Railroading Ourselves
Note: Sexual misconduct and sexual harassment are serious issues that are systemic and have been allowed to persist in our modern society. It should not be allowed to exist in any part of our culture, and the only way to eliminate it, in my opinion, is to have equal representation between men and women in every government entity from villages to Washington, as well as in every board room in America. Short of that accomplishment, this problem will continue to persist. Now, having said all that, I have an opinion about this issue.
Politicians are generally Stupid. Democrats tend to be Really Stupid, and Democratic party leaders are Perpetually Super Stupid. Given almost any tough situation, party leaders take the easy Stupid route versus the tough and true route. Let’s take the case in 2009 when Democrats allowed a twenty-something rightwing lying asshole to flog his clumsily and dishonestly edited video tape and take down a major community service organization, ACORN. The media enabled him, and Democrats’ defense of the organization was virtually non-existent until it was way too late. James O’Keefe, the little lying shit who used Breitbart money for his first successful hit job, paid no price, and indeed just this week was honored as a “hero”, receiving the Impact Award from United for Purpose, a rightwing propaganda generator. He received the award from none other than Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas. To add insult to injury, the award came a week after the Washington Post blew the lid off of his latest “sting” operation. By the Democrats not crucifying this little shit when he committed his first crime, he’s still around doing damage today and is even being “honored” and taking home a hefty six figure income to produce his lies.
With that one textbook example of Democratic leaders being Super Stupid, let’s talk about Kirsten Gillibrand and the rest of her posse this week when they Super Stupidly used an obvious rightwing hit job to take down one of our best and dedicated members of the US Senate. If Ray Charles were alive today, even HE would have seen that Leeann Tweeden’s coordinated attack on Al Franken was trumped up (no pun intended), aided by Roger Stone. Further, it’s now coming to light that she was also aided in the attack by her colleague, John Phillips. More about this jerk later.
One of the most infuriating features of this particular attack is that prominent women in the media and politics didn’t look at the objective facts, enabling the attack to work like a charm. I pointed out almost three weeks ago that Tweeden is well known for horsing around with men, playing grabass with them, forcibly kissing them in public, and posing semi-nude in magazines. She also had a very graphic discussion about having sex on Howard Stern’s radio program. She’s a rightwing anchor on KABC radio in Los Angeles, right along with John Phillips, another rightwing talker who has his own show. Trump pal and future prison convict, Roger Stone, announced the attack hours before it happened on Twitter, through a surrogate, since he’s been banned. It doesn’t take Robert Mueller to connect these dots. And no, pointing out glaring facts is not “slut shaming”, so don’t even go there.
After the attack, the normal pile-on happened, coordinated for maximum effect, mostly anecdotal and/or anonymous with the normal “his hand went too low when I had a picture taken with him” kind of accusations. There was not ONE accusation that demonstrated some terrible pattern of misbehavior. Those facts were ignored. At the very beginning of this mess, Franken called for a Senate investigation of the claim. He was never given the opportunity for these charges to be investigated in public.
On the Republican side, the parade of well documented perverts continues. Trump has never been investigated for the dozens of claims of serious misconduct from groping to rape. He now endorses Roy Moore, whose stalking of little girls has been well documented; now there is your friend an mine, Blake Farenthold who used $84,000 of taxpayer money to buy the silence of his accuser, and then comes creepy Trent Franks who offered a staffer $5 million to carry is baby.
Gillibrand, like other Super Stupid Democrats, decided that she should railroad Franken out of the Senate to take the “moral high ground” against Republicans. The first stupid decision was thinking that taking the “moral high ground” would force Republicans to do anything. WRONG. They couldn’t care less about moral high ground, because their base doesn’t. When in the hell are Dems going to figure that out? Answer: NEVER. Second, Gillibrand thought taking the zero tolerance route will change people’s minds and get them to vote for Democrats. WRONG. See the above answer. Finally, I’m sure she made the calculation that Franken didn’t matter since Mark Dayton, Democratic governor of Minnesota, would appoint a Democrat to the seat, so they wouldn’t lose any votes. WRONG. Now, they’ll have to defend that seat in 2018 instead of 2020. STUPID.
Making this catastrophe even worse is that, in treating Franken’s seat as a party commodity, we’ve now lost the strongest and most effective progressive voice in the national dialogue. Franken is brilliant, and had made the difficult transition from comedian and entertainer to statesman. His takedown of Trump appointees is some of the best CSpan you’ll ever see (well, at least WAS). Gillibrand, and the other women in the Senate, with the aiding and abetting of some of the worst reporting in the history of the Fourth Estate, has abruptly snuffed out one of our strongest voices without due process nor even a pretense of being truthful.
Yeah, I’m pissed. I’m really pissed, and for several reasons. Gillibrand and company tiptoed around Tweeden, who clearly set the whole thing up to damage Franken, which simultaneously delegitimizes the stories of millions of women who have been ACTUALLY sexually assaulted. The damage done is simply breathtaking. Secondly, she attempted to influence the Moore vote in Alabama by railroading Franken out of the Senate before even ONE ethics committee hearing. No thinking person believes such nonsense. They destroyed the reputation and career of a good man for political expediency. All she did was railroad Franken and in the process railroaded all of us. SCREW HER and the horse she road in on.
