If it were a picture of Trump pretending to grope a woman's breasts, it would be all "Boys will be boys, or "locker room antics."
17
Ridiculous, riduculous article. PC’ism at its worst.
44
Thomas Jefferson had a sexual relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings. Should Jefferson be retroactively be stripped of the title of President?
20
Michelle - you had me all the way up until you said"...and the governor should appoint a woman to fill his seat." When is the last time a republican did what "should" be done, for the good of the country? When they ignored Obama's Supreme Court selection until their own President got into office? When they voted 50 times to kick 30 million people off of health care? When they vote to give huge tax breaks to millionaires, at the expense of the middle class? This governor is more likely to put a white male in to that Senate seat who will tow the Trump line. No, I say Franken should stay, and fight like hell to show the difference between a joke photo-op gone wrong, and sexually molesting a 14 year old.
20
Circular firing squad.
21
Sorry, Al, you must resign.
3
It is a rare day when I will take a side with Rush Limbaugh, but this sort of extreme and extremist thinking is what gave rise to the notion of the "Feminazi." To use one photo of a tasteless and vulgar attempt at humor and place Franken in the ranks of the serial rapists and pedophiles that the Republicans are doing their best to defend is the height of irresponsibility. Have you lost your Jacobin mind? Do you really want a Reign of Terror? Do you remember what happened to Robespierre? Just when women's complaints are finally being given credibility you want to risk it all with this "off with ALL their heads" mentality. I have generally found your columns to be over the top and I think this is the last one I will bother to read.
42
Michelle is playing right into the GOP's hands ~ throw the spotlight on Franken equating his stupid immature photo and a practice kiss to pedophilia. Then force him out so that the GOP has an even stronger position in the Senate so they can pass more misogynistic laws and throw more women off of health care.
38
This feminist feeding frenzy has gone way too far.
20
Goodbye, Al. Your clay feet gotcha
1
Do you hear yourself?..!!! Michele and all the other Slate 12 year olds demand Al Franken hang himself for the terrible crime of being silly. You believe the woman Trumpster who models for playboy and says she was humiliated by Franken. Leeann ate boys like Al for breakfast in high school. She more than comfortable with the bazooms Franken mocks in the photo of his hands almost touching her. Yes. Put Franken in jail why don’t you you self righteous mother of political correctness. If What Franken did in the picture is a crime then all men are guilty.
34
I will accept Frankens resignation when Trump resigns. I will accept Frankens resignation when republicans in Alabama demand that Roy Moore drop out and no one votes for him if he does not. I will accept Frankens resignation when YOU, Michelle Goldberg, and the rest of super PC crowd, resign.
I am tired of left wing commentators demanding every Democratic politician must be 100 percent pure in every way while the right wingers are electing Nazi sympathizers and KKKers. The fact that Franken has been a champion of women while Senator is not good enough for the PC crowd. Could it be that women on the left want NO MEN in political office? Feminism run amuck. Be careful what you wish for...or we will have republicans running everything and you can take your PC attitudes and stuff them.
33
I mean the guy was being immature and clumsy. He's done a great deal for women according to this author. Resign?? Really? what an extremist Goldberg is. Replace all the men with women huh? As if that would make the world a better place? Have you seen how tough women can be on each other? Are they just a better version of the Homo Sapien? Didn't men give us our constitution? The concepts called Liberalism, self determniatinon and democracy? Are we all so bad? The photo is "disgusting"? No it's not. It's immature and embarrassing maybe. You are definitely over reaching Goldberg and disgusting those of us in the middle with your lack of perspective and charity. People like you are so good at voicing what you are against but terrible at defining what you'd replace the ashes with.
26
Franken should not simply resign. He should be forced out by an open vote in the senate. Better yet, by a vote in both the House and Senate. The same should happen to Roy Moore if he's seated.
The voting should be a public affirmation that each and every representative or senator has upheld the laws of this nation, including sexual harassment statutes, in compliance with his/hers oath of office. By casting a vote to expel Franken, the member would also have to swear they were not guilty of the same behavior.
The swamp runs deep in DC and there's a lot of scum in that bloody mire. If Congress wants to clean house, that's fine, but they should weed out all the bad actors in their midst, not just the latest ones to be called out. The same standard should apply to all government employees, from the lowliest summer intern, right on up to the White House.
One must earn the right to serve. So let them prove their worth.
2
Is there some reason why Clarence Thomas is getting a pass in all this sexual harassment news?
31
You have to be kidding. This is like the false equivalence between climate change science and climate change deniers. And the response of Senator Franken (for something before he was a Senator) is also starkly different. The damning photo, while in poor taste, is not exactly salacious, either. Get a life, Ms. Goldberg.
26
Can we move beyond Victorian Era Sexual Mores?
5
Forcing his tongue into her mouth deserved a slap. As quietly without protest. a comedian touching her breasts for a photo was disgusting. Sadly that sick photo idea of a joke does not seem to be such abnormal behavior at the time for a comedian. Demanding his resignation today seems to me too harsh. He is decent enough that he would likely go without protest. He is no Roy Moore.
6
Ms Goldberg, you absolutely had me convinced, your logic flawless, until the very last sentence. That’s where you blew it.
6
Let's be very clear.
Al Franken did NOT "grope" anyone.
Al Franken MIMED groping a sleeping woman protected by a heavy flack jacket that would make it impossible to grope her. That was the point of the joke.
It was obviously meant to be funny but was in terrible taste and entirely inappropriate. But using terms like "grope" to turn this into something that is even close to being what real assault victims experience is absurd.
The right wing propaganda trolls have won. And American democracy has lost. And once again, the NY Times proves it is happy to help the right wing with their hit jobs.
33
Circular firing squad. Knife in a gun fight. Only the good die young. How many more do you want?
5
"[T]he picture is utterly dehumanizing."
How absurd to put a stupid gesture in the same category as torture, genocide, slavery.
22
Sorry, Al Franken, but you need to go back into Entertainment.
Your act is becoming a clown circus just like the guy in the White House.
Really - he should resign because a NYT journalist found the photo so disturbing?
Well, I didn't find it so disturbing, so he shouldn't resign -- not unless he has a history of force-kissing women.
The photo was stupid and in horrible taste, but it's not even clear that he's touching her, much less groping her. Take another look. Also, arrange to see a real-live flak jacket and ask yourself if anything could be groped through it.
Ask any veteran-- if you want to get up-close and personal, you must first remove your flak jacket
28
I assume this piece is a satire, right?
13
Not does this column have to feeling of overkill but of an anti-male campaign.
14
Leean Tweeden has 100’s of published photos of her baring his breasts to titilate. She used her breasts as sexual objects and that was Frankens pictorial joke. It was dumb and bad, but it’s hard to call this a “grope”.
The kiss was part of the skit so a kiss was consensual, but clearly he took advantage of it, went way too far, and grossed her out. She had every right to be angry.
Each of these situations is different. Moore, Trump and Weinstein are on another planet. Of course Franken should keep his seat.
30
Ms Goldberg I wonder if your life is so pure as the driven snow. Shall we demand your resignation from whatever position you hold for something stupid you've done in the past? I always suspect people that demand extreme punishments.
20
I am ashamed that the New York Times, in publishing this op-ed, would compare a joke photo in which he obviously is NOT touching her, to any of the other instances of sexual harassment in the news which either involve threatening the livelihood of the victims, or plying underage people with massive amounts of liquor and then touching them sexually. Let's wait for Sen. Franken's version of the rehearsal of the kiss.
19
Goldberg' columns reflect her inexperienced dogmatic point of view. She is a purist, let's condemn all men regardless of the circumstances of their transgression. This witch hunt attitude supports a fervor in the style of the horrific witch trials or lynching. Gin up the mob, equivalence be damned, make an example at any cost, disregard justice and sources, make all victims equal (even when they announce their trauma with a smirk on FOX). Then when the fervor expires, be ashamed and do nothing. Goldberg is a grandstander and we all get hurt.
17
I think Ms Goldberg should keep her thoughts to herself
13
If you call for senator Franklen to go , you should be screaming for Trump to go.
Where are your calls for all the others to go?
10
Only if Trump follows him...
Wrong. Franken must stay on for two reasons: 1) what he is alleged to have done is minor at worst, especially in the context, and 2) Tweeden is a known associate of Sean Hannity making it nearly certain that her charges are politically motivated. Sexual harassment is unacceptable, but so is using every minor transgression by a Democrat as an excuse for hysteria is as well. What we are seeing is clearly an organized witch hunt directed at liberal celebrities to distract from the very real crimes of the Trump administration. McCarthy is rejoicing in hell.
22
Yep, let's do a witch hunt -- let's go all in. If you've ever been an obnoxious, arrogant, "sexist" frat-boy, you need to go to ... well, to hades.
My dear ladies, I'm gay and so have no particular dog in this fight. But I gotta tell you that if you continue to persecute every "frat" guy who's ever done something obnoxious, arrogant and "sexist" then not only will there be a huge blow-back, well, maybe just maybe there'll be a whole lot more guys who figure you know what ... maybe gals just ain't worth it.
Hhmm, ok, I'm ok with that.
12
"Oh no, not Al Franken, too."
LOL
Sweet, carefully blinkered, "righteous" media.
The disappointing part of all this to see Franken --- not my kind of pol but not an idiot --- crumple like a cheap suit.
Who will, at last, raise a voice of sanity in the face of this lemming run?
7
Goldberg should go. Radical feminists are the cause of the sexual harrassment of women as they convinced women to be unpaid prostitutes and/or dress as though they were which gave men the green light to treat them like prostitutes. As a woman, I am disgusted by feminists who are responsible for degrading women, denying them their dignity, and destroying the morality of everyone.
3
A tasteless joke equated with assault? Not only is this a bizarre equivalence but I am astonished that this newspaper saw fit to publish this along with other opinions about the current tax plan, saudi arabia, polish anti semitism, and other matters. This is a tweet not deserving of space.
17
I know that this month it’s forbidden to question accusers.
But, exactly how did Republican trickster, Roger Stone, know about Leeann Tweeden before her announcement? Why did she falsely describe the photo as “groping?” Why was her description of the kiss so graphic and why did she omit the skit rehearsal context?
20
Excellent, savy political advice. Perhaps the Democrats should consider disbanding their party, historicaly rotten to its core with racism, classism, misogyny, warmongering and political curruption. Then they can't point to Democrats any more ito justify how bad they themselves are! That will teach them!
3
Boy, that's a quick trial and verdict. Let's have a criminal complaint, arrest and trial. But no, that won't happen. Because it shouldn't. A private citizen (not a senator) did something. Let the wheels of justice work. This article is nonsense; it's evil to try to wreck someone's life over something like this. Shame on you, Ms Goldberg.
16
Maybe he should but only to set an example to be followed.
I have followed and loved Al since the beginning on SNL his demeanor has always been that of a big old sloppy labrador full of play and sometimes a little too much. Al never seemed bodily fluid adverse unlike his early partner in comedy.
Can I see him being too much and slobbering on a woman in a goofy way?
Yea..
Can I see people making more of it than it is? Yea.
If he leaves America will be the looser.
6
He stole that senate seat with illegal and fraudulent votes. And his “win” gave us Obamacare. The upshot is that Trump, as a Republican, nearly won MN. I think the last Republican to win MN was Nixon.
He should go. As should Menendez. And McConnel needs to step down as SML
1
It looks like Ms. Tweeden is wearing a flak jacket, an armored article of clothing. Doesn't armor protect you from "groping"?
11
Who needs enemies when you can shoot yourself in the foot?
11
Way out of line, Ms. Goldberg. You are simply wrong here.
17
Michele's recomnendation is idiotic ....thus I'm forced to conclude, Michele plays with less than a full deck.
13
Yes, let’s remove one of the few remaining defenders of American ideals and our personal freedoms because of a dubious photo and accusations from a single Fox News operative. And let’s do it while an admitted serial sexual predator sits in the White House unscathed.
I was just digesting the horrible Republican tax bill yesterday when this news broke. Then I read Ms. Goldberg’s absurd column. And then I took yet another peek at at the web site outlining requirements for Canadian citizenship.
America has truly gone mad.
21
Michelle Goldberg - realize when you're recommending that we burn down our house.
9
Go where ? To the White House ?
8
didn't you just become judge jury & executioner? I'm sorry but right now there are so many stories relating to this one that I would refrain from saying he is guilty.... here's what I've read so far:
Roger Stone announced that "something" would be exposed at 1AM that morning
She works for a rightwing radio station.. ?
She immediately accepted his apology
The photo was staged and she shared it ... she is in a bullet proof vest.. I believe it is a joke gone bad
I also read that the kiss was rehearsed prior to the show...
So until I really know what happened I will refrain from judgment and possibly you should too
13
As a Republican strategist last year, I was told that if you are going to comment on the NY Times or WaPs comment boards, you need to declare that you are a liberal or a Democrat to give weight to your attacks against Hillary.
I left the Republican party because I thought that was scuzzy.
I see a lot of people have not.
7
The pigs are on both sides of the political aisle. There is no excuse for this.
Time to do the right thing Al - and pack it in. Of course, I feel the same way about the dope from Alabama. And let's add Zeke of the Dallas Cowboys to the resignation team.
Pure hypocritical sanctimonious false-equivalent hogwash.
I've come to expect nothingless.
9
Frank(en)ly, the photo degrades Franken, not Tweeden. He is the one who really looks stupid. I think she should feel empowered not degraded.
2
Maybe I am missing something but I am not so upset by that photo. Obviously it is in poor taste but it reminds me of stupid pranks like drawing a penis on someones face when they pass out in college. Not acceptable and of course they were grown ups not college kids but this reaction seems over the top and I say that as a woman and someone who has never shied from the term feminist. I am thrilled by the surge in reporting of sexual harassment in the passed few months and I truly hope this represents a turning point but I see danger of over reach which weakens the cause. This editorial strikes that cord with me. Now, if other harassment charges come out about him and a pattern (credible - I am looking at you Melanie Morgan) of behavior in this vein emerges then by all means he needs to go.
6
Al Franken acknowledged his mistake and apologized to this person, and she accepted his apology today on CNN. Asking him to resign for this is a complete overreaction.
Frankly, I am very disappointed in you Michelle. You sound like some kind of zealot on this. NYT opinion page needs people who are more balanced in their writings. You are new here and my advice to you is to take a deep breath and control yourself in the future. I hope you improve and survive at the NYT.
13
If this happened (photo of a male employee doing this to a sleeping female employee) in a company I worked at, I would expect the bum to be fired and happen if he was.
NO. He should not go. You (all) should get off your puritanical purity parade and honestly cope with false equivalencies.
17
Replace him with a woman? What??
Good Lord - He should not resign over this. He's one of the few people with a brain in that DC morass.
15
This is an instance where the person agrieved has placed a limit on the punishment to be administered. Is it time yet for common sense to overrule the knee jerk of political correctness in America? Stones and glass houses, stones and glass houses.
5
No, I don't think Al Franken should go. I think Michelle Goldberg, Roxanne Gay and other divisive feminist extremists should go. Or is the NYTimes determined to split liberals into vying factions of "identity politics" and send white male voters to the GOP? Sure looks that way to me.
18
Look at the photo, Michelle! He is pretending to grab! Not grabbing! It’s a joke, and was made when he was a comedian. The recently made video of the “victim” talking (on a radio talk show, in full makeup and blowout) about herself and all her overseas tours and about Al is totally self-aggrandizing.
Word to the wise: Knee jerk responses pull groins.
13
Franken publicly holding his hands to pretend to touch breasts (through a flack vest) is in any way comparable to Trump or Moore or Weinstein’s behavior? Tasteless joke equals rape? Really?
16
So I am sawing the branch behind me on this one:
Does it matter that Tweeden was a birther and regular on Sean Hannity? Is that part of this story?
13
Goldberg should go. There's only one feminist in that "disgusting, indelible photograph" and it's not the right-wing noise machine's new pin-up girl.
15
Oh. Because of a stupid, PUBLIC joke, and the way Republicans might very well use it as a weapon, we should dump an excellent public servant.
When are the Purity Police gonna learn?
13
Your request that Franken be replaced by a woman underscores your own bias.
12
I like Canada's laws on sexual abuse: there are four specific gradations of the offenses. The U.S. is a bipolar society that ping=pongs between licentiousness and puritanism. We need to moderate our responses, and mete out gradations of punishment.
That said, it is clear and will become clearer that we are experiencing a third feminist movement (or fourth, depending how you count them from the 1840s to the present). The women's march the day after the Inauguration initiated it. The recent state elections underscored it. If Moore is defeated, it will be women in Alabama who defeat him.
This is the first generation that has allowed women to aspire to just about any profession, career, or job. They are finding that their new workplaces are a Procrustean fit, because the workplace is designed by men and for men and the ceiling barely has a few cracks in it. What women want now is the power that goes along with achieved positions. They want to take that power and institute policies that women consider most important: control over their own bodies, financial independence, adequate care and education for their children, and a SAFE environment in which they can navigate by themselves without fear.
Men and women are highly evolved animals and the urge to merge will not be denied. However, sex and the workplace never mix. That is rule no. 1. Hell hath no fury like a woman dominated and demeaned by a man who considers her only an object of fulfillment of his sexual urges.
1
This column is very weak. There is no reason at this point for Al Franken to resign.
11
Is there more to the groping the the photo? Since in the photo she is wearing a flak jacket, and his hands are not even touching her. (You can see space between his hands and her body if you look closely). Poor taste for sure. Not funny at all. But was there more to it than this?
4
Al Franken can go...if Clarence Thomas goes. Deal?
Otherwise....no.
And while you're at it, why not google Scott DesJarlais, R-TN, who voted today to overhaul the tax code?
"In October 2012 the Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a recorded September 2000 phone conversation in which DesJarlais pressured a mistress to get an abortion. Nine days before the general election a second woman came forward to state that she began dating DesJarlais while she was his patient. She alleged that the two smoked marijuana together and that he prescribed pain medications for her while at his house.
Two weeks after DesJarlais won the 2012 election, the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained a full transcript of DesJarlais's 2001 divorce proceedings.The transcript revealed that DesJarlais had admitted under oath to at least six sexual relationships with people he came in contact with while he was chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee. Among them were three co-workers, two patients and a drug representative."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_DesJarlais
Are you calling for his snap resignation also, Ms. Goldberg? Or is he OK because there are no photos? Please let us know.
"Republicans, never particularly eager to hold their own to account, will use Franken to deflect from more egregious abuse on their own side, like what Trump and Roy Moore are accused of."
Well, you're not holding them to account - so why would they? Do you even realize this?
13
I totally support the reasoned calling out and legal action against active serial harassers who wouldn't have been stopped otherwise - O'Reilly, Weinstein, Spacey, etc. Yet, with the type of behavior by Franken that happened years ago and may not be properly contexted - well the whole situation is barreling out of control akin to the McCarthy Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials.
Such progressive PC overreach, with their secular moralizing and non-denominational puritanical judging, is exactly the type of elitist behavior that has disgusted middle America. Yet, we wind up with liberals so baffled that we elect Donald Trump over the prissy Hillary Clinton and her ilk?
Keep it up liberals - you're digging your own graves.
10
Yeah....it's crude...and a little sophomoric -- but look closely -- I know what he was trying to do....but it doesn't even look like he's touching he fabric...
Hard to believe that she was "disgusted, felt violated, humiliated" -- doubt it's any worse that some of the photo shoots she took in day's past...and she's not even asking for his removal from office....
7
Who's next, Bob Hope?
6
When you still "thought there were good guys"? Wow, is this the time to hear from the many millions of them? Or from the millions of women who were never assaulted by them or by anyone else?
I never cared for Franken though my wife thought he was funny. For me he was a just continuation of the outrageous Animal House humor of the Sixties. When I saw the photo of him cupping her flack jacket and mugging the camera, I thought 'grow up idiot'. But it was ten years ago and judging from his heart felt apology perhaps he's finally grown up.
For a better understanding, I watched his victim, Leann, and CNN's Jake Tapper discuss the unwanted kiss that lasted 4 seconds and the photo of her being groped. Bad taste, poor judgement. Sad. But I felt for all the victims of sexual assault, women, girls and boys, men, who must be sitting back and saying; "Really? Interview me and I will tell you a story."
And Leann? Sorry that you took ten years to come out about this assault but you should have slapped the pudgy creep in the face back then, or had your husband do it later when you two "ran into him at a party", instead of keeping the hurt over that unwanted kiss bottled up so long. The CNN interview seemed to go on forever, milked to the point where I found myself thinking; Can I make a case for a friend's girlfriend who reached over (years ago) and gave me an unwanted sloppy wet kiss? Can I go on CNN? I am still pretty disgusted when I think back...
14
Perhaps we should just execute everyone who shoplifts once in a moment of bad judgement too. After all, what's the difference between them and Bernie Madoff? If you don't execute every onetime petty shoplifter, you must support bilking millions of people of their entire savings since both are theft and both are bad.
12
im not sure........is there more? i don't see this as groping teen age girls, or asking a staffer to your house and greeting her in a towel that you drop.
