November 20, 2017

Thanks for the legal advice, CNN.

"Minnesota statutes state that 'intentional touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the buttocks' is not considered criminal sexual conduct."

Extracted from "Woman says Franken inappropriately touched her in 2010." ("According to [Lindsay] Menz, she attended the Minnesota State Fair with her husband and father in the summer of 2010, almost two years after Franken was elected to the Senate. Her father's small business was sponsoring a local radio booth... When Franken walked in... her husband held up her phone and got ready to snap a photo of the two of them, Franken 'pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear,' Menz said. 'It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek. It wasn't around my waist. It wasn't around my hip or side. It was definitely on my butt... I was like, oh my God, what's happening.'")

106 comments:

mccullough said...

The HW Bush photo pose

Michael K said...

That will be a relief to GHW Bush.

Quaestor said...

What's new? Al Franken skirting the law once again.

tim maguire said...

Good to see the media has come to its senses and remembered where its loyalty lies. That was a brief but unsettling foray into legitimacy.

rehajm said...

Sources at CNN tell us it may even be illegal to discuss Franken's sexual deviancy.

Drago said...

Inga and LLR Chuck hardest hit.

roesch/voltaire said...

I believe that law was made in Italy where touching a women's butt happens right out in public view, but I am surprised it made it way to frozen Minn. where toboggan ridders are required to keep their mittened hands to themselves.

Mike Sylwester said...

Is this news about Al Franken just coming to CNN, or is CNN going out to actively look for such news?

How many CNN reporters are assigned to look actively for information about Al Franken's past sexual activities?

Compared to the number assigned to Roy Moore's activities?

Fernandinande said...

he put his hand full-fledged on my rear seven years ago.

National news in the United States of Bizarro.

Stay tuned for "someone fell of their bike last year and scraped their knees", followed by the confessional "I tripped on the edge of the rug and spilled coffee all over the place only two months ago!" since we're keeping the best for last.

Drago said...

Mike Sylwester: "Is this news about Al Franken just coming to CNN, or is CNN going out to actively look for such news?"

CNN, #CNNStrongDefender Chucks beloveds, would never actively seek out any negative news on dems. Ever. For any reason.

Their role is strictly as Iowahawk described it. "Cover the news. With a pillow. Until it stops moving."

Fernandinande said...

Sources report that the coffee was quite warm.

Virgil Hilts said...

Touching a woman's chest through a flak jacket is not much different from (or presumably more exciting than) properly blocking or tackling a 17 year old girl playing football who is wearing shoulder and chest pads. The Al Franken stuff is boring and tedious. Personally, I do not remember ever doing anything "as bad" as what AF did, but I will wager about 40% or more of men have, especially in their younger years when drunk.
OTOH, this "Air F#@k One" stuff that is coming out about Bill Clinton should be fun!

MikeR said...

https://spectator.org/shall-we-dance-al-franken-what-about-that-time-in-montana/
That one sounds significant to me. I wonder if anyone has a video of one of his old performances where he did this - or more corroboration?

Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tcrosse said...

Al Franken, Benny Hill of the Senate.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Minnesota statutes state that 'intentional touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the buttocks' is not considered criminal sexual conduct.

That might depend on which part of my body was doing the touching...

Mike Sylwester said...

When the US Senate investigates the perpetration of a hoax to affect an election to fill a Senate seat, the investigation should include also the role played by the large media companies such as CNN.

Did the media companies collude to delay reporting about about the sexual accusations against Moore until after he won the primary election? Such collusion is a matter about which the Senate could collect information and inform the public.

A related matter is whether large media companies have been offering to pay money to people who can offer negative information about candidates to fill Senate seats.

For example, I have read that The Washington Post has been offering payments of thousands of dollars for negative information about Roy Moore, a candidate to fill a US Senate seat. The Senate should investigate such accusations.

Such matters are legitimate subjects for Senate investigations. Such matters involve elections to fill Senate seats.

By comparison, Roy Moore's 40-years-ago involvement with young women who were of the age of legal consent is not a legitimate subject for a Senate investigation.

Rob said...

