November 17, 2017

Liberal websites absorb/process the Al Franken news, part 1: New York Magazine.

It's hard to keep up with the sexual harassment news, as women (and men!) suddenly speak up about things that have happened over the years, but yesterday's bombshell on Franken blew up this week's narrative, which was all about killing Roy Moore and getting Trump to trip over his dead body. The politically defunct Bill Clinton was strategically deployed to ensure Trump's downfall. It was easy to see that the liberal media had a narrative they were pretty excited about. And then comes Al, too big to ignore, too photographically real to deny, too off-message to allow the week's dramatic narrative to grind forward as anticipated.

So what I want to do is go to my usual places — my most-clicked bookmarks — and see how they've absorbed/processed the Al Franken news. My first stop is New York Magazine, where the relevant segment of the front page looks like this (click to enlarge):



There's one Franken story, set amid the stories that carry on the early week theme, and it's already flipped it into another problem with Trump: "Trump Condemns Al Franken, Still Has Nothing to Say About Roy Moore" ("President Trump’s hypocrisy reached new heights on Thursday night..."

But if you go further down the page, in a much less conspicuous spot, there's also "With Franken, the Reckoning Over Sexual Misconduct Comes to the Democrats," which went up at 1:07 yesterday afternoon. I guess it's old and drooping. In it, Ed Kilgore acknowledges the narrative problem:
With the country warmed up by a debate about whether Roy Moore’s alleged sexual misconduct toward underaged women should disqualify him for Senate candidacy, or even serve as grounds for his expulsion if he is elected on December 12, calls for Al Franken’s resignation will come quickly....
Franken needs to leave — it was immediately apparent — because he interferes with the game we're playing right now, making the GOP candidate lose an Alabama Senate seat. (They don't have to worry about Franken's seat, because if he gives up and gets out, a Democratic governor will appoint his replacement, good until the next election for that seat, which isn't until 2020.)

Kilgore crushes Franken into the week's narrative:
But no matter what happens in Alabama, the Franken revelations shows once again that while conservative Republican men may be more prone to justifying piggish and predatory behavior toward women...
may be!
... just as they have a cavalier if not hostile attitude toward women’s rights, sexual harassment and assault occur all over the partisan and ideological spectrum.
I do not for one minute believe that political identification with women's rights issues makes a man less likely to be a sexual harasser in private. It's at least as likely to be used as a cover. Look at Bill Clinton. Look at Harvey Weinstein. It worked!
As New York’s Rebecca Traister puts it, there’s a national “reckoning” under way that will head in unpredictable directions for many individuals and institutions alike. Democrats were already being drawn into a painful reassessment of Bill Clinton’s alleged crimes and admitted misconduct. But Al Franken and Roy Moore are presently the odd couple showing the potential consequences of the “reckoning” in politics.
That's how Kilgore ends it, almost but not quite committing to principle: We must treat like cases alike in the fight against the subordination of women.

New York Magazine readers don't seem too interested in sex and politics though. The top-ranked article on its "Most Popular" list is "Everything I Learned From Dressing Like a Kardashian for a Week." Second is a story about a bumper sticker that says, "FUCK TRUMP AND FUCK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM." Third is another sexual harrassment story, the one I haven't got around to talking about "Sylvester Stallone and His Former Bodyguard Accused of Sexually Assaulting a 16-Year-Old Girl in 1986."

Maybe New York Magazine readers are going elsewhere for their Al Franken news, but maybe they don't want to see the bashing of a politician they've been loving. I search the archive to see the treatment New York Magazine has given Al Franken. I'm seeing a lot of fawning, like, from last May, a video, "Watch Al Franken Talk You Through His Sumptuous Book Cover."* And this:



All right, enough penetration into the mind of New York Magazine. I'm just making a mental note to watch Bill Maher's show tonight and see if he takes any revenge on Franken for his I'm-too-virtuous-for-you posturing last spring. Or do comedians empathize with each other? I hope not! Empathy is the death of comedy, but then, you know I've been saying we are entering the era of That's Not Funny and maybe nothing will ever be funny anymore. But that reminds me of the second stop I want to make in this morning's review of liberal websites processing the Al Franken news. [ADDED: It wasn't the second stop. Or the third. I hope to get to it!]

___________________________

* Remember when the globe he had his hand on wasn't a woman's breast?

110 comments:

David Begley said...

Franken will never resign. Asking for it is just virtue signaling.

Phil 314 said...

The word "Trump!" Is click bait too many.

Xmas said...

Comedians are sympathetic to each other.

But Bill Maher isn't a comedian.

rhhardin said...

Women's rights includes crediting them as adults, which the woman-protecting hysteria is the opposite of.

What involves physical strength is a crime, what doesn't is an interpersonal matter, a private moral problem and not a public one.

Elevating all this to a public problem is a political move, not a moral one.

Woman audience matters.

rhhardin said...