7
So let me get this straight. Jean Valjean and Jack the Ripper walk into Michelle Goldberg's bar. She says "I'm sorry we don't serve criminals here, you'll both have to leave". Jean Valjean leaves....
14
Let's start with trump. Fish stinks from the head down.
5
What planet do you live on? We are in a battle with political evil so to throw Franken to the wolves makes little sense given that the crime is not proved. Tweeden is wearing a flak jacket, the photo is posed. Agreed it is in poor taste now but not then. Put the noose away.
13
You must be kidding. Have you forgotten that a man who professed to sexual harassment was elected President?
So how would sacrificing Senator Franken change anything?
He didn't touch her breasts, you can see the shadows of his fingers in the photo. Aside from that, the photographer said Ms. Tweeden was feigning sleep and in on the joke.
12
Following Michelle Goldberg's logic and suggestion that he be replaced by a woman, perhaps we need a law that bans men from writing Artificial Intelligence programs for robots.
3
Just as it is dangerous to equate every stupid, horrible action with the Nazis it is wrong to equate an over zealous rehearsal skit kiss with sexual assault. This is insane and an injustice to women who have actually been sexually assaulted.
I am surprised at Ms. Goldberg.
14
The photo is pretty funny, once you get over all that faux outrage.
6
This columnist makes complete sense. As much as I like Al Franken, he must resign.
Meanwhile, Clarence Thomas is still on the bench and Trump, who got 53% 0f the women's vote, is still in the White House...
11
First, in the interest of full disclosure: I love Al Franken and have greatly admired him and his political humor for a long, long time. As a Senator, he has truly come into his own. Second, I understand Michelle Goldberg's points and grant that most of what she says is valid. What I can not accept is her lack of proportionality. Compare Trump's clearly admitted actions on the Access Hollywood tape, his denials of any of the more than a few claims assault against him, his denigration of his accusers, and so on to Franken's actions on that USO tour. Just try to compare them. And then, if I thought that Franken's removal or resignation would lead to Trump's owning up to the accusations against him, much less his removal, I could agree with Ms. Goldberg. But there is not a chance in hell of that and she along with everyone else knows it. So, what would come of Franken following her recommendation? Beside lose one very strong and productive progressive voice for America? As Ms. Goldberg said, "It's not worth it."
3
I read the story and I thought Ms. Tweeden was naked in bed and
Mr. Franken snuck into her bedroom and placed his hands on her bare breasts
and he took a photograph...
If she is asleep, why is she wearing a helmet and wearing a flack jacket ?
Far more women have suffered far worse on the crowded Subway
and Busses - have they not ?
If we are going after people when does the hunt begin for Bill Clinton
who admitted in a Court of Law far worse behaviour ?
Seems like a mix of McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials.
9
A great woman should replace Al, and he should work for her.
Not sure posing with your hands over a woman's flak jacket constitutes sexual harassment.
9
I'd hoped to be voting for Franken for president in 2020. I'm 64; when I #MeToo, I catalogued at least 6 events, from hand on my breast to pulled in for a kiss to a Y swimmate insisting on sex to attempted rape at gunpoint. So I have my credentials. Ms. Goldberg, you sound like you're eversogleeful to your adherence to justice, both sides of the isle. When in fact, our legal system differentiates "touch" from "kiss" and predatory underage "if you tell they won't believe you." If you call for Franken's dismissal, use that condemnation to include Trump and Moore. Otherwise your indignation sounds political. Let him be sanctioned according to Senate rules.
I call for all elected officials to out themselves by Dec. 15, then finish their terms. Those who are outted after that will be dismissed immediately.
ps What Would Ted Kennedy, or JFK, or Roosevelt say?
3
To ask for franken to go while trump remains is both offensive and anti woman. Just stop bro!
7
Franken was an idiot for posing for that gag picture, not the least being a man with a family, so he'll have to "spend his time "in the barrel", as Roger Stone presaged in a tweet hours before the story broke. Tweeden's presentation in interviews is all wrong. Victims understandably show much emotion when recounting their experiences, in body language at the very least. Tweeden is cool, calm, collected and came across as scripted and rehearsed. I knew this was going to be an opportunity for dirty tricksters, which is a disgraceful injustice to the millions of victims, past, present and future.
9
Yes, Franken Should Go. If we give him a pass, jerks will start taking lewd photos of themselves posed with sleeping women on airplanes, then say "What's the big deal? I wasn't touching her! HarHarHar"
Democrats and feminists should never have given Bill Clinton a pass (and I've felt this way for 20 years). We really should not repeat that error.
Trump first. Then, Judge Thomas. The fish stinks from the head.
At least, Franken has admitted and taken responsibility for his crude actions. If he is investigated by ethics, then so should the "unnamed" reps who harrass interns. And, all cases of sexual misconduct paid for by taxpayers, should be revealed.
Cherry picking is not a policy of equality or justice. Names , please and end this fiasco.
Oh, and do not presume that God is a pervert and has chosen Moore.
3
Horrifying photo? Really? The backlash is already whipping forward, this infantalism of women is going to do to the word sexist what overwrought charges of racism did to the word racist, make it so no one knows what exactly is meant by that charge, and no one cares except the virtue signaling new Puritans of the left. Please stop this hysteria(yes, I said hysteria)...
9
Don't we all have stupid pictures in our drawers? I do. She's in a flak jacket and as far as I can tell his hands aren't even touching her, just pretending to. I also hear she's had this pic up in her office for a long time. Personally I don't think the pic is anything more than a dated weak joke. As for the kiss... please. Was he her boss? Was she underage? Did he do it a second time after she told him to back off? I believe Ms. Goldberg is attempting to grow a mountain from this mole hill.
14
Full disclosure - liberal white male here. About 15 years ago I was passed for promotion by my boss (let's call her Katie, big feminist), in favor of a much less qualified colleague, IMO, (let's call her Terry, another big feminist). I was told later by Terry that this was retribution for thousands of years of women suffering at the hand of men. I guess the solution is to have men suffer for the next few thousands years, to even things out.
P.S. In the years after this, Katie became a mom, and God gave her 3 boys, no girls. The End.
7
A "disgusting, indelible" photograph is of children dying of thirst during genocide. Ms. Goldberg must lead a very sheltered and privileged life indeed if she has the luxury of getting enraged about a ten year old photograph of a practical joke in poor taste.
12
This complaining that decades ago a famous powerful man touched my butt or my breast appears itself a drive for power and attention.
George Bush is a 90 year old man with a brain disease in a wheelchair. If I am in that position I will probably touch whatever looks good too. Eat off others plates as well.
Franken was a clown. A professional cut up and good off. Geez.
8
Most of the commenters here have passed judgment without even looking at the evidence. Even a cursory examination of the photograph shows that Franken is not even close to touching her breasts. It is just a rather juvenile act meant to be funny. No doubt if he had really groped her she would have awoken and landed a hard punch in his kisser!
8
Yes, Franken messed up by kissing the woman. By the picture. But be fessed up. He owned it. You don't see many others in the assault spotlight doing that.
Ok, know let's get onto the next sexual assault of the day!
2
What strikes me about some if the comments is that ultimately it's Hillary clinton's fault that these things happen.
3
Should Clarence Thomas be forced to resign?
6
Good grief, this is where zero tolerance leads: stupidity verging on madness in which all actions deemed unacceptable in the contemporary context are morally equivalent. Roy Moore molesting children is NOT morally equivalent to Al Franken behaving like a pig with an adult woman is NOT morally equivalent to Trump grabbing women’s genitalia and then not even having the courage to admit it, is NOT morally equivalent to Harvey Weinstein abusing his position of genuine power and going as far as raping women, as has been alleged. Get a grip...so to speak. Franken need not go, and certainly not so long as Trump stays, and Moore is elected - as he will be because Alabama is an unspeakable place where “religion” excuses any disgusting actions, so long as you are of the right skin color and religion.
7
I agree.
"People are saying..." That Tweeden was a Playboy model who has several photo's showing, and holding her amble breasts online as well as being a conservative radio talk show host.
It's quite hard to fondle a woman's breast through a flak jacket, and it's very strange how the right wing brings out this issue as a counterpoint argument to the Alabama affair.
For me, this is FAKE NEWS.
7
Franked should go...on the day that Mr. Trump does.
What?? NO! Al Franken is one of the best and the brightest. He's one of the FEW good men in the Senate. I hate gropey, grabby men and he is NOT one of them. Get rid of the thousands of real snakes in statehouses across the country first. Since that will never happen...
8
Goldberg is way off base.
Poor taste? Yes. Obnoxious? Yes.
Since when do we crucify people for innuendo?
6
I have not previously considered Goldberg sanctimonious. There's a first for everything. I have yet to read any article by a woman who can resist the current climate and call this for what it is. Bad taste. Bad behavior should be called out at the moment it happens. Ater seeing the scrapbook of the USO trip why not contact Al and tell him how unappreciated his joke was. No, better to have people believe you stewed over it for a decade. Women empower men when they can't blow off stupid stuff like this and conflate it with something truly trauma inducing like actual sexual assault or rape. I find the accusor's behavior hyperbolic and tardy. And her motives are suspect.
8
Tweeden wrote that when she saw it: “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated.”
When she saw it?!
Hmm. How exactly do you REALLY grope someone's breasts without her waking up, as it is obvious that Tweeden did not wake up during that photo?
So all Goldberg has to justify her Draco-feminism is a dubious script incident and a sight gag photo, both involving a professional comedian who wrote sexist jokes for a living at the time.
Oh yees, and a woman with a Fox News resume.
Sexual harassment is well know to be a pattern of behavior. I would suggest that the standard in such instances should be to see if any more women or, out of respect for Kevin Spacey, men come forward with credible similar stories.
And let me suggest that Goldberg herself would be singing a different tune if Mark Dayton, a Democrat, were not the Governor of Minnesota.
Not fair, by your own headline admission (if it is your headline), Michelle, politically naive, and prudentially jejune, a placing of form over substance.
4
Anyone who looks at the sexually provocative pictures of Tweeden that are available through Google Images will see that she has done far more than Franken to "degrade" the feminist ideal of womanhood.
9
But is it so simple? Lee Ann Tweeden... a quick google search, i saw her on cover of Playboy twice and all kinds of erotic scantily clad photos. When a woman makes public sexuality part of her stock and trade, does it complicate things? What is she signaling? Sexual attraction has its own energy which causes a certain amount of irrationality. It doesn't excuse it, but there is a true biological component at work in some cases that even for normally decent men becomes overwhelming. If you don't want to attract honeybees, don't spread your honey everywhere. I have encountered women who become abusive during their periods....is it ok for a woman to be abusive, to scream and yell and throw things? Does it mean those women who struggle during their periods are "hysterical" or women in general are?. Our answer is, no, but, biology, it's a real thing. We will always have to negotiate our animal nature in order to have civilization.
Franken's stupidity in this case pales in comparison to pigs like Weinstein & Moore...unless we discover he did it all the time. I am a combat vet and i was raped as a 5 year old boy by my 16 year old brother... so I know from degrees of bad behavior. Humans are scary and far less than ideal generally. We have to differentiate degrees, because we all have some evil in us...men and women, and we all express it differently. I bet even the author has behaved badly once or twice and hurt somebody....i know i have....ain't no saints in this world sister.
7
What Sen. Franken did 11 years ago MAY have been inappropriate. That is it. FYI Maggie - "Tweeden told Fox News..." Tweeden was a frequent panelist / contributor on FNC including Sean Hannity's program. Oh, and please don't forget that Roger Stone tweeted about the allegations before they went public. Don't believe me, you can ask your fellow NYTimes employee, Maggie Haberman.
6
Of course the greenest progressive talk-bot chimes in with the most overheated reaction (once again.) But that is what you get when you set up party political officers as writers. The commissariat is still with us.
The election of Franken the first time was full of what had to be felonious behavior by Democrats running the election count in 2008 in Minneapolis, American's own little Soviet Kremlin surrounded by farms. There should have been an investigation.
But you cannot allow mindless reviews of humor and jokes if we are a free country. Franken is a Class A Jerk of the First Order who has condemned many families to worse lives with is votes, but I refuse to judge words he said in a crew setting up a comedy show, running his mouth off about a reporter, or the idiotic picture on the plane.
Guys who force kisses on women show us why women are blessed with knees and hands, and the smells like the bad side of Hollywood. But I guarantee you that EVERY man involved in NYTimes or WaPo or CNN operations has said ignorant, stupid things relating to women going back to when our culture came under attack from the entertainment industry.
Catch a man assaulting someone and I'll read or watch, but I refuse to be any part of a jury on weak or rich attempts at humor. Hasn't the coastal media told us for years that all men are jerks anyway?
1
That means Trump goes too.
1
There is a long overdue reckoning of sexual harassment afoot. But I fear if we continue on this Stalinist purge, the only thing we’ll have to show for it is a firmly entrenched Roy Moore in the Senate and a further hobbled Democrstic Party.
5
Nice Caption! Who's side are you on! I'm am thrilled about this movement but let's be real! Leeann (who poses like a porn star on her facebook account) wanted a spot on tv, a has-been. Franken is a comedian and clearly his actions were meant to be funny! Do you laugh at sexist jokes?? He was our last shred of hope for equal pay for women. Way to pick sides!
5
Interesting that Democrats are held to a higher standard. Even so, Franken can go to set the standard for others sure to follow.
If his replacement does not run for the next full term, he may be rehabilitated to compete.
Right now he needs to get ahead of further discloses or he gone for good. He second apology wad only a good first step
1
You are on quite a tear this week, Ms. Goldberg. First, Bill Clinton and today, Al Franken. You are wrong in your opinions about both men.
For all of his extramarital dalliances, Clinton never raped anyone. Was he a cad, a philanderer, a flirt? Absolutely, and his behavior should be condemned. Rapist? Not a chance. Rape is violence and the man doesn't have a violent bone in his body.
Al Franken is being set up by Ms. Tweeden, tool of the right-wing. Aside from her dubious modeling career, she is associated with Fox News. There is nowevidence that Roger Stone "predicted" his Franken's fall on Twitter immediately before Tweeden's revelations. Sound familiar? Do you recall the election of 2016 when several of Trump's cronies would "predict" damaging news about Hillary Clinton?
What is it about Democrats/Liberals that we eat our chests, beg forgiveness and lose elections, while Republicans/Conservatives deny, attack and win elections?
Why are you joining in the false equivalency?
10
I'm sorry; but it seems to me that Mr. Franken's accuser is a failed model who is seeking media attention. This whole #metoo is starting to sound like a witch hunt with women trying to garner the same attention and the same amount of monetary recovery that women at the hand of a real predatory, like Weinstein, obtained. #sad. #reallysad. Not so much because this complaint sounds rather ridiculous; but because this debate says a lot about American culture. As if all women were raped and all men were adolescent. And that's just not a believable narrative.
5
We are now trapped in a panicked labyrinth of false equivalence.
As if often the case when society finally faces a serious problem, our zeal is leading some of us to slowly obscure the differences between offenders and move into the realm of the purge.
I couldn't agree more that this is overwhelmingly about men who find some perverse pleasure in humiliating and disempowering women as a sick way of expressing misogyny and insecurity.
It's vile and the biggest lie is the nonsensical self-serving excuse that the line has become so confusing that men can't figure out what they can and can't do.
Hogwash. They know. The line isn't at all hard to see, and any honest despicable groper knows it.
But this whole glorious movement to root out this vile sexism and outright women-hating will fall absolutely flat if the crusaders prove unwilling or unable to look at each case separately and carefully distinguish between the odious and the horribly odious. And maybe rarely -- VERY rarely, given the flood of persuasive testimony from women victims -- between the guilty and someone who might very well be innocent.
So, yes, Al was an insufferable idiot. And yes, his actions are part of the same larger problem. But he's an idiot whose actions are simply not anything close to the equivalent of Weinstein, Moore, Spacey, et al.
And there's no way in h ____ that I'm going to allow my own rage at all these men ruin my ability to see clear distinctions between offenders.
5
The mob mentality and witch hunting has reached a sickening low. Now it's not fair for Franken to be removed from office but it's -- fair? So we will abandon fairness in order to make a point? Michelle Goldberg's disappointment is -- disappointing. When in Arthur Miller wrote to ask "Is the accuser always holy now?" he asked a question of eternal significance. Is it credible that Ms. Tweeden, whose career was built on PLAYBOY bare it all photos and a modeling career being photographed in sexually provocative attire and poses, who was in her 30s and on her second USO tour (where her talent was her sex appeal) - is it credible Ms. Tweeden was so revolted, surprised, disgusted and injured by Franken's alleged kiss?
In her career had she never been hit on by men, desirable or not? Was she upset to be kissed by a not-so-handsome Jew? If she wanted an apology, why not ask for it in private? She knew Franken. She's a mature woman.
Why time her publicity-granting charge just now? Even if Franken is totally innocent, the charge will pursue him if he runs for office. In her first USO tour, Tweeden is photographed cavoring with troops in a tight t-shirt that
displays her breasts, a claim to fame. She is seen getting a bear hug from a guy in uniform. (No complaints.) Men behave badly Mendacity is not limited to one sex. For a respectable Times writer to advocate unfairness is beyond the pale. One kiss and you're out. No defense. Shameful.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
5
"That horrifying photo of Franken" Really?!? Don't you think that's a bit too far? Sure it may be sophomoric humor (and dated = it's worse "crime"), but "horrifying"? Please. He's clearly not even touching her. This, right here, is exactly the kind of overreach, the kind of self-flagellation that gained the Left the sobriquet, "Snowflake." Let's save the moral posturing for REAL offenses. I can't believe the author would sacrifice a staunch, vocal liberal like Mr. Franken on these grounds. Simply astounding the manner in which Dems and Liberals continue to feast upon their own.
7
"No wonder; the picture is utterly dehumanizing." Wow.
3
Do you think someone would allow a photo of his behavior if he didn't think it was just stupid? Tweeden, the victim, said it herself, "people make mistakes." She's not ready to "toss aside" Al Franken. Why should Michelle Golding?
13
Lesson from history: Don't listen to your inner "Jacobin."
We all have one and nothing good comes from unleashing it.
9
OMG. A gag photo and an unwanted kiss is sufficient to call for his resignation. False equivalence has gone a bit far. I will await additional accusers before I make a decision about whether Al is unworthy. Michelle you protest too much, too soon!
25
Why do we put up with these double standards?
What would be "fair to the rest of us" would be that Roy Moore gets prosecuted for pedophilia and Trump gets impeached and axed from his office for conducts much worse and disgusting than Franken's. The two won't even admit to their appalling and degrading behavior. Doesn't that make it worse? Democrats should ask for Trump's resignation in exchange for Franken's.
8
Al Franken was NOT in the Senate at the time. Did you forget that he was a comedian? Did you place no value on his apology made regardless of the fact that her story was different from his memory of it? Did you look closely at the photo? If you did, did you notice that his hands were not squeezing her breasts? Did you google her to get an inkling of the sort of person she was? Were you there?
Al Franken's record since he left comedy speaks for itself. Smearing him is beneath you. We need him right where he is.
BTW, You were right, he IS one of the good guys.
23
Sorry when you said a woman needs to replace him your agenda became obvious, Let the voters decide. We are turning into a nations of Savonarola's.
Do you honestly believe Republican's will respect Democrats. Do you imagine they so impresses with Democratic behavior will all Democrats to appoint all the judicial appointments they stole from Obama. Lets save the crucifictions for the serial and serious harassers.
15
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of Al Franken's victims.
We all good now?
Senator Michelle Bachmann
11
Yes, Hillary Clinton S-S-S-Super Delegate Franken should resign and be replacd by US Representative from Minnesota, Keith Ellison.
3
You are out of your mind. What Sen. Franklin did is not a big deal and don’t lump it into the more serious sexual harassment cases. Kissing a woman and exchanging spit is a practice men make on every first date. One kiss in a rehearsal! Re:the photo, she was wearing a heavy flak jacket and he put his hands close to her breasts and took a photo. It was a practical joke. Relax people. Is the next step to make a federal case out of hand-holding?
16
What if the photo is not what it appears to be? What if it all was a cooperative set-up? What if Franken, this woman, and the photographer stage the whole thing? No, it's not funny, though what if that was their SHARED intent? What if she is pretending to sleep? That's what the photographer has said. Are you embarrassed now about you knee-jerk response? You should be.
16
Are you serious Michelle ?
Groping thru a kevlar vest?
BTW what did the photographer have to say??.
Why did Roger Stone tweet it 2 hours before the press release?
More questions to make ones head spin..
It’s not OK, and he apologized and she accepted it and said it was heartfelt.
Franken immediately called for himself to be investigated, just like trump
oh, wait....
20
I like it.
1
We have a Presidential candidate who confessed to serial sexual assault on tape and was elected POTUS a month later, a Senate candidate who groped14 year old girls and was so well known as a skirt chaser of teenagers they kept an eye peeled for him at the mall...and we are talking about Al Franken.
Al. Franken. It is clear from the photo that all he groped was air.
