Ugh… I like what Franken has done for our state but I hate this. I get it was a different era and that he was a comedian but still… Do I think he should be forced to resign? Not in this instance. I think/hope he has matured and realizes how wrong he was and he has worked for some positive change. I was sexually harassed in the 70’s/80’s so I know how it felt to me. It is awful. His apology is just a first step. We need to change the culture.
Bye-bye Al Franken. Sheesh! 
You could say this about many of the harassers e.g. Moore. Making excuses.
@Midwest67: I’m having flashbacks to all the times, when I was a restaurant server, where I was expected to be able to “take a joke”, a sexual joke of course, from men, directed at me, or women in general.
In 1980 I worked for a woman executive chef that owned 4 thriving restaurants in Los Angeles - one day she came to my restaurant and handed the female employees a stack of business cards that read “Congratulations! You have officially insulted a woman. This card has been chemically treated. In 3 days your peni$ will fall off.” She also taught us the statement “If a man had said that I’d have been insulted!” and told us she would 110% support any of us who needed to hand out the card or say the line. And yes, I had to use both. In fact I STILL use the line.
Franken has admitted fault and apologized. It may not be enough, but Moore has done neither of those things.
@“Cardinal Fang” Franken is sorry he got caught, nothing more.
I just binge watched Handmaids Tale. I’m angry. And I’m ready for a female revolution.
Sen. Gillibrand says the allegations against Franken are deeply concerning and she believes the accuser.
If it had just been the kiss, I would have agreed with you, but that photo is as “piggy” as you can get.
That’s the go-to for these guys, apparently.
After generations of this sort of behavior, I like this: “But that was then, this is now. I’m no longer afraid.”
Let’s see if ‘the tides, they are achangin.’ All this wait and now a floodgate is opened.
“Franken has admitted fault and apologized. It may not be enough, but Moore has done neither of those things.”
I agree with Cardinal Fang here. Franken’s apology is direct and straightforward; completely different from Moore’s reactions thus far. Also, can’t we all agree that the Franken event was a joke in poor taste, not an attack or assault? Franken’s antics were plainly high-school ish, that is, just plain dumb. Moore, on the other hand, is apparently a predator; a repeat predator at that.
This is true, and quite a bit of it has been helpful to women. For example, he had amendments to the Violence Against Women Act that ensured victims don’t have to pay for rape kits and another to prevent housing discrimination against domestic-violence victims. He’s done work to get funding for Zika virus research, And worked on plenty of other legislation that improves women’s lives overall, like mental health and health care legislation.
I doubt he will step down over this, and I honestly think MN will probably re-elect him if this is the only instance that comes up. But we will see if it is.
I don’t agree with that assessment. He forced a tongue kiss on her and groped her while she was sleeping - in front of others who presumably laughed along. Hell no.
ETA - it’s not rape (or attempted rape), but it’s definitely sexual harassment at minimum.
Agreed. His apology was tepid. Mitch McConnell has asked the Senate Ethics committee to investigate. Haven’t heard anything from the other side of the aisle.
Also, for what it’s worth…I was a bit shocked to watch the SNL skit a few years ago wherein one of the female cast members fondled Helen Mirren’s breasts. I would have been just as befuddled if a male had done it. Just didn’t think it was terribly funny.
I believe the Franken event was an assault. The victim thought so. And Franken was well over high school age when it happened, so no, I really don’t think we can dismiss this as a high school style prank
Legally, I think the accurate term for Franken’s antics is “battery” and not assault. A battery is any unwanted touching, is it not?
I’d like to hear from the photographer – was the woman really asleep? Hearing rumblings that she wasn’t and was in on it. Of course, she could have been truly asleep. Then it is bad behavior. If she was in on it, then it is more “bad taste”. And if it turns out she lied about being asleep, then I think that would cast a question on the credibility of the rest of the story. She is also a politically conservative commentator who has appeared on Hannity. Again, he may have behaved badly. But would like to hear from the photographer.
Al Franken’s history of truly tasteless sex jokes makes this all the more believable.