On Franken, the babe is a Playboy model. Franken assumed that it's like comedian, both a business and a hobby. But Playboy model is a business, like strip clubs.

The strip club fantasy is that it's sexual, but the business takes all care that that fantasy doesn't move into reality. They have bouncers.

Franken bought into the strip club fantasy and was looking for fun. What the lady needed was bouncers.

I like that wording.

TrespassersW said...

Shorter NY Mag: "Dammit, Al! Why did you have to go and muck up our narrative?!?!"

MayBee said...

Remember when Mark Foley was pushed out of the house race because of inappropriate communication with young pages he suspected were gay?

The guy who got his seat was having an affair with a woman he hired for his Congressional staff, who then got upset because he had another girlfriend to whom he was paying hush money.

So.....getting rid of one guy in order to purify Congress isn't going to work. They have made themselves too powerful, and so it attracts a lot of power hungry jerks with no boundaries.

David Begley said...

I wonder what Al’s wife has to say. Stand by your man?

Jersey Fled said...

Amazing how fast the Democrats shelved the bimbos, sluts and trailer park trash defense on this one.

MikeR said...

"May be!" When the dust settles in the current snipe hunt, I'd like a list of who got outed. We'll see. I expect liberals and conservatives, but I personally feel sure that there will be a lot more liberals.
Part of that, of course, is that some target-rich environments like Hollywood are almost all liberals. But even correcting for that, I would like to think that the fact that conservatives are more traditionally religious improves their behavior. That's what religion does, I always believed: if you're told that something is wrong, sometimes you won't do it. Certainly that is the way it has worked for me.
Obviously, bad religion can do the opposite; see books by Christopher Hitchens. But Hitchens never seemed to acknowledge that it works the other way round: religion that tells you to be good, kind, honest, or decent, will often help you do that even when you wouldn't have without the religion. That seems like an obvious consequence, but atheists apparently can only see one side.
And further: that in the United States, almost all traditional religion is telling people to do good, very little to do bad. We have very few Wahhabis or the Christian equivalent. The abortion issue is the main one where I could see argument about that - but it would be a real argument, a complex issue, not a no-brainer like Wahhabism.
Anyhow, we'll see. I hope there are a lot of Mike Pences out there, trying to do the right thing even if people laugh at you.

MayBee said...

Althouse wrote: "I do not for one minute believe that political identification with women's rights issues makes a man less likely to be a sexual harasser in private. It's at least as likely to be used as a cover. Look at Bill Clinton. Look at Harvey Weinstein. It worked! "

It's true. People who are too preachy about any one issue always raise suspicion. People who are too religion, people who are too preachy about sex one way or another.
Think of all the tv preachers who had affairs or were closeted gays. The above mentioned Mark Foley who worked to make laws about communicating with underage teens. About the guys writing pro-feminist pieces and condemning Trump who have been outed as sexual harassers. About Clinton and Weinstein.

I don't know if they are hiding or if they need to do these things to purge their own demons. But it happens in many walks of life and it's common enough that it shouldn't keep taking people by surprise.

Henry said...

...yesterday's bombshell on Franken blew up this week's narrative, which was all about killing Roy Moore and getting Trump to trip over his dead body.

I love Althouse.

rhhardin said...

Identification with women's rights is a way to pick up babes.

NOW meetings in the 70s started it.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

MayBee said...
People who are too preachy about any one issue always raise suspicion.


This was my view of the Tea Party and the national debt.

Laslo Spatula said...

Hey everybody, hop on board!

Ted Kennedy is giving us a drive over the wooden bridge!

I am Laslo.

Henry said...

We are definitely reaching 100% dew point. I ran across the Brett Radnor getting kicked off the Wonder Woman franchise this morning. It's like 10th billing. Makes me wonder how many men in Hollywood have already been accused and are already taking career hits and we just don't hear about them because it's raining men. More important men.

John henry said...

Evergreen:

Don't forget that Franken was (is?) happy about murdering gays (or "homosexuals" as the called/calls them)

"Hey, I was glad when that Pudding homosexual got killed in Philadelphia."

And note that, after having said that, he didn't say to the interviewer "Errr... Perhaps don't quote me on that." No, he doubled down and said:

"Put that in, put that in," Franken laughed, leaning over the desk. "I'd love to see that in The Crimson."

I think it was Steve Martin who said "Comedy isn't pretty". I doubt even he realized how ugly it could be when Al Franken tried his hand at it.

John Henry

lonetown said...

Comedy isn't dead, it just moved on. The 20 and 30 YOs I sometimes work with are having a blast and cracking jokes all the time. It's the libs that are humorless. I guess they see how it's going and feel guilty for how they fucked things up.

(nah!)

rhhardin said...

Hollywood will be a lot better once they get rid of men interested in women.

It's getting rid of men interested in other men that will be the serious blow. Drama club was the gay club in the 50s.

MayBee said...

his was my view of the Tea Party and the national debt.