20
What planet do you live on? Franken apologized. Do you really want to witness the indecency and corruption with a larger GOP majority? We are hanging by a thread. You are like the “anybody-but Hillary” Sanders supporters who blindly took us all down.
11
Sorry, but I think you have been conned by a Republican (and Russian) disinformation exploit. Roger Stone knew it was coming and bragged about it.
13
I completely agree!!!
1
Nonsense. The photograph makes it clear he wasn't touching this woman. And she was wearing a kevlar vest, he couldn't have touched or "groped" her if he had tried. This was a gag photo he took in front of others, not alone with her in a hotel room. Poor taste, sure. Most of the humor on USO tours is in poor taste. This woman was along for the tour not because she was a singer or comedian, but a lingerie and playboy model. THAT is poor taste.
But of course she was "abused and humiliated" and no doubt has PTSD and will suffer forever...
Enough.
She is a wannabe Fox News celebrity who wanted to get some punches in.
Enough.
32
I like your solution! Repeal and replace!
As long as he follows Trump.
5
When President Donald Trump resigns, is impeached, or steps down for REPEATEDLY harassing and abusing women, then we can take a closer look at the whole of Congress. For heaven’s sake! Franken was a comedian at the time; this was tasteless but not a cause for resignation (unless we learn more). Trump said worse during the Republican debates! Where were you righteous individuals then? P.S. Pedophilia in the case of Moore is in a different category all together. He needs to be imprisoned.
19
Don't live in apprehension of a backlash. The great feminine power has been reawoken, and their will be no backlash.
1
While I'm all for Franken being called out for his transgression, I'm not for Having him "go". The only proof we have of any Franken malfeasance is a picture of him PRETENDING TO grab breasts of a female that accompanied him on the USO tour in 2006. (If it was Roy Moore, his hands would have physically contacted her breasts.) The rest is heresay - he apologized to Ms. Tweeden, but didn't remember it as she stated. Why not take his word? That means her word against his, and - without proof - you take her word over his. Do you know anything about Ms. Tweeden? She immediately accepted his apology. Are you sure, Ms. Goldberg, of what transpired the day of the alleged incident? Are you sure it's not some sort of political payback for the bad press Republicans are receiving in this regard as of late? Yes, Franken should apologize - and he did. The Senate, of course, will go through the political exercise of setting up an ethics investigation of one of their own for something that was alleged to take place prior to him taking office. But, in no way should he resign. That's a ridiculous suggestion. I'm glad the "feminist in" you is not the judge and jury on this.
19
The pussygrabber goes first. Anything else is a travesty.
20
No, he shouldn't.
15
My god, enjoy 8 years of Trump as a result of your endless circular firing squad, folks!
Even the victim says he shouldn’t have to resign. What gives you the right to be more offended than the person who was actually “victimized?”
16
First of all, what he did was wrong, however, he was not charged by this woman and she doesn't want to charge him so there's nothing "illegal". By the way our POTUS is the groper in chief. Al didn't mix it up with under age children and comparing what he did years ago to any of the allegations against many of the men who have been guilty of what is a crime is ridiculous.
If Al would have to go then Trump should go first.
9
Did you hear yourself? It doesn’t matter if it’s fair to him??!? I hope you are never in a position to make such judgements on people.
20
Wrong, wrong, wrong. You basically state that you know Al Franken to be a decent, sensitive, ethical person. Then you basically tell us that none of that matters, and let's burn him anyway. I know: we liberals want to make it known that WE know how to deal with OUR creeps - not like Those People. So we'll throw Al Franken to the dogs, showing that we don't know, and don't care about, the difference between Al Franken on the one hand, and the Trumps, Moores and Weinsteins on the other. This is a guy who could be president, and who may be our best hope, as far as that goes. He has already now sustained massively asymmetrical harm, in proportion to what was a small indiscretion. He'll sit there, on TV, subject to Senate ethics committee hearings - notwithstanding the fact that "Senate ethics" is an oxymoron. Or the fact that the president is a serial assaulter and pathological liar who just showed that he can't spell "Stein". Or the fact that a known child molester will shortly be seated by the same Senate. Indeed, maybe they can even appoint Roy Moore to the ethics committee itself. And meanwhile, there go the liberals, seizing the high ground by immolating their best asset.
21
Al should tweet that he will resign if our so called president resigns. Put up or shut up Trump.
6
You know I am getting sick and tired of the group think and the constant loud drum of anti man propaganda. ENOUGH! As a man do I also have the right to feel feelings? How bout feelings of harassments with all these female colleagues telling me "I loooove your accent" while crossing their legs back and forth. I feel sexually harassed by the commercials with smiling young women in mini skirts selling whatever it is. Do I have the right to feel this way of is the feeling reserved to the other gender? Yes sisters we live in a sexual culture and an hypocritical one. Oh, all those poor innocent starlets who had no idea what they were getting into, and got them a fortune. How disgusting the guys who tool the bait. I've had enough! I am looking forward to seeing men suing for sexual harassment and making the same kind of good business out of it! How bout $10,000 for every flirtatious pass at me? See, I'm not even greedy. Of course you will sensor this. How's that for fairness?
11
I'm sorry. I'm usually 100% behind the NYTimes, but I strongly, strongly disagree. The media needs, first of all, to consider the number of men in Congress not yet outed, whose sexual misdeeds probably far outweigh Franken's, and then shine a huge searchlight on the president who has been outed over twenty times, and charged with raping a 13-year-old. I in no way excuse Franken's behavior, but how dare the Times make this statement when it has done none of those things??? Typical hypocritical behavior--point out the one person with a blemish and ignore all the others with the pox.
12
Oh come on now, Ms, Goldberg. Is this some sort of parody you have scribbled? Where exactly should Al go? I believe he was just re-elected by the people of Minnesota. He initially had a lot of hurdles go tackle, being a sarcastic not politically correct comedian. That was his job, not his actual real life persona.
You do know that Al was an entertainer for most of his life? And he was acting in that capacity when this "incident" occurred. He was not a Senator on the make. And we have no reason to believe otherwise unless there are other "incidents" that come to light since he entered the Senate.
This is a false equivalency. Al Franken and "that woman" who was scorned are both pros. They operated in the world of show business. What occurred and was photographed occurs regularly. It is designed to tantalize and tease the audience. When a couple on the screen are shown making love, you do understand they are not really "doing it", don't you? Some may think otherwise. They would be wrong as you are. Do you think Brad Pitt, George Clooney or Daniel Craig as James Bond actually bed all "those women"? Please, give it a rest, Ms. Goldberg. Until a woman comes forth with allegations that had nothing to do with a "skit", then I will take it seriously. I am bewildered by your comments. What you wrote speaks of a naivete and a bit too much self-righteousness. Grow up, get real, and get a life.
DD
Manhattan
20
get a grip, people. this was not sexual assault or harassment. this was a comedian playing a gag on a lady acquaintance, someone with whom he was doing a stage show. even the slimy kiss was a gag. but, hey, the lady got her 15 minutes of fame. now i hope she goes back to her radio show, knowing that she used an 11 yr. old frivolous prank to elevate her worth, and perhaps bring a decent man down. shame on you for this pathetic grab of notoriety.
17
The purity frenzy will continue until no males with a normal level of testosterone will run for office from the Democratic party; no Kennedys, no Clintons, no FDRs. The Eunicks who vote Progressive Democratic will go the way of Japanese men and shrink the party base. Donna Brazile will continue as the face of the liberals. Meanwhile, non-elite Republican women between the coasts, who consider a normal level of non-physically harmful male behavior tolerable, will continue making babies that will grow the Republican base. Aided by judges appointed by Republicans because pouting progressives refused to expend energy that might have elected Hillary, the growing Republican party will maintain control of Congress and the Presidency. Sorry, I'm just a scientist who understands that Rouseau was born too soon to know about evolution. The liberal worship of his notion that humans are basically "good" has no foundation in biology. Your dream of moral superiority bodes ill for the future of the party.
7
Can somebody get any more punitive? Good grief. I am a lifelong feminist and grew up around way too much male "just joking" always at our expense. Never funny, guys. But to say someone should resign from the Senate for this? I hope the sheltered and vengeful author never runs into somebody who is really a bad dude, like treasonous Jeff Sessions, as opposed to a pretty good guy who did a bad thing on a comedy tour quite a while ago. Maybe countless more stories will emerge, but till then, please don't burn everyone at the stake, lady. There won't be anybody left.
18
Oh please! Enough with the hysteria. What Franken did was stupid and tasteless. It was clearly a power game and he has done the decent thing by apologizing and yes the Senate Ethics committee needs to investigate to make certain this is not a pattern of behavior.
The awful photo is of him pretending to grope her breasts over her bullet proof vest. Many would scream that I am downplaying his action and so on. Get it out of your system folks and then think. This was a comedian overdoing his schtick and acting like a jerk. The others were dumb enough to take that picture and give it to her on a CD as they were leaving at the completion of the tour. This was a tasteless prank, but a prank all the same. If he has done more and worse he should have to face the consequences for those actions. Until there is evidence enough with the rallying of lynch mobs.
Moore also deserved the benefit of the doubt. The media blew it by hyperventilating immediately instead of waiting for the facts to trickle in and fall in place. Now in the midst of the deafening noise of multiple biased voices it is clear Moore had a pattern of behavior and if we were all not shouting for attention we would be able to point to people to watch his reaction - to see what his character really is like. Whatever you think of his conduct then, it is his conduct now that is more relevant and it says a lot. But that is lost in the partisan name-calling and bickering giving this man cover. Shame.
Less outrage more calm
5
Leeann Tweeden said that Al Franken grabbed her breasts while she was sleeping and had someone take a picture of it while she was sleeping. But the picture shows he was only pretending to grab her breasts and she’d be surely be stirred wide awake if he actually had grabbed her breasts... This doesn’t add up. And she says it in the same sentence she claims he forcefully put his tongue in her mouth. Indeed, bring on the investigation and let her claim it under oath!
7
Alright so he should go. But let's get our priorities set. What he did is no doubt wrong - but take our prez (please take our prez) his abuse of women is a multitude greater than Franken. Your essay is just a ploy to protect your lackey, D. Trump, You do so because you have sold your soul to big business. You have no commitment to the American citizen.
4
His conduct was wrong. No doubt. Especially the part about the kiss. The image, not so much. Have you ever put on a flax jacket/bullet proof vest? There is nothing to "grope". It was for show... a laugh and wrong! If he should resign, then "Groper in Chief" should be the first to go.
10
Franken would not have done this distasteful act if he'd thought at the time it was hurtful or harassing. He had probably had a few drinks. The picture is of a comedian being funny. That was his job at the time. (To be funny). That was the purpose of the trip. He used Tweeden as a prop. That was uncaring. But all out in the open. Similar to the way Pat Sajak used Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune. A prop for a bit. Nothing inherently sexual going on in the photo.
4
The witch hunt has started, get the torches- Dr. Frankenstein has created a monster. GIVE US A BREAK!
5
Frankenstein should resign".......as soon as Trump does.
Context is all. This was on a USO tour where she was the designated sexpot, Playboy model. He played a bad joke, pretending to touch her breasts but not actually doing so. It was about playing a dumb joke on her, not actually abusing her. He is mugging for the camera, for heaven's sake, knowing this was going on a souvenir photo CD that she would receive. Juvenile and insensitive, but he was the designated comedian and she was the designated hottie. Goldberg is way off on this. I have been sexually harassed at work and have physically fought off an attempted rape. This is not abuse, it is not groping, it is not harassment. It is a really really stupid prank. And apparently he is a really bad kisser. Do not diminish the stories of actual abuse with stories of poor judgment.
12
Minnesota voter here. Hang in there, Al. We have heard the chimes at midnight.
10
Seems like NY Times and its readers have it in for male liberals who behave badly lately. Which would be fine if they did the same level of accountability holding with Trump and Moore. But those two are just par for the course. The right wingers are loving watching the left shoot down its own side, doing their work for them all while abortion rights and women’s programs disappear to help the richest of the rich have even more wealth. This story won’t end well.
8
Al Franken should not resign until Trump does! The 19 women who have accused Trump have not been believed and they have been publicly shamed. Roy Moore is guilty of pedophilia and he is still in the race with the GOP backing him. Al Franken is a different person than he was when he was a comedian, he has done so much good for his state and until Trump resigns, we need Al Franken to stay right where he is! This is nothing more than a distraction.
6
No, he should not go. I want that investigation. Democrats can be such chumps. Remember Shirley Sherrod? Breitbart published an "excerpt" from a speech she gave in order to paint her as a racist against white people. The Obama administration fell for it and took all of 2 seconds to unjustly fire her. Didn't even call her into the office to ask her what she had actually said. I want to know how that picture happened and in what context. It's an absolutely disgusting picture - or does it just seem to be? I am bothered by the fact that Leeann Tweeden claimed that Franken grabbed her breasts as she was sleeping when the picture does not show him making contact at all. That she exaggerated, misremembered, or even lied makes me concerned about her story about the kiss, too. I am disturbed that Roger Stone was gloating about these accusations out loud and to Info Wars before they were actually made public. I am disturbed at those willing to throw away a good senator for a single past episode of dickery. This is a long way from pedophilia or rape. This notion of purity - zero tolerance, the slightest sexual misconduct means the end of your political career -gives the Republicans just the tool they need to weaponize accusations of sexual misconduct. The Republicans aren't going to rise to the lofty level of the Democrat's zero-tolerance policy: they'll use it instead to take out as many Dems as possible. We need to keep our heads and quit being such chumps.
11
This has all turned into one big witch hunt.
And the coming backlash will be fierce.
He allegedly made a pass at her under the guise of a rehearsal kiss. Got rejected. He got the message. Never tried again. Lots of women are married to men who’s first attempt was to try and sneak a kiss. A lot of men also got rejected. Now that’s all criminal behavior.
Then he fakes groping her. In a picture that was likely staged. Regardless, the bosses at the time - not him -thought it was funny and importantly, harmless enough to package and send to the troops.
Franken did nothing wrong. Nothing. But now he’s basically Weinstein. Based on this column’s posit, maybe even worse. How sad is that.? How dangerous is that.?
The only person loving all this is in fact Weinstein. The more these types of garbage pseudo accusations get publicized the more “normal” his obviously deviant behavior will be deemed. At this rate his defense doesn’t have to be it was just “ locker room talk”. His defense will be “everybody does it.” Just read the NYT.
That’s how the backlash will begin.
Real predators will be normalized.
Real victims will be trivialized
Real justice denied
I’m fine standing alone on this.
Mob rule doesn’t work for me.
12
Michelle!!!! Dial it back just a little bit. The information about Senator Franken came out mere days ago. No one (including you) has sufficient information to make an informed judgment about what the consequences should be. We need to be sure of the facts before we convict an individual of wrongdoing or we risk jeopardizing the growing movement to hold accountable people such as Trump, Weinstein, Louis C.K., Roy Moore, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.,
15
The picture shows him NOT touching her but pretending to to make a humorous photograph. The people present at the time attest that he did NOT touch her in this instance.
The picture clearly shows his hands not contacting her. If you wish to presume that he did touch her either immediately before or after the photo was taken, you must ignore the accounts of those present and what appears by Franken's expression to be a clearly jocular situation.
This is one of the worst cases of making a mountain out of a molehill I have ever seen the press herd engage in. Until ten days or so ago, even the reported kiss would have been regarded as no big deal. Likening this to Moore's pedophilia, or Trump's private parts grabbing, or Weinstein's sex-for-advancement, or even Louis C.K's strange perversions, is not valid in any way.
17
I am tired of the false equivalency. There is no comparison to Sen. Franken's inappropriate behavior to the disgusting and criminal behavior of 45, Moore, Weinstein, Spacey, and more to come.
To the media, stop it. You do not have to blow up stories on the left that just so that you can say you're being fair. Yes, this story is worth discussing, but can we please get back to Puerto Rico, Russia, taxes, Moore, etc?
16
"Like Rebecca Traister, a New York magazine writer, I worry that there will be overreach and then a fierce and ugly backlash, as men — but not only men — decide we can’t just go around ruining people’s lives and careers by retroactively imposing today’s sexual standards on past actions."
But we can allow women to suffer the brutalities of men and allow those men to continue their successful, powerful lives with the knowledge that they can get away with such behavior? That is pure bull. Sorry, but until abusers are forced to pay for their actions, they will feel free to commit these offenses and crimes against women. Just look at the worst of them.
What's fair for the rest of us is ending the Puritanical view that unwanted passes or ill advised gags like the photo are sexual assault and rape, a witch hunt that will condemn most men. Franken was probably staging a shot for their CD when he appeared to grope Tweeden, and she should have raised Cain when she received the commemorative CD. His French kiss was gross, as Tweeden let him know then.
Most allegations against Trump reveal a cad whose marriage vow is riddled with disclaimers, not so with Cosby and Weinstein who raped women or Moore who molested children. Let's end the charade that every pass or adolescent gag becomes sexual assault, and distinguish the truly vile like Cosby, Weinstein, Moore, and when Trump actually assaulted women from Franken. Tweeden accepted Franken's apology yesterday, and we should move on.
4
Please publish some video of Michelle Goldberg doing something untoward, or some writing that was hurtful, or perhaps a statement that she would not be proud of today.
None of which reflect who is the total person. A momentary lapse
We can then all demand her head too.
Were the entire world be put to that standard the headman's ax would soon be dull.
6
Enough! You thought there were good guys!!!!
Wait.
I thought it was OK to be linked with multiple sexual assaults and still be president.
5
He should step down right after Mr. Trump does.
1
I agree with this new NYT writer Ms. Goldberg: Franken must resign, guilty or not. He has been accused of a single case of touching a woman's breasts when she was asleep although the photo on which that charge is based does not appear to corroborate this charge, but he was surely guilty of trying to kiss her during rejearsals for a SNL scene involving ... a kiss.
In fact, I we should ANYONE who has done anything stupid or inappropriate, be they male, female or none-of-above, resign from their jobs as today!
Luckily Ms. Goldberg and some NYT readers have never offended anyone by their physical actions. I am honored to find myself among them, although I admit I don't deserve it!
11
Al Franken can go...if Clarence Thomas goes. Deal?
Otherwise....no.
And while you're at it, why not google Scott DesJarlais, R-TN, who voted today to overhaul the tax code?
"In October 2012 the Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a recorded September 2000 phone conversation in which DesJarlais pressured a mistress to get an abortion. Nine days before the general election a second woman came forward to state that she began dating DesJarlais while she was his patient. She alleged that the two smoked marijuana together and that he prescribed pain medications for her while at his house.
Two weeks after DesJarlais won the 2012 election, the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained a full transcript of DesJarlais's 2001 divorce proceedings.The transcript revealed that DesJarlais had admitted under oath to at least six sexual relationships with people he came in contact with while he was chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tennessee. Among them were three co-workers, two patients and a drug representative."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_DesJarlais
Are you calling for his snap resignation also, Ms. Goldberg? Or is he OK because there are no photos? Please let us know.
"Republicans, never particularly eager to hold their own to account, will use Franken to deflect from more egregious abuse on their own side, like what Trump and Roy Moore are accused of."
Well, you're not holding "their own" to account - so why would the actual Republicans?
6
I had big problems with your last column, where you chose this time of Roy Moore to dig up old charges against Bill Clinton without bothering to mention that there are good reasons why people didn't believe the accuser. Now you take a silly incident where a comedian slipped a woman some tongue during a kiss, followed by an obviously staged joke photo, to demand that a valuable, progressive senator resign from office. Do you have any sense of proportion? You never mention that the woman involved is a frequent guest on Hannity. She is not a political innocent and the release of the charge was too well timed. Maybe you sincerely believe you're establishing your nonpartisan credentials, or maybe you just want to get as much attention as possible. But I can no longer take you seriously as a journalist.
11
If you look closely at the photo, it does not appear that his hands are actually touching her body.
3
Stop this insane overreaction. This is exactly the kind of nitwit liberalism that has driven people into the ranks of the far right. What started as a very serious issue has now devolved into farce.
No one is excusing genuine sexual harassment in the least, but a consensual kiss and a juvenile pseudo-feel through a flak jacket is not cause to make him resign.
This is all getting way out of hand. Pity the poor women who actually have to try to get redress for a genuinely offensive or violent sexual harassment. The phrase has been devalued to the point of meaninglessness.
9
Nothing like piling on, nothing like self-righteousness and high dudgeon. All of which can go too far, and too far too soon. Yes, what he did is disgusting. But it also disgusts even him. Does Franken make a practice of such behavior? How many women have come forward to talk about his sexual harassments? Does he brag about it, like a certain serial sexual assaulter in the White House? Does he cheat on his wife, like a certain cheater in the White House? Does he pursue underage girls? Does he text photos of his genitalia? Does he fly to Argentina to see his girlfriend while telling everybody he's hiking the Appalachian Trail?
A moment when the urge to pile on hits you is also a moment to step back and cultivate some perspective.
5
Michelle Goldberg:
No, there are not "good guys" nor "good gals"... Capisci?
And yes, Al Franken should go.
