Now there are bipartisan calls for an ethics investigation into the past behavior of a sitting U.S. senator.
A TV host and sports broadcaster on Thursday accused Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006.
Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of groping her, without her consent, while she was asleep and provided a photo as evidence.
The incident happened in December 2006, she said, when she and Franken, then a comedian, were on a USO Tour to "entertain our troops."
Franken in a statement apologized for his actions.
There may be more to this story in the coming days. For now I have just a few thoughts:
- I noticed there were a heckuva lot more leftist politicos willing to condemn Franken than righties in the case of Moore. While I concede evidence against Franken is more damning given the photograph that is being circulated, what exactly is it about Moore's accusers that would make righties believe they are fabricating their stories? What would be the upside of them (and the Washington Post) doing so?
- That said, the cynical part of me believes that some leftists are coming off as indignant due to the fact Franken is pretty much expendable. If he were to resign, the Democrat governor of Minnesota gets to appoint a replacement, which would undoubtedly be a far left individual. Then there would be a special election in the 2018 midterms (a cycle which is looking favorable to Dems at this point) and then a regular election in 2020 when Franken's current term is up. Is there any doubt that Gov. Mark Dayton could find a far-left proggie to be the Dem caucus's rubber stamp for at least the next three years?
- And finally, let's go to a live look-in of Senate Democrats wanting to talk tax reform but having to endure questions about Franken instead:
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I think the suspicions for Moore are partially informed by the need to keep the Senate, and also because the allegations come at a suspicious time--it's a classic October Surprise. Then you've also got some false claims (that the Post was throwing Benjamins around to get a story), and some facts (no phone in the girl's room, no banning from the mall, etc..) that cast doubt on the story.
ReplyDeleteThen compare it with Franken--everybody that knows Franken's career would say "well, that's just what he did on screen, but in real life." On the flip side, everybody that knows Moore's career would say "yes, he's a blowhard that has problems with authority, but his personal life has at least appeared clean."