This is no different from the CNN report that there's nothing illegal about going to the mall or the high school football games to ogle the young chicks and maybe even to try to date them. Watch for that report any minute now. Stay by your TV.

Jon Burack said...

I am with Fernandistien 100 percent.

Fernandinande said...

MikeR said...
https://spectator.org/shall-we-dance-al-franken-what-about-that-time-in-montana/


The poor little dears were so traumatized that "They invited Franken and Davis to a party" being sexually abused.

That's shocking.

Bilwick said...

"Well, it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon . . . Butt-fondling Week begins this Monday, and the Norwegian Bachelor Farmers are pretty excited about it. . . ."

Sydney said...

It might not be illegal (and shouldn't be), but it is still impolite. How would you feel if someone firmly held one of your buttocks?

Sydney said...

All of these apologetics remind me of the Clinton days, when the Journal of the American Medical Association came out with a paper that stated oral sex was not sex.

Sam L. said...

She shoulda slugged the creep!

tcrosse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tcrosse said...

She should have had a Minnesota State Fair corn-dog fart cued up for such an eventuality.

alan markus said...

More opportunities for #MeTooism - do the math - every time someone has posed for a picture with a celebrity, CEO of the company, politician, etc. there is collaborative evidence of that encounter. In the future, under legal advice, those people will be expected to pose with their hands visibly crossed over their crotch.

Comanche Voter said...

Al says "I did not commit a crime. The charge is a bum rap!" You go Al, I think you have a defense there. At least CNN thinks so. OTOH, you are lucky that the lady didn't take direct action and belt you in the chops.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga and LLR Chuck hardest hit.”

I’m not hit all all. I said Franken should resign several days ago. I’d like to know who in the Senate or House were the ones in which the settlements were paid for by the taxpayers. How many more lawmakers were gropers or sexual molesters.

holdfast said...

"Compared to the number assigned to Roy Moore's activities?"

Compared to the number assigned to crawl up Sarah Palin's birth canal?

As to the Montana thing - I guess the groping was "wanted" since it led to a party later. I guess that's just infidelity then? Which seems to be pretty common in DC. Anyway, give it some time - more Frankensteen stuff will come out - guys like that make it a habit.

MadisonMan said...

I agree with Sam L: Whatever happened to the well-timed slap against the cheeks? (Facial, to be precise).

Women are strong or they're not. Strong women don't put up with crap from men.

Bay Area Guy said...

Celebrity Ass-grabbin' continues. What is the proper protocol for such ass-grabbin?

You can either (1) firmly grab the wrist and remove the hand from the anatomical part (soft response), (2) quickly smack the fellow (hard response) or (3) do nothing for years, feel shitty about it, and then post it on the internet, during a cultural shift away from prior societal norms.

I think I prefer 2, then 1.

3 is only acceptable, if and only if, the Ass-grabber is still in your life, or has some degree of power or control over you.

rhhardin said...

Glutean free.

Richard Dolan said...

Shades of the Al Gore "no controlling legal authority" defense. Didn't work out all that well the first time either.

Drago said...

Unknown: "I’m not hit all all. I said Franken should resign several days ago."

Safe in the knowledge that he will never resign, and the media will not pressure him to resign, and, in the end, his accusers will be trashed as you and your lefty pals have spend 3 decades trashing accusers of dems.

So, yes, its wonderful you are on Althouseblog saying Franken should resign....(wink wink).

rehajm said...

Ass grab defense.

Drago said...

Bay Area Guy: "Celebrity Ass-grabbin' continues. What is the proper protocol for such ass-grabbin?"

1) Lefty grabs rear ends...and alot more. Sometimes much much more.
2) Victim knows entire industries of leftists/media types/Dem lawyers/former intelligence agencies goon squads exist to attack them if they go public so they shut up
3) Eventually, a few of the victims gather sufficient courage to expose this army of dems/leftists
4) Army of dems/leftists attack them, blackball them, send goons after them, offer them hush money
5) Larger army of leftists and LLR allies find any conservative/republican/non-lefty anywhere to make the "face" of abuse for political purposes and the media/lefties/LLR allies go all in on that front

This is where we are today.

rehajm said...