This is too extreme. I want unrepentant bad guys out of public life, but Al has been exemplary in his behavior as a politician. We always knew about the life that was behind the scenes in the fields of comedy and television. That was why Al left that life in order to run for office. He now uses comedy to reveal the lying liars we all know live in the political field.
If women want change, they have to accept apologies, acknowledgment of bad behavior, and expressions of shame. If women don't give that, they are only the "man-haters" that the right-wing claims all feminists are. Al is the only man recently accused to respond quickly, bravely, and responsibly.
If accusations of bad behavior in the past decade are revealed, then we have an entirely different situation. And it's the denials of reasonable accusations that are most damning. What is missing is punishment to fit the crimes. What should we have done with Bill Clinton. Bad behavior but consensual, denied. He was impeached as punishment. We wisely chose not to remove him in that situation.
4
Right now "groping" seems to include everything from copping a feel to rape. Is Al Franken to be thrown out of the Senate, of all places, for rudeness? For an episode of boorishness? We need a law-giver who will codify sexual misdeeds for lawmakers. A chart or diagram might help. The inner-most ring would be reserved for child-rapists, then fondlers & of the underaged, then a ring for child pornographers and its fanciers, then one for exhibitionists, then one for the obnoxious who hit on secretaries and receptionists, with the outer rings reserved for your basic adulterers and other now-quaint sinners.
1
Let's pump the brakes here. Republicans can shrug off well verified sexual assault and the pursuing of minors while Democrats and progressives indict their own Senator based on the allegations of a right wing sports commentator model? We don't need your help here, Michelle.
5
To quote several other comments, this is MOCK GROPING, especially given the bulky jacket she is wearing. Also, it happened in public and, he has a decidedly mischievous, NOT SEXUAL smile on his face.
4
If "it is not necessarily fair to him," then, before you begin writing, you should try to figure out what IS fair to both him AND the woman (women?) involved. Yes, "replace them all with women;" begin with Margaret Thacher and end with Sarah Palin. I know you have a deadline to meet, but try to think things through. Maybe Franked does indeed have to go. But I don't think he needs to run out of town chased by a lynch mob.
3
I suggest he resign when DJT resigns.
Honestly, resign? Get some perspective. The current inability among commentators and the public to distinguish between degrees of bad behaviour is causing us to equate misguided adult relations with pedophilia. Partisans rejoice in this because the fondlers of 14 year-olds get to hide behind the relatively minor misdeeds of jerks who stick their tongues down womens' throats. We must treat them all the same, it is said, because we'll hypocrites if we don't. Actually, we'd be discerning.
4
Why does this author's argument need to be so gendered and old fashioned? Let's just always elect female politicians regardless of their intelligence or abilities. All of us who watched the Jeff Sessions confirmation saw a bunch of female senator throwing soft balls at and being positively chummy with the attorney general elect. You don't have to be a man to be soft on racist law enforcers, and, at least in the case of Jess Sessions, apparently it helped to be a man, because only Franken asked damning and exposing questions. I don't think Franken should resign for a mistake made a decade ago but if he does, can we pick someone who is tough and smart regardless of gender?
3
"I thought there were good guys." Huh?
That is as as disgraceful and morally repugnant as Franken.
This is one example of the witch hunt mentality that I fear. Here is a person who is not afraid of an ethics committee investigation, does not deny or plead inability to recall. He has been a voice for good government and does not deserve to lose his seat because of something done years ago and especial]ially when the victim accepted his apology and bears no rancor toward him. Get real, NYT. He is no Roy Moore!
7
this rush to judgment is unseemly.
4
We have lost all ability to discern.
8
If you are one of those people calling on Al Franken to resign, then i am waiting for you to call on Trump and Justice Thomas to resign. If not, you are a hypocrite.
4
Is the columinst suggesting that Franken should resign when we have a serial groper as President of the United States? One who was heard on tape saying that when a man is famous he can do anything, including grabbing a woman's genitals. Ms. Goldberg's article is myopic at best.
5
Ironically, I have lost all respect for Michelle Goldberg. Who is she to play judge and jury? Apparently, she is one of those lucky women who has never had an unwanted tongue thrust in her mouth! Additionally, Franken's "victim" was not 14 years old. Franken ought to sue the photographer who allowed that bizarre photo to be saved for posterity.
Has anybody checked out the fact that Roger Moore announced
"now it's time for Al Franken's turn in the barrel"... BEFORE the media ever came out with the story?
5
Michelle Goldberg:
1) What happened to forgiveness for confession, apology and remorse?
2) What are you going to write about the self-confessed (on tape) serial abuser in the White House, who has refused to apologize and apparently has no remorse?
3
I must have skipped over the part of Michelle Goldberg's column in which she points out that Leeann Tweeden was 32 years old, not 14, when Franken offended her.
3
Leeann Tweeden is an admitted Republican, and an admitted Playboy Magazine model who happily took payment for posing bare chested with her beautiful breasts fully exposed to be ogled by millions of people from curious prepubescent boys to old men refreshing their memories of youth and anybody else of any sexual preference and experience with the cash to buy the magazine. And she is demeaned by a candid snapshot of a man pretending to touch her breasts through her bulletproof body armor?
Give me a break. Yeah, it was juvenile, even wrong for Franken to set up the photo, but it is not a hanging offense. What Trump and Moore have done serially might be.
Michelle Goldberg's column shows incredibly bad judgment.
9
Millions of men these last few weeks are questioning their past behavior with women. This latest revelation about Senator Franken, and calling for his resignation, might as well signal a demand for the out-and-out disqualification of any man running for office.
I would love to see all men in Congress replaced by women; same goes for everyone in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Attorneys General of every state, CEO of every corporation, etc., but that is not going to happen in this lifetime.
No woman should be made to suffer sexual harassment by any man, ever, but what constitutes sexual harassment is individual, and the universal label it has now been given has caused the discussion around it to get out of focus.
If social media existed when JFK was alive, he would never have been assassinated, for he never would have become president.
This is not Trump broadcasting how he grabs women by their Ps, not Harvey Weinstein standing in front of you naked, not Louie C.K. masturbating to your voice on a phone call, not Moore molesting a 14-year old.
This WAS a comedian, writer for SNL for god's sake, an -- clearly though in poor taste -- attempt at a joke.
Al Franken has much more to contribute to the citizens of Minnesota, and to the country, than Trump or Moore.
He should not resign.
4
Must I see Franken resign over one accusation while Trump continues in office after 16 accusers, including four underage females?
4
Michelle, you are taking this a bridge too far. If boorish behavior disqualified men from public office (or any office) there'd be no one to serve. Most men have had a boorish moment or two in their lives, partly due to misunderstanding sexual clues, or drugs and alcohol, or all of the above. Men are emotional babies, and eternally adolescent in their, sexual behavior. Forgive Al his boorishness, he was after all in show biz (and if this was his worst transgression, he was a relative Boy Scout...see Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, et al). On the other hand you have judge Moore, a holier than thou zealot, preaching a supposedly high moral code while committing child molestation. This is not just boorishness, it's immoral and criminal... Let's not confuse apples and oranges... Ones a boor who deserves a slap on the wrist, and one is a criminal who belongs in jail. No resignation for Al!
5
You know what I would do if there was a picture of a chick pretending to grab my crotch while I was sleeping?
I would laugh. I would think it was funny. A prank. A funny photo.
Must be because I'm a man. Men have humor. Men can chill a bit. Men aren't traumatized for life if someone tells them a dirty joke or pulls a slightly sexual prank or tease on them.
Women: can you not see that this psychotic over-sensitivity is completely undermining any claim you have to "independence, strength and power?"
The more of this stuff comes out, the closer I am to becoming a misogynist.
Women are proving themselves to be weak, whiny and humorless.
4
Just wow! Where were your calls for diaper boy, Vitter who visited PROSTITUTES while wearing diapers!!! to resign. He left of his own volition after being elected to congress several terms, then elected senator from one of those family values states, LA. He then chose to run for governor and lost. "Aqua-buddha" Rand Paul?
Where is your demand that trump resign? That former Pres. GHW Bush be tried for HIS crimes of feeling up young women? Far, far more egregious assaults than the goofball, juvenile actions of Sen. Franken. Until there is equal justice from BOTH sides of the aisle why should Franken be subject to far more serious penalty than our serial predator in chief, or Moore, an accused child molester/pedophile? This is similar to the shoplifter of a dollar candy bar getting the same jail sentence as a bank robber. The punishment needs to fit the crime. Since the photo shows no evidence of Mr. Franken actually TOUCHING the woman's breasts there really seems to be no sexual assault. Will men now be convicted of leering? Of having lust in their hearts? I'm a mother of 4 daughters and grandmother to 4 granddaughters and I find this witch hunt appalling. It diminishes real sexual assault and predation by equating all as equal. A tasteless joke is not the same as what Moore has been accused of or what trump has admitted to. Moore, if the allegations are true, belongs in jail. Equating Franken's and Moore's transgressions to equal severity sets a dangerous precedent.
7
Michelle - Senator Franken has agreed to an ethics investigation. Let’s have at it and shine some light for once! Every other case either ends up with at best the offender leaving the scene never to be heard from again (Halperin) or attempts to normalize (Moore and Adam and Eve) and denials and threats of lawsuits (Trump). I suggest these responses are just as problematic as the actions themselves. I think the Franken investigation will keep the light shining on the Groper in Chief and what better foil for his denials, threats and normalization (locker room talk) than Al Franken’s apologies and willingness to be held accountable? The GALL of Trump to refuse to answer questions about Moore then teeet about Franken. By all means Donald all perverts in DC should go! Start packing!
No Michelle - let Franken weather the storm he’s willing to weather.
5
It's time to watch the movie Oleana again!
Ms. Goldberg seems to be conflicted and indecisive, but pushes ahead nonetheless toward politically correct disgust and steely merciless resolve:
"I'd hoped Franken would run for president...hugely gifted communicator...serious, earnest and decent...great on issues of sexual assault...hired feminist women...would like to see him redeem himself...there's a strong argument against Franken's resignation...comedians enjoyed wide cultural license...Tweeden...doesn't think he needs to resign over it... 'People make mistakes.' I worry that there will be overreach and then a fierce and ugly backlash...Franken deserves a chance..."
But then, "I thought there were good guys...disgusting, indelible photograph...utterly dehumanizing...You have to resign now...I don't think he can (resign himself)...Replace them all with women!...horrifying photograph...It's not worth it...I think he should go...We will replace you."
Ms. Goldberg, please listen to yourself and come back when you have a consistent position, some perspective, and some humanity.
9
Ms. Goldberg, even without ever meeting you I am almost sure that you have made jokes and fun of other people of which you may not be proud, or at least of which you are thankful there is no record.
If people like you want to get rid of Al Franken, then I suggest you just handle your life and your body to Mr. Donald Trump and Mr. Roy Moore.
If this is the kind of deep thinking I can expect to find in this newspaper I better buy the New York Post instead.
5
I used to wonder why they were calling us “snowflake”. I get it now.
If you think the low-brow humor in this photo is “horrifying”, then you don’t know the meaning of the word. Everyone should be so lucky. In the real world, this is not even in the ballpark. Do they not teach history anymore?
I have been a card-carrying, New Deal Democrat all my life, but this is a grotesque farce. And if you want to talk about offensive, the Ends justifying Means calculation at the end is a flat-out betrayal of liberal values.
And I thought Michelle Goldberg was one of the good ones … no really, I did.
7
No matter how stridently you join the witch hunt now for Franken's head, it doesn't absolve you of your utter failure to do the same when Bill Clinton was president. Liberal calls for Franken to resign are overcompensating - to say nothing of disproportionate to the "crime" - for their guilt in being mute (or even excusing) Bill Clinton's behavior.
We should be sick of wealthy bozos treating less powerful people like playthings. That's exactly how Franken was acting towards the woman in that photo.
We, the people, need to kick Franken out. Otherwise whatever good he did in the Senate comes to naught. You say Franken sponsored pro-victim and anti-sexual assault bills? Fine then. Step down to preserve those gains.
If Franken doesn't leave, his achievements lose all credibility - anyone who doesn't like those bills can say "Why should I care? Look at what Franken did."
Come on, wake up people; liberal or not, a jerk is a jerk is a jerk.
I'm pretty sure Al Franken would be happy to resign and be replaced by a woman if the same standards were to apply to other, high ranking, elected officials, who've bragged, on a hot mic, to have groped women against there will.
2
Wow! Half of the men in this country have made "unwanted advances" to women that they did not eventually date, partner or marry. That's because men are from Mars and Venus. Just say NO and get over it. By the way, how do you define ABUSE, Ms. Goldberg?
What's worse: a tongue in the mouth or shot for being black, undereducated, unemployable and poor, addicted to Big Pharma drugs, lack of medical care, incarcerated unfairly, sent to oversea wars, etc, etc.
5
Sorry Michelle
You couldn’t be more wrong in thinking it’s ok to clear the field and give the republicans All the room they want..
I have done some stupid things in my life that I regret , have you??
6
To bad about Michelle Goldberg, she should go. Her lack of intellectual rigor and sense of proportion proves her to be unqualified to have a column in this paper. Under her judgment half the human race will have to resign.
Photo evidence of Franken not touching Tweeden and her uncorroborated story of a kiss in USO skit does not rate a resignation and to suggest it does is flat out irrational.
Were Goldberg honest her "Leeann Tweeden, a former model and radio news anchor in Los Angeles."
Would have read; Leeann Tweeden, a former nude model for mens magazines and radio FOX news anchor in Los Angeles,
Tweeden is a FOX news veteran currently anchoring news and commenting on a talk radio show. And it is not blaming Tweeden to mention that she worked as a nude model for Playboy and other men's magazines for several years where I'm sure a high level of decorum was observed.
5
What Senator Franken did was gross & stupid ,kind of what a not very bright 11 year old boy would think was funny; this applies to the photo. The kissing incident is disgusting. I never saw him on Sat. night live so didn't know that aspect of him.
Nevertheless, he has been a good senator from my liberal democratic point of view. Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.
4
It is plain stupid that the Dems would push for Franken's resignation. He (if true - he doesn't remember), did a stupid thing (kissed his acting partner in the context of acting a scene. (As an actor I am speaking from experience; you do have options when rehearsing), - and mugged a photograph that related to his Saturday Night Live comedy history - though it was definitely ill-considered.
But this man is NOT a pedophile (Moore?) not a serial offender (President Trump!!) - What about the claim of journalist who was accosted (kissed) by Trump in his own home, while his wife was upstairs??? Why was this given a pass?
Trump denied this - but there were claims made by numerous other women; and - his own appalling admission of groping women.
Franken took responsibility, owned his action and apologized. The responsible thing to do. He didn't deny and lie.
For the democrats to turn on one of their own, under the circumstances, is foolhardy. They are not setting an example, they are being rash.
3
No, Franken should not go. While the photograph is inappropriate and childish, it clearly does not show senator Franken groping Ms Tweeden's breasts. He's not even touching her. As for her allegations about unwanted kissing, it's her word against his. Maybe it's true or maybe it's not. This is one individual making a claim, not 5 or 7. If other women come forward with credible allegations, then yes, Mr Franken should leave the senate. But for the moment, all we have for evidence is a tasteless photo that was probably meant as a joke.
1
When Al Franken resigns or is not reelected, when the senate repeals Obamacare because Al Franken’s crucial vote is no longer there, when the senate passes its tax bill taking more than a trillion dollars from the poor and middle classes to enrich the top .01 per cent all because the Democrats are one vote shy of a bloc, when Donald Trump launches a nuclear attack on North Korea because Congress fails to act to stop him and Al Franken is no longer in the Senate to speak out against the president, then Michelle will you wonder: was writing this foolish column worth it?
10
Excuse me Michelle Goldberg but Donald Trump committed far worst act of sexually violating multiple woman whose charges are currently being adjudicated. Where is your call for him to go, where is your outrage, where is your truth?
4
Seriously? Over a kiss? What about Trump and Clarence Thomas? And, this is tip of iceberg.
5
If you want to know if Michelle Goldberg is biased, just turn her argument around and direct it to Republicans whose sexual transgressions are equal to or worse than Franken's.
1. Clarence Thomas should resign. In his place should be appointed a woman.
2. Donald Trump should resign. In his place, the Senate should reject Pence and appoint a woman.
Does that work for you, Michelle?
2
Senator Franken apologized for his actions. His apology was accepted. He is being honest and respectful, unlike the groper in chief. If anyone should resign, it is Trump and Moore.
5
Riiiighhhhttttt!!! The same way David Vitter left the senate when he did much worse. Right!! The same way Trump stepped down when tapes of him doing worse came out. Franken should go. What utter nonsense. Stupid nonsense. Ridiculous and foolish chatter.
6
Now THIS is a witch hunt. And I'm a proud witch.
Extreme overreaction, to put it mildly. Please clutch your pearls elsewhere. Seriously.
8
If we keep up this holier than thou moral stoning for small transgressions, the only politicians we will have left are the worst of the liars. He is going before the Ethics Committee for a joke that wasn't funny, and an unsubstantiated allegation of a disgusting kiss. Put your pitchfork away.
4
The thinking behind this is very American. Like America in Vietnam, we need to burn down this village in order to save it. For a rational view see Masha Gessen article on sexual pani9c in the New Yorker.
5
"I...would like to see Franken redeem himself, but I still don’t think he can."
"...The question isn’t about what’s fair to Franken...."
It's not often that I get to quote Thomas Aquinas, but he may have been thinking of the Iron Maiden herself, Michelle Goldberg, when he penned, "...justice without mercy is cruelty.”
What I take away from her column is the conclusion is that she is not worth the wear and tear on my eyeballs, just like I concluded about Douthat. There's too much bitter gall in their ink.
6
Yeah! it's not unlike the glimpses I got of the McCarthy hearings when I was a child too young to know what they were all about... "Are you now, or have you ever been a Communist?"
In today's world, many of those who were once blackballed are now heroes.
2
OMG, Michelle Goldberg, you're out of your ever-lovin' mind. He didn't grope her! He wasn't even touching her in that picture! What is with you people?? The evidence is there for all to see. The photo is vindication, not incrimination. It was a stupid frat-boy prank. A gag. That's all.
How about the photographer? How about all the other people watching who thought it was funny? Better hunt them down and demand that they resign whatever jobs they have, too.
As for the kiss, it was stupid and wrong -- and I bet most if not all actors have done it. It was certainly done to me by male actors in high school plays. No way would I ever call it sexual assault.
9
I don’t know which is worst here: Ms. Goldberg wielding that picture like Joe McCarthy himself, Ms. Goldberg referring to herself, proudly, as a Jacobin, or the fact that the NYT saw fit to give her a platform to do these things. I don’t know if Al Franken should resign or not. But I do know that Ms. Goldberg is doing society no favors.
I'm sorry that Ms. Goldberg no longer believes that there are any good guys. I'm sorry whenever people's dim rage and canned ideology causes them to ignore the complex hues and textures of the world. I'm sorry because that is when they become part of the problem.
7
We all make mistakes.
This column is a mistake.
Perhaps, in the fullness of time, this columnist will acknowledge her mistake, and retract this column, as Franken has acknowledged his mistake.
It is reassuring to see the comments of so many Times readers who reject this extremist position.
11
This absurd call for Franken's resignation by a reputable columnist in a reputable newspaper only contributes to the surreal aura that we are living in right now.
9
Goldberg's editor should have said: "You're all over the map here with speculations and what-ifs. It's good you got your feelings out by writing this rambling piece, but we're going to sit on this article overnight. Read it again and come up with a more reasoned piece that doesn't cop out to what the GOP might do or not do if Franken doesn't resign. You are indeed throwing a capable senator under the bus without a chance to 'redeem' himself, in which case he is likely to be an even stronger champion for women's rights than he currently is." I was a weekly newspaper editor, and this article suffers from the rush of the 24-hour news cycle to rush something out without reflection. I expect the NY Times to do better than this. Franken is my senator and I don't want to lose him. It would put at risk the Democratic agenda of stopping as much as they can of the GOP's onslaught against democracy and it would put Minnesota politics into chaos as we scramble for a new senator.
9
I think that Senator Franken would be more than happy to go for putting his tonge in a women's mouth after the President steps down for the numerous disgusting things he's even bragged about.
1
"Disgusting, indelible photograph"? "Horrifying"? Michelle, did you skip junior high altogether (perhaps a Red Guard exemption?). Against the genuinely alarming accounts of violative behavior that have arisen in the past months, this registers more as the latest contestant in a media sponsored victimization race catering mostly to a liberal audience. Trump withstood around-the-clock coverage of a longstanding history of far more egregious behavior than a juvenile picture and an isolated transgression on his way to winning even Pennsylvania for Chrissake, and you imagine that Republicans need Franken to deflect such accusations? Insisting on rules that not even everyone in your team is interested in playing by is how you lose. You know what rules should apply here? Civil and criminal law and those that govern the electoral system. If Franken "should go" it should be as result of those processes and not of your inane political calculation and moral grandstanding.
