Wanted to take a moment to thank you for your measured responses throughout this thread. Humans are humans, and they make mistakes. I don’t think you just grab pitchforks and burn everyone at the stake when they make a mistake, and I don’t think you should expect them to self-immolate over their mistake either. Simple…

No problem. Bernie has skeletons in his closet like everyone else, but they’re seldom reported on for some reason.

No, his leaving the Senate would not help the MNDFL at all. He has seniority now; a freshman Senator would not have that access. And I’m sorry, but Roy Moore and his supporters would not give one flying fuck about the fact that Franken stepped down for being an admitted tasteless dick. Their view would be purely…

Those are valid points. I don’t have the answer.

We need to judge the appropriateness of the response by the seriousness of the conduct.

I guess I thought we agreed that she eventually said yes and then he went overboard. Let’s see how the ethics investigation he himself is encouraging shakes out? Unfortunately I don’t think age guarantees anyone truly understand these concepts. Some people never grow. Maybe Al finished growing when he entered politics.

Sure. But calling for his resignation over it is completely idiotic. It’s falling into the trap set by the right that this clearly is. Franken has handled this with more class and dignity than it warrants, quite frankly, and the Left Wing Internet Outrage Machine needs to put their pitchforks back in the barn.

Umm, when exactly did Al Franken call women “humorless bitches” or are you just adding that part to up the outrage against him? And yes I know people considered it ok, in fact SNL used to jokes like that frequently.

Are you expecting Al Franken to shoulder the blame for all comedians for decades back? You do realize…

Maybe our disagreement is an assumption of intentional motive and doofus motive, the latter being just how clueless guys seem to be about their actions.

It’s...not the same. Roy Moore hit on and assaulted teenagers. Bernie Sanders wrote a shitty essay about gender roles. I cannot stand Bernie Sanders and I wouldn’t vote for him if given a choice, but honestly what he’s guilty of here is really ham-fisted writing.

Sure, except Moore’s is an established pattern with things like “banned from a mall for being a creepy weirdo” and “literally trying to rape a 14 year old as a 32 year old man,” included in it, not “mimed grabbing at breasts in an obviously staged photo” or “possibly kissed too aggressively during a super-secret…

I’m confused about everyone saying this photo is evidence of sexual assault. It’s unprofessional, it’s unpleasant, I’d be furious too if I were her, and he absolutely should be grovelling for this. I’m not defending him in the least, and I don’t care at all if this wrecks his career. Them’s the breaks, jackass.

I thought it was fantastic. Really spot on. It’s no surprise to me that he’s been an active 12 step group member for many years (he talks about it in his book), because you really learn how to take responsibility for your actions in that forum. He hit all the points, 1) he said he was sorry, 2) he pointed out he…

We like to eat our own. The Republicans defend theirs to the death, no matter how foul they are. Franken is done.

Her politics vs. his politics and the timing of this accusation culturally just don’t pass the smell test for me. This isn’t a dozen women coming out of the woodwork like Cosby or Weinstein or Moore, this is a single woman with a clear agenda with a sketchy story.

“dismissing this or her account of him forcibly kissing her just because she supports Trump or Hannity.”

Dismissing no, but Hannity and Trump are liars, with a publicly verifiable track record of doing so.

Looking at the people still supporting Moore (and more specifically their stated reasons for doing so), even if …

No, he’s miming grabbing her breasts. It’s gross, but it’s not assault.

Just read the updated, longer apology. It’s the best one so far when I compare the (few) apologies that the accused men have bothered to offer. I thought Louis CK’s was pretty good (purely from a PR point of view; of course it’s full of fuckery if you read it closely) but this one gets an A, at least in my first…

God help all of us if a story like this comes out about Barack!

I agree with what you said, and im all for holding someone accountable, but...it doesnt look like he’s touching her in that photo. Childish? Yes? A little pervy? Yes. But we cant keep painting these scenarios with the same brush. And really, the #metoo tag? Id be embarrassed to lump myself in with people who had been…