I can smack heem, I can poosh heem, I can kick heem in the grion and I can grab hees bomm so we can see how it feels...

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The far lefties are hoping Franken will resign so they can replace him with anti-Semitic Keith Ellison. They probably thought that boob-grabber pic was enough to do him in. They didn't reckon with the resistance they would get from the Senate and the media (oh, the media likes Ellison, but they really love Franken.) Hence, a new charge has surfaced.

Anybody appointed to Franken's seat will be awful. But at the same time, I'm not sorry to see that smarmy election-thief in hot water.

Drago said...

I have a feeling that Senator Gropey McGroperson-Tonguey will be around for at least another 4 years.

There is no doubt continuous back-channel communication between Franken and the other dems/LLR's where Franken is assured he will never be pushed out but that politically other dems/LLR's will have to call on him to resign (wink wink)

But all the back-door deals have already been cut.

Drago said...

Can anyone tell me what time the lefties will be holding a "Hold Him Accountable"-p****-hat rally outside of Frankens office?

I mean, it's gotta be coming, right?

The Godfather said...

So if it’s not “criminal sexual conduct”, what is it? You’re not telling me that ass-grabbing is LEGAL in Minnesota are you?

Earnest Prole said...

Franken’s grope may not be a crime, but if it’s not the very definition of rape culture, I don’t know what is.

Bay Area Guy said...

Trump talked about gals letting him "grab 'em by the pussy."

Franken grabbed titty, photographed it to humiliate the gal and then grabbed ass.

I think Franken loses here to Trump in the "Boys will be boys" olympiad.

BTW, I am STILL in favor of young men re-learning how to ask pretty women out on real dates, how to execute a nice date, and how to induce the pretty women to permit certain intimate touching, above and beyond mere ass-grabbin'

Generally, I am opposed to ass-grabbin' both on moral grounds and on efficiency grounds - and celebrity gropers like Weird Al Franken greatly reinforce my position.:)

Drago said...

"I think Franken loses here to Trump in the "Boys will be boys" olympiad"

Nonsense.

Why, even Lena Dunham couldn't keep up the Inga-like fakery when it came to an accusation against one of her lefty pals.

The entire left has been lying about all of this for decades and its all just a big lie now. To believe the left has changed you would have to believe that the lefties have decided to play by their own rules, and the lefties will never do that.

Ever.

TWW said...

Hot damn. I've already changed our vacation for next year.

MikeR said...

@Fernandistien 'The poor little dears were so traumatized that "They invited Franken and Davis to a party" being sexually abused.'
If someone rapes someone else, and the second person afterward says she enjoyed it and doesn't mind, you'd be okay with the first person in the Senate? That's sexual abuse; it may not be criminal without the victim pressing charges, but it's illegal and immoral. It was clear from the story that the whole _point_ of the skit was that the women had not in any way consented to what the men were doing to them.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Drago,

I forgot to add that Lena Dunham, who is not likely to be a viable target for ass-grabbin', has been declared a racist by her one African-American writer

They call it "Hipster racism."

I like that label. There are a boatload of "Hipster racists" in Northern California.

n.n said...

Franken seems to have a history of molesting women, but that pales in comparison to molesting an unconscious woman, out of what may have been misogynistic spite.

n.n said...

Each day there is progress from the twilight fringe and a baby step closer to the dawn of Christian religious/moral enlightenment.

Jersey Fled said...

NfL may want to reconsider having super bowl in Minnesota as it appears women will not be safe there.

I propose Mexico City as an alternative site.

Anonymous said...

Ted Kennedy killed a woman while a sitting Senator. Nothing will happen to Franken.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Jersey Fled said...

I propose Mexico City as an alternative site.

Field goal kickers would approve.

Bob Loblaw said...

I forgot to add that Lena Dunham, who is not likely to be a viable target for ass-grabbin', has been declared a racist by her one African-American writer

Bah. Dunham is repulsive, but if you haven't been declared a racist at some point, nobody's ever heard of you.

Kevin said...

Can this now be known as "The Franken Rule"?