7
Al should not go. He is a beacon of hope in the swamp of Congress. His accuser never said anything for 10 years? Shame on her
2
i sense overeaction to yhe pic of Al the comedian pretending to grope Leeann the former playboy model. i also sense gross false equivalence as to how Franken's case relates to Roy the mall-troller's case. Do we have to reflexively accept that the woman is always to be believed? Leeann Tweeden is raking in the click dollars off of this.
This would be a self-destructive (for Democrats/liberals/progressives) overreaction.
3
“The horrifying photo of Franken...”
Are you kidding No Goldberg? THAT photo is ‘horrifying’? The one laughed at at the time, he’s not touching her, she has a flak jacket on?
That’s horrifying for you?
I find that to be cloying, at best.
5
After reading some of these comments now I know what is meant by "a feint-hearted liberal".
This op- ed is just another example of how both the NY Times and Me Too movement have jumped the shark. Not ever offensive act is the same. Treating them as such is ridiculous.
PS- while the this nonsense was being written, the House Republicans passed legislation that both massively transfers more wealth to the rich ansd decimates health care. Check your priorities.
6
"I think he should go, and the governor should appoint a woman to fill his seat."
You must be joking. How the Times could publish such a statement in any degree of seriousness is beyond me. This is how you create a Trump voter. Please take note.
Leave aside for now the clear fact that he is not even touching her in the photo. Leave aside the unwanted kiss that was literally scripted. Leave aside the fact that it is never stated that he continued to force himself on her after she refused him. Why don't we talk about the author's idea that we should choose our representatives based on what body parts they were born with, rather than the content of their character. I say she should step down from her job as a columnist and a man should take over. Sounds good? No, of course not. It's just plain stupid.
There are a lot of challenges facing our country, but by far the biggest one is that we just can't seem to stop yelling at each other. The outrage machine, on both the right and the left, is by far the most daunting challenge we have today. It is the only reason that Russia was able to troll us so successfully in last year's election.
5
No way should Franken resign. Goldberg surprised me, thought she was more level headed than that. I have worked with, and led men most of my adult career. Yes, I had some nasty encounters with jerks, but jerks are like ticks, you pick 'em off and go on. There is no comparison to Moore. Moore should be caged.
5
I love you all !
Well, sorry, it might be inappropriate... :)
1
This article is a prime example of why liberals are derisively called "snowflakes". It is a long distance from distasteful comedy to sexual predation. Failure to differentiate between the two will rapidly lead to a backlash that will derail the legitimate attempts to address the very real problem of power-based sexual harassment. Ultimately there is a risk that such hysterical overreaction will make it harder, not easier, for women to achieve true equality in the workplace.
6
There is no way Al Franken should resign!!! First, until we get more info from Sen. Franken, I find it hard to believe this Tweeden woman because it doesn't make sense. I seem to recall this skit that they were doing was part of the comedy routine they were performing on the USO tour. Maybe Al Franken kissed her, but my goodness, is that so odd considering they were rehearsing the bit? Then, the photo was a stupid wisecracking juvenile action that never saw the light of day... until Tweeden disclosed it. This is a Right-wing hit job on Al Franken. He didn't use good judgement, perhaps, but in that photo, he mimed touching her chest, but the photo clearly shows he was not actually touching her. Please, everyone, grow up!
5
As soon as Trump resigns and if Moore loses or is thrown out!
this is one instance and Ms. Tweeden does not want Senator Franklin to resign. He should ask his accuser r what he can do to make further amends. He has an opportunity now to speak frankly about the dangers of crossing the line.
Mr. Franken should tour Minnesota speaking to groups and initiating the national dialogue we sorely need about the limits of behaviour. He can host SNL and appear ly on talk shows. He should encourage victims to come forward. Make a public service announcement. We can then put his actiovism in this cause in context against the serial philanderer and self confessed compulsive groper who is our president. One instance is not a pattern of behavior. It is a mistake. Predators are the bigger picture Al Franken can address. If there are other instances he should list them and resign.
1
This goes too far and, in my opinion, is likely to spark the worst backlash against women.
First, as the oped points out, enormously worse behaviour by pols currently in the GOP and Dem Bill Clinton himself, have not been addressed. Indeed, Trump calls ALL his accusers “liars” and threatens lawsuits. Moore won’t admit and won’t go away. If there is no room for forgiveness after apology AND trial-by-Senate, why wouldn’t the Trump/Moore solution become the default?
Secondly, though the “Me Too” fervour suggests to many women a “tipping point” has been achieved, the actual turn of the Zeitgeist—thanks to Trump’s dogwhistling the AltRight— says the opposite is true. What happens when, at an Xmas party, a drunken woman ‘assaults’ the office hunk, with tongue, under the mistletoe? A good friend of mine—straight— was similarly ‘assaulted’ by an unwanted tongue and a breast caress by an amorous lesbian who misunderstood her friendship. Should she be forced to quit?
Thirdly, though Franken behaved like a total jerk—and by Ms Tweeden’s version, likely because she showed no reciprocal interest in him—he didn’t actually “cop a feel”, both because of the flak jacket and the fact his hands don’t seem to be touching her. She deserves an on-air apology; he deserves excoriation. Thoroughly. But that is enough. If no other women come forward with worse stories, nothing he did even comes close to Trump.
2
I’m not totally on board with crucifying Franken yet. The picture doesn’t look like actual contact was made while she was asleep- his hands are hovering. It’s a very very bad joke. The tongue in her mouth during rehearsal is where I might have a problem. And that’s he said/ she said. Since she has this damning picture, she gets to be right in the public forum. I did read that she is a military wife, has spoken on Fox News, twittered about being at Trump golf courses and fawned over getting a check from Trump for a charity. She was an ex-Hooters waitress and a former Frederick’s of Hollywood model and this is the most horrifying example of misogyny she’s encountered? This is what she buried inside for all these years? The lack of additional victims and her politics make this suspect. If she didn’t have that picture (which, while in poor taste, shows no contact) would we even have heard from her?
3
Dear Ms. Goldberg, you should consider a few 'facts of life'
1. Sex is a commodity. Typically, men pay for sex, while women get paid for sex.
It is impossible to come up with accurate numerical estimates, but the following statements would be hard to challenge:
2. More men than women watch porn
3. More women than men perform in porn
4. More men than women pay for sex
Then, too, there is the biological difference in arousal and orgasm. A female can act as if she is aroused and/or has an orgasm (cf. Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally"). Men cannot act an erection or an ejaculation.
These facts remain, whether the men or women are politicians, cinema celebrities, soldiers or plumbers, professors or students. And the upshot of the biological difference between men and women is that a woman claiming to have been coerced by a person in power to have sex has credibility that is not afforded to men.
So, should Franken, or Trump, resign? If a plumber is a lecher who makes lewd comments in the presence of a woman, should he be allowed to continue to repair leaky faucets? If Donald Trump achieves a de-nuked North Korea, lasting peace between Jews and Muslims in Israel, and a full and trustworthy relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin, he will be a hero, no matter his sexual proclivities and crassness.
So, I'd still vote for the candidate who seems more capable and credible, regardless of party.
2
None of us can defend behavior that objectifies another. The picture of Sen. Franken with Ms. Tweeden is in such poor taste that no amount of explanation could make it acceptable. Same for the act of a forced kiss, even in performance.
What one can say, which needs to be said, is that there is an ocean of difference between Franken's actions and those of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, et al. By no means should Franken's behavior be brushed aside, but neither should he be grouped with the others.
Moreover, this unbecoming behavior should be examined in the proper context of how it is plays around both genders? The same mind that thought a fake grope of a woman's breasts would be funny would just as likely mock a man who is asleep with an unintentional homophobic joke, such as positioning his crotch near the guy's face. Check out all social media. Each forum is replete with such pictures as are images of those who mock the obese, the handicapped, or any number of people.
"Boys will be boys" is always a phrase thrown out to distract from what is really happening: straight men are using their secret code for sharing laughs at the expense of those not in their sphere.
Everyone knows that to kill a snake you don't chop off its tail. This behavior is indeed sexist but it is also so many other things. To fix this bratty male behavior, chop off the snake's head and let the Freudian chips fall where they may.
No redemption for a liberal.
No consequences for a conservative.
You're wrong on this one Ms. Goldberg: you'd just be throwing a good man to the wolves. If you expect republicans will change how they deal with their own transgressing men you're so very, very wrong and, in keeping with liberal/progressive views when it comes to republicans: naive.
She was on Fox already? Hannity's show, like she used to do?
Given that her career consisted of working at Hooter's and in pornography, I'd say she's one lucky woman that nothing worse happened to her than an unwanted kiss and stupid prank photo...I'll assume nothing worse happened because it's only Sen. Franken about whom she felt compelled to hold a press conference about.
1
Oh, come on! At 76 I cannot count the number of times someone tried to kiss me and I did not want them to - even in my married years. And the SNL silliness of the photo is sooo far from the other accusations of women. The woman accusing him, by the way, was on the Hannity show and worked for Fox Sports News. She has large crude pictures of herself if you simply do a superficial search. Clearly those pictures in which there is very little covering just a tad of her enhanced breasts did not upset her for she posted them. On that same page there is a video, which is also on YouTube, of her sitting in a bathtub wiggling her breast and making lewd comments urging people to go to another site to see "more of" her... This whole set up is utterly transparent. You cannot equate that bit of silly SNL nonsense for which he apologized to the other really predator behaviors!
6
That photo looks silly at worse - see the shadow? Let's face it, we all know 90% of the men are guilty of far, far worse, Can we just say we need to educate our little boys to respect women?? Hell, respect everyone and stop the juvenile bullying!
3
I looked at the enlarged version of the photo and it seems to be clearly a case of "clowning" on the part of Mr. Franken. Similar to what a 7th grade boy would be doing--and all the bad taste that comes with being in Junior High. But, this is not sexual harassment. Is it embarrassing? Yes, it is embarrassing, both for the woman and for the man, but he is not touching, just mocking in a sense. And, after all, Mr. Franken was a comedian at the time. Not that that is an excuse for juvenile behavior, but it is in a sense. He was not a Senator at the time. Just look at the history of humor; it is in much of its history demeaning to both men and women. Sort of like "fart jokes" with the female body as the brunt. Not nice, but a common component of adolescent humor. Not a capital offense. If so, all men must die at the chopping block.
And, most importantly, it will do our society real harm if we throw out Mr. Franken from the Senate. Let the investigation proceed, but don't throw out one of the best and most reasonable advocates for the majority of our common welfare. We need reasonable men in the Senate. Shall the sin of stupidity be lumped in with the sin of sexual assault? I think not. Let's go after the real predators and clean up our acts in the process. Many people could die as the result of war mongering and the loss of health care benefits without people such as Mr. Franken in the Senate. Let's get our priorities and sense of proportionality straight.
7
So Franken has to go while the Grabber-in-Chief, heard the world over for just "grabbing 'em and kissing 'em" and doing whatever he wants; an admitted adulterer and a for-certain misogynist, gets a pass? Seriously? Franken has admitted many times over that what he's done as a comedian isn't necessarily what others would consider Senatorial. This incident, distasteful as it is, seems to be isolated. He is a good Senator; he's smart and has more to offer. This is a political tit-for-tat hack job provoked by the right and the Bannon machine in order to take the spotlight and heat off of Roy Moore.
5
Oh, jeeez, not the “whataboutism” game again! Frankly, my dear, you are comparing apples and oranges here in terms of what is alleged to have happened, how many times it happened, how many different women were involved, what the time period involved was, whether it happened while serving as a government officer etc., etc. Why not bring up Eisenhower’s affair with his driver during WWII or FDR’s dalliance over many years with his wife’s secretary (or was it another cousin?) How about the President’s self admitted woman grabbing and Peeping Tomism at teenage beauty pageants? Let’s dig up the bad behavior of dozens and dozens of historical figures going back to Jefferson?
The thing here is not just obnoxious behavior. It is repeated offenses over long periods of time hidden from public view AND made light of or getting the “my heels are dug in, it’s all the bad guys out to get me” when revealed that is so vomit inducing. By comparison to others in both parties, Franken is small potatoes and has already made an apology, something we’ve not heard (and never will) from Donald Trump. The President no doubt still thinks it is amusing because he so often gets away with every law skirting, unethical or immoral thing he’s ever done because he is so blatant and IN YOUR FACE about it that he scares others. Roy Moore is taking a page out of that “in your face denial, it’s the other guy’s fault; they are out to get me approach. He also invokes his faux religion as a shield. FEH!
4
Unfortunately, the photo of Franken touching her as she’s sleeping is as classically stupid as it gets. What a waste of a good mind and a man who has tried to actually help his country. Goodbye Senator.
1
Franken obviously posed for that stupid picture without actually touching the woman, so why is it called "groping" in all the reports? What he did does not even come close to what the real deviants are accused of. The metoo hashtag is seriously getting diminished with cases like these.
7
This is why the Republicans keep winning. Their people get accused of by multiple women entirely outside the political arena, and still get voted in. Liberals and Dems, on the other hand, start eating our own after one accusation by a conservative political television personality. Moreover, its an accusation of relatively benign conduct. A juvenile picture, without any actual groping, and a kiss that could easily have been honest miscommunication (as Ms. Tweeden admits) between two adults with not disparity of power or position.
The photograph is on par with taking a picture of your friend who fell asleep at a party in college and had a dick drawn on their face. Childish? Yes and not particularly funny, but also not grounds for someone to resign a Senate seat.
5
This article is foolish. Not all facts are known. To leap from an accusation when the photographic evidence seems not to match up to the telling of the tale. Typical case of a progressive throwing herself in front of the train rather than offer a judicious parsing of what is known and what process might best probe that. This urge to demand probity on a par with Caesar's wife when comparing startling different behaviors is juvenile, needlessly defensive, and destructive. Be patient. Take the long view. Grow up.
7
Not to condone all this sexual predation, but we have such poor collective understanding of human sexual behavior. What is considered acceptable is culturally dependent. Always has been, always will be. Look up the number of paraphiias out there that you've never heard about. What effect is omnipresent voyeuristic pornography having on our society? Surely it's significant. We've come a long way from the days of droit de seigneur, but sexual attractiveness is embedded in the most reptilian parts of our brains, expressing itself in a myriad of ways. Let's keep the sanctimony under control, and allow reason and understanding to guide us.
2
Trump needs to go first if we are looking at offenses committed before election. Trump has been accused of sexual assault by fourteen or more women and it there is convincing evidence that he raped a 14 year old provided by convicted child raper Jeffrey Epstein. A tasteless joke photograph does not merit equivalent outrage or punishment.
5
If every man or woman who has been crass, or made an inappropriate remark were to suddenly disappear from our country - the US would be populated with only pre-pubescent children. That's what Franken did. That is not what CK, Moore, Cosby, Weinstein, Riley and Ailes did using the power they hold over the women they harassed. Let's get real here.
5
Michelle Goldberg should go, she has proved herself and unsteady hand ready to join whitch hunts and lynch mobs more interested in gratifying an appetite for revenge than seeking justice.
We have a photograph of Franken NOT groping Tweeden. Then we have Tweeden's story of being forcibly kissed one time and we have no way of actually knowing what happened other than it was part of a USO Tour skit. And if he did as she says that is hardly reason to ruin a mans life.
We do know Tweeden is a FOX radio talk show host and worked as a nude model for mens magazines for several years even appearing on the cover of Playboy. Just so you know where she is coming from. Sexual assault? I don't think so.
If Goldberg is willing to hang Franken out to dry then apparently she is ready to indict pretty much any male on the planet.
9
Let's see... Franken made a stupid, rash, and thoughtless decision in an attempt to be funny. He's clearly mugging for the camera. He seems to sincerely regret it. I would be OK with that.
On the other hand, Goldberg wrote an essay about the matter, looked it over, rewrote it a bit, proofed it and decided it was exactly what she wanted to say. And decided on the false equivalence that "Franken should go".
Goldberg should go. Now. Come on NYTimes. Show some spine.
10
Please define abuse. Bush Sr is not an abuser (old guy, wheelchair). Franken is not an abuser (You may not like this but show folk are mutually touchy-feely. And his accuser works for Fox!). Trump and Moore are serial adult and child abusers. While Trump is orchestrating a Democratic smear champaign, his cronies have changed laws that allow elephant parts to be imported into the US, farmers are being forced to give up their land for pipelines, etc. This is all so stupid.
2
Franken did not grope her breasts, he groped a flack jacket; clearly this was a joke and not sexual harassment. Let's not make an absurdity of a serious issue. That undermines the really widespread harassment that does exist.
6
What Al Franken did was indeed disgusting. And Lee
Franken MUST GO on SNL along with Tweeden to come full circle and take his comedic grope to its logical conclusion: An entire program focused on lecherous behaviors unbefitting gentlemen of all walks of life. To be fair a skit must be included about false whistleblowing.
The photo is of a boorish, immature prank. There seems no contact. And a sexual predator posing for the camera for a shot to be included in a commemorative CD, seriously?
As for the kiss, even on Leeann's own account, it started consensually and then got to the point where she became uncomfortable, pulled away, scolded Franken and walked away. So, he got went a bit far and got told.
Franken's actions have no equivalence to masturbating to an unwilling audience, demanding sex from subordinates, and such.
It was a parking ticket for which he has been forthcoming and apologetic. There is no more for him to do and writers such as Ms. Goldberg should direct their crusading energies toward more deserving targets.
4
NO! The country needs him.
6
No. Franken should stay. His accuser is a liar. The photo proves it. Compare her statement and the photo. She's a liar.
4
American Puritanism returns with a vengeance. I would love to say: "Everyone get a grip!" but since Humpty Dumpty was elected over a year ago, many of us are still gripping our backsides with fear like we are in a collective dentist chair. To hound a thoughtful, intelligent senator out of office because of a stupid, sexually adolescent, adult-stupid photo prank? Really? For a transgression which happened when Franken was still comedian, before he even became a politician? Really? Is this what King Solomon would suggest?
Is this what our best and brightest believe is the option? Sorry, but even aside from the partisan considerations (which are considerable) this is an awful solution.
Women of all ages are seething with a long restrained fury at the abuse to which men have subjected them. So be it. Let it play out with good cause if it really flushes the system out. Many men have behaved with impunity for too long. But are we to punish everyone of these men, so publicly outed, without consideration for the act in question? Is a forceful 'french kiss', inflicted on one party by another, a violent assault? or just an assault? Is it the same as rape? At what point can a woman, or a man call foul? What is the scope of 'work hours'? When is 'after hours'?
As the old expression goes: Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
2
After seeing the comments on this article It dawned on me that this is the reaction Goldberg intended.
Anyone who sells nude sexually provocative images or soft porn is inviting a sexual response. They know that the stronger the response, the higher the compensation. It's interesting that Tweeden will probably get more of a career boost from this photo than she did from previous vulgar displays of her enhanced femininity. Perhaps even a position in the White House.
3
What's with an ethics committee investigation? What's there to investigate? Franken has admitted to it. He's guilty as charged. He should resign because that is the right thing to do. He can then spend the rest of his life working to change the cultural landscape on behalf of all women.
That his behavior, at least in this instance, demonstrates none of the sordid hormone-raging lust that the likes of Roy Moore cannot seem to control, it is still degrading to women, it still conforms to the misbegotten ethos of patriarchy, and it denies to half the world population the rights of respect and equality.
Besides that, by resigning Franken can set an example to all the other creeps who store their brains behind a zipper. Quit Franken. Be a real man and quit.
1
What Franken did was stupid, slimy, disgusting. But in the big picture, the offender copped to it, the victim forgave him, and he sincerely and publicly apologized adequately. As he points out, it is possible for people to grow and re-evaluate themselves internally over time and change. I believe this.
Contrast that to people like Trump and Moore, who defiantly deny, refuse to apologize for anything, and slur and slime their victims. Completely unrepentant. And then to watch Trump tweet about what a slime ball Franken is--ridiculous.
It seems like the facts are not in dispute of what happened. Franken cops to it. The victim forgives him. the offender publicly and sincerely apologized. Even an ethics investigation seems like serious overkill.
Franken should stay right where he is, and prove himself by taking on even more of a pro-female agenda. What he did was stupid, disgusting, but not criminal, in contrast to Moore's and Trump's past behaviors. But in the big picture, what Franken did was a blip, and there are far bigger issues to worry about on the national agenda than his juvenile past behavior. He gets a pass.
4
A stupid, disgraceful act by a "comedian". Nothing even remotely criminal here though, the guy is not even touching her body or vest. But I hope it highlights the obscene acts that pass for comedy on TVs around the world.
2
I'm a liberal democrat, but I am just slightly offended by the photo of Franken. It's pretty dumb, pretty goofy, inappropriate, and thoughtless, but forgivable. He goofed up - unless we hear from more women who feel abused by him - and I can forgive this dumb stuff. I can understand how appalled the accuser feels and I'm glad she spoke out, but really, we've got much, much worse stuff going on, like the president...uh, the groper in our White House, and his admission of groping and doing anything he wanted to do.
I sure wish some of those women who were groped and grabbed by Trump would start to speak out. He said he did it! Let's hear from those women!!
Maybe they're afraid Russian hit men will get to them first...
4
I thought any behavior was OK if we understood it to be "just locker room talk."
