Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

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

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

American History and Black History can not be separated.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

This blog will pay for itself.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Local Elections Open Thread: What of Iowa’s Staunch GOP?

Local Elections Open Thread: What of Iowa’s Staunch GOP?

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The down-home, folksy variant I remember was “You’ve only got two hands”, but maybe Senator Ernst was thinking of “Four legs good, two legs better”?

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst returned Monday from a trip to the U.S-Mexico border with a message for her constituents: “The humanitarian crisis at our southern border is absolutely real.”…

“I saw firsthand what is going on there, and what I want to get out first and foremost is that our border patrol agents are doing a tremendous job,” said Ernst, describing the men and women as “good-hearted” and “extremely compassionate.”

“They were taking dollars out of their pockets — when Democrats refused to step up and help us fund the items necessary for these areas — to pay for diapers and formula and hygiene items for the men and women that are there,” she added…

Ernst said she was told the migrants were “receiving [medical] care,” but it was obvious the system was “overwhelmed.”

“It’s overwhelmed,” Ernst said, describing her observations as she walked through the facilities. “But I felt completely safe and at ease.

“Even walking in and around the migrants, I felt comfortable,” she said. “Not all of them were in restricted areas. Some of them were sitting, waiting to be processed and some were going through their health screenings — and they all are going through health screenings. They’re being provided medical care.”…

It’s hard for the old-school mom & pop white nationalist heartland populists to compete when the national megachain moves in on their markets. Look at what’s happening to Steve ‘Pigmuck’ King, who thought he had a sinecure for life! Ed Kilgore, in NYMag, “Is Steve King Finally Running Out of Money and Luck?”:

… National Republicans would just as soon hand King an anvil and show him the nearest cliff. But he’s not going away quietly and is running for a tenth term in the House in his very conservative fourth district of Iowa. He is not, however, doing very well on the fundraising front, as the Des Moines Register noted after second-quarter reports came in:

King raised a total of almost $92,000 this period and ends the quarter with about $18,000 on hand.

In comparison, [primary opponent Randy] Feenstra raised $140,000 in the second quarter and ended it with almost $340,000 on hand.

Feenstra is a prominent state senator who is generally regarded as King’s toughest opponent among the three who are currently in the race. He is running not so much against King’s racism as against the loss of clout the state and district have suffered thanks to the incumbent’s disgrace, which is probably smart in a district where Donald Trump won 61 percent of the vote in 2016. But then again, even Trump is keeping his distance from King so far…

More likely, Trump’s handlers are doing their best to keep King well away from the Oval Office Occupant.

… In 2018, after a campaign dominated by discussion of his pithy views regarding the Lesser Breeds, King came within three points of losing to an actual Democrat, J.D. Scholten, who outspent the incumbent by nearly a four-to-one margin.

National Democrats would very much like Scholten for an encore in 2020, but he’s instead eyeing a Senate race against Joni Ernst (even as Chuck Schumer tries to clear the field for another candidate, Theresa Greenfield) — probably because the presidential race could make the fourth district a tougher climb than in 2018, and possibly because, if King loses his primary, the general election will be all but unwinnable for a Democrat (barring some third-party run by the incumbent on the White Supremacist ticket)…

More bad news for Pigmuck King: Talibangelical ‘Family Leader’ Bob Vander Plaats has endorsed King’s primary opponent Feenstra, supposedly on the grounds that King has been saying the quiet parts a little too loudly. (“In January, he tweeted that King’s comments were “a bridge too far.””) Since Vander Plaatz is supposed to have an unerring instinct for what will work for his flock, it seems like the remoras may be deserting their shark.

Reader Interactions

145Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Please tell me Joni nutted the turkey served at the 10-head Thanksgiving dinner.

  2. 2.

    DIFFERENT-CHURCH-LADY

    Good god, woman, THE NATIVE AMERICANS HELPED THE IMMIGRANTS TO NOT STARVE TO DEATH!!1!

  3. 3.

    DIFFERENT-CHURCH-LADY

    -Good god woman, THE NATIVE AMERICANS HELPED THE IMMIGRANTS TO NOT STARVE TO DEATH!!1!