I can't believe how cynical I have gotten about politics and DC in the past 10 years. I actually like Trump simply because he is not any of them.

Bay Area Guy said...

Now that the Left is "having a conversation" about Bill Clinton's sexual misdeeds, when will the Left start having a conversation about married Ted Kennedy, killing his young female passenger, by drunk driving a car off a bridge, swimming to save himself, but leaving the woman trapped in the submerged car to drown?

Kinda makes a few awkward gropes seem benign.

bleh said...

Democrats shouldn’t hesitate to turn on Franken. The end game here is wounding Trump. If Franken resigns over something like this, Democrats will use that precedent to pressure Trump to resign. Trump won’t resign, and Democrats will remind voters of that in 2018 and 2020.

The Trump era has sparked a return of sorts to traditional morality. Do we expect our politicians to be pure as the driven snow? That is an even more difficult standard to satisfy in the Internet age, since anyone can make accusations against you, even if untrue, and a mob mentality can be easily stoked. But that appears to be where we are headed.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Are different parties or political orientations more inclined to one kind of wrong-doing rather than another? Our host has pointed out that loudly espousing progressive views might be a promising way of meeting women and getting somewhere with them, crudely or not.
In Canada there are old jokes about political conventions. We actually have social democrats (the New Democratic Party), and sometimes even people who are socially conservative and anti-tax, who go to conventions to debate policy, and plan entire government programs for an imagined future. They spend hours in meetings, patiently taking their turns at the microphone. Not much time for partying, but of course that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The Conservatives or Tories skew older and more male. They often don't want to talk much policy, but their vice is likely to be the cocktail party (maybe after a nap) and the big dinner. Of course this might lead to some inappropriate touching, bosses dancing with assistants and supporters, etc. Liberals are usually to the left, skewing younger and more female, again going light on policy, conventions as a great opportunity for affairs. One-time Prime Minister Trudeau (the present incumbent's father), after he had left office, attended a convention in Calgary and had an affair with a woman who was from a famous Liberal family. They had worked together on opposing a constitutional initiative by a Conservative government, so policy came into it. ("Repeat what you said about federal-provincial relations! That was so hot!" Adding details about being outside in the ice and snow, and wearing parkas, and you have a Canadian joke). These two lovebirds had an illegitimate child who actually took part in the funeral of Trudeau senior--a member of the family. Hard to imagine in the U.S.--maybe more of a French thing.

MayBee said...

The icing on the cake yesterday was Gillbrand - who should be humiliated after her boosterism of Mattress Girl but isn't - has turned on Bill Clinton saying he should have paid the consequences. Even though she's been using him for fundraisers for years and talks about how honored she is that he backs her.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Leftists have no principles. Everything is filtered through their perception of political relativism.

Franken is caught red handed in a photo which is really hard to deny. So, Franken and Left have come up with the perfect stalling tactic, call for an investigation which will take forever to happen. In a year or this will be old news and most people won't care. Clinton playbook tactic.

rhhardin said...

It's not hypocrisy. It's playing an audience.

Virtue signalling is an act, but not because the signaller thinks he is virtuous, but because he's playing to a specific audience. Usually not very bright women.

Darrell said...

So the Left admit the allegations against Moore are a political "game." And we all know games aren't real life. Interesting.

rhhardin said...

If you can keep the attention of not-very-bright women, the story stays on the air.

Taking over all the terrain is the point. That suppresses everything else.

Amadeus 48 said...

This is great, but it appears to be a set-up for the next round of revelations about Donald Trump's wicked, wicked ways.

Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

I stand by my prediction that none of these characters resigns or withdraws. That died with Bill Clinton.

Richard Nixon, Elliot Richardson, Bob Packwood, and Cyrus Vance were from another age.

Wilbur said...

The difference with Trump is that no one who voted for him cared a whit whether he has skeletons in his closet. Of course he does.

But the voters finally found someone who would take what the Rosie O'Donnell crowd (which includes 99.9% of the media and several posters here) vomited up and, instead of a "dignified" silence, would punch back. And twice as hard. Finally.

Wilbur said...

It's also why Trump has no coattails, which is why the GOP hates him too.

DKWalser said...

Could the title of the article about defending Bill Clinton in 1998 -- "Being on the Right Side of History in 1998 Sucked" -- have been more tone deaf? The word 'sucked' shouldn't be used within a mile of a discussion of Bill and Monica.

Mike Sylwester said...

Senator Franken should be treated just like he himself would treat a Republican senator in the same situation.

Achilles said...

Fen's Law.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

If it weren't so further destructive to society and the ability of normal men and women to get along, I would really be laughing my rear off....instead of tittering.

The Dimmocrats are being caught up in their own shit storm. Unintended consequences :-D Their own decades of bad behaviour are being exposed. WHIPLASH!!!

This is what happens when you open up a big can of worms. You get worms and worm crap all over the place.