2
What are the grounds for Ms. Goldberg demanding that Franken resign his Senate seat? A posed photo of him (while still a professional comedian) with his fingers hovering over (but never really groping) a woman's breasts? A practice kiss for a skit that unnecessarily engaged his tongue? A poor joke, a bad move. But let's get serious, and let Minnesotans decide Franken's political future. In the meantime, I suggest Ms. Goldberg resign. Her reasoning is appalling.
5
A former Playboy Centerfold model (not just model). He's not touching here as far as we can tell in the photo. I listened to her talk on the radio, it was a skit where she knew she was going to be kissed. There's metal between his hands and her breasts. He's a comedian, and by nature they mock. Men hit on women all the time. Most of the time they don't get what they want and they have to stand down, but this is crazy witch hunt. I mean, sorry, but she's a Playboy model. She chose to objectify herself to get famous and now she's choosing to get revenge. In the interview she says nobody else in all of these years has done what he did. (She did agree to do a skit with him kissing her after all, though the kiss wasn't what she wanted, she did agree. Come on, I find that 10, 20, 30 years later anyone can "ruin" a person's career because they hit on them is ridiculous. There's a statue of limitations for a reason.
5
Could you please specify which female fantasy we should keep in mind when referring to various concepts of male and female? As example, Taylor Swift with her head lifted up as she crawls under a tunnel of female thighs - looking reverently toward the ceiling (?); the various semi-nude pictures on Yahoo's front page advertised with nothing but blatant sexuality vis-a-vis other females; Beyonce's jiggles at the Super Bowl; ... in every day's media blather.
I am not criticizing women. And I agree that physical assault is just that.
Nevertheless, give me a break. There is more than a little of trying to be two or more different entities at the same time, though the images leave little to question.
If you choose to believe so, sex and sexual interaction is disgusting, blah, blah , blah. But it seems reasonable to ask: How can these various images and visions be balanced?
When will women just agree to a protocol for various types of sexual approaches so that there is no mistake possible? Construct a menu: everything from when to lightly touch an elbow to the proper moment for someone to stick their tongue down some maiden's throat. After proper consultation of course and with proper consideration of the moment and atmosphere, to say nothing of previous consumption of various substances.
Yes, this is all pretty gross. Why not come up with specific solutions for appropriate approaches?
Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it.
1
Go! Really? What about the photographer who took the pic of the so-called "crime?" Aren't they complicit? Sounds like a comic's joke gone awry--in retrospect a decade later. Really? Now we're driving in the rear-view mirror? Means we're going backward.
3
If Franken forced his toungue into Tweeden's mouth as accused, obviously that is completely inapproproriate and wrong. But as far as the "dehumanizing" photo goes, some context is warranted. Tweeden was not on the USO tour as a "radio news anchor". She was a former Hooters waitress, bikini contest winner, lingere model, and Playboy model who was sent by the USO to titilate the troops with her sexuality. Franken was there to write comedy sketches that tied in the designated sex object. The photo seems consistent with the roles that both Franken and Tweeden were sent there to play. Maybe we should be having a conversation about the USO as well.
5
I work in Hollywood with many 'Harvey Weinsteins'. Diluting the truly awful situations with this kind of stuff does disservice to those who are truly hurt. The joke is that he's not actually touching her because of the armor/whatever she has on. I thought i was looking at the Onion on TV when i saw this on CNN. Just NO. Credibility is key. Was the joke everybody's taste? No. Was she roofied and raped or was her job on the line with her boss hanging advances over her head?
5
Give me a break! Who amongst us has not exhibited boorish behavior. From what I can see from the picture, there was no physical contact and it was clearly meant as a joke, perhaps in bad taste. As far as the kiss, it was after all a rehearsal for a sketch. Get a life.
4
Franken is a sex offender - what he did to a sleeping woman amounted to a criminal sexual assault. This is not his only instance. Have you seen the pic where he poses for a photo with Joy Behar and as the camera clicks, he grabs her breast? And let's wait for the overdue disclosure of who the Congressional sex offenders are that caused Congress to appropriate mega-millions in damages to their victims before considering whether to "let bygones be bygones" with Al Franken.
1
"Franken deserves a chance to go through an ethics investigation but remain in the Senate, where he should redouble his efforts on behalf of abuse and harassment victims. "
Your first instinct remains correct. Stop clutching your pearls.
No woman (or man for that matter) ever deserves unwanted sexual advances, let alone assault. Franken, from the photo, appears to be involved in the kind of sexual juvenilia that SNL engaged in for years, and that he and his fellow comedians and comedy writers were proponents of on and off the set. Leeann Tweeden is a former model, and if you've ever seen her photos from those days you'll remember a super "hot" model posing in the nude, and otherwise making a good living showing her barely clothed body for the boys. And indeed it was for the boys that she went on SFO tours. As they say, "That's entertainment!" That fact doesn't at all mean she "deserves what's coming to her." But given the low level of actual sexual contact Franken was engaged in, and his apology for being another comedy jerk, he doesn't need to quit, just own his own stupidity, take the public embarrassment of an inquiry, and hopefully, learn and live again.
3
I am a man, I never harassed sexually women by means of verbally, physically for any imaginable situation.
Look one person may be in very loose moment, drugs, alcohol influences and more men environment can lapse morally, it happened countless times, every time we knew that it was wrong.
Ruining somebody's career or family life, yes so be it. it is like that if you are driving and you are on your phone and hit a pedestrian and killed or disabled , so be it , no return of that moment.
I am a man a married man, I always worked all my professional life 25 years with women, No you cannot harass anybody , no way. Try to do your man colleague.
I am sorry , hearing every single day Men sexually harassed women is just another form of slavery story, how the cotton field owner abused his slaves. same exact mold.
No excuses, either a moral , intellectual brain is in control or your di.k , that is all about. if it is your di.k , you are out.
1
Yes, Franken should resign, right after Trump resigns and Moore quits the race for Alabama senator.
4
What Al Franken did was shameful, but isn’t he asking for forgiveness? Are we all Lily white? I say forgive!
2
OH Please!! This is getting ridiculous. Have you not ever done anything stupid and regretted it? There is a huge difference between doing something stupid and being a predator. Al Franken is one of the best voices of reason we have in the Senate. If he and probably other men who have made mistakes resign all we will be left with is Roy Moore. Concentrate on the men with a history of abuse: Trump (16), Weinstein (too many to count), Moore (5 and counting), Louis C.K (still counting), Cosby (35) who are true predators. The idea is to prosecute the predators and educate the rest.
4
Though I share Al Franken’s politics, there are things he might do towards other people that should end his political career. A tasteless joke is not one of them. I don’t expect Ms. Tweeden to like the photo, but it was neither sexual harassment nor sexual assault. The photo shows he did not actually touch her, but only mimed that he was going to. She wasn’t aware of it (as she herself says), since she was sound asleep. Nor is there any indication that Mr. Franken ever expected she’d be aware of it since she found the photo well after by chance.
This photo should not even be in the same conversation with other recent news. Ms. Tweeden’s insistence that her very soul was ripped out by this dehumanization makes it unclear how she ever survived college, where both men and women make crude jokes. Mr. Franken was juvenile, but also a comic performer at the time. And Ms. Goldberg notes he has done good work against real sexual assault and harassment now that he is a senator.
Ms. Goldberg should have accepted Mr. Franken’s first statement. It was the more fitting one to the facts. Instead she argued intelligently against the “Feminist Jacobin” approach seemingly to cover herself as she made a choice Robespierre (or Rush Limbaugh) would love: off with his head because the political considerations are more important than fairness. However, I will not call for Ms. Goldberg’s resignation at this surrender to symbolism over substance. The punishment should never exceed the crime.
5
If we are no longer able to discuss intent and perspective and volition, what is the meaning of law. In a weird way M Goldberg makes me understand why comics like Chris Rock are afraid of the dogmatic updiscerning knee-jerk and yes childish audiences on our campuses today.
2
Some have written of a possible cultural shift brought about by all the latest revelations of unwanted sexual advances and activity. That men will somehow "get it", and be forever over their once primitive ways: "It's OK. I don't mind waiting." "Are you sure?" "Yea. I'm sure. Let's just cuddle."
Asking men to "curb their appetites" is like asking a woman not to react to her next menstrual cycle.
2
I don't agree that a inappropriate kiss prepping for a skit or a stupid act during a women's sleep constitutes sexual harassment. We sometimes do stupids things . How different this is from repeatedly assaulting underage women or forcible attacking adult women in private body parts? Sexual assault is about power, as we all have been told, and there seemed only stupid heart-ed fun in Franklin's acts. This is about as far as you can get from real predators, such as premeditated Hollywood moguls. The real problem is huge and blowing such as small missteps out of proportion demeans by inference all who have faced real trauma. Surprise at an unexpected kiss is surprise, not trauma.
3
Michelle,
It's a shame you didn't check with Maggie Haberman before you wrote today's column. She would have told you about the Fox influence in bringing out this old story and then you could have written on the same subject, but put it in context.
6
Seriously? He needs to step down for a bawdy photo and an unwelcome kiss? Both are highly inappropriate but don't rise to Weinsteinian or even Trumpian levels of sexual misconduct. Unless more is disclosed about Franken we should accept his apology and move on.
3
Humans, men and women alike, are only a little better than animals, yet only a little lower than angels.
Ms. Goldberg...your opinion that Al Franken should resign lacks conviction. It's wrapped in some foggy political expediency. You either feel strongly that Mr. Franken should resign because his behavior has no place in public life or you don't. There should be no ambiguity when it comes to sexual predation.
1
No, Franken should not go - he apologized twice and admitted shame - something The Prez hasn' t done. Take your feminism to the voting booth and quit suggesting we throw the baby out with the bath water. Are you telling me that if he were to run against Trump in 3 years that you'd vote for Trump? - didn't think so.
3
You can't really grope someone through a flack jacket. If it's going to protect someone from shrapnel, then it going to protect them from hands! This was clearly over-exuberant clowning around, done in the open for a camera. Tacky perhaps and not in keeping with senatorial decorum, but the guy wasn't a senator then!
3
Enough already. There probably isn't a person alive who hasn't done something inappropriate to someone of the opposite sex. But there's really a difference between someone clowning around and someone stalking multiple teenagers.
If this was a pattern of abuse, then maybe Franken could be held accountable. But this lady is the only one whose come forward, and her story doesn't warrant action.
She's also a frequent Hannity guest, and probably a staunch Republican (don't know this, but I suspect it). So this is another one of the right wing What About Isms.
Fake news. #Lame
1
Do you draw no distinction between serial abusers and someone who made one mistake? When a parade of women appear to accuse Franken of abuse then I'll consider painting him with the same brush people like Roy Moore and Harvey Weinstein (and Louis CK) are painted with. Is there any indication that this man really regards women as objects in his daily life? Or is this an example of a man making an isolated foolish drunken mistake years ago? What do his life and his behavior, public and private, since then tell you about him?
Al Franken groped a woman's flak jacket. I would bet that most people reading this column have probably never worn an armored vest. Franken no more groped her through her flak jacket than he could have given her a head massage through her helmet.
Please, my lefty friends, have some perspective. Take a zanax before continuing this hysteria. There is a gulf of a difference between hands on a flak jacket and hands grabbing women's genitals or assaulting prospective cast members in a movie.
The socials norms of human sexual behavior across cultures according to anthropologists has been remarkably variable. The only clear invariant is that there is no invariant pattern for humans. What is universal about sexual behavior is that to procreate requires a man and a woman. The act of procreation is generally, though not necessarily, pleasurable.
The most common form of sexual pleasure requires two people. The behavioral norms regarding how these couplings arise has varied over history; the physiological consequences have not. How these couplings arise, where the boundary between consent and coercion is located, is the behavioral norm that varies.
Senator Frankin’s behavior may have been nothing more than a deraogatory sexual joke of extraordinary bad taste and mean spirit. The behaviors attributed to Weinstein, Spacey, Clinton, Moore, and Trump on the other hand are clearly aggressive acts intended for sexual gratification. To “forgive is divine”, according to Pope, but the acts forgiven are never equal.
We need to have the ethics committee hearings before any resignation. The photographer needs to testify, and the alt-right professional liar, bigot, and political dirty trickster Roger Stone needs to be called to explain how he knew about the story hours before it broke, and whether it is in fact a political hit he orchestrated.
1
I'm sorry but horrifying picture? Did he actually touch her there? Get a grip, with all the monstrous things going on at this time are we really going to toss a senator who is actually fighting for us? Are we going to become so entrenched in our victimhood that the least little act will give us the vapors?
2
Ask yourself why this came out right now.
4
Ms. Goldberg, I believe you have taken your righteous indignation a step too far. Methinks the former Playboy model and guest on the Hannity show doth protest too much. With her background and the suspicious timing, her going public at this juncture smells mightily of political dirty tricks.
5
Enough! It was a comedy performance.
Franken apologized yet we want to drag him into an alley and shoot him. Trump bragged about grabbing genitals, his wife said it was just locker room talk and he was elected president.
Trying to say what Franken did is the same as Moore or Trump is just plain goofy.
3
He should go when Trump goes.
2
The news about this is now that our president has the jaw-dropping hypocrisy to publicly go after a political opponent. Yes, the same guy with 11 sexual assault complaints who refuses to criticize a political ally who has been accused in several counts of child molesting.
The same guy who admitted to going into a dressing room filled with young women in various states of undress.
The same guy who stated he would like to date his own daughter.
Every day he reaches a new unbelievable low
3
Come down off your high horse, Ms Goldberg. If we remove all the congressmen who have behaved in a salacious manner in all their years who’s going to legislate? The likes of Mike Pence? Get real!
3
Am I the only one who finds this all just a bit fishy? Wikipedia says Tweeden has made appearances on Hannity and Gutfeld's shows... Roger Stone tweeted about the incident the night before Tweeden went public. How did he get involved here? And who gropes a sleeping woman through a flak vest, and poses for a picture while doing so? I'm not dismissing Ms. Tweeden's claim - I'm just saying let's calm down with the resignation talk until we get a full accounting of what happened.
2
Totally disagree...let the facts be revealed....they were both entertainers at the time....this does not rise to the level of anger you have for whatever happened to you. This is a joke...get over it!
1
“You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it,”
- The man Michelle Goldberg doesn't say should go
3
'Sure, Franken made plenty of sexist jokes when he was with “Saturday Night Live,” but I thought he was one of the good guys. (I thought there were good guys.)'
Jeez! You thought there were good guys? Wake up, woman - we're all knuckle-draggin' Neanderthals, didn't you know that?
Ah wuz gonna give Franken a pass, but after readin' yore penetratin' analysis, Ah agrees he's gotta go. NOT!
1
I would agree to Franken resigning, but only after Trump resigns. Trump is, after all, a self admitted groper and Peeping Tom. At least a dozen women have accused him of sexual shenanigans and we're supposed to believe that they are all liars?
1
Oh, get a grip. One kiss, and one crude picture, and he has to resign? Do have a sense of proportion. This isn't even close to a career-ending transgression.
Given the general moral tone in Washington (including a president who is a proven serial sexual harasser), this barely rises to the level of deserving a slap on the wrist.
1
What about president?
Should he resign?
He can leave when Trump leaves for the same reason
I’ll have to disagree with Ms. Goldberg - I don’t think that Senator Franken should resign. Ms. Tweeden commented, “How dare anyone grab my breasts like that,” when what the picture actually shows is Mr. Franken’s hands hovering over her but not touching her. Ms. Tweeden has made a serious accusation against Mr. Franken that does not appear to be true. I’m surprised Ms. Goldberg could not see that Ms. Tweeden’s description of events do not match what the photo clearly shows. Calling for Mr. Franken to resign over a joke in poor taste would be as ridiculous as asking the Times to fire Ms. Goldberg for failing to get the story right.
3
The photo was utterly dehumanizing. So she decided to publish it.
2
He is about to resign
So we can't hold Al accountable from 10 years ago, but we can crucify George Bush for a DUI 20 years earlier? Whats good for the goose is good for this thing.
Right on, Bill. Aggregating these diverse (but offensive) behaviors obfuscates what is truly perverted or criminal. BTW: I’m a third generation active feminist who has worked corporate, government, academe and experienced the daily “thousand tiny daily indignities” (discussed by an 87-yr. old Times op ed contributor) women endure to be able to work, shop, take kids to school. And I pushed back immediately with mixed results.
Some of it was truly ugly (“Be my mistress” in exchange for buying services from my company.) Most of it was “insider” male gang dirty yuck-yuck stuff you start to see in 12-year olds and continues thru life. Like Al Franken’s incident and most of the last 40 Year’s of stand up comedy.
“Gang.” In my experience these common instances involve more than one man, gotta have an audience and permission. Your Billy Bush to Trump. Who really shamed Ms Tweeden for all to see? The photographer! Who failed to intervene, even by diverting Mr. Franken to a more appropriate photo op, who most likely laughed, then passed it around on a CD for all to see. A low tech version of frat house Facebook posts.
Therein lies the distinction between the perv and the ugly endemic sexism embedded in our culture. No, keep Mr. Franken. He learned his lesson. Replace these guys with women? Nonsense. Less quotidian sexual harassment, but all the other failings that afflict all humans, some far worse than dirty jokes.
1
Yes lets replace every elected male with women the question is hiw about the omarosas kellyanns. Sarah huckhabees ingrahams orvperhaps with those millions of women that voted for trump
What a poor and silly argument
We should be talking about how complicit women are in harassing each other. The way that theybtreat and refer to each other and how their own attitudes regarding their own srx undermind their own causes
4
And so the president of the USA, should go.
2
It’s hardly groping in that it appears he’s not even touching her, but pantomiming for – and looking at – the camera. And would he grope a woman on camera? In front of whoever was taking the picture? And she’s wearing a large flack vest; just what would he be groping? And how many years before being elected? Take a breath.
2
If that's the case, Trump needs to go first!
1
Much of the reasoning in this opinion piece is morally atrocious.
Justice does not mean that we lump together people who had entirely different behaviors because there is some small overlap in a Venn diagram of morally questionable actions.
Nor does it mean that there is a set of crimes that can only be committed by men.
To paint Franken, clearly a jokester on a USO tour with other showbiz people, with the same brush as a sexual predator circling around a small town mall seeking to literally entrap teenage girls so he can engage them in a sexual adventure far beyond their experience is a boneheaded disgrace by the author.
Furthermore, there is no justice without evidence, testimony, and cross-examination. Otherwise, we’re in lynch mob territory. A case for the comedy of what happened on that USO tour can be made far quicker than it could be for what happened in that Alabama mall. But to the self-righteous like Ms. Goldberg there is no time for such examination, even by a Senate ethics committee, when there is a newspaper column due and a lynch mob to get out in front of.
2
Feminists as Robespierre is probably what turned enough people off in formally Blue states so that under the electoral college Donald Trump was elected president. There is no denying that women are abused in American society and are exploited, but if feminists do not know who their real enemies are, elections will keep coming up trumps for the right wing bigots.
I know the Times wants to do the right thing for women in American society, but I think I will stop reading Michelle Goldberg. She is a fanatic.
3
Really? Is it fair to demand that kind of accountability from Franken while allowing our teflon Groper-in-Chief to swat away allegations of behavior that is far more crude and objectifying?
1
When Donald Trump resigns for his multiple transgressions against women, we can discuss Al Franken's resignation as a Senator.
I disagree.
1
Please ....... get real.
You can't equate what he did with Trump, Moore or Weinstein's behavior, though you do. I'm sure you've done asinine things in your life that you regret, we all have. Compare like with like, not apples and oranges. No one, including me, is excusing Franken's behavior.
He's without hesitation owned up to it and, as you've pointed out, been a paradigm of what a senator can be. The same cannot be said of Trump, Moore, Weinstein and many others. There are some seriously depraved characters out there (the afore mentioned), he's not one of them.
1
Leeann Tweeden is a right-wing Hannity plant who lied about the kiss.
Watch her interview on CNN, she admitted said "OK" to rehearsing the kiss. That's consent. Don't say "OK" or "Yes" to something and then claim it was nonconsensual after the fact. That's just idiotic.
1
In a plane full of people a comedian pretends to grab an ex hooters waitress breasts for a picture. Did I mention said breasts were under a flack jacket. The breasts are safe. Sophomoric humor. Yes. Demeaning. Yes. Resign for tasteless behavior? Are you kidding me. Let he or she who has never made or laughed at a tasteless joke toss the first stone.
1
This would have sunk Franken in a potential presidential election unless he was running as a Republican.
In terms of premeditation and severity there is no comparison between the alleged actions of Franken and the alleged actions of men like Weinstein, Spacey, Moore, Bill Clinton, Clarence Thomas ... and Trump.
That being said, the Democrats will take a massive hit to their credibility if Franken continues to serve.
Tonight on Hannity: "Franken did it too! Moore is completely vindicated! I was right! Have some Keurigs!"
What he is alleged to have done is still unbecoming a public official.
It will be more difficult for Dems to condemn the abuse of women and target the abusers if they don’t hold their own ranks to the highest standard in terms of sexual and professional ethics.
