General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Al Franken should be out of the Senate: Why does DU defend him? [View all]Vogon_Glory
(9,117 posts)I'm one of many DU readers and posters who thought that Al Franken was forced out by a right-wing hit job. I find the links between Franken's visible accusers and right-wing media and far-right political organs--interesting--to say the least. Add to that, the deafening silence of Franklin's accusers since he announced his resignation and my suspicion ratchets up another level.
I do not believe soon-to-be-former Senator Franken was imitating the hands-on behavior of former President George H.W. Bush, another politician accused of mashing. Add to that that his first accuser did two photo shoots for Playboy magazine and was videotaped doing a bump-and-grind routine at the USO show where Al Franken's fingers allegedly went walking where they shouldn't, and my suspicion ratchets up even further.
Add to that the quiet of his accusers since he announced his resignation. Are the right-wing propaganda organs so cheap or honorable (OK, folks, you can stop laughing now) that they'd forgo a chance to further trash Franken's reputation with interviews and talk show airtime? I don't think so. I would have thought if that Franken's accusers were for real, they'd be out there and public--just like Paula Jones.
My suspicions aside, I believe it was foolish in the extreme for the Democratic leadership to demand Franken's resignation without an investigation or hearings. These are NOT normal times with honorable men and women from the other party and the political movement that controls it behaving with honor, truth, and integrity. As Messrs. O'Keefe, Stone, and others have demonstrated, Democratic and liberal politicians can be laid low by political dirty tricks and hit jobs. That those on the progressive left and the Democratic Party can ignore such possibilities demonstrates an incredible amount of naivete and inexperience at best, and delusional credulence at worst.
Believing as I do that a suspicious mind is necessary for these times, I have to wonder about Newbie posters demanding further nails in Senator Franken's political coffin. Might such posters be radical feminists in high dudgeon and righteously demanding that (alleged) behaviors like Senator Franken's be punished? Perhaps. I can also believe that such posters might also be affiliated with the right-wing hit team that took down Al and whose bosses fear that his career hasn't been as ruined as they'd hoped when they pushed Tweeden forward on the chessboard.