C'mon, Democrats! TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!

AND the Senate, TOO!

We have to impeach AND REMOVE this bastard and vote down everything his side tries to push through on the way.

Oh MAN, Nance, I'm so glad to read this.

I've said it before, here. It looks like a staged photo to me, too. Like they were yucking it up backstage or something.

I've got so many mixed feelings about this. Hell, I edited another post elsewhere three times, kicking this one around from different directions! Our son stopped by and did a "did you hear about Al Franken!" with me. And he paired it with "Don't you DARE do a double standard and say you don't believe the woman in his case!"

AY-Yi-Yi!

You make a toweringly good point here:

"I am not interested in what Al Franken said or did as a comedian – I am interested in what he says and does as a SENATOR. It is unfortunate that some people can’t distinguish one role from the other. It is equally unfortunate that some people are so anxious to believe that if we just throw one of our own on the funeral pyre, we have somehow appeased the what-about-him media gods who have decided that a human sacrifice on our part somehow evens the score – as though “evening the score” is what is important here."

DAYUM you're good.

A very good point.

It can't be okay no matter who does it. Either it's okay or it's not.

On edit - I still have so many mixed feelings about this. I stand by the sentence above. But I also believe in forgiveness and redemption.

I can believe her, while still being mindful of what even conservative talk show host John Ziegler said about this - and I'm no fan of his.

John Ziegler: I Loathe Al Franken, But It Sure Seems Like He is Getting Totally Railroaded
https://www.mediaite.com/online/i-loathe-al-franken-but-it-sure-seems-like-he-is-getting-totally-railroaded/

And if we're skewering Al Franken, who's gone beyond what a lot of these cads including "our 'pResident'" AND certainly Roy Moore, in acknowledging, and apologizing for it. He said so right away, too, while the story was still new. Since I've always liked him and enjoyed his work, whether as a comedian/satirist or talk radio host or elected politician, I'm predisposed to give him the benefit of the doubt. If it's not okay when Franken did it, then it isn't okay when Roy Moore goes even lower and preys upon adolescent and teenage girls. And it isn't okay when the vulgarian who ran for president last year brags and gloats about grabbing women by their genitals and walking in on young pageant contestants while they were dressing, some of them nude. NONE of them should get a pass, then.

I've looked at that USO tour photo a LOT. It looks like a VERY stupid sight gag. I think many of us may have seen people we know, posing foolishly on Instagram and Facebook. I've read that it was staged, but watching MSNBC just now, Rachel Maddow said his accuser was asleep. I'm not necessarily a fan of pranks. Photos of them follow you for life. Some pranks are just stupid - like your dorm mates write all over your face with Sharpies when you've drunk too much at a party and passed out. Some are criminal, like when a woman is given too much to drink at said party and passes out - and then is raped. I hope Rachel isn't right about this.

But then, on further edit, bringing the whole Roger Stone angle into this - remember, he has proudly declared himself to be skilled at political "rat-fucking". I wouldn't put anything past him, including this. And further, the KABC radio angle means it was friendly territory. I bet he knows people at that station. Wouldn't take but a gossipy phone call or two to launch a plan to screw a strong and popular Democrat.

As soon as I heard that KABC Radio originated this one, I apologize, but

my suspicions were immediately triggered. They don't make much room for liberals in the on-air staff there. KABC radio (790 AM) for years has leaned rightward, hoping in vain to steal away some of then-ratings-champ KFI enjoyed. KFI was the limbaugh station here in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, KABC couldn't compete. Their puny 5,000 watts left them out of the market for lack of signal strength, especially after sundown. There were big swaths of town where you wouldn't be able to hear them at all. HERE. In L.A.

