Al Franken Accused of Sexual Assault

[GMDino]

(12-07-2017, 02:06 PM)michaelsean Wrote: So he's resigning.  Am I a bad person if I think that's a little steep for what he's been accused of? And I don't even like the guy.

I'd agree with you on the charges.  One is very bad with the photo.  The last one I don't believe wholeheartedly.  The others I think are still anonymous.

I didn't hear what he had to say, but if he's stepping down so as to not be a distraction anymore I give him some credit.  It also shows his integrity against others who have been accused and just deny and refuse to step aside.  Bill Clinton, for example.

[Benton]

(12-07-2017, 10:14 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I think I heard something about Newt Gingrich and Laura Ingraham defending Franken against the liberal witch hunt, saying what he did wasn't very bad. Interesting times.

(12-07-2017, 12:50 PM)GMDino Wrote: OK

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/363724-gop-senator-on-franken-and-moore-theres-a-difference-between-a-14-year-old


Assault is assault.  Is it better if they are adults?  I'd say I'm not sure.  I always feel that when an adult attacks a child it is worse to me.

Crimes against kids are, generally, worse as kids are usually unable to defend themselves.

In the instance of Franken, touching a woman or eight is probably worth losing his job. To me, it gets tricky if none of them said it was unwanted and he did it anyway. If they did and he did, then definitely; if there was some flirting and he grabbed someone's butt, then that's questionable. 

With Moore, cruising around like Wooderson and hoping to pickup kids is definitely worse. A 14-year old is still a kid, regardless of 'how old she looks'. Which I'm not getting that argument either. I'm hearing people start the Moore defense with 'well, it was 50 years ago when that was more acceptable' and that leads into 'besides, with how kids dress these days they all looks like they're 18 anyway.'

[GMDino]

(12-07-2017, 03:48 PM)Benton Wrote: Crimes against kids are, generally, worse as kids are usually unable to defend themselves.

In the instance of Franken, touching a woman or eight is probably worth losing his job. To me, it gets tricky if none of them said it was unwanted and he did it anyway. If they did and he did, then definitely; if there was some flirting and he grabbed someone's butt, then that's questionable. 

With Moore, cruising around like Wooderson and hoping to pickup kids is definitely worse. A 14-year old is still a kid, regardless of 'how old she looks'. Which I'm not getting that argument either. I'm hearing people start the Moore defense with 'well, it was 50 years ago when that was more acceptable' and that leads into 'besides, with how kids dress these days they all looks like they're 18 anyway.'

The other thing with Franken is we have mostly anonymous claims.  One with a photo.  One that seems less credible based on a photo.  I'm thinking it was more to show some integrity and not be the focus.  

But if continue to have one side step aside for the sake of the country while the other just claims the accusations are lies where do we end up?  Because I really don't believe voters will vote out the guys who deny it and hold on to office, for the most part.

[*Nately120*]

(12-07-2017, 03:48 PM)Benton Wrote: With Moore, cruising around like Wooderson and hoping to pickup kids is definitely worse. A 14-year old is still a kid, regardless of 'how old she looks'. Which I'm not getting that argument either. I'm hearing people start the Moore defense with 'well, it was 50 years ago when that was more acceptable' and that leads into 'besides, with how kids dress these days they all looks like they're 18 anyway.'

The extra stupid thing about that argument is that it says it was more acceptable to pick up 14 year old girls back when they dressed like children and it's less acceptable to do it now that they "look 18."  

[Benton]

(12-07-2017, 04:16 PM)GMDino Wrote: The other thing with Franken is we have mostly anonymous claims.  One with a photo.  One that seems less credible based on a photo.  I'm thinking it was more to show some integrity and not be the focus.  

But if continue to have one side step aside for the sake of the country while the other just claims the accusations are lies where do we end up?  Because I really don't believe voters will vote out the guys who deny it and hold on to office, for the most part.

Hopefully with better candidates. At this point, it would be great if either of the two major parties had more than a handle of honest, intelligent, not-committed-a-crime-or-significant-personal-issue candidates who aren't completely on some special interest payroll. I'm guessing, but I'd probably be hard pressed to find more than a half dozen members of Congress for each party that fit those four pretty basic criteria. Like 1-in-45 odds of having a decent elected representative is pretty crappy.

But maybe that's just the way it is. Maybe the next 44 people I meet today will be just as dumb, dishonest, and unethical as our Congress.

[*bfine32*]

(12-07-2017, 03:48 PM)Benton Wrote: In the instance of Franken, touching a woman or eight is probably worth losing his job. To me, it gets tricky if none of them said it was unwanted and he did it anyway. If they did and he did, then definitely; if there was some flirting and he grabbed someone's butt, then that's questionable. 

Well, it appears that he would have had to woken up Tweeden to see if she wanted it or not.