I sincerely hope this insanity is over before my grandson reaches puberty. How can you raise a male child in this transgendering, man hating, woman worshiping perverted world? How can you keep your children sane?

Sydney said...

I can't believe how much media attention has gone to that Alabama senate race. Seems like it should be more of a local interest story. The fact that I have patients talking about it to me during their visits tells me the media's agenda of using it to empower Democrats is working. Thank God for Al Franken!

David Begley said...

How about a bipartisan Althouse poll on who gets exposed next?

I say Corker from TN because he is a lame duck and has very shady finances.

And Nelson of FL because he is an older guy and looks and sounds like Senator Geary of NV (The Godfather).

Darrell said...

It's also why Trump has no coattails

Bullshit. Republicans wouldn't have the House and the Senate if it wasn't for Trump. People would have stayed home for Cruz, Rubio, or Kashit.

Qwinn said...

You gotta see THIS:

https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2017/11/16/here-it-is-the-most-batst-defense-of-al-franken-and-dem-sex-predators-youll-see-today/?utm_campaign=twitchywidget


Basically, this "feminist" (who has written a book on "rape culture") believes that there are probably more Democrats than Republicans who have assaulted women, therefore Franken should not be removed, because otherwise tomorrow the whole country will be Gilead (as in Handmaid's Tale).

Seriously.

Achilles said...

Remember that every democrat commenting and participating in this snipe hunt supported Bill Clinton's wife in the last election and probably voted for a rapist twice if they were old enough.

They are not good people.

CWJ said...

From the "Fuck Trump ... fuck you..." bumper sticker story -

"Yet, the truck’s owner, Karen Fonseca, told the Houston Chronicle she and her husband have no plans to remove the offending sticker. “It’s not to cause hate or animosity,” she said."

Riiight. Now that's funny right there.

Humperdink said...

AA asked: "Remember when the globe he had his hand on wasn't a woman's breast?"

Remember Al's book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot"? (Who's laughing now, Al?)

Remember when everyone mocked Mike Pence for refusing to be alone with a woman not his wife? (Who's smirking now, libs?)

Darrell said...

believes that there are probably more Democrats than Republicans who have assaulted women

I saw a list of 57 more Democrat Congressmen and Senators that have harassed and assaulted women, that have yet to be exposed. Throw them all out, just to be on the safe side.

MayBee said...

Senator Franken should be treated just like he himself would treat a Republican senator in the same situation.

Someone should question him angrily, yet incoherently?

CWJ said...

"Hey everybody, hop on board!

Ted Kennedy is giving us a drive over the wooden bridge!

I am Laslo."

LOL. Love Shack immediately came to mind.

"I got me a Chrysler. It's as big as a whale, and it's about to set sail."

Wilbur said...

Darrell said...
It's also why Trump has no coattails

Bullshit. Republicans wouldn't have the House and the Senate if it wasn't for Trump. People would have stayed home for Cruz, Rubio, or Kashit.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
You can curse as much as you want, but how many Republicans proudly assert "I'm a Trump Republican"? I remember a lot of Reagan Republicans.

The reason is that Trump is, necessarily, his own one-man party. If the Republicans want to come along, they're welcome.

His personality sucks all of the oxygen from the room. A lot of Republicans still shrink from being associated with him.

CJinPA said...

But no matter what happens in Alabama, the Franken revelations shows once again that while conservative Republican men may be more prone to justifying piggish and predatory behavior toward women

Let us never forget the gentleman who started this wave, Harvey Weinstein, and the FIRST move he pulled in his attempt to survive: he made a direct appeal to partisan politics, vowing to go after the Democrats' foils, the NRA and Trump.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Senator Franken should be treated just like he himself would treat a Republican senator in the same situation.

Someone should question him angrily, yet incoherently?

LOL

MayBee wins the thread.

Hagar said...

The picture is just stupid adolescent boy humor, like most of Franken's comedy.

The kissing assault charge is serious, and for that he first calls her a liar, and then sends her his "most sincere" apology!

SDaly said...

Here's why Franken cannot resign voluntarily or be forced to resign. I would suspect that even if he wanted to resign, he would be pressured to stay on.

While gross and juvenile, his "crimes" are relatively minor. If he sets a precedent that this behavior is sufficient to require giving up his seat, the hounds will be released, and I have no doubt that there are many, many others in positions of power who would be subjected to demands to resign. People suggesting that Franken resign because Minnesota would be a "safe" seat for Democrats overlook the fact that the Franken precedent could impact a lot of seats that aren't so safe.

Another thing to keep in mind is a post Sharyl Attkinson made on Twitter last night:
Let's pretend for a moment that there are powerful members of Congress w/ skeletons in their closets known to some in politics & intel agencies. I wonder if their political behavior and votes could be shaped?



Ex-prosecutor said...

Tax Question:

Would not an amount paid from the slush fund to settle a harassment claim be taxable to the offender?