Seriously, CNN just told every woman in MN who had her ass grabbed by Franken not to come forward because she didn't experience anything illegal.

That is the ultimate effect, and they know it.

'TreHammer said...

Maybe so, but I still want to see those MN State Fair pictures...you know, so that I can judge for myself...:-D

Kevin said...

Ted Kennedy killed a woman while a sitting Senator.

You have to factor the changing cultural norms. But then again the current Governor of Massachusetts is a Republican and likely wouldn't appoint someone who would vote lock-step with the Dems, so who are we kidding?

Drago said...

Bill Dobie: "Ted Kennedy killed a woman while a sitting Senator."

But he did it in an Inga-approved empathy-filled "good" way....

glenn said...

Be a lot less a** grabbing if the immediate result was “Keep your hands off me you fat creep” or a throat punch. Throat punching a US Senator might however land the puncher in Leavenworth.

Hmmm. I wonder if the perceived immunity from consequence is why creeps like Al go into politics. That would explain a lot.

Anthony said...

This has officially entered Creepy Witch Hunt stage. This is from CNN's report:
A woman says Sen. Al Franken inappropriately touched her in 2010, telling CNN that he grabbed her buttocks while taking a photo at the Minnesota State Fair.
..

Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old woman who now lives in Frisco, Texas, reached out to CNN on Thursday hours after Tweeden made her story public. Menz said she wanted to share an "uncomfortable" interaction that left her feeling "gross."


So I guess now anyone can be forced out of their job for making someone else "feel gross"?

Well, I mean, you know, after we recognize the various hierarchies involved (only liberal women are to be believed).

MayBee said...

She's been Taylor Swifted.

Trumpit said...

Instead of, or in addition to, ballet class send your boys and girls to martial arts classes. They need to know how to deal with an attacker, and ballet won't cut the mustard. These attackers, mostly males, need a karate chop or a swift kick in the balls. If he tries to kiss you, dislocate his arm from the socket. Cause him pain, intense pain that he won't soon forget.

Drago said...

Trumpit: "These attackers, mostly males, need a karate chop or a swift kick in the balls. If he tries to kiss you, dislocate his arm from the socket. Cause him pain, intense pain that he won't soon forget."

Bill Clinton would be an invalid.

And you would have been screaming for the death penalty for any female who had the temerity to stand up to a lefty hero.

Howard said...

Lets play the popular new blog game Prude or Perv and try to guess the D or R status. Wash, rinse, repeat.

William said...

There's been a paucity of complaints against Franken. I don't attribute this to his exemplary behavior, but rather to the hurdles confronting someone wishing to confront a liberal in a position of power and influence. Look how long and how much Weinstein and Kennedy got away with. I don't see any good liberal pinchees coming forward to denounce Franken.

William said...

I think Mike Sylvester at 10:00 am makes some good points, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for action to be taken.

Jim at said...

The Al Franken stuff is boring and tedious.

It may be.

But until the left gets tired of being bludgeoned by the same rules they wish to enforce upon everybody else - and starts acting like rational human beings again - this is how it shall be.

Rules for all, or rules for none.

Jim at said...

These attackers, mostly males, need a karate chop or a swift kick in the balls.

I see.

Deer hunters need to be shot through the heart with an arrow.
Those intending to commit sexual assault need to be karate chopped or kicked.

Interesting set of values you have there.

tim in vermont said...

Slap that leaves a red mark on the cheek finishes it on the spot, woman doesn't walk around angry, man learns his lesson. Would have worked on Grandpa Bush, too.

tim in vermont said...

CNN did a story that tiny fingers really do mean what was implied. If they need something to be so for partisan advantage, they just dial up a story.

n.n said...

I don't attribute this to his exemplary behavior, but rather to the hurdles confronting someone wishing to confront a liberal in a position of power and influence.

Maybe. Or, it could be they were molested while unconscious, and they have no memory of the violation. According to some, that's a lesser offense.

n.n said...

Slap that leaves a red mark on the cheek finishes it on the spot...

A quick rap on the nose, or perhaps a squirt gun to discourage persistent offenders.

