Politics 2017

[Winston Legthigh]

Pence is just as scary. Perhaps more so since he seems sort of reasonable at first glance. Dig below the surface though & things get a lot scarier. He's one of those guys who can't wait to hang with his bud Jesus. Just the finger you want on the button.

Anyone who would turn in his own frat for having a kegger can get bent.

 

http://www.newsweek.com/mike-pence-once-ratted-out-his-fraternity-brothers-having-keg-735711

[Doug C]

Anyone who would turn in his own frat for having a kegger can get bent.

 

http://www.newsweek.com/mike-pence-once-ratted-out-his-fraternity-brothers-having-keg-735711

He is a douche bag's douche bag. I'm not in favor of ass-kicking, nor have I ever kicked an ass, but, he had to get his ass kicked for that!

[Winston Legthigh]

Looks like Al Franken is going to resign tomorrow.

 

Fucking shame, but it's clear that he had a pattern of inappropriate and inexcusable behavior towards women.

[ih8music]

When it was one or two incidents, I was a lot more willing to give him a pass given that he admitted to it and apologized. But now that the claims keep coming, his future as a politician is toast. Which is unfortunate, because he was just starting to move into more of a national party leader.

 

I just wish there was 1/10th of this pressure being put on Trump to also resign due to his past.

[NoJ]

You can count on Dems to do the right thing (most times)

[brownie]

I just wish there was 1/10th of this pressure being put on Trump to also resign due to his past.

I agree, and do not understand why this is not happening!!!!??

[John Smith]

I agree, and do not understand why this is not happening!!!!??

 

Republicans and democrats play by two different sets of rules, that's why its not happening.  

[tinnitus photography]

Looks like Al Franken is going to resign tomorrow.

 

Fucking shame, but it's clear that he had a pattern of inappropriate and inexcusable behavior towards women.

and for this i need to apologize to Kevin G for my post.

[lost highway]

and for this i need to apologize to Kevin G for my post.

 

That's big of you. For my part, had I assumed worse it would have been a better estimation of Franken's behavior.

[jff]

I know there are Minnesotans here.  Who do you have on deck to replace Franken?

[Winston Legthigh]

Michelle Bachman, duh.

 

Former Minnesotan here. Keith Ellison would be ideal.

 

They don’t want a Wendell Anderson shitshow to play out again. I have a story about him. Old guy was an old school poon hound. In the early aughts, I was invited to his house to watch one of the Gore/ Bush debates with some classmates. He was on one of my classmates like stink on a monkey. Like openly. He was all hands. And she couldn’t escape because she was in a wheelchair! He kept on offering to take her on a tour of the house, which she would roll her eyes at.

 

She wasn’t uncomfortable, and it wasn’t awkward but all of us were like “whoa dude, slow your roll!”

[ih8music]

Frankin to resign "in the coming weeks" -- sounds like he's waiting for Moore to win and then will try to leverage his departure as a means to get Moore ousted.

 

Sad to see him go, but the right thing to do.

[calvino]

Found the below via Politico --- guessing the R's knew that Franken will call the R's out as he fell on his own sword. Franken's career and Minnesota will be fine. As KevinG said, Keith Ellison would be a great replacement.

 

Regarding Franken's resignation speech.

 

 

 

Only one Republican was present in the chamber for Franken's speech: Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who has donated to Moore's Democratic opponent and criticized Trump.

[KevinG]

and for this i need to apologize to Kevin G for my post.

 

No need to apologize.  But I do get to dance around and yell I was right.   

 

In all seriousness, this is a sad day for the US Senate.  For his failings personally he seemed to be a fair and honest legislator and one who I felt shared my beliefs. Unfortunately his personal life overshadowed the the good things he has done and could have done.  With his actions he not only lost the trust of the people of Minnesota but of all citizens of the United States.  It is because of this lack of trust that it was right for him to resign.  

 

Hopefully some good will come of all of this.  Powerful men will begin to understand there are consequences to their actions.  Women are not objects, something that you can grab or kiss just because you are a celebrity.  What it also does politically is gives Dems the moral high ground.  With Franken's and Conyer's resignation it shows that Democrats will not tolerate these actions.  This is especially important since they turned a blind eye to Bill Clinton.  