But then again, that ship might have sailed when they didn't hold sexual predator Bill accountable and then let his enabling wife cheat herself to the Democratic nomination last year.
So I'm not sure whether Al Franken should do the right thing, step down, show Republicans what having morals is like and call on other immoral government employees to do the same.
Probably wouldn't do any good anyway, not with a genitalia-grabbing, moronic reality TV host as President
Personally, I think any Senator that voted for the recent $80 billion dollar military budget increase (like Franken did) should step down, but that would only leave Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul in the Senate, and that wouldn't be a quorum.
2
Oh please. Extremely stupid frat house photo for which he has apologized. An eleven year old she said, he said recollection of a kiss. All of this suddenly exposed by soft porn playboy photo model who is a Hannity buddy. This is a right wing hit job to destroy one of the most vocal critics of this criminal administration. Don’t fall for this. Another false equivalence distraction ploy.
21
"(I thought there were good guys.)"
Excuse me? Ms Goldberg, there are plenty of good guys around. Your sexist comment is offensive toward men. I would like you to apologize or maybe even resign from your position at the NY Times for your inappropriate conduct.
16
wrong. I can differentiate between heinous behavior and felonious behavior. by your standards, the entire world needs to be flushed down the toilet. spare me your sanctimony.
13
Oh, come on now. Don't be silly!
7
I think this is yet more evidence that back then men just didn't get it. And I am sad to say that I don't think the majority (or any) get it yet. The "it" is the fully integrated understanding that women are not their objects to be commented upon, treated as toys, used for humorous photos, fondled, patted, or objectified in any way. For who knows how many years; perhaps forever, far too many (most) women have known that this kind of treatment was the price you paid for just being alive. And if you wanted to play in the men's den then what you got was Harvey Weinstein, Louis CK, Trump, and so many more. Yes, Al Franken is one of the good guys but you have to look at his behavior on the scale of our dear leader's belief that you can grab a woman's pussy with impunity when you are a star, to Louis masturbating in front of women, to Al's using a woman's body for a ha ha, and on up to the taps on the butt or the whistles Was it disgusting and obnoxious for him to use a sleeping woman's breasts for his own amusement and objectify her? You betcha. And does he come down on the "right side" of women's rights today? You betcha again. But does he understand the depths of his wrongness? I doubt it because I think that behind closed doors, or where nobody sees them, most men are scratching their heads or elsewhere and wondering what they did wrong, and just why the women are so sensitive. After all, it was only a joke.
Groped her through a flak jacket? Give me a break. He was a comedian and he was horsing around. More GOP deflection of the deeds of Agent Orange and his band of plunderers.
10
Breasts are not genitals.
5
I think one thing missing from Franken's behavior is abuse of power. Yes - Franken behaved like an idiot. But I presume he behaved like an idiot towards someone who was his equal and could tell him to eff off at any time w/o fear of retaliation. The whole point of what's going on with moore and weinstein and trump is that these men abused their power over women or children in a sexual manner. Grabbing an adult woman is not inappropriate, but not quite the same as grabbing a 14 year old child or threatening women with lawsuits or losing job, etc, right?
8
His accuser is a Republican and announced this on Fox. Consider the source.
Pretending to grab her through her flak jacket is a joke -- not a funny one -- but a joke, for a comedian. Kissing her -- well, not a good idea.
But he wasn't in politics then, and he says he is sorry.
If that's the only example, then let's get on with it.
He didn't date teenaged girls, or grab women in their nether regions and boast about it, or masturbate in front of actresses.
The woman who's complaining twice modeled for Playboy magazine. Her boundaries are rather fluid.
So, accept his apologies and let hm get on with his job in 2017.
15
Clinton should have resigned for his sexual misbehavior and so must Franken now.
Are we really putting a tasteless prank as a comedian in the same category as "grabbing them by the pussy" masturbating in front of non consenting women, soliciting teenage girls, drugging and raping women ? Are we really considering getting rid of one of the smartest and most competent senator for this? I wonder if Ms. Goldberg et al. realize that by losing any sense of measure and perspective they end up weakening their position in an otherwise long-overdue and much needed debate.
12
Dear Ms. Goldberg: Are you out of your mind? Franken "must go"? Al Franken is a blessing -- an outstanding progressive who is leading the charge against the forces of darkness threatening to envelop us all. He should resign from the Senate because of something offensive he did when he worked as a comedian? Being offensive is what comedians do. Sometimes it's funny; sometimes not. This time not. But resign? Maybe you should read your own newspaper more carefully. Here's an excerpt from another article in today's Times about Poland's turn towards fascism: "Tens of thousands of people … flocked to the Polish capital to celebrate Independence Day in a march organized in part by two neo-fascist organizations. They … brandished burning torches, and … screamed, “Sieg Heil!” and “Ku Klux Klan!” … A dozen incredibly courageous women showed up to protest the march. … they unraveled a long strip of cloth emblazoned with “Stop Fascism.” They were immediately attacked. … Marchers pushed some of the women to the ground and kicked others." I would say "we're next" except it's already too late to say "next". Does the word "Charlottesville" mean anything to you? This turn towards fascism here and abroad, plus the extinction of species via global warming, plus the extinction of civilization via nuclear holocaust are what is at stake nowadays. Feminists really need to keep things in perspective. Maybe you should have a talk with the Polish women kicked to the ground in Warsaw.
11
Headline: "New Times Op-Ed Columnist Tries to Make News".
9
I never thought a woman groping my butt was a power play or sexual in nature.
It was like ' Hey dummy, I'm been trying to flirt with you all evening, pay attention.'
But then again I've never been a woman.
2
Goodness me .. this is going far too far ... it’s absourd .. yes, Al Franklin went over the top on that Kuwait tour .. I bet he was also showing off to his team .. but where is a sense of hunour gone in America ? This does not compare to the creepy stalking Moore did of youngsters in the Mall .. so much that he was BANNED from the mall .. also I hear there are a zillion stories of the Dotard harressing females in the dreadful Apprentice show but they are not allowed to speak !
It will be a shame if Al has to resign .. he was an idiot but I disagree that he should resign. I am sure you can find some ‘story’ for every politician .. male and female from their past that would shame them today.
Let’s forcus on what is important ... Trump and his cohorts are destroying America .. they need to be stopped.
8
Michelle Goldberg, respectfully, your perspective is grossly imbalanced. Franken IS one of the good guys. Yes, he made a mistake but he seems to genuinely get that and regret his mistake. With all the misogynistic men out there, the serial gropers, the rapists and the masturbators - all going largely untouched, you want Franken to go??? Incredible. If your intent was irony through contrast at the seeming invulnerability of other, serious, sexual harassers, you failed. I do not understand, with all the writing talent in the world and on the NY Times staff why they give a platform to you.
10
Replace him with Michell Bachman
NO!! Al Franken should NOT go. This whole thing is an obvious set-up. Anyone with 2 ounces of brain would see that the picture is part of a skit and has nothing whatsoever to do with sexual or other harassment. The NYT of all news outlets should NOT fall for obvious Putin/Breitbart propaganda like this is.
11
What a tortured operatic world you Americans live in.
7
You're okay with the voters of Alabama having the final say in Roy Moore's future. Moore is apparently a pedophile and demonstrably unfit for public service on other grounds. But you want the public to have no say in Franken's future -- "crucify him!". Give me a break.
7
What is it with Democrats always rolling over and showing yellow belly?
I’m tired of it!!
Horrible article.
11
Goldberg, as usual, wants to give a fellow Democrat a pass. Either hold all politicians to the same standard or admit that you are a hypocrite.
1
Franken’s call for the ethics hearing is a direct assault on Moore and Trump. Yes Franken screwed up and now he sees his destiny not in the White House but as an example of how transgressors must be confronted and be made responsible.
Franken is making the most of his bad behavior to set a new example.
5
Ms. Goldberg needs to reacquaint herself with the concept of justice, especially the proportionality part. Then, once she's completed that basic training process, she might want to reexamine the more misandryst parts of her value system, especially the whole desire to "Replace them all with women." Let the analogy of that statement come out of a guy's mouth, and there would be deserved hell to pay.
6
Michelle,
Will you please get off your high horse and laugh a little.
I found the photo funny.
7
Look at the photo. He's not grabbing her breasts. He's appearing to grab her breasts. There's nothing sexual about it. There is no touching. It was a gross joke, but it was a joke.
7
A right wing former soft porn star/nude model accuses a Democratic Senator of inappropriate (she allegedly received no compensation) conduct that occurred a decade ago.
Off with his head!
7
Right after Trump!
2
Are you out of your mind? Democrats jump without being pushed - again??
2
I agree, as much as I like Franken, he should go. But, keep in mind, this is starting to get very close to McCarthyism.
As far as I know there is no law against taking a rude or insensitive picture of someone.
Furthermore, a photograph is a form of speech, it is protected expression. So while feminists can justifiably shame Franken for doing something that nearly every straight male in history has at least thought about doing, they cannot legislate against it.
Lastly, when this photo was taken Franken wasn't Tweeden's employer and didn't have any power over her. At best they were equals on a U.S.O tour. Co-workers, so rather than a power issue, the question is did she ask him to stop and did he?
No, for me the reason that Franken should leave is that this is a distraction in the fight against legitimate harassers Trump and Moore. Otherwise, I wouldn't give a damn.
1
"That horrifying photo.." that's a horrifying photo ?
7
Al Franken should not resign.aybe Ms. Goldberg could expend some outrage at the sexual predator President who bragged about sexually asulting women and was accused by 15 before the election
4
Hysterical witch hunt
5
Michelle - Until the perpetually prevaricating serial adulterer with 13 sexual assault accusations against him occupying OUR White House is GONE, NOBODY GOES.
3
In what world is PANTOMIMING touching a woman's breasts -- a woman wearing a flack jacket protecting her breasts! -- the same is "groping"?
In the NY Times world where false equivalency reigns.
Hey, Bill Clinton was investigated by an Independent Prosecutor who was given unlimited time, money, and subpoena power to try to prove that a few women's accusations against him were true. That's exactly like Trump, who never had to go under oath nor did any investigator ever have subpoena power to try to prove the allegations against him. According to the purveyors of false equivalency that have taken over the NY Times.
The NY Times has forced readers into a bizarro world where imitating groping a woman wearing a flack jacket as a joke for the camera is no different than sexual assault. Lock him up!
5
Wait a minute. Franken pushed an agreed-upon kiss too far and posed for a joke photo pretending to touch somebody's breasts. Have other "victims" joined the ranks. Let's at least wait and see.
Re: Franken “appears to grope her breasts.”
No, he appears to pretend to without touching her.
4
Many Germans only really blamed Hitler for losing the war. Many Southerners even today have positive feelings about the "Lost Cause." Most Men have at some point behaved terribly towards women. Clinton said it best when asked why, answered "because I could." It seems to me that in addition to educational changes, men need to not put themselves in situations where they can easily take advantage of women, and if they do and are caught the punishment needs to be swift and severe enough that they won't dare.
As for when Al the comedian was a disgusting jerk it seems to me an apology and admission would be fair, but let the woman he wronged have her voice heard and if a resignation is needed I believe he'd go and also would be missed.
1
This article itself will cause a backlash. Talk about a total over-reaction. For Pete's sake a goofball comedian staged a puerile photo funny of the sort that was commonplace in MAD magazine for most of my youth and now he's a menace and predator? COME ON!!! Get real. He grabbed a flak jacket not her breasts. Puh-Leeze!!! Backlash Bigly coming if this is the new "standard" for sexual assault. Why don't you stalk down the evil pornographer that took the photograph as well? If it was the co-pilot, strip him of his license. All the people on board should be outed and placed in stocks for abbetting this horrific assault.
5
Michelle Goldberg should go, not Franken ... She's over the top with this "op-ed" ....
7
People... Your country is being taken apart piece by piece by a Russian financed gang and you want a prominent democratic senator to resign because he took a stupid photo with a former Playboy model? Please... this is why nobody is taking liberals seriously...
6
First Kirsten Gillebrandt dredging up Bill Clinton now this column. This is why democrats lose. Women on the right including so called Christians are just fine supporting their pedophiles, legitimate rapists, whatever. Women on the left are ready to expurgate their ranks of all men who’ve expressed a lascivious thought. “We will replaced them with women” ... hah, how did that work out last election?
4
This is insane. The progressives aremeating their own.
3
Biting your nose to spite your face
1
I request Ms. Goldberg resignation from this newspaper because of encouraging fanatical hate against men, and monstrous intolerance toward jokes that are acceptable in our culture.
This is not yet Israel or Saudi Arabia.
It is evident from the infamous photograph, which is circulated with "horror" by many hypocrites, that Mr. Franken did not touch the breasts of that Ann-Coulter-wannabe "journalist" or could have touched them if he had wanted to because of all the "soldier's" gear she was wearing.
9
Please stop. As tasteless as that picture is, it doesn’t constitute groping. Look closely, he’s not even touching her breasts. And now Franken is equated to a child molester from Alabama? Please stop. Liberal animals like Louie C.K. and Weinstein deserve the criticism and much more. Masterbating in front of women as a form of “comedy” or power is sick. But let’s not equate. Let Franken be investigated in the senate for a dumb picture. But calling for Franken to step down from the senate...just stop.
5
I am a therapist and see lots of sexual assault casework. Senator Franken should not automatically leave his Senate seat because of this, There should be an investigation, and yes, the groper in chief in the White House needs to be investigated FIRST. Obviously, our favorite treason weasel and Trump family friend Roger Stone had something to do with this and it will come out in the investigation. Investigate crime boos in the White House first.
5
The photo is not sexual and disgusting. It's infantile and stupid. It does not show him "fondling" her breasts - it shows him posing for the camera as though he were fondling her breasts. For the millions who have apparently never experienced the pleasure of mutual foreplay, you should know it isn't done through garments designed to stop bullets. That said, can we get back to the economy, WW3, and that stuff about our POTUS taking Putin's version of events before our own intelligence services.
3
Franken should go? You first Ms. Goldberg - given your your nasty, factually incorrect review of Vanessa Grigoriadis' study of college rape Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus just this last September.
You, a senior, decorated journalist, wrote and published lies about Ms. Grigoriadis just 2 months ago. Senator Franken posed for a tasteless photo with his hands over the flack jacketed chest of a fellow performer (and possibly more) more than ten years ago.
By your standards as laid out in your editorial, you shouldn't be publishing your pieces. Apparently, your colleagues have accepted your apology for your professional misconduct and so you are free to suggest that Senator Franken should go.
Maybe he should, but you first.
5
Does Ms Goldberg work for the Times or TMZ?
Her ridiculous conflation of Franken’s admittedly failed effort at a jokey prank photograph & an ill considered skit with serious issues like Weinstein’s rape accusations, Moore’s pederasty, and actual sexual assaults is more likely to be the reason any effort at changing real harassers’ behavior might “..peter out..”, than Franken’s acts.
While her sly attempt to reference Louis “..peter out..” C.K. is at least as funny as Franken’s photo, this rest of this column doesn’t pass the giggle test.
3
Spin, dodge, deflect. Oh, and resist. Liberals are funny.
1
Marie Antoinettes ghost is laughing.
"That horrifying photo of Franken will confront feminists every time they decry Trump’s boasts of grabbing women by the genitals."
Poor feminists. Wouldn't want to introduce any subtlety into this witch hunt. Who needs the law after all?
I don't know what would prompt me to come to Al Franken's defense, I don't particularly find him so likeable or funny. He might well be a troglodyte. The tongue thing is gross. But caution: identify intent, understand gradations of behavior. What was Frankens' motivation? My guess is he was trying to heighten morale (!!) The line is moving in one direction, good. But ...
Frankly kissing is gross (no pun intended). Human contact is gross. Surfaces are covered in bacteria. Sex is gross. Hormones, gross! Eating is gross. Life is gross. People defecate 'n fart. Maybe Franken also farted, in public, and for all 99.9% that laughed, someone was offended.
Find the line, people!
Forcing yourself sexually, threatening, using power to obtain sexual favors, is not the same as cracking a joke and is against the law. It's not even the same as giving someone a kiss. In some cultures people kiss, in the mouth! I've seen it in America! Gross!
In fact, I personally find kissing strangers in the mouth utterly gross, so I don't support Franken or anyone else taking such freedoms. If he'd wanted to I'd've said no. But calling for Franken to step down for a kiss and a really funny picture, gimme a break.
And Trump should stay? You hypocrite!
1
Tread carefully on calling Franken to leave the Senate. He and his colleagues have called for an ethics investigation into his behavior and we should let that lead the way along with the voters of Minnesota the next time Franken is up for reelection. The House and Senate are right now full of men who sexually harass women and I would prefer an ethics investigation of Franken that will have the effect of scaring the hell out of every last one of them because they will be next up in the dock. If Franken leaves the Senate because of his behavior a precedent to investigate anyone else there -- including an avowed sexual predator, Donald Trump -- will be lost.
1
Ms. Goldberg, You say here. "...we can’t just go around ruining people’s lives and careers by retroactively imposing today’s sexual standards on past actions. " Well, yes, we can, and should. No excuses. Then men blithely perpetrating this harassment & sexual abuse upon women, men, boys and girls have just gone around ruining people’s lives and careers, themselves. The sexual standards in the past were exactly the same as they are now: Don't. NO means NO. Don't even think about it.
"Consider the evil one does on Earth, because a reckoning awaits." ~ George Eliot, in her first published novel, "Adam Bede", 1859
"disgusting indelible photograph"? Sorry this is becoming ridiculous. Many of us have been harassed at work and on the streets; some of us seriously assaulted. Conflating jokey pics with that is not feminism, it doesn't help women and it depicts us as perpetual victims.
Please. NYT go back to reporting serious allegations.
11
Miss Goldberg, just one question: according to you Senator Franken should leave Senate because this incident with the female journalist. Then according to your standard what we have to do about President Trump who has confessed to gravest actions? He should go because he is a self-confessed women's groper?
3
"The question isn’t about what’s fair to Franken, but what’s fair to the rest of us." Perfect conclusion, Michelle. Glad to see there are no shades of grey in your world. Franken's ribald joking does not equal pedophilia or serial abuse like president trump's odiousness, and by the way the question is also about what is fair to Al Franken and ALL the rest of us who have lusted in their hearts.
5
He shouldn't have to go.based on this one incident, because he apologized and he did not actually touch her breasts in the photo.
But if even one more woman comes forward with an accusation against him then a pox on him.
What if Ted Kennedy had dropped out of public life after Chappaquiddick? Liberals would have for many years lost out on an effective voice in Congress and a highly regarded public servant.
Franken is like many of us, a fallible human being, but at least his disgusting behavior in the past doesn't appear to be a persistent pattern of behavior.
8
No Senator Franken, do not resign unless other damaging accounts come to light which can be evaluated if and when they do. I woke up angry over Ms. Goldberg's article but was heartened to see that your readers have better sense than your pundits, at least in this case. No wonder the Democrats can't get elected wreaking of sanctimonious political correctness at every passing wind.
Furthermore Mr. Franken's name should not even be in the same sentence as Moore, Weinstein or other serial sexual offenders who committed illegal acts. Nor should it appear with Louie CK who repeatedly committed extremely lewd and offensive sexual acts. The photo was clearly a juvenile take on humor and not a sexual act as he was posing for the cameras and not even touching her and it was taken for public distribution, not for personal sexual gratification. The kiss with tongue is more problematic but if this turns out to be a one off incident then he should apologize, be ashamed and be on warning to never do it again.
5
I'm sure I will be excoriated for my views, but perhaps we should wait before rushing to judgment (and being politically correct), and do a little research. What was Roger Stone's involvement in outing Franken? There are already rumors swirling about Stone saying, "It's time for Al Franken to go in the barrel!", or words to that effect. I prefer to investigate the "Five W's and the H".
There are men who behave like pigs on all sides of the political spectrum. There is a difference between WaPo reporters researching and reporting a story, however, and a political operative dishing out dirt.
If we are in a state of high dudgeon over Weinstein, Louis CK, Franken, or Roy Moore, it begs the question of why the Molester-in-Chief should get a free pass for his comments about his actions on the Access Hollywood bus?
There is no moral equivalence in the Bill Clinton/ Monica Lewinsky affair, by the way; he did not use his position or power to seduce a poor innocent teenager. Bubba Clinton did not stalk and seduce Lewinsky, nor did he flash his thong underwear (or tight whiteys) at her. We all know who "seduced" whom in that scenario, no matter how the Clinton-haters twist the facts.
It is of note which individuals immediately admitted and apologized for their deeds with little or no hesitation, while others accused of heinous acts stand their ground and stonewall. I would prefer to judge all of them by their responses and statements, as well as what they do in the future.
1
Maybe we need a Truth and Reconciliation program, à la South Africa.
No, Franken should NOT go. He should stay right where he is, representing the people of Minnesota. The photo is quite obviously a joke: Ms Goldberg, have you no sense of humor? This is getting ridiculous. (Soon we'll be in Salem witch hunt territory). It looks very much like an effort to take attention away from Roy Moore, and from the Groper-in-Chief.
6
Ms Goldberg, You can have my offer now...
