![]() If so, it's hard to deny that they're being crafty. Every day Franken remains in the Senate as a visible symbol of liberal hypocrisy, Republicans get a free pass to grope, harass and abuse women. That could be sincere, or it could be that Tweeden and her friends in conservative media believe that Republicans will reap maximum benefit from Franken staying put. Tweeden made a big public show of forgiving Franken and asking him to remain in the Senate. If this is a political stunt, then the people behind it surely want Franken to stay. Finding gainful employment, somewhere in the crossover zone between politics and entertainment, should not be a problem. In that light, his best move is to take one for the team and resign. In the past, caving to Republican demands to defund ACORN or fire Shirley Sherrod turned out to be huge political and ethical errors, when it was later revealed that the supposed scandal that led to these decisions were faked by conservative media operators.īut Franken has basically admitted the photo of him "jokingly" groping Tweeden while she was asleep on an airplane is real. I am usually one to argue that Democrats should dig in their heels in when Republicans pull these kinds of stunts. Feminist writers I usually agree with, such as Kate Harding and Joan Walsh (the former editor of Salon), have argued that, on this allegation alone, Franken should not be forced to quit the Senate. That sense that the campaign against Franken is an orchestrated dirty trick is clearly fueling a lot of reluctance on the left to cut Franken loose. Keith Ellison or state Attorney General Lori Swanson. Mark Dayton to replace him with one of the many fine progressive politicians from his state, such as Rep. That's why I haven't wavered in my belief that the right move, both morally and politically, is for Franken to resign his Senate seat immediately and for Minnesota Gov. This may well be a Stone-style political stunt and Tweeden may be telling the truth about Al Franken's sleazy behavior. This is one of those rare situations where two apparently contradictory things could be true. Donald Trump, in particular, is a fan of this what-about-ism technique, which is also favored by Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, it's extremely effective. ![]() Now any Republican who is asked about Moore can simply deflect the question by invoking Franken and suggesting that both sides do it. If there weren't photographic evidence to back Tweeden's claims, it would be easy to dismiss this whole thing as a stunt designed to distract the media from allegations against Moore and to give cover to Republicans who want to continue supporting him. Tweeden hit the interview circuit in a polished manner that felt more like a promotional tour for a book or a movie, rather than the raw and amateurish interviews you usually get with women bringing forward these kinds of accusations. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, consumed Thursday's news cycle - pushing far more serious allegations against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore out of the headlines - many people started to smell Republican skulduggery.īefore the allegations became public, notorious dirty trickster Roger Stone sent out a tweet saying, "Franken next in long list of Democrats to be accused of 'grabby' behavior." Franken's accuser, a radio host named Leeann Tweeden, is a conservative who been a frequent guest commentator on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. As sexual harassment allegations against Sen.
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