Wilbur said...

The more the media shriek about Roy Moore, the better I like his chances of winning.

LincolnTf said...

There is nothing phonier that a Democrat "feminist". They have spent generations lining up to worship at the feet of the worst adulterers, harassers and abusers that the Kennedy or Clinton clans could provide.

Wilbur said...

SDaly said...

Another thing to keep in mind is a post Sharyl Attkinson made on Twitter last night:
Let's pretend for a moment that there are powerful members of Congress w/ skeletons in their closets known to some in politics & intel agencies. I wonder if their political behavior and votes could be shaped?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I always thought this was the elephant in the room about Bill and Monica. You can't tolerate the President engaging in conduct which could lead to blackmail and extortion WHILE the president is in office. In the Arab world it was considered common knowledge that Lewinsky was placed there by Mossad for that very reason. I don't believe that's true, but it points out the dangers of such behavior while in office.

Ralph L said...

Have we gotten to scandal fatigue yet?

grackle said...

We must treat like cases alike in the fight against the subordination of women.

All this means is that the lying MSM will invent irrelevant differences between leftwing harassment and rightwing harassment. Lefty politicians will be given a pass – just as always. Give the MSM a little time and they’ll find a way. Maybe not with Franken, because all this is so new and unpredictable. But as the sexual harassment trend/ narration/ ”national reckoning”/ hysteria ages awhile the MSM will inevitably attempt to protect Lefty pols from it.

Some things that bother me about the Roy Moore controversy:

Over 30 years ago these transgressions were supposed to have taken place.

There are no eyewitnesses to any of it. It’s all he said/she said and mere gossip presented as irrefutable fact.

Moore has been a controversial figure who has made many political enemies in Alabama from the beginning of his career until today yet none of these charges surfaced during all that time.

The timing of the Moore lynching, as has been pointed out, is all about putting the Repubs in a bad position. If the charges had come out BEFORE the names on the ballots were legally locked in the charges would have more credibility for me.

I’ve no doubt that a lot of unwilling sex and harassment between the pols on both sides and their subordinates has taken place. Ditto every corporate boardroom and military headquarters.

Does this mean that any politician can be ruined by any woman or women he has ever had any contact with? Even after many years have passed? Is all that is required is to find enough “victims” who desire the fame and the book deals that the accusations will bring?

Curious George said...

"Hagar said...
The picture is just stupid adolescent boy humor, like most of Franken's comedy."

Newsflash. He's an adult. And a Senator. That would get you fired from any corporation in America.

traditionalguy said...

China, North Korea, economic boom and actual borders enforced have not been mentioned in weeks. But lechers hitting on sexy women is all the news that we are shown by CIA owne media shops.

I blame Scott Adams.

MacMacConnell said...

The Senate would have to do some extreme rule changes to do an ethics investigation or expel a sitting senator for misbehavior done prior to being elected to office.

It's a good the way it is, voters can decide.

Darrell said...

Republicans don't want to "come along with Trump" because they support amnesty, open borders, and almost everything else the Left supports--to a degree. That's what makes Trump one of the most important Presidents in history--the only one willing to step on the brakes before we go completely off the cliff.

Gordon Scott said...

rhhardin said...
Identification with women's rights is a way to pick up babes.

NOW meetings in the 70s started it.


I was going to point out that there really aren't any babes at NOW meetings. But yeah, back in the 1970s, there might have been. The blue hairs and the mentally ill lesbians hadn't taken over back then. And yeah, there's a few Hollywood types like Emma Watson, but that's because the feminists prey on gals like her, same as the Scientologists do.

Even Gloria Steinem admitted that it's quite nice to have an older, wealthy and powerful man take care of you.

Amadeus 48 said...

Roy Moore is out where the trains don't run, but I suspect that the citizens of Alabama don't like being told what to do by New York Magazine, CNN, WaPo, HuffPo, and Politico website. So, will allegations of sleezy, maybe perverted behavior outweigh that old rebel spirit? Are the voters of Alabama going to let those Yankees tell them what to do?

Moore has to push an us vs. them button successfully to win. We'll soon find out, but I think this may have been cooked too soon by Moore's opponents.

tim maguire said...

I have some concern that the sexual harassment angle will over-shadow the larger problem. Harassment, unwanted crudity, liberties from power inequality, it is all a symptom of a larger cultural morass. We're treating the symptom, not the disease.

Hollywood and Washington are by far the worst, where shitty people abuse others in all sorts of ways because they can and it is (has long been) accepted. Sex is just one form this abuse takes. One of many. But while activists are trying to pretend it is a society-wide problem instead of a problem within certain specific industries, there is not much hope for real reform because the real problem isn't being addressed.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

OMG Al Frankin is a serial grabber.

PROOF!! :-D

shhhhh...spoiler...it's a photoshop....maybe

Darrell said...

