narrative will be there even if they are proven to be fakes and liars, but at least they will be humiliated in front of their friends and neighbors. But maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised and no fakes will come forward.

  114. 114.

    TenguPhule

    @WaterGirl:

    but at least they will be humiliated in front of their friends and neighbors

    If only. More like “haha, liberals got played!”

    They flock together in murders.

  115. 115.

    Retr2327

    @debit: two points: 1) depending on the context (e.g., amongst close friends), yes, it could be funny, or totally not. 2) funny or not, it’s not sexual assault, as such, to me or my wife. Should he resign for a joke that’s offensive and in bad taste? Not in my book.

  116. 116.

    Retr2327

    @debit: I believe she was genuinely offended by it, and that clearly called for -and received – a sincere apology, which was delivered and accepted. If the victim says that’s enough (and she did), then that strikes me as justice delivered.

Comments are closed.