115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

[burd]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

Does it matter?

Only Al to blame here.


Very disappointing.

Love his politics.

Of course. I agree this is all on Al, and he should and will answer for it. Just wondering if there was some astute political gamesmanship here.

[bronconick]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

*sigh*

[aparch]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

Ideally, could Al step down, publicly own up to this and apologize for his (so far just) one instance? And then "look forward to campaigning for 20xx and once again representing the State of Minnesota" just as he has?

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

The point I was trying to make is that there are people like my roommate who's watched a ton of comedy skits or what have you that are offensive and then tries to do the same thing in the real world expecting people to laugh along with it and not be offended. Like there were some women at his work I guess making those women's march hats (those pink vagina hats or whatever they're called) and then he tried to make an offensive joke calling them c*nt caps. Then he was somehow shocked when the women at work didn't find it funny and asked him to apologize. Now I can see the angle he was coming from obviously having known him for a while and it was a lame play on words and meant to be a joke but that's just an incredibly stupid thing to say in the work place, especially in the context of what was happening (clearly this is a serious cause the women are passionate about). I remember trying not to cringe/facepalm when he told me this.

Your roommate is an absolute moron to be doing that, especially at the office.

[trixR4kids]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

Your roommate is an absolute moron

Fixed for accuracy

[Kepler]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

My instinct is that there's a good amount of exaggeration

This is not intended as a criticism of you at all, but... why? We know sexual harassment is endemic throughout our whole society. We know it pervades everywhere, from the dumbest to the smartest, richest to poorest, ignoring every racial, ethnic, political and religious divider.

I've changed my mind on where the burden of proof for me lies in these accusations. Women open themselves up to such a world of hurt by making these claims that my instinct now is they are telling the truth. There's just so little upside from making the accusation and such a price to pay, that like 90% of women in 90% of incidents they keep their head down and keep going.

We may someday reach a world where women are granted so much leeway in their claims that false accusers can routinely destroy men by completely making something up, but right now the pendulum is SO far in the other direction that all the pressures on women are to let it go. That's why I'm granting provisional belief to accusations that are not prima facie false.

[GrinCDXX]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

This is not intended as a criticism of you at all, but... why? We know sexual harassment is endemic throughout our whole society. We know it pervades everywhere, from the dumbest to the smartest, richest to poorest, ignoring every racial, ethnic, political and religious divider.

I've changed my mind on where the burden of proof for me lies in these accusations. Women open themselves up to such a world of hurt by making these claims that my instinct now is they are telling the truth. There's just so little upside from making the accusation and such a price to pay, that like 90% of women in 90% of incidents they keep their head down and keep going.

We may someday reach a world where women are granted so much leeway in their claims that false accusers can routinely destroy men by completely making something up, but right now the pendulum is SO far in the other direction that all the pressures on women are to let it go. That's why I'm granting provisional belief to accusations that are not prima facie false.

Because of how she claims the photo shows Franken groping her. To me, that's a pretty extreme exaggeration, and given that, I think it would be a bit naive to think that's the only thing she could be exaggerating.

edit: Like I said, i suspect her motive for doing that might be political. Of course, that might just be a coincidence--maybe it's something I couldn't understand. Maybe women in this position feel they have to really "sell" their story in order to be taken seriously.

[Kepler]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

I remember trying not to cringe/facepalm when he told me this.

If you are a friend you should take him aside, pat him on the back, and give him The Speech.

"Dude, you have many great qualities. Your beer bong skills are illin'. You can remember every line of Kindergarten Cop.

But Dude.

You just aren't funny."

We had to tell our daughter that she was tone deaf when she was 15 (I know, I know, she should have figured it out before that, she's a very sweet girl) and to be honest she took it well. The truth shall set us free.

[Tiggsy]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

Quelle surprise, Tiggsy only joins the fray now that it's a liberal pol accused/busted. No comments on Moore and his accusers at all, but since Franken was always a lousy comedian to him, he'll pile on.

You can blame Kepler for getting me here. I don't typically frequent this thread but he made a post about this topic so I cruised on over here to see the current topic of the day. I don't know too much about Moore personally but if he turns out to be a not so funny comedian you have my solemn vow I will rip on him for that. Franken is my senator and I have knowledge of his body of work in Hollywood so that makes it very easy for me to relate to this. Never heard of Moore until a few weeks ago.

Have you seen Franken's movie? Watch it and tell me if you still think he's a good comedian.

[bronconick]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

We should just put women in charge of Congress, Hollywood, and most of America until men learn to keep their hands to themselves.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

I've read his now 20 year-old satirical book about a hypothetical Franken Presidency that unravels within the first 100 days. It wasn't half bad.

The Stuart Smalley sketches were usually good.

[burd]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

This is all 'Bamans need to deal with their cognitive dissonance. If Bamans are subject to cd.

[MaizeRage]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

It's a shame because I think Franken has been a tremendous senator, but he's in what should be a position of leadership and no longer in a position to lead; he needs to resign.

His replacement would be interesting since there are a number of good free agents out there right now with the upcoming gubernatorial election. There's a strong group of three or four Dems that would probably be qualified. If things develop quickly, I wonder if one doesn't pull the plug before the primary to focus on the Senate. On the R side, Kurt Daudt has been waiting to see how the DFL race shapes up before entering. He's probably their "best" option in either race.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

This is all 'Bamans need to deal with their cognitive dissonance. If Bamans are subject to cd.

They were already pointing to the Hollywood abusers, Slick Willy, Anthony Weiner, etc. and playing the "whatabout-ism" card anyways. This just lets them pile on, and ignore the sins of far-right heroes like Moore, O'Reilly, Hastert, etc.

[Handyman]

Re: 115th Congress: On Permanent Vacation

There's a segment of comedians that believe you take any laugh you can get, no matter how cheap or sophomoric. Whether it's for practice, or what, who knows. Didn't think Franken was in that crowd, but apparently he is (or was).

If this has happened 40 years ago in the age of Animal House, Airplane!, Revenge of the Nerds, etc., it'd be one thing. Sexual comedy was much more prevalent across society, for better or worse. But 2006? Really?

It isnt like movies like "American Pie" werent still coming out in 2006. Stupid sex comedies are always around...