 

My twitter feed was filled with retweets from every female senator asking for Franken's resignation.  The same furor and outrage needs to be placed upon our President.  Most notably Sen. Murkowski, who has remained completely silent on POTUS and Moore.   

[jff]

Franken used the word "her" during his statement when referring to his potential replacement.  Any guesses who might replace him if his replacement is a woman?

[KevinG]

Franken used the word "her" during his statement when referring to his potential replacement. Any guesses who might replace him if his replacement is a woman?

The Lt Gov Tina Flint Smith

[Lammycat]

Frankin to resign "in the coming weeks" -- sounds like he's waiting for Moore to win and then will try to leverage his departure as a means to get Moore ousted.

 

Sad to see him go, but the right thing to do.

Is it the right thing to do? Seems hasty to me and as if the Democratic party is eating it's own tail. I'm not saying Franken did no wrong but a little further investigation might have been prudent. The Republicans are likely feeling like champs at how easy it was to get a Dem senator to remove himself.

[Magnetized]

I’m starting to feel like a traitor to my gender, but I have not heard a damn thing that Al Franken did that would cause his colleagues to turn on him and essentially force this resignation. It feels like political correctness run amok. We definitely needed a transformation in our way of thinking about sexual harassment, but not every woman’s accusation should be accepted without question.

 

This is not even to mention that we’re applying today’s standards to yesterday’s behavioral expectations. I’m old enough to remember that there was a generally mutual understanding between men and women that men were assigned the role of persistent aggressor and woman were to delay and resist, eventually succumbing with “I never do this sort of thing”. It was like a ritualistic mating dance. Have things really changed that much? I gather they have, and I guess that’s a good thing. But I really question whether we’re going overboard with this.

 

There’s a big difference between fetish situations like Louis C.K. and Roy Moore, gross power plays like Harvey Weinstein and Trump, and who the hell knows what’s up with Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer. I’m sure we don’t know all the details of every story, but they’re not all on the same level of egregiousness.

[kidsmoke]

God but that is beautifully elucidated, Diane. You said all the things I couldn't quite put into words...not this exhausting week, anyway. So many frustrations about Franken.

[brownie]

Magnetized and kidsmoke, I totally agree with both of you. We need people like Al Franken in the Senate. No one is perfect, and I think for him in particular, the good greatly outweighs the bad.

 

WHY IS NO ONE GOING AFTER TRUMP FOR HIS BEHAVIOR????

[John Smith]

WHY IS NO ONE GOING AFTER TRUMP FOR HIS BEHAVIOR????

Because republicans and democrats play by different rules

[calvino]

Because republicans and democrats play by different rules

 

It's politics -- it's the same reason that most D's didn't go after Clinton and others.

 

Politics is about the end game - it may mean supporting an accused 'sexual predator'  to get there or to force Franken to resign because it is politically conducive to do so - same with the Conyers' resignation. We'll see how it plays out in 2018.

 

I use to be one who supported the who one best served my views - if that person has a better chance of getting to where I think the country should go - I would be with him or her, no matter what their flaws may be - I think I may be changing my perspective on that stance. My wife and I use to argue during the Clinton days - I supported him and she didn't (she is a Progressive D, too - her biggest beef was that he lied about it, which my response was 'of course he lied, so...).

 

My thought is that the majority of politicians are snakes - you just want the snake in office to share your views.

[jff]

This is pretty obviously a political move by the Ds to show that they have the moral high ground on this issue, and "women's issues" in general.  It's a good move, however unfortunate it might be.  It's not like they're losing a seat.  I think this is also why we saw Trent Franks, a total nobody R, resign immediately after Franken.  The Rs see what the Ds are doing and are sacrificing him in an attempt to neutralize this issue.

[John Smith]

Doug Jones appears to have won. If the vote totals hold true I would expect the first lawsuit, calling for a recount or somehow otherwise challenging the results will be file sometime tomorrow afternoon. Anything to prevent him from being seated as long as possible.

 

Trumps tweets tomorrow should be interesting.

[lost highway]

Doug Jones appears to have won. If the vote totals hold true I would expect the first lawsuit, calling for a recount or somehow otherwise challenging the results will be file sometime tomorrow afternoon. Anything to prevent him from being seated as long as possible.

 

Oh shit, I didn't even think of this. God, I hope you're wrong, but this is probably an astute prediction.