KFI on the other hand, at 640 AM, was a clear channel station (NOT the radio conglomerate ClearChannel which attempted to rebrand itself not long ago as iHeartRadio). In that context, it applied to a select number of radio stations across the country that had their frequency assignments all to themselves - for hundreds of miles. No other station anywhere in the general timezone could get that frequency. It was for the Emergency Broadcast System. A clear channel station could be expected to stay on the air during an emergency and be the source of information, news, national security warnings, public safety, and other essentials. Other stations would go dark, and only the clear channel outlets remained on. They had serious wattage - you could hear KFI halfway across the country some nights. There was NO way KABC-AM was able to compete. They were pretty much where right-wing talk show hosts could work if they couldn't get hired at KFI. I basically stopped listening to them when Michael Jackson - the talk show host, not the "King of Pop," left. KABC-AM is still the poor second-place finisher.

Such a great point!

Was she introduced as such at this gig? If she was there as so many beautiful women

who play roles in these things have been, and it was known back then that she'd been a Playboy bunny, then, okay, I get what the bit was about. Hell, I covered more than a few Bob Hope revues, including ones where he was about to board a transport plane to go to some faraway military base to entertain for Christmas. He'd always have the prerequisites: film, TV, and music celebrities to parade around onstage, to thrill all the lonely boys stationed so far from home. Whoever was hot at the moment, at the box office, on prime time, or on the charts. There'd be singers. Dancers too sometimes. An orchestra. Probably a popular band, too. There'd always be some fetching babe in the troupe - at least one. Like Raquel Welch. Joey Heatherton. Ann-Margret. Back in the day, Marilyn Monroe. And also, there'd sometimes be groups of them, like The Golddiggers. And they'd have costumes et al. Skimpy bathing-suit-competition types, glittering evening gowns, or looking cute and adorable in Army fatigues or other military gear. A lot of the humor would invariably be ribald and even juvenile in nature.

A lot has changed. Most significantly, there are more women in those audiences now. It's not just randy romance-starved young dudes. That makes a difference! Things change. Society and social norms and morals change and evolve. What used to be funny might not be so funny anymore. Could help explain why so many on the conservative side of the aisle are so uncomfortable with now, yearn for the "good old days" that they THINK they remember so fondly, when locker-room talk was shrugged off and boys would be boys. They still say one of the things they love about trump is the crude way he talks. They gush - it's "the way the Average Joe talks at the bar/garage/gym!" (To which I'd love to add - "okay, but would you want that crude-talkin' Average Joe buddy of yours to be PRESIDENT???&quot

That old schtick just isn't how it is anymore.

I tend to want to give Al Franken the benefit of the doubt. I've met him, too. Always loved his work. Even moreso as he turned into a talk show host and then finally got into politics, and I really liked where his head was. But I am not happy about this. It's good that he apologized. He damn well should have!

This should be a VERY keen lesson to each and every one of our Democrats. Yeah, nobody's perfect, but if you're gonna go into public life, BEHAVE yourself, DAMMIT! For Pete's Sake - DON'T GIVE THE BAD GUYS ANY AMMUNITION!!!

This just further illustrates how an accuser in a molestation case can expect to be treated

if she seeks any sort of redress. SHE will be put on trial. HER background will be questioned and attacked. HER reputation will be dragged out into the open and trashed and impeached as vigorously as possible. SHE will become "the issue."

In one respect, a victim of assault, who comes forward, thus faces a secondary assault - BY THE TEAM BEHIND HER ORIGINAL ATTACKER. Is anyone truly surprised that some of these women kept silent for years? Who the hell wants to go through that? Shit, there were even people here who immediately went after Gloria Allred as soon as another Moore accuser came forward, using Allred as her attorney.

ANYTHING to be able to attack.

ANY excuse to attack.

ANYTHING.

smh

Don't forget Rachel the Rhodes Scholar.

Welcome to DU, unhip white guy.

This story just makes me ill.

Sick to my stomach.

But of course, trump has his two boys who just LOVE LOVE LOVE to shoot animals on safari, including the endangered ones (probably a bigger high, or maybe a better hard-on?). So they can shoot some more.

It makes me feel almost literally physically ill.

Holy crap!!! What an OUTSTANDING manifesto!

It’s freakin’ MAGNIFICENT!