Having personally met the guy, I like his policies, but he's a fucking asshole. I was SO excited to meet him and all he had to offer me was a couple snide remarks about my weight.

He's a comedian!

It was schtick! He's not an asshole.

/ reality

People who play an arsehole as their public persona are actually quite likely to be an arsehole for real.

Who would have thought it, eh?

Wow - that was quick. You must have been waiting, just to jump on every comment.

This trolling bullshit is really important to you, isn't it?

I was imagining our SE troll more as a pitiful figure. Without life or love or social connections. Nothing to do but sit in the dark refreshing the website, waiting for that sudden brief stab of pleasure when the home page shows a Notification, and proves that somebody, anybody has thought of him for a moment. A figure worthy of contempt, but also of pity.

That's how I imagine pretty much every SE user, not just the trolls.

at the risk of copy/pasting a comment I made elsewhere on my lunch break (tried re-writing it fresh for yoos guys, but I said it better there):

consider this: libs are disproportionately vulnerable to these allegations, because cons take them disproportionately less seriously.

not to advocate sticking our heads in the sand, but there are pragmatic concerns here that effect more people than could possibly be harassed by legislators individually. if Franken is forced out, but Moore squeaks by (and especially if that pattern holds for future accused legislators) suddenly women's rights are in much more jeopardy than they already are. suddenly African Americans are much less likely to get more equitable treatment by police. suddenly increasingly unqualified judicial nominees get rubber-stamped. suddenly there's no one to hold off the plutocrats takeover of government. suddenly environmental policy gets dipped in oil and set ablaze at the cost of countless lives (and, you know, the planet's ability to support life). suddenly mass shooting become even more commonplace, and even more deadly.

is it worth keeping our house clean at that kind of cost? how should this be handled so that that doesn't happen? now that this Pandora's box has been opened, we have some hard decisions to make, decisions that we're going to be uncomfortable with one way or the other.

The GOP is in the position that its in because they figured definitely selling out their values for a chance at political power would be a worthwhile strategy. If it was, they wouldn't have to resort to gerrymandering, voter suppression, mega donors, and in this election foreign aid from the kremlin to stay relevant.

Franken: “I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.

He's handling it as well as I could hope since the allegations came out. But it's a bit sad it took public shaming for her to get the apology. (Let alone that it happened in the first place.)

First person in this whole shebang to say "I'm sorry" as well.

That's funnier than most of his material, to be honest.

He was a comedian goofing for soldiers in war. She was being a hot sexy woman for soldiers in war.

She should lie back and think of 'merica!

She kind of is there.

fuck off, festering cunt swaddle

He thought this was a good idea. sigh...

It really looks like he's not making contact, but who knows, maybe the finger tips are. Obviously it's still in bad taste and the tongue thing on its own is bad enough.

I smell something funny. The photo might be in bad taste but there isn't sexual abuse there. At all.

The tongue thing could be made up. Maybe. Maybe not.

Look into her background, and the current state of affairs with the Moore shite. She has plenty of reason to bring this to attention.

From what I can tell it was a cave man sexual advance that was rebuked. Although crude it is somewhat understandable, what followed troubles me more. After she had turned him down it seems he tried to make her life hell and did what he could do to humiliate and demean her....totally out of character from the guy we have come to know as Senator.

Now is this a one off or just the first shoe to drop? One thing is pretty sure a possible presidential run just hit a major pot hole and very well could have just broken the axle.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/11/16/leading-senate-democrats-call-for-ethics-investigation-into-al-franken/?utm_term=.bd3b67d0217b

They're calling for an investigation, so we get to see the process play out and set the tone for the future. So the question is how fucked is Franken? If he's just guilty of being a aspie goof and using crass pickup techniques it will be bad enough. If its more, i can see the Democrats happily turning him into an example. Not just to expurgate the Bill Clinton stain, but to build a defense to criticisms over partisan witch hunts. Franken will be the goose that sets the bar for the gander.

If Republican voters respected honor, they would not vote Republican.

Grabbing at someone's tits, even with just your fingertips, even through a flak jacket, even as a joke is still grabbing at someone's tits without permission or consent, and still constitutes sexual assault.

You can't even tell if he's touching her. I suspect this is a set up. He may have kissed her for the skit, but I believe she's making up the tongue part. She's a die hard republican and talks on Hannity's shows and other fox program, and her husband is in the military. Or was.

I don't know if I agree with that. If someone kicks me in the balls that's not sexual assault, it's just regular assault. Even though balls, unlike breasts, are sexual organs. If a man's sexual organs can be non-sexually assaulted, but even assaulting a woman's non-sexual organs is sexual assault, doesn't that just contribute to the over-sexualization of women's bodies?

Personally I wish people would just learn to keep their grubby little monkey mitts off of each other as much as possible. Especially here in The South, where apparently I'm supposed to be OK with random strangers pawing at my arm or shoulder in casual conversation.

If you kick someone in the titties, it's still assault bro.

If you grab a dude's junk, its sexual assault.


so does this mean the manly football ass-grab is sexual assault too??

Hmmmm...

I don't think the presence or absence of grabbing is a useful litmus test. If you gently caress an unwilling dude's cock and balls with your foot that's sexual assault, even without the grabbing. If you rip off a dude's cock and balls with your bare hands like Sonny Chiba in The Street Fighter, that's not sexual assault, even though you totally grabbed his junk.

Maybe it's both sexual assault and assault at the same time!

Boobs are not genitals, but are still sexual. This is dependent on context, of course - breastfeeding an infant is not sexual. I think you could make the same argument about asses.

If you punch a boob or a ball, it is assault.

If you grope a boob or a ball, it is sexual assault.

Both forms of assault are bad. One form of assault is a lot easier to get away with, and it shouldn't be.

If you slap an ass, it's assault.

If you slap dat ass, it's sexual assault.

The tongue thing was creepy. This looks like a clueless dork with no social skills trying out this "horsing around with the guys" concept he's read about, without realizing that "the guys" are supposed to be actual friends of yours first. (And, unless you're sure you know what you're doing, guys. )

Good. Frankens perceived "utility" to the democrats isn't a license to paw and molest people. With the Me Too legislation making the rounds, hopefully we can see a bit more bipartisan support if its clear that the consequences for sexual harassment isn't limited to one party.

Franken wants a Senate investigation, knowing full well it's where accusations go to die. Fuck that shit.

So he gets an investigation, and Moore has to drop out?

Double-standard much?

The thing that ties this all together is the partisan bullshit media in this country, who thankfully are circling the drain at cyclone speed.

Good riddance.

There’s a reason it’s called “Hertz Castle” and not “ethical journalism castle”.
Partisan shit rags are an institution in this country.

I think you mean 'Hearst Castle', but please, go on...

We’re just in the digital age of yellow journalism.
It caught up to technology.
We’re reaping the benefits!

I’m just saying some of our best comics came from that era.

We may destroy the earth but we have reaped dank memes.

They will be used for currency in our nuclear waste future.

Hertz Donut?

Well so far one is an accusation from one adult about another adult doing some inappropriate touching, and the other is about statutory rape, so yes, double standard because while both are reprehensible, they are not considered that same severity in the eyes of the law, so should not be considered equal in the eyes of the press either.