Down boy! Sit. Good boy.

tim in vermont said...

Meanwhile, Merkel looks like toast and Keystone XL gets final approval. But tweets...

tim in vermont said...

And Clinton's wiener has gotten him in hot water again.

Trumpit said...


"Deer hunters need to be shot through the heart with an arrow."

I generally agree with that sentiment. Especially if I were born a deer.

Drago said...

Trumpit: "I generally agree with that sentiment. Especially if I were born a deer."

Find me just one deer who agrees with that sentiment.

tim in vermont said...

Trumpit is apparently a vegan. Being a locavore hunter still does not meet his high moral standards! Can anybody think of a more climate friendly way to get meat than hunting it? Perhaps he is a "fruititarian" only eating things like fruit that the plant offers up willingly? No honey from enslaved bees! No milk from enslaved cows! After all, they have to sell the male calves for veal, as they are otherwise economically worthless, until they find a way to separate the male from the female sperm, I guess, there will be killing involved in making ice cream and yogurt.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...


"Deer hunters need to be shot through the heart with an arrow."

Just let the deer try shooting the hunters though the heart with an arrow! Ha, ha, deer, no opposable thumbs for you! Sucks to be you!

Howard said...

Trumpit gets wish more often that she is aware:
Wisc. Deer Hunters Die

tim in vermont said...

Here is a story to give liberals cognitive dissonance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/5289118/Woman-hunter-kills-elephant-with-bow-and-arrow.html

Who do I root for? The plucky woman, showing guys how it's done? Or the elephant, heartlessly hunted for sport?

Howard said...

What comes around, goes around, Trumpit
14 Nor Cal Hunters hospitalized in Death Struggle with Prey

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

tim in vermont said:

Trumpit is apparently a vegan.

What Trumpit is loony, but he's not a vegan, he's proud of his inability to provide for himself in any way that doesn't involve buying prepared food from Safeway. He thinks it's better for people to eat Big Macs rather than venison. He was mocking the idea of self-sufficiency yesterday by asking people "do you make your own jelly?" Hey, Trumpit some of us do make homemade jam - and bread. Some people do eat veggies they grow themselves. Some people make beer and wine and cheese - all by themselves! And some prefer to go out and kill their meat themselves rather than picking up a package wrapped in plastic at the supermarket.

You'd think lefties would be all for that sort of thing.

tim in vermont said...

Homemade jelly is great! Make a great lot of apply jelly from apples picked yourself from your own yard, then flavor it with blueberries, elderberries, currents, whatever you have. Some homemade elderberry jelly on a still warm from the oven crust of homemade bread, with butter that melts as you spread it and mixes with the jelly.

You know what else is really delicious? Eggs from your own chickens that are allowed to eat bugs and baby mice, frogs, earthworms, whatever they run across, they really are like mini T-Rexes, supplemented with food that does not have to be approved by some accountant, like cracked corn. Why should the crows and robins get all the benefit of the earthworms in my yard? Why not convert them into eggs using chickens?

City life has its charms, but it doesn't have all of the charms, just a lot of bigots who believe it does.

Caligula said...

I don't doubt that some CNN reporters to deflect accusations from Franken, but, is it really all that unreasonable to maintain a bright line between behavior that is criminal and behavior that is merely boorish?

tim in vermont said...

but, is it really all that unreasonable to maintain a bright line between behavior that is criminal and behavior that is merely boorish?

Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander. Before Franken was accused, just asking the question would have gotten you labeled a misogynist hereabouts by our resident lefties. But since it's not illegal, I am sure that mass transit in Minnesota just became a much nicer place after publicizing the fact!

tim in vermont said...

I am sure Laslo's Man Who Likes to Grab Asses has his bus ticket already, and will be checking out fellow passengers and watching for the state line!

tim in vermont said...

Any woman now who is groped on a subway in Minneapolis will be "taking one for the team" because, well it is very important that such a strong voice for women remain in the Senate!

tim in vermont said...

Maybe Grandpa Bush would like to move there! Know your place ladies! We are all cogs I a big machine, and you must: Know. your. Place!

Trumpit said...