My offer is this:
Nothing
No perfunctory apologizes...No resignation...Not even the fee for the gaming license...
And I'd appreciate you personally sending my friend Roy Moore a Whitman Sampler...Large
As a (male) victim of sexual harassment, can I state again what this kind of attacks by men are about? Power."Embarassed, Belittled, Humiliated" she said. The antidote is understanding that and the recourse is, interstingly: pity. What a sad little dumbo would have to do this to feel powerful? Can you imagine the cheap laughs he made there? Comedians are prone to this, since to "intellectually overpower" is their business. Franken must have really hated Tweeden at that moment, and his entourage must have, too. The photo must have hurt even more sporting her silly "I am a soldier, too" pretend jacket. Is he that bully no more? Has he changed in the mean time? This now ends Franken as a funny guy and makes him a bully, one who should have been beaten up by the guys who made that photo. Are people he works closesly with out there willing to defend his behaviour since?
Oh gawd. This has become so awesomely boring.
Kinda reminds me of journalistic fun fest the media enjoyed with accusations born from false memory syndrome and that day care spectacle that put both men and women in jail. Only to have them vindicated and released.
Give it a rest already.
3
Please stop. Al Franken is handling this appropriately. Let the investigation go forward. Just because there's a damning photo of Franken and none of Roy Moore, is no reason for Franken to resign. That doesn't diminish the inappropriateness of his acts. No one's perfect.
5
I don't approve, let alone favor, sexual assault by anyone against anybody. That said, Michelle Goldberg is wrong to assault-at-will-by-opinion in print media.
It would not be wrong to tell her to shut up.
4
Requiring that his replacement be a woman is blatant sexism.
6
What irresponsible nonsense. "Appearing to grope" (as you put it) is not the same sin as actually groping, and in the picture, he only appears to grope, because clearly he's miming a grope, not groping. His hands are not in contact with Tweeden's chest. You've chosen this phrase to elide this very crucial difference--to make it seem as if the picture shows groping instead of miming. I'd expect this from Sean Hannity, but not from Michelle Goldberg.
12
No, Senator Franken should not go and your comments about a single long ago event prior to his being an elected senator are an over-reach. He apologized and this was accepted by the accuser. Perhaps there should be more attention to the serial harassers who now occupy the halls of congress. Rep. Jacki Speir (D-Calif) recently pointed out that there are two current members of congress who have engaged in sexual harassment.
4
He should go? Really?
That is about the most short sighted, "knee jerk", self defeating reaction I could imagine. I think this has gone a bit too far.
To essentially equate the antics of someone earning a living as an entertainer, a comedian, committed in front of many witnesses, clearly in jest, with those of a serial child sexual predator such as Roy Moore, is simply ludicrous.
Make no mistake. While you have not specifically equated the two men, you are making their transgressions equally heinous. One was essentially a poor taste jest, the other was engaged in pedophilia.
Give it a rest ladies, recent revelations will go a long way for your "cause", but you risk overplaying your hand and generating a reaction you do not expect.
5
I am not defending Mr. Franken, but let's have a little perspective here. Why ruin this man's career over Ms Tweeden reciting so extremely publicly on all the major televison programs of her encounter with Mr. Franken during their SNL years or USO tour while working together. It's not like he was grabbing her by the crotch or exposing himself. His behavior was indefensible, boorish and wrong.
Al Franken is no Roy Moore, Bill Clinton or Donald Trump - but lewd behavior is lewd - But let's keep this in perspective. Al Franken was not grabbing this woman by her crotch-or unzipping his pants and exposing himself. he was just being a jerk.
If we're asking these politicians to resign over their past lewd behavior, then let's bring the man in the White House and his sexual encounters into this conversation.
7
But is it so simple? Lee Ann Tweeden... a quick google search, i saw her on cover of Playboy twice and all kinds of erotc scantily clad photos. When a woman makes public sexuality part of her stock and trade, does it complicate things? Sexual attraction has its own energy which causes a certain amount of irrationality. It doesn't excuse it, but there is a true biological component at work in some cases that even for normally decent men becomes overwhelming. If you don't want to attract honeybees, don't spread your honey everywhere. I have encountered women who become abusive during their periods....is it ok for a woman to be abusive, to scream and yell and throw things? Does it mean those women who struggle during their periods are "hysterical". Our answer is, no, but, biology, it's a real thing. We will always have to negotiate our animal nature in order to have civilization,. Franken's stupidity in this case pales in comparison to a pig like Weinstein...unless we discover he did it all the time. I am a combat vet and i was raped as a 5 & 8 year old boy... so I know from degrees of bad behavior. Humans are scary and far less than ideal generally.
4
Franken should go? Are you for real? For what exactly? For traumatizing a publicity hungry woman who has conveniently decided that now is the right time to tell all of us how distraught she is? This is becoming a circus. Let me give you a reality check Michelle: heterosexual males have been making unwanted advances and saying distasteful thing to women since the time of Adam and Eve. And yes, it was wrong, yes we should've know better and yes a lot of us are guilty of having been jerks in the past. But people learn from mistakes and Al Franken has been a very good and honest senator. Are you really proposing that he be lynched for something stupid he did when he was a comedian? Really?
7
Franken planted an unwanted kiss causing his victim to have an immediate need to wash away his kooties. Franken is guilty as charged. His victim sounds like a fruitcake.
4
I remain certain that you are wrong that he should go.
Al Franken was a comedian at the time.
He has only been in the senate since 2009.
It was obviously a comedy skit.
She had on a kevlar vest so no way was he actually touching her breasts.
And to complicate the matter, Trump operative Roger Stone knew the attacks against Franken were coming, and tweeted that fact----that no one else knew.-Just as Roger Stone announced Wikileaks right before they happened.
Are you aware of that Michelle?
It muddies the waters. And doesn't compare one bit to Roy Moore or Donald J, Trump who attacked their accusers mercilessly, defamed them, and threatened lawsuits against these women.
4
If 62 million people can elect a billionaire who bragged about groping and sexually assaulting women then apologetic men like Al Franken should stay in his job as senator and push to make changes to your Civil Rights by including sexual assault, sexual harassment, discrimination etc. The man who the WH is not doing anything for people, less of all for women. There are some good men out there who can help move the agenda along for ALL WOMEN. Yes he was young, foolish and he apologized. Even the young lady who was violated said he should leave his job. He’s not a R Murray, Weiner, Cosby, Trump......
3
Leeann Tweeden is described by Goldberg, and in the Times' news story published today, as "a former model and radio news anchor" and "sports commentator". True, but incomplete. Google her. Click the Images tab.
Now decide who has done more to degrade the condition of women in the world, Tweeden or Franken.
5
Okay, we've got it, you're officially on the bandwagon. "Horrifying" photo? It was a stupid, crude, and unfunny joke, one that he posed for; he wasn't actually groping her. Can we calm down a little, have some perspective, understand context.....grown up stuff, you know? Please also stop abusing the English language; when you do so, you dilute meaning. "Horrifying" is the state of our nation with a monster in the White House. Al Franken has done lots of crass and stupid things before, and he paid the price for them during his first Senate run. Thankfully the voters of Minnesota were able to see past this, and as a result we have a truly patriotic, hard working, and focused public servant. People like you taking pot shots at him and conflating his admittedly dull and boorish behavior with the current crop of monsters like Trump, Weinstein, and Moore does the nation a disservice.
7
No, Senator Franken should receive estrogen injections for two years until his silly urges disappear entirely. It's biology and testosterone stupidity driving this behavior and the only practical solution is intervention. Men are pigs but they need to become girly and harmless. WOMEN, on the other hand, need to be far less attractive or androgynous. God foolishly allowed testosterone to evolve into a social handicap that spews stupidity.
If Trump stays, Al stays
5
With the lying liars' takeover of government all but complete, and the House passing a budget that will cause millions of people immeasurable pain for generations, this is what Ms Goldberg wastes column space on? Roger Stone and the Russians are chortling tonight.
2
Harassing? Dehumanizing? Listen to yourself. You sound like a 16th century Puritan. You’re going to hold all men to a standard of chivalrous perfection from the day they were born? Franken’s behavior may have been boorish, but harassing and dehumanizing it ain’t. Save those big words for the true harassers and predators. This whole overreaction to every perceived slight reminds me of that old Chris Rock joke that sexual harassment is often nothing more than the ugly guy at work trying to get laid. All that this holier than though routine is going to accomplish is to drown out the words of true victims, and allow real perpetrators to escape just punishment. Pick your battles ladies; you don’t want to win the battle and lose the war.
7
And it's time for Jackie to name names
My working life was from approximately 1963 to the mid 1980's. After that, I started my own business. While working, I was sexually harassed on every single job I had. You read that right. Every single job.
Al Franken, a comedian (at the time) performing in a comedy sketch aggressively French kisses a participant in the sketch and later poses with an offensive joke photo. Anthony Weiner receives two years in prison for texting lewd photos to a teenager. The President of the United States, accused by many women of sexual assault and who bragged on tape about assaulting women is still the leader of the free world.
The scales of justice seem to be swinging wildly. If every single act of indiscretion is treated equally, where is the justice in this? George H.W. Bush has now been publicly caused of groping and telling dirty jokes. The man is obviously near death. As a die-hard feminist, I cannot support ruining people for acts that, while offensive and unacceptable, are pretty far down on the scale of right and wrong. Al Franken was wrong. He has apologized. I am sure he and his wife and family are going through hell right now. Who knows if George H.W. Bush even knows that he has been accused? But his extended family does, and I have no doubt they are sick over this.
As a woman who has suffered much of her life from the reality of sexual harassment and even assault, I am calling for all of us to gain a sense of proportion. Please.
5
Throw all the bums out including Trump and let’s elect women to replace them all.
1
It is unfortunate she works for the Fox network.
1
As despicable as Al Franken’s behavior may be, any request for an ethics investigation or request for his resignation should be tied to a similar request for our groper in chief who has been molesting women with impunity for decades and enacting mysogynist policies thru his administration. Both should be investigated and held accountable.
1
GOLDBERG SHOULD GO
Oh no, not Michelle Goldberg, too.
Before Thursday, some of her columns have hit the mark ("An Unfit President Fails Puerto Rico") but been fair to conservatives where appropriate ("Thank You, Jeff Flake").
Then I read her latest column, in which she incorrectly described a photo of a mimed grope meant for a laugh, not a sexual violation of a woman--no actual contact of breasts, see the shadows--as an "apparent" groping.
This poor description alone might not have gotten Goldberg in much trouble. But then she set forth a disgusting false equivalence between the "groping" man and actual sexual predators and a poorly-reasoned argument that the man must quit his job even though he was a comedian at the time and the "victim" isn't calling for his resignation ("People make mistakes").
My first instinct is to say that Goldberg deserves a chance to apologize for her lapse in judgment. We shouldn't go around ruining people's lives and careers imposing basic standards of logic and fairness on every column they've ever written.
But if that happens, Goldberg will surely write more dumb columns attacking liberals for the slightest of mistakes in an attempt to appear even-handed in comparison to her treatment of conservatives for far graver sins.
It's not worth it. The question isn't about what's fair to Goldberg, but what's fair to the rest of us. I think she should go. The message to liberals about false equivalences has to be clear: We will replace you.
14
The picture is meant to be a joke, a very poor one that brought distress to the woman involved. He was wrong to kiss her and he has apologized for both. He is willing to undergo an ethics investigation, and now you want him to resign, why?
The woman has accepted his apology, she says he should not resign so why are others involving themselves in the matter.
Yes he was jerk, an old jerk at 55, but he is not a sexual predator or a fiend. If we continue down this path where everything is a big deal, we will find ourselves in a place where nothing is a big deal, including sexual assault, which is what groping Donald did, rape which is what Clinton did to Broderick, and child molestation and sexual harassment which is what Moore did. I am saying they did it because they will never admit it, Franken immediately came forward and apologized.
3
What should happen to Franken if he had only kissed her without permission?
Where is the line to be drawn?
Wow. I didn't know there were so many perfect people in the world who never did anything dumb.
4
So there is a soldier next to her, and somebody else took the picture. What a monster. (sark) So let's get all four of them under oath, and see what's what.
1
[[Tweeden told Fox News that, horrified as she was by the picture, she doesn’t think he needs to resign over it. “People make mistakes,” she said. The more we learn about how grotesquely prevalent sexual harassment is, the more I wonder if we can really toss aside every man who has ever crossed a line, and if we do, how many will remain.]]
Well, that sounds about right to me.
If you look at Bill Cosby who (allegedly) drugged and raped women over many years, or this Moore character who appears to have (had) the tendencies of a pedophile, or any of these religious fanatics who denounce homosexuality and then keep company with rent boys on the side, there are degrees of offense and there should be degrees of outrage.
People make mistakes.
Some go on to acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them. Others hire a team of lawyers, bash their accusers in the media, and point to the passage of time and their faulty recollections.
2
It isn't going to happen, Michelle. The result you're looking for isn't Utopia and won't ever come about because as long as human beings are capable of setting norms and then crossing the line we'll always have situations that are disgusting but not terminal. Idiots will always exist but behavior norms do change as we learn from societal mistakes. I am more optimistic than you.
1
What Franken did is wrong. Disgusting and demeaning. Before you call for his resignation, first you must demand Trump's resignation. How many women -- 15 or 16?? -- have claimed that the president groped, touched, harassed them? As long as he gets to stay, then why bother with the others? His misdeeds are the most eggregious. And while you're at it, go after Clinton and Clarence Thomas.
Let the man stay and let the voters decide. Same for Roy Moore. Maybe he is a pig but so are most men.
Fresh from believing Broaddrick which only the righties do,
she has embraced false equivalence
Wow.
this is just pathetically bad
3
The only person who needs to go is you. People with narrow myopic points of view. You place Mr. Franken in the same category as child and adult sexual predators. Shame on you. I think you should jump in your time machine and join the Puritans. Do not put inappropriate, misguided buffoonery on the same level as criminal sexual acts. It's people like you that society does not need.
7
How about a little perspective here?
Americans are comparing one isolated, deeply regretted offense by a liberal senator with a lifetime of much, much more egregious behavior that has never been admitted or apologized for. And damned if they aren't saying the two are equal.
This is roughly analogous to Fox hosts promoting lie after lie after lie, and the NY Times making a small error of fact in their reporting and issuing an instantaneous and profuse apology for their error. And the Fox people scream, "See? They're all the same!!"
No, Franken should not resign. That would send the message that America sees his behavior as analogous to DT's. Nothing could be further from the truth.
4
In the light of the facts, the mindless reactivity -Investigate!!!, Retire!!!- is America at it's ridiculous worst.
2
Well at least in this situation WE have the opportunity to forgive and move on. Over the last 40 years with right wing republican christian nut jobs we're expected to believe that on a weekly basis, the likes of Gingrich, Trump, Moore et al are cleansed of their sins by some fictitious character who I certainly don't recognize as any moral authority and then proceed to sin again and again and again. Some religion. No religion on earth has my moral compass, they coudn't take it, and I'm an atheist. Get a little perspective here, he was a comedian at the time, he admits he made a mistake of judgement and this does not compare to the antics of Moore or Weinstein or Cosby or even Bill Clinton. Certainly our President is accused of much worse and with a minor child. Hey? Is it my imagination or are right wing religious nutjobs actually still supporting a pedophile? Possibly 2? Tip of the hamburger as Homer would say, but still? Didn't we get this pedophilia thing straight with the Catholic Church? Can we at least get Moore and Trump registered as sex offenders? Don't we attempt to keep monsters like this permanently away from our children? The hypocrisy of Evangelical Christianity has never been so laid bare.
Can't wait to see Michelle Goldberg on Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity like Leeann Tweeden.
Only a matter of time.
1
Michelle Goldberg, I think you should go. Surely, there was a moment in your past when you harassed, belittled or traumatized another girl (or boy). Perhaps in college, high school or even grade school. In this day and age of the politically correct run amok, your shameful behavior (from many years) ago should not be tolerated at the NYT.
3
Horrifying photo? Please. How do you know that photo wasn't staged? Tweeden is coming off as a big mouth, eyeing an opportunity to gain attention. Leave Franken alone.
2
No, you're wrong. He should stay. It is a false equivalency and another example of liberals encouraging erring allies to 'die at a frown' as the Irish put it. Get a grip.
3
Let's see, a SNL comedian and a woman who graced the cover of Playboy entertain the troops with a sexually charged skit in which he is the frumpy old man and she the hot chick. He later adds a lecherous image of himself to a DVD sent to the troops for another laugh in which she is simply a prop. Now the woman who entertained the troops with her body, and I can only imagine her attaire, is offended for being used as a sexual object. This reminds me of a porn star I once knew who complained that she wasn't being respected as an actress.
3
...so much sensitivity, such nonsense..."then I saw the photo''; he's apologized, but that isn't enough for you?
3
Appoint a woman? Like, anyone who's a woman?
2
No, absolute overkill.
3
When a conservative does it its labeled "predatory behavior".
When a liberal does it its a "crude joke".
Interesting......
This was a comedian doing a skit, that he thought would be liked by his audience, a group of horny twenty-something servicemen. Leeann was so upset that she continued to do the skit at every stop on the tour, she should have stopped after the 1st time. The picture is repulsive, but if you look at it closely it is clear his hands are not on her breasts.
I don't excuse his actions, but do think that a comedian try to do sexual comedy for his audience is different from a D.A. having a fourteen-year-old rub his crotch.
4
And here we have it- stupidest oped of the month. Men are pigs regardless of political leanings, i get it. But keeping the senate as close as possible to try to keep republicans at bay is too important. Even if tRump is out, Pence will be worse.
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"horrifying' means to fill with horror; shock greatly. Really? I normally like your thoughts and read your column but now I might have to stop reading as your witch hunt has gone a bit too far.
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Michelle Goldberg sets a new record for pinch-faced feminist humorlessness.
Egads. Leeann Tweeden was wearing a flack-jacket. Which maybe Goldberg should consider wearing permanently, because, you know, your life is ruined forever if some guy feels your boob. Which Franken couldn't.
Franken should leave the Senate?
The "Tweeden Affair" was hijinks in a war zone. Get over it.
You know, there are real problems in the world, too many to enumerate, but involving people getting killed in Raqqa, or rich people passing tax cuts for themselves while raising taxes on the middle class.
Franken's funny photo?
Small stuff like that.
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And Trump?
Yes, let us allow the ideal to trample the good to jelly.
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Maybe replace him with the teacher in the news today under arrest for having sex with one of her students.
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Franken needs to go? I think we should start with the mysognist and chief and that degenerate that may win the senate seat in Alabama.
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He apologized, acknowledged it. He should not be fired. He is so far from what Moore is alleged to have done, and our PRESIDENT!! For goodness sake. He won't ever apologize for anything, and is still a sexist pig.
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Don’t resign Al. We need more men who admit they are stupid, juvenile butt heads at times. I agree that there are “degrees “ of sexual harassment and degrees of punishment. Lumping all sexual harassment together actually doesn’t help women in the long run. Men have long said women can’t take a joke ...was Franken’s stupid joke really sexual harassment? I just don’t think it comes anywhere near Roy Moore’s stalking teenage girls at the mall.
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Of course, Franken has to go. So, too, does the Alabama groper and anybody else in Congress who hasn't been able to keep their hands to themselves. And while we're at it, the predator-in-chief, currently taking up space in the Oval Office, needs to go. These people are creeps. We don't need ethics hearings to know that or get rid of them. Just tell them now, right away, to clear out their desks, pack their bags and get lost.
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Sure ... after Trump goes.
This photo is not "horrifying." It's definitely stupid and thoughtless. Please save your extreme adjectives for when they are necessary, such as a man thinking it's okay to date underage girls.
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Horrifying photo? Really? Abu Ghraib? The naked Vietnamese Girl? The attack dogs on Civil Rights activist? Please try to maintain a sense of proportion, otherwise you become the boy who cried wolf.
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The photo is gross and disgusting, but 1. She is wearing a flack vest so a real grope of her breasts wouldn't be possible, and 2. it looks like Franken wasn't even actually touching the vest. A crude and disgusting "joke" picture, but not actually a sexual violation--unlike the forced French kiss he is accused of.
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No excuse for bad behavior and poorly conceived “jokes”. But is there not a difference between that and repeated seriously predatory behavior? For so many of us women who were entering the work force in the early 1970s when men had a majority of the power positions,bad behavior and poorly conceived “jokes” were part of daily life. Inappropriate comments about our bodies, our hair, our clothes, an occasional butt slap and inquiries about what we’d be willing to do for our careers were weekly occurrences. It was infuriating. There is an entire generation of women who legitimately could topple an entire generation of men. While none of these behaviors should be tolerated not all offenses are equal. Men who prey on minors, who rape, who brag about assaulting women, who ogle young beauty pageant participants in the dressing room belong in a different tier of hell. If women are really outraged by those men, then sacrificing minor offenders and ignoring the outrageous ones isn’t good enough for me. I don’t need a token sacrifice—I want Trump and Moore and Weinstein and their ilk to get what they so shamefully deserve.
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The Times has had a