The KGB perfected the method of mixing facts and fiction to take out a political opponent or motivate people to rebel. People naturally confirm the facts that can be confirmed, then make the mistake of thinking the rest is true, also. When Hilary made the call for women to come forward about Trump, her staff selected people who could establish they were around Trump at a given time and place. Like that woman on a plane that said Trump was like an octopus. She could remember that from thirty years ago, yet she forgot she worked for Hillary as a secretary at the Clinton Foundation and there were a lot of pictures with her and Hillary around social media. Before she deleted them. The same is true of the Moore charges. The stuff like Moore was banned from the mall is just made out of whole cloth and can neither be confirmed or denies before the election. Not like the major MSM would try and do that, mind you.

Spiros said...

I think this moment is more about the governing elite's amazing insecurities than it is about rampaging men. Liberal outrage and anger at men is how the elite cope with the fear and anxiety produced by Donald Trump. The open expression of emotion (the crying, the screaming, the desire to "punch Nazis in the face!") is therapy for Trump Derangement Syndrome. The elite need the scaremongering (there are rapists everywhere!) and punitive aspects of the Weinstein Effect (kill Al Franken!) to cope. Seriously people, this guy is a one term president tops. Get a grip already!

cacimbo said...

Mika of MJ today explained "where do we go with this". Surprise - the panel decided accepting an apology is the 'right thing to do' when it comes to behavior that occurred decades ago. Moore's allegations are decades older than Franken's, however, they decided since he is denying the allegations he cannot be forgiven (the possibility of innocence was not even mentioned). So Franken admitting and apologizing means he doesn't have to lose his job - and Moore must lose. Funny how that worked out.

William said...

The big winner here is Sylvester Stallone. That's not misconduct he's accused of, but rather of a truly evil and sordid crime. He's worse than Weinstein, but his crime will not attract a tenth of the coverage and discussion. Most thinking people have never seen a Sylvester Stallone movie and would far rather parse the differences between Moore and Franken than ponder Stallone's crime.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Ralph L said...

Have we gotten to scandal fatigue yet?

I haven't even gotten to winning fatigue yet!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Giant DICK of the senate.

actual title.

Big Mike said...

... you know I've been saying we are entering the era of That's Not Funny and maybe nothing will ever be funny anymore.

There will always be things I laugh at. They just won’t be the things KittyM laughs at. Are there enough people like me that comedians can make a living while KittM stews in her prissy sanctimony? I think so. We’ See.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Any mention of Weinstein/Clinton?

MacMacConnell said...

"The stuff like Moore was banned from the mall is just made out of whole cloth and can neither be confirmed or denies before the election."

The manager of the mall at the time says that Moore being banned from the mall is news to him. Says it ain't so.

Darrell said...

Giant DICK of the senate.

actual title.


I like "Lyin' Of The Senate."

Martin said...

"The 'mind' of New York Magazine?

ROFLMAO!!!

Darrell said...

People in a small town "KNOW" lot of things. And they are right about ten percent of the time. And that assumes they aren't partisan liars or being paid.

Gordon Scott said...

http://tinyurl.com/yad3gga3

Jennifer Lawrence, Saoirse Ronan and others all got together for an interview where they talk about how the culture has to be changed, and how things should be done. Unfortunately for them, there are a hundred younger, prettier girls in Los Angeles who can act as well as they do. But there aren't very many people who can do what Harvey Weinstein did. Allison Janney can't get a movie made. Harvey could, and probably still can. Jessica Chastain can't dictate her choice of costars, but Matt Damon can. Saoirse Ronan can light up the screen and charm everyone, but there's a hundred Irish actresses besides her who also can do that, and will do it for less money. And no one believes Mary J. Blige has enough pull to get anything at all done.

Remember who used to tag-team assaulting waitresses in DC restaurants with Ted Kennedy? It was Senator Chris Dodd. Who is the chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America? Former senator Chris Dodd. See, he can make some phone calls, fly to DC and donate to some PACs, and get bills passed that benefit the producers. Emma Stone cannot manage that.

William said...

All of JFK's transgressions came to light posthumously and some revelations were inadvertent. I would guess there's probably the same level and frequency of misconduct among liberals and conservatives, but the historical fact is that media people are more likely to aggressively cover and seek out conservative misdeeds. Also, women are more likely to keep a tactful silence on figures who are revered by liberals. I bet there are a lot of women who had painful encounters with JFK and MLK and that those stories will go to the grave with them.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Someone should question him angrily, yet incoherently?

Excellent, MayBee!

William said...

Franken's big mistake was making a crude pass and a crude joke at a woman with conservative leanings. If he had kept it intraparty, the
woman involved would have been as discreet as the hundreds of women Bill Clinton hit on. That's not a mistake he's likely to make again.

Gordon Scott said...

William wrote: "... lot of women who had painful encounters with JFK..."

Angie Dickinson said of her night with JFK: "It was the greatest 60 seconds of my life."