Finally? I’m so pissed that I’ll just poke some of our Hillary Hardliner friends in the eye on my way to the bottom of this post. I GUARANTEE that if Hillary was the current occupant of the White House and Ol’ Bill was First Husband (or whatever they would call him). Gillibrand and the rest of the crowd wouldn’t have made a peep about Franken, fearing retribution for Bill’s documented malfeasance that many prominent women defended, and continue to defend to this day. Yeah, that’s what I think.
So there.
“Making this catastrophe even worse is that, in treating Franken’s seat as a party commodity, we’ve now lost the strongest and most effective progressive voice in the national dialogue. ”
I feel you are confusing cause with effect.
1I’m caught between what I want and what I believe in. I like Al Franken a lot. I’ll accept Tweedon as a hatchet job but 7 more lined up behind her. In the end I say that elected officials need to be held to a higher standard that is commensurate with their office. We’re not talking about dog catchers here. Congressman wield enormous power and their position gives them access to the chance to accumulate great personal wealth. It is about time we hold them to the highest standards. Republicans of course but even more importantly, our elected Democrats. So many have been given a pass. We can’t really say shut about any Republicans if we don’t insist on the highest standards for our own candidates and elected officials. Yes, it really hurts to see Franken forced out but like the Aspen Times banner says: If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.
2Wally, are you a GOP operative? I ask because what you are advocating, as have some others commenting hereon, will benefit the GOP in Congress and cripple Democrats. Hold Dems and GOP to the highest standard?? What?? I’m not going to sugar-coat it: The GOP doesn’t give a damn about people who occupy the only, single highest standard chair in the House and a similar one in the Senate. The GOP doesn’t care if we say shut or sh+t them: They. Don’t. Care. Maybe you don’t understand how the House and Senate work. First off, highest standards have no standing in either house. Getting to fly a highest standard, standard, on one’s desk in the House or Senate don’t count for any thing. What counts is votes. And it don’t matter if the votes are cast by angels or by scoundrels. Its the votes that count. That is why people like you and Debbo and Gilliland need to stop trying to chase Sen. Franken out of Congress. Don’t you know that he is an almost certain vote for the things we hold dear? For blocking GOP attempts to force most of us into a kind of indentured servanthood? Good lord. Wake up and act like functioning adults.
3Thanks maryelle and Lunargent, that’s how angry I feel at Franken too, and what I’m thinking. Yes Rhea, there are gradations, so Orange Whore and Roy Whoore are criminals who committed sexual assault and ought to be in jail but Franken shouldnt. Thank god I personally know several good and decent men, so I haven’t given up hope on the gender.
George, I don’t have the ability to chase Franken anywhere. Just as upset as you are at me, that’s exactly how I feel about people who apparently want women to just let this one go — for the good of the country, because Franken is a good Democrat, to protect democracy, because the other side is even worse, for the sake of the things we hold dear . . .
When, George and anyone else, when will women be held dearly enough that they come in first?
Don’t you get it George? Think of the f*cking history! For MILLIONS OF YEARS women have not come in first. Try to wrap your head around that. Millions of years. Think about that. Let it sink in. Set that up beside what you are asking.
You’re looking at a tiny, little picture, a snapshot in time, and trying to stack it up against millions of years.
4Debbo, tell me how evicting Franken from the United States Senate will change millions of years of women not coming in first. Please.
And then you tell me, next time the GOP (grab on pussy) in the Senate passes a bill which deny American women reproductive rights, or which further weakens medicare and medicaid, or do something really bad— and get it done with only a one or two vote margin — you tell me how evicting Franken worked out for women.
5Zero Tolerance is bullshit extremist ideology.
Thanks, Jefe.
6George in Lee Co.
7Thank you for the civics lesson. It does not, however, supercede my own principles. It does indeed suck that some truly important votes are likely to be lost because Al Franken was forced out. I learned long ago that sticking to your principles often conflicts with getting what you want. I still try my hardest to put what I believe is ethical, first. I do know that the GOP doesn’t care. That’s not a reason to give Democrats a pass, it’s just one more reason to be a passionate, engaged Democrat.
Standards and principles aren’t something that you show off to other people, they are qualities that let you live with yourself.
I’m really disappointed in the women hate here in the comments. Hate towards the women that came out about Franken and hate towards Gillibrand because she spoke out.
Most of you have nothing to say about Al’s behavior; minor, just a little freedom with other people’s bodies without thier consent. I mean, why should women expect to have thier picture take with thier senator with a little unauthorized grab here or there.
Seriously disappointed.
8Holding Franken, Conyers, Trump, Moore and many others accountable is the right thing to do. No it doesn’t fit the short-term political strategy of “the end justifies the means”, but in the long run when the huge block of women voters in this country comes to the polls in 2018 and 2020, we may see how much the Democratic party benefits from doing the right thing now.
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