Senator Al Franked accused of kissing and groping~ picture proves it (Dayton: 2014, houses)

[Atalanta]

I wonder if and what Governor Dayton will say??

Al Franken accused of kissing, groping LA TV host without consent


A California TV host and sports radio broadcaster on Thursday accused Democratic Sen. Al Franken of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006.

Leeann Tweeden posted a blog detailing the alleged incident and also tweeted a picture of what seems to be a grinning Franken standing over her as she sleeps, pretending to grab her breasts.

Franken said he doesn't remember the kissing incident but apologized for posing for the picture. He said he intended it to be funny -- but it wasn't.


“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann," Franken said in an initial statement. “As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Franken later issued saying there’s “no excuse” and he feels “ashamed,” while also offering to cooperate in an ethics investigation into the matter.

“I respect women. I don't respect men who don't. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed,” Franken said. “... I don't know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn't matter. There's no excuse.”

He added, “I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.”

Tweeden said the abuse took place during a USO Tour in Afghanistan.

Franken, a former writer for "Saturday Night Live," wrote a sketch for the tour in which his character kisses hers on stage. He was an Air America radio host at the time of the incident. He was elected ot the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Tweeden said Franken repeatedly pressured her to practice the kiss backstage and at one point forcibly kissed her.

“I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time,” she wrote. “I walked away. All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth.”

Tweeden said she felt “disgusted and violated” – and that the abuse didn’t stop there.

A photographer, who was with them on their C-17 cargo plane ride back home, snapped a picture of what looks to be a sleeping Tweeden, still wearing her flak vest and Kevlar helmet, and a grinning Franken appearing to grab her breasts.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she wrote. “He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep. I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?”

Tweeden said she thinks Franken asked someone to take the photo “knowing I would see it later, and be ashamed.”

The accusations against Franken come on the heels of an avalanch of allegations out of Capitol Hill on sexual harassment and gender hostility. Multiple incidents out of D.C. and other state houses have shed light on the dificulties victims facewhen trying to report their accusers.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Ethics Committee should review the matter.

"I hope the Democratic Leader will join me on this," McConnell wrote in a statement. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable - in the workplace or anywhere else."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...t-consent.html

[Hiapo]

[Atalanta]

Thanks, I forgot to post that picture

[Thedosius]

Originally Posted by Atalanta

I wonder if and what Governor Dayton will say??

If only you had an internet connection you would know he already commented :

Al Franken groping reaction: State GOP, Klobuchar, McCollum, Dayton – Twin Cities

[Ghengis]

seems sincere enough with his apology unlike the Dotard-in-Chief

[Mason3000]

Obviously this pic was intended to be his brand of comedy. He and his buddies thought it would be funny to simulate groping a hot woman who was unable to say "no" and get it on film so they could laugh about it whenever they chose. Locker room humor.

What's far more disturbing is what he did to her regarding the unwanted kiss. That woman was not in a skit for the USO show, but Franken decided to write her into a one. Opposite himself of course. Then he wrote in a kiss with her. Would he have written in a kiss if she was a he? Or if she was unattractive? How many other kisses did he write into the skits? Was it just coincidental that she's a model and a former Playmate? Then he insisted on rehearsing the skit with her. Then he insisted on rehearsing the kiss, which would be very unusual for something as light and silly as a USO skit. She told him on multiple occasions that she was uncomfortable with that and continued pressuring her. She finally relented and agree to rehearse the kiss. What did Franken do? He aggressively grabbed her by the head and mashed his mouth onto hers, then jammed his tongue down her throat. She described having to "push him off of me" and how she ran to the bathroom to wash the taste of him out of her mouth, feeling violated and abused.

The pic was in bad taste. Like I said, locker room humor. The kiss though, showed a predatory side to Franken. That didn't just happen, he went to great lengths to write a scene for her, to argue repeatedly that she HAD to rehearse the kiss with him and then to aggressively grab her head, jam his tongue down her throat and have to be pushed off of her. Not a stupid joke in bad taste.

[Teak]

Time for Franken to resign. He showed no remorse and joked about it, mocking her as is his way.

Franken repaid me with petty insults, including drawing devil horns on at least one of the headshots I was autographing for the troops.

Many of us have known for a long time what a P.O.S. Franken is and now the whole world knows.

[Atalanta]

Originally Posted by Thedosius

If only you had an internet connection you would know he already commented :

Al Franken groping reaction: State GOP, Klobuchar, McCollum, Dayton – Twin Cities

Why do you have to be so rude?

[skeddy]

by sunday, there will be 5 more accusing him of the same thing. he should resign

[Hulsker 1856]

Some thoughts:

First, I believe her. Yes, I know there is a photo of the one incident, and that Franken has now essentially conceded that the other incident occurred. But the first I heard about it was during an MPR show on the tax reform bill, when the news broke about the allegations with no mention of the photo. It never occurred to me that it wasn't true.

That I happen to be a liberal who has voted for Franken twice and who has been pleasantly surprised by his performance as a Senator is immaterial to that.

I think he should resign. It is my understanding that he wrote the skit in question. It seems obvious that he wrote the kiss at least in part, and possibly entirely, to have an excuse to foist a kiss on the woman. This makes it a premeditated act, not some foolish spur-of-the-moment sexual advance. His behavior after she firmly spurned him is unacceptable.

I will say that his apology was excellent. It doesn't make up for what happened, but it was introspective and he took full responsibility. Unfortunately, that was his second stab at it. The first one was a tepid fail.

It has been pointed out that the woman has been a periodic guest on Sean Hannity's show. I. Don't. Care. So what? Does that mean that maybe, possibly, she's hoping to ding him politically with this revelation? Could be. Again, so what? Even were that true - and given that she didn't spring this when he ran in 2008, or when he ran again in 2014, and given that very specifically said that she is not calling for his resignation, I highly doubt it is - it doesn't change the facts of what happened.

Roy Moore? Donald Trump? Neither of them are my moral standards. That Moore - who was manifestly unqualified to be a United States Senator even before it was revealed that he's a Robin Sparkles fan-boy - may become a Senator (who, let's be honest, will be seated, and who won't face an ethics investigation) and that President Grab-Them-By-The-You-Know-What gets off scot-free is irrelevant. I do not judge my Senators by what other pieces of political garbage can get away with.

That said, I suspect there are quite a few people who have accusingly said, in the past few weeks, "Why didn't they come forward before now?" who won't make that same demand in this case. I'm not playing those games wherein the merits of allegations are dependent on political affiliation. And I'm sure that most people convince themselves that they aren't, either - they just happen to find the allegations that they find politically convenient believable, and the inconvenient ones are just unbelievable.

I respect Senator Franken's service as a United States Senator. I like that he's a progressive champion in his office. That isn't enough for me to support his further political career. At a minimum, I hope he doesn't not run again in 2020. But as I wrote earlier, I think he should resign.