Sebastian said...

"We must treat like cases alike." Easy. Progs are unlike cons, hence their cases are "unlike."

At least, that's the meta-narrative. But the unleashing of the sexual harassment furies is producing unintended consequences. For once, progs really miscalculated.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Mika of MJ today explained "where do we go with this". Surprise - the panel decided accepting an apology is the 'right thing to do' when it comes to behavior that occurred decades ago. Moore's allegations are decades older than Franken's, however, they decided since he is denying the allegations he cannot be forgiven (the possibility of innocence was not even mentioned). So Franken admitting and apologizing means he doesn't have to lose his job - and Moore must lose. Funny how that worked out.

This is wrong. Franken denied forcing a kiss on her, and only admits it "looks" like he's groping. So more or less the same as Moore. Yes there was a non-apology apology or two Al made yesterday, but this is a long way from "admitted and apologized!"

Hagar said...

Franken admitted to the picture, which cannot be denied, but called Tweeden a liar about the kissing "incident."

Anonymous said...

I actual feel some sympathy for Franken. ( Empathy might be a better word, because I generally think of him as being a jackass.) I suspect that most of his life he thought he was starring in Animal House and this week he found out it was really The Scarlet Letter. He deserves to be tossed from the Senate, he stole the election that got him there in the first place, so losing his seat would just be Karma being a motherfucker -as we used to say.

Henry said...

Someone should question him angrily, yet incoherently?

LOL. Zing!

MacMacConnell said...

The Stages of Democrat Scandals

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/Demstages.jpg

CStanley said...

But Al Franken and Roy Moore are presently the odd couple showing the potential consequences of the “reckoning” in politics.

This is a sitcom plot, right? Netflix can produce it to replace House of Cards.

cacimbo said...

@Mike, I don't disagree, however, the MJ panel did not have any problems with his apology.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to DBQ!!

Michael K said...

These two lovebirds had an illegitimate child who actually took part in the funeral of Trudeau senior--a member of the family. Hard to imagine in the U.S.--maybe more of a French thing.

Maybe Cuban after Trudeau's father Fidel.

DBQ is right about young boys right now. I have one grandson who I worry about. He'll be 13 in the spring and plays pretty b=good baseball. His father has some hopes for a baseball scholarship but, if that doesn't materialize, I think a Marine Corps enlistment to grow up would be a good idea. Not to mention GI Bill. I see a lot of kids doing that and I think it is a very good idea.

This sexual harassment scandal is one front in the war on men. I wonder how far it will go ? Medical schools are now 60% women. Colleges are too but the STEM majors are still mostly men. Purdue has a new Dean who is emphasizing "Feminist Engineering.

I guess that is harmless as long as they don't try to build anything that requires function.

I am so pleased to share that Canek Phillips has successfully defended and deposited his dissertation! His work is titled, “Race, class and gender in engineering education: A quantitative investigation of First Year enrollment.”

That sounds harmless if they stay in school.

Here's the new Feminist chief.

Prof. Pawley’s goal through her work at Purdue is to help people, including the engineering education profession, develop a vision of engineering education as more inclusive, engaged, and socially just. To do this, she believes in saying what needs to be said – to colleagues, students, and the profession as a whole. She sees community as her religion in how she mentors graduate students, engages with colleagues in her local department, seeks collaborations with colleagues across disciplines and across the country, and engages actively as a citizen in local, state, and national progressive politics.

That'll do it as long as she doesn't design a bridge I have to drive over.

Darrell said...

The Democrats assigned their best liars to compose the Franken statement yesterday. They probably included a message on Journ-o-List for Press-eyes-only--Al Franken is now "woke" as you can see. Women need him in the Senate to fight for them and make sure their voices are heard.

Of course he said that all women are to be believed--even while he was saying that his accuser was a liar about the kiss, out of the other side of his mouth.

Hunter said...

I do not for one minute believe that political identification with women's rights issues makes a man less likely to be a sexual harasser in private. It's at least as likely to be used as a cover.

"Women, I will let you in on a male secret. Men know that constantly self-proclaiming male 'feminists' are often predatory sleaze bags. They are intensely disliked by other men because of their manipulative qualities and not, in general, because they are viewed to be sex traitors."

said Julian Assange, last month.

joetote said...

I'm really shocked that anyone would remotely think that the morons in the media and Congress itself defending the likes of Franken, Weird Willie and more would suddenly come to their senses and bite the hands that feed them. After all, these are the same perverted idiots that have lionized the pervert Barney Frank when he molested a page.

AllenS said...

So, how's Hillary's book sales doin'? What Happened?

CWJ said...

"All of JFK's transgressions came to light posthumously..."

Dying young tends to do that.

FullMoon said...

Amadeus 48 said... [hush]​[hide comment]

This is great, but it appears to be a set-up for the next round of revelations about Donald Trump's wicked, wicked ways.

Good morning America had one sentence and the photo of Franken, leading into a paragraph ,and videos about last years accusations against Trump

rcocean said...

The Democrats get away with it, because the Press protects them and - above all - the Democrats/liberals protect their own.

They also stick together. One of the untold stories, is how Schumer has been able to get all 48 D Senators to vote as a bloc on almost every issue and nomination, despite the fact that 20 are up for Re-election.

Meanwhile Turkey McConnell can't even hold his majority to pass legislation all the R's supposedly supported. Or keep them from blasting Trump for no good reason, or throwing each other under the bus at every opportunity.

rcocean said...

That Frankenstein was EVER considered as POTUS material just shows how far the Democrats have fallen.

When "Slow Joe Biden" is considered the wise, old, party elder - you're in trouble.

rcocean said...

"Medical schools are now 60% women"

Wow, that's surprising. I assume a lot of smart men now go into High Tech since you can get more money and not have to trudge through years of post graduate schooling.

I'm Full of Soup said...

All due respect to young women, we need to realize that thousands of young people dream of going to work in DC to change the world. They go there because they think that is the place with all the power and they are right in a lot of ways.

So they tend to idolize the elected schmucks who work there and I bet many of the young women are enamored enough to have consensual sex with the elected schmucks.

So it is a two way street. I a not excusing the sex harassment claims and cases but let's be realistic about the power dynamic at play here and agree the cause is that DC has way way too much power and too much of our money at their disposal.

FIDO said...

Have we gotten to scandal fatigue yet?

Nah! It is a Bonfire of the Inanities and I brought marshmallows and a stick!

So far, it is something like 90% Democrats and Liberals being burned and the Feminists, spinning to try to protect their supporters, are shedding even more credibility or devouring their own children.

So sure...keep on, keepin on.

How exactly do the Feminists and the Liberal Democrat men trust one another after all this is over? It is like Christmas came early this year!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Until Trumpists and rightists call for the resignation of Trump and Moore, along with Franken, they have no moral high ground on which to stand. Trump admitted to sexually assaulting women, a picture exists of Franken doing so and there are multiple allegations against Moore (as well as Trump).

Darrell said...

That Frankenstein was EVER considered as POTUS material just shows how far the Democrats have fallen.

They were grooming Rod Blagojevich for the job, too. Elvis hair. All the right lib stunts--stopping that Navy train hauling napalm to be destroyed, getting Jesse Jackson to meet with Slobodan Milosevic, gun control, making it legal for seniors to get prescription drugs in Canada, etc. Thank God the FBI caught him negotiating with Barack Obama for his old Senate seat and they informed Obama that they were wiretapping his phones. That's something the FBI always does, isn't it? Informing people not to say anything incriminating over the phone because they are listening.

Darrell said...

Trump admitted to sexually assaulting women

That was the voices inside your own head.

Howard said...

It's politically easy to throw Al Franken under the bus because the dems won't lose a seat in Minnesota. They have to do it now and make it big and bloody if they want Roy Moore's seat to go to a dem.

FIDO said...

Unknown:

Here is where you fail, once again, to realize the results of your slagging: according to the Left, the Right already hates women, happily sexually assaults them constantly, and want them in burkas 'rubbing our feet' or something to that effect.

So our reputations can't take any more 'hits'. You have taken your shot...and we are still standing. Saying it again and more has no effect and since everyone we know already discounts such as you, we don't worry about that.

We just point to your 'crazy' as a cautionary tale and we keep winning and winning elections...

Thanks for that.

Howard said...

Blogger rcocean said... "Medical schools are now 60% women" Wow, that's surprising. I assume a lot of smart men now go into High Tech since you can get more money and not have to trudge through years of post graduate schooling.
Real men leave or avoid professions women and cucks can succeed in because they know they are required elsewhere in a job or profession that women and cucks can't or won't do. I mean, c'mon. If a chick can do it, it's not really a job, it's just advanced cleaning, childcare or nursing. Computers and software created by men are taking over diagnosis so women can now be doctors. Win-Win.

Jupiter said...

"Even Gloria Steinem admitted that it's quite nice to have an older, wealthy and powerful man take care of you."

Proving that a fish can, in fact, use a bicycle.

Michael K said...

Blogger rcocean said...
"Medical schools are now 60% women"

Wow, that's surprising. I assume a lot of smart men now go into High Tech since you can get more money and not have to trudge through years of post graduate schooling.


Men are really being discouraged from college. The medical students I see, and I have retired the past two years after 15 teaching, are foreign, female and Asian-American. I think the last two years I taught I had two or three Caucasian males as students.

I don't blame them. A lot of medical school faculty are female now. The curriculum has gone touchy-feely. I have had female faculty ask me to do the surface anatomy teaching of their groups because they don't know any anatomy. Gross anatomy dissection is no longer done. The dissections are done and the students look,.

No more labs, No more microscopes. It's all on laptops now.