"What Trumpit is loony,"

I won't engage in trading insults with the murderous, Charlie Manson-like likes of you. I stand up for all deer, all animals, barbarically killed by cruel & sadistic hunters and you stand up for the scum of the earth like Trump. He's not salt-of-the-earth country folk, so why do you support his gilded lifestyle, and his horrible, ridiculous presidency?

JAORE said...

"But all the back-door deals.."

Calling Dr. Laslo, stat!

Drago said...

I'll bet Trumpit has no qualms whatsoever with the harvesting of unborn human baby body parts.

Biotrekker said...

Why didn't the woman or her low-T husband do anything about it at the time?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Clinton/Menendez/Weinstein/Franken 2020

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

because the law does not apply to corrupt democrats. woo hoo!

tim in vermont said...

He's not salt-of-the-earth country folk,

At least he pretends to care, which is more than Democrats do now, sucking up to the mega donors in Hollywood and the Silicon Vally. He does a pretty good job of seeming to authentically care about working people too. I loved that he went to Pennsylvania, instead of the Democrat's, err, I mean, the White House Correspondents Dinner.

I think he actually does care, and it would be pretty difficult for you to prove me wrong, after your party ran Hillary "Let's get rid of coal jobs", "basket of Deplorables" Clinton.

At least Bernie has shaken a working man's hand in his life where the handshake wasn't arranged by the party or a union,

tim in vermont said...

He is getting a lot done, too in his "ridiculous presidency" Appointing a lot of Federal Judges, now that the stubborn resistance of the sore losers in the Senate has been steamrollered. Rolling back regulations, stock market doing great! Economy doing great!

Maybe it will all fall apart tomorrow, but if things continue as they are today, he coasts to re-election. What has been ridiculous is the Russia witch-hunt, which is going nowhere except blowing up on the Clintons, just like the sexual harassment claims did.

Fabi said...

"I won't engage in trading insults with the murderous, Charlie Manson-like likes of you."

The quickest breach of promise on record.

tim in vermont said...

Eight women have told The Washington Post that longtime television host Charlie Rose made unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.

Good to know that the groping of the buttocks won't be counts against him!

Charlie Fucking Rose! The guy always struck me as an obsequious idiot.

tim in vermont said...

A colloquial term for "genital area" on a woman is "pussy."

Rabel said...

Is there a media personality alive who is more sanctimonious than Charlie Rose? I'd have to put him at the top of the list.

Kevin said...

Bill Clinton would be an invalid.

Bill Clinton would be protected by his security detail. In the absence of a jury verdict against him for assault, the woman would be convicted of the same charge.

wwww said...

Charlie Fucking Rose!


Charlie Rose?!? Charlie? ROSE??? Wow.

wwww said...



This is all like that episode of Happy Days when Richie found out his dad was taking clients to the strip club.
-twitter Brian Koppleman

Michael K said...

Earth to Inga, these womn told someone about the abuse at the time.

or all of the women, reporters interviewed friends, colleagues or family members who said the women had confided in them about aspects of the incidents. Three of the eight spoke on the record.

See how that works, Inga ?

Of course not.

Michael K said...

why do you support his gilded lifestyle, and his horrible, ridiculous presidency?

I've never stayed in his hotel. He's not a politician so I didn't support him with my taxes like the Clintons.

I think trumpit is about to have a breakdown.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Trumpit, I wasn't raised on nor do I live on a farm, but my dad grew up on one. Here's something for you to ponder next time you munch on your storebought salad - many animals died so you could have that salad.

Farmers shoot deer on their property. Also foxes (to keep them from killing chickens and eating eggs), voles, raccoons, and rabbits. Constantly. They wouldn't have a crop if they didn't kill animals. How many field mice and snakes and chipmunks are ground up in those combines? Lots of death goin' on in them killing fields so you can buy tomatoes and lettuce at Safeway. Even organic farmers have to do so, although I'm sure they don't mention that at the farmer's market to dumb vegan bunnyhuggers.

So I guess the only thing left for you to do, trumpit, is live on tree bark. Maybe the North Koreans have some recipes for you.