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    “I saw firsthand what is going on there, and what I want to get out first and foremost is that our border patrol agents are doing a tremendous job,” said Ernst, describing the men and women as “good-hearted” and “extremely compassionate.”

    “They were taking dollars out of their pockets — when Democrats refused to step up and help us fund the items necessary for these areas — to pay for diapers and formula and hygiene items for the men and women that are there,” she added…

    Oh fucking bullshit. Any reasonable deity would have roasted her medium well with 1.21 gigawatts.

  6. 6.

    DIFFERENT-CHURCH-LADY

    — Good god, woman THE NATIVE AMERICANS HELPED THE IMMIGRANTS TO NOT STARVE TO DEATH!!1!

  7. 7.

    dr. bloor

    Since Vander Plaatz is supposed to have an unerring instinct for what will work for his flock, it seems like the remoras may be deserting their shark.

    Meh. The replacement will only be someone with enough gray matter to keep the quiet part to himself, and King isn’t even worth wasting schadenfreude on at this point.

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    Tulsi comes at the queen.

    Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) panned Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as being unqualified to be president, The Hill reports.

    Said Gabbard: “I think one of the things I’m most concerned with is, Kamala Harris is not qualified to serve as commander in chief, and I can say this from a personal perspective as a soldier. She’s got no background or experience in foreign policy, and she lacks the temperament that is necessary for a commander-in-chief.”

    She’s a very odd person, but we at least know who she thinks the top contenda is.

  10. 10.

    TenguPhule

    Not all of them were in restricted areas. Some of them were sitting, waiting to be processed and some were going through their health screenings — and they all are going through health screenings.

    STASI Official 1944: “Not all prisoners were in the ovens. Some of them were working hard, waiting to be processed into human resources.”

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev:
    This is certainly true. If I had not seen the video with my own eyes I’d accuse anybody describing it as lying.

  12. 12.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Even walking in and around the migrants, I felt comfortable,”

    Like you, I was expecting to need armed guards walking amongst the MS-13 preschoolers, but to my surprise there were no machetes or flesh-eating zombies.

  13. 13.

    cmorenc

    Said Jodi Ernst:

    “They were taking dollars out of their pockets — when Democrats refused to step up and help us fund the items necessary for these areas — to pay for diapers and formula and hygiene items for the men and women that are there,” she added…

    Um…the GOP controlled all three branches of the Federal government from Jan 2017-Jan 1919, and the Border patrol’s 2019 budget was set by 2018 appropriations – and the kids are in cages because of Trump, not the Ds.

    This is the heinous lie the GOP will relentlessly try to sell the public…we need to shove this right back in their face JODI

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    @trollhattan:

    Fuck Tulsi Gabbard. The only good thing about this statement is that it tells me who Putin thinks is the most formidable.

  18. 18.

    oldgold

    Ernst might be looking at a tough opponent in ’20.

    On Wednesday, Iowa Starting Line reported that Ret. Adm. Michael Franken is in talks with state and national Democrats about challenging GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. Franken, who has served as Deputy for Military Operations for AFRICOM, Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Department of the Navy, hails from Sioux Center, a town in the deeply conservative northwest part of the state.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @TenguPhule:

    And that was what they did wrong.

    To be fair, they were in a tough spot. They had recently been devastated by disease that didn’t hit their traditional enemies nearly as hard. They thought it would be smart to make an alliance with the white people to protect themselves from their aggressive neighbors. It worked in the short term but obviously not in the long term.

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    @Roger Moore: In this fucked up timeline we’re in, I expect the history books have already changed to reflect the unnoticed merge between the Commies and Nazis. //

  22. 22.

    J R in WV

    @TenguPhule:

    We sometimes agree, but this is just inaccurate:

    STASI Official 1944: “Not all prisoners were in the ovens.

    The “STASI” were the political police group of the East German Stalinist left wing regime, until the wall fell.

    The ovens were more of a SS Gestapo sort of police force. No offense, tho. More of an ICE/Border Patrol police force than actual STASI, IIRC.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    @oldgold:

    Ernst might be looking at a tough opponent in ’20.

    Let’s hope so. Every extra Republican Senate seat in play greatly increases the Democrats’ chances of taking back the Senate.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    You make Thanksgiving dinner for your family, maybe 10 people, but a thousand show up at your door expecting Thanksgiving dinner. What do you do? 

    Maybe do what this guy did.

    As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

    16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

    17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

    18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves  Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

    20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

     21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

    But maybe that’s too liberal.

  28. 28.

    James E Powell

    @cmorenc:

    This is the heinous lie the GOP will relentlessly try to sell the public…

    A very large chunk of the public already bought the heinous lie.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense:

    [Tulsi Gabbard’s statement] tells me who Putin thinks is the most formidable.

    Yes. You would be a good intelligence analyst. Kamala Harris is formidable, and up to the job Vlad’s puppet is not.

  31. 31.

    Immanentize

    Well, I know what I do when too many guests show up for dinner at my house on Thanksgiving.
    I lock them outside in a pen without raincoats or blankets as it rains or snows and then throw the bones from the Turkey into the pit for evening entertainment.

    Life beyond the Thunderdome indeed.

  33. 33.

    oatler.

    As in “The Wicker Man”, Christianity has been replaced with another religion,Trumpjesus.
    Even as their food stamps are cut.

  34. 34.

    CatFacts

    Regarding Joni Ernst, if I could insert a gif from Clueless showing Cher Horowitz doing her hilarious debate class speech about Haiti, I would. It’s a lot more coherent and a lot more American. “It does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty!!”

  35. 35.

    VOR

    @trollhattan: Hey Tulsi, tell us about all Donald Trump’s foreign policy experience and military service. You know, like meeting the Prince of Whales. Or 5 deferments. Or attending a military-themed school. How can you say anyone lacks qualifications with this fucking guy in the White House?

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    @oldgold: Wow! I was on active duty with Mike Franken in the early 80s and we shared a townhouse in Virginia Beach, but we haven’t stayed closely in touch. He’s obviously a very sharp guy who’s spent a lot of time in DC.

  39. 39.

    MisterForkbeard

    @trollhattan: Oh look, fake Democrat with a large russian following attacking other Democrats as “unqualified” in quotes that will be used by Trump in the General! How surprising.

    Gabbard is awful. She’s a prime example of what someone was saying in the last thread: Save your energy for Trump. Don’t go after other Democrats, but if you do be respectful and criticize usefully rather than just putting someone down.

  45. 45.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: Everybody made the next debate except the people who dropped out.

    There’s a good chance Gabbard won’t be in the following one, though.

  54. 54.

    Mary G

    Well. someone’s not practicing what they preach:

    BREAKING: Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign has been hit with an unfair labor practice complaint alleging illegal employee interrogation and retaliation against staffers. https://t.co/BYEAh696rF— Bloomberg Law (@BLaw) July 23, 2019

    How dare they take money out of my pocket? I’m just a poor millionaire tryin’ to make ends meet. Hope this shaves off a few more approval points.

  57. 57.

    Jay

    to prevent a city wide outage, con ed purposefully shut off power to 30k people in predominantly black brooklyn neighbourhoods tonight in the middle of a HEAT WAVE— no (@miskeencore) July 22, 2019

  60. 60.

    Immanentize

    @Mary G: Wow, and just this morning Sanders announced he had come to a settlement. Where is Stevein to explain “Settled, but still pissed?”

  62. 62.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Funny story…Madame and I live separately, she never got internet service at her place(that was my thing, being the tech geek). Now that she’s had a smart phone for several years, she uses internet based stuff more and more(app and os updates to her phone she does here on my wifi). I’ve(and her daughter) been bugging her to get internet service for years. So the kid orders internet service for her and the package with the self install kid arrived. She calls me to install it(yeah, self install). I brought over my old router, but as I was walking from my car the thought occurred to me “I bet she doesn’t actually have the cable running into the house”. Sure enough, a shinny new cable modem, and no cable.

  63. 63.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Baud: Yrs ago go saw on a blog the blogger’s view of GOP/ christianist take on this–Jesus bawls out the people in the crowd because they didn’t prepare to take care of themselves and their families. They would just have to go hungry while the boy who prudently prepared enjoyed his meal!!

    No sharing with others in this worldview!! You’re hungry, sick, naked, homeless not because you’re poor or have been sf truck by catastrophe but because you haven’t made the right choices in your life!

  64. 64.

    Immanentize

    @Baud:

    Bernie proves that unions work!

    I thought this same thing this morning. The campaign peeps asked for more at the moment of their greatest leverage. Bravo!

  66. 66.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Immanentize: “settled” could mean just about anything now that the Board has a trump majority

    Steve in Eatonton, Georgia (Lake Oconee)

  68. 68.

    noncarborundum

    The down-home, folksy variant I remember was “You’ve only got two hands”, but maybe Senator Ernst was thinking of “Four legs good, two legs better”?

    I sort of assumed she was referring to the turkey drumsticks there.

  69. 69.

    delk

    This tweet is from Harris’s communications director.

    Definite hard pass on taking national security advice from Assad’s cheerleader. https://t.co/X7aCVW9Jxi

    — Lily Adams (@adamslily) July 23, 2019

  74. 74.

    plato

    @Mary G:

    Every union is recognized by management. Big deal. This union was started specifically in response to the sexism & abuse in 2016. The boss doesn’t get credit for workers’ fight.— Sound Reasoning (@sound_reasoning) July 23, 2019

  77. 77.

    plato

    @Baud:

    Gandhi: Christianity seems to be the most sensible religion to follow. If it were not for the Christians, all people would become Christians.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Wouldn’t it be a hoot of Steve got a call from Bernie to handle this?

    I believe there’s a exception to attorney/client privilege that would let Steve share the details with is.

  79. 79.

    TenguPhule

    Tofurky takes Arkansas to court over the word ‘meat’

    I want to root for mutually assured destruction here.

  80. 80.

    Jay

    @Baud:

    Twitter provides only 270 characters.

    WordPress allows only two copied tweets with out being sent to purgatory,

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/madamenoire.com/1086055/con-edison-shut-off-power-to-primarily-black-brown-neighborhoods-in-brooklyn-during-latest-heatwave/amp/

    If a Tweet interests you, then you have to “chase the rabbit”,

    Similarly to reading a full link and not just the Creative Commons cut and paste, so that you don’t miss major info contained in the other paragraphs.

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/madamenoire.com/1086055/con-edison-shut-off-power-to-primarily-black-brown-neighborhoods-in-brooklyn-during-latest-heatwave/amp/

  81. 81.

    Steve in the ATL

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m feeling really good about my brand right now!

    @Baud: as I noted supra, I would totally switch sides to handle this case—and I’d do it pro bono. I’m sure I could share al the deets if I used a clever pseudonym for the perp. “Wilmer” sounds catchy….

  82. 82.

    Fleeting Expletive

    As sick as we all are of the constant Trump mess, here’s what I just realized: he thinks Clinton is his model, re impeachment, like so what–the Senate won’t convict and that’ll be that and onward to reelection. Gahhh! What a horrible thought. Please tell me this nightmare is not real.

  99. 99.

    FelonyGovt

    I was with the Los Angeles County Dems today, registering newly naturalized citizens to vote.

    We had Barack and Michelle cutouts, which were very popular. The Republicans had a Trump cutout and sometime during the morning, someone wrote “Rapist” on his tie.

  105. 105.

    PPCLI

    “They were taking dollars out of their pockets — when Democrats refused to step up and help us fund the items necessary for these areas — to pay for diapers and formula and hygiene items for the men and women that are there,” she added…

    Shameless lying.
    A functioning press would point out that immediately after the stories about no soap/toothbrushes/diapers/etc. came out, many people arrived at the facilities with soap/toothbrushes/diapers/etc. to donate. The officials in charge refused to accept them. Several charities contacted the facilities about providing such items. They were told to fuck off. THE PROBLEM IS NOT “UNDERFUNDING”: THE CRUELTY IS INTENTIONAL. IT IS THE WHOLE POINT.

  107. 107.

    Scotian

    Can I ask a favour of someone/anyone? I just spent the last three+ hours doing a detailed update for my GFM, and I would appreciate any feedback on how well it reads and explains my situation for a stranger unfamiliar with any of it. I needed to do do so because the docs are more worried today, as in they are telling me a couple more weeks is starting to look more and more likely as my remaining lifespan. Turns out the clot in my right leg is worse an issue because of lesions on my liver restricting the use of clotbuster drugs, and all the other choices involve surgery which with my factor 5 leiden mutation is high risk even without any cancer. With it…sigh

    Thanks

  108. 108.

    Fleeting Expletive

    Dang, I remember now, I went to DC for Clinton’s second inaugural! The little bitty point was that Trump is sure he’ll survive impeachment, etc. I’m thinking not so much, if Schiff and Nadler can bring the whole seamy storyboard out for all to see. Lurid? Clinton was a saint in comparison. I think once Pelosi lets them get it on, the parade of money crimes/Russian crimes/ traficking–all of it–will come out. And those crimes occurred in more than federal jurisdictions subject to Barr’s bar.

  109. 109.

    Jay

    @PPCLI:

    Every single “reporter” and “journalist” who doesn’t Daniel Dale in r/t on every one of these thugs deserves a tumbrel ride.

  110. 110.

    Cacti

    @Jay:

    I feels ya, bruh.

    Hashtag activism is way more woke than antiquated ideas about due process.

  114. 114.

    MomSense

    @Scotian:

    I read it and you did a really good job, but dear Scotian you have been through hell and I understand why you are worried about Siobhan. I wish I weren’t so far away. Sending lots of love and hugs to you both.

    PS I think my good friends Dr Jon and Judith Cons knew your Dad. They breed champion Bernese Mountain Dogs and show in your neck of the woods.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud:

    I believe there’s a exception to attorney/client privilege that would let Steve share the details with is.

    IIRC it is the “holy fucking shit, you will not fucking believe what just fucking happened” exception.

  116. 116.

    Steve in the ATL

    @MomSense: southwind, right? Why don’t they have a website—“if you don’t know us personally, you don’t deserve one of our dogs” type of thing?

  117. 117.

    MomSense

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Yes! No, they are super friendly but they moved and haven’t kept up with all the online stuff – plus their friends monopolize their time with parties and kayaking! Jon plays guitar, BTW.

    ETA You in the market for a farm? They’re trying to sell.

  118. 118.

    Scotian

    @MomSense:

    It would not surprise me if they did In many ways dad was a core figure in the dog world here for decades. We got started with Golden Retrievers in 1978 (yes I used to handle/show myself in my teens and 20s around here). Mum and dad were founding members of the Maritime Golden Retriever Club, dad showed dogs until he started to be a show secretary when conflict of interest rules required him to stop.

    For dad this world was a central part of his life, and after he retired as an engineer in the mid 90s it became his primary focus. Everyone liked and respected him, which if you know this world you know to be a very difficult status to have. His loss will be felt keenly for a long time here in that world.

  119. 119.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus: we studied that case in law school—Sanders v. …wait a minute—THAT Sanders?! What a fucking tool—fuck that guy! 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2016)

  122. 122.

    Steve in the ATL

    @MomSense: parties, kayaking, guitar, and Bernese Mountain Dogs— that’s a good life!

    Maybe they want to trade a farm in Maine for a house in Atlanta? If they will throw in a Bernese Mountain Dog to be named later….

  125. 125.

    chris

    @Scotian: Sorry for your troubles. I don’t know what else to say or do. Trolling through the VG with a bunch of green balloons would be weird, right?

  126. 126.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Scotian: God should be much kinder to Golden Retriever people. Your imaginary internet friends are here for you, and with cash money to help instead of just right wing thoughts and prayers!

  128. 128.

    Scotian

    @MomSense:

    Feel free, I am fine with anyone knowing. BTW, did you like the way I ended that update with credit given where it was?

  129. 129.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Omnes Omnibus: it’s deep humor too—the case name is obviously made up, but the citation is to a real case, albeit decided on 2001 rather than 2016, called Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, which was an early DMCA case. Hilariously subtle!

  133. 133.

    B.B.A.

    @Cacti: It kept Roy Moore out of the Senate. That’s a net win.

    Ideally, anyone accused of sexual misconduct should step down immediately. But since in practice only national-level Democrats are held to that standard, I’m starting to wonder if maybe it wasn’t quite the right call to impose it so soon.

  135. 135.

    Steve in the ATL

    @B.B.A.:

    Ideally, anyone accused of sexual misconduct should step down immediately.

    You’re kidding, right? Should every person accused of a crime be convicted and incarcerated immediately? Should everyone who gets sued be held liable for damages immediately?

    You don’t have to have practiced labor and employment law for 20+ years to know that not every accusation is correct.

  138. 138.

    Scotian

    @MomSense:

    Well so many here donated it only seemed right to give the proper credit and thank you in such a way. You all feel lucky to have me, well not as much as I do having all of you.
    I meant every word, it after all no less than absolute truth of the matter. You all brought me light and hope in my darkest hours, and gave me a way to aid the person I love most when it was most needed.

  139. 139.

    B.B.A.

    @Steve in the ATL: You can’t smash the patriarchy without breaking a few eggs.

    Less flippantly: There are far too many cases where there’s no physical evidence, no third-party witnesses, just he said, she said. And in those cases, I believe her. “Believe all women” may be a lousy standard, but all the other standards amount to “believe no women” which is infinitely worse.

    I don’t apply this to any other issues or scenarios. And yeah, this won’t fly in criminal court, or even civil court. But employment is a privilege, not a right, especially in the highest levels of government.

  140. 140.

    hitchhiker

    @B.B.A.:

    Ideally, anyone accused of sexual misconduct should step down immediately.

    No.

    If the accusation involves a crime, they should be subject to the usual rules for criminal investigation and whatever follows. If the accusation doesn’t involve a crime (He squeezed my waist! I thought he was about to try to kiss me!) we’re all over the map in what should happen.

    Sometimes guys get fired, but not always. Sometimes they apologize and move on. Franken could not even remember the incidents where he was accused of inappropriate touching, and some of his accusers are to this day anonymous, but he apologized anyway.

    In the case of Tweeden, she was lying about almost every aspect of their interactions, and he still apologized for involving her in that joke (one she’d played out with him repeatedly in the previous 2 weeks), because she’d been asleep.

    He deserves an apology, imo. His name is now on a list that includes revolting creeps like Harvey Weinstein and Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer.

    For what? Pantomiming a familiar USO joke? Squeezing the waist of a woman who had her arm around his neck? It’s bullshit.

    I once worked with a guy who was convinced I was making fun of him. He took his complaint to our boss instead of talking to me. She wrote me up and did an investigation and refused to tell me who had made the complaint, even after her investigation showed that he’d misunderstood something I said, probably because English wasn’t his 1st language. If another co-worker hadn’t explained it all to me, I’d NEVER have known what happened, much less been able to fix it.

    I told our boss I wanted to move to a different department, and she said she couldn’t recommend me with this thing in my file. WHAT?

    I think that’s why I have empathy with Franken on this. He didn’t get a chance to make things right; I do believe the woman who describes that photo where he grabbed her ass. I do think that was ugly and weird. I don’t hold the USO jokes against him, and I’ve seen Rebecca Traister and others describing those (very sexist and gross) skits as though they reflect the man’s personal nasty beliefs about women, and that seems patently unfair.

    The whole thing pisses me off; very disappointed to hear that Kamala Harris is all good with whatever her part was.

  141. 141.

    Steve in the ATL

    @hitchhiker: yeah, that’s almost exactly how NOT to handle an investigation. Maybe I’m overreacting because this type of thing has been a big chunk of my career, but I also get angry when people are treated unfairly, whether the complainant or the accused.

    ETA: to be clear, I am not overreacting.

  142. 142.

    Jay

    @hitchhiker:

    And the other 7 women get kicked to the curb.

    Lindsey Menz,
    Stephany Kemplin,
    Tina Dupuy,

    And 4 other women who were heard by the Democratic Party leadership including a Democratic Party Congressional Staff Member.

  143. 143.

    Cacti

    @Jay:

    Franken quit rather than face due process, and you know that full well troll.

    That’s actually the opposite of what happened, new guy who likes to call others trolls.

    Franken was told that he would be stripped of all his committee assignments if he demanded due process.

    The mob had spoken and Chuck Schumer was ready to enforce its will.

  145. 145.

    JDM

    The situation at the border is actually like a Thansgiving celebration with ten thousand people and one additional adult shows up with an infant child. The left wingers at the celebration say sure, one more family is okay, but the rightwingers try to have the two new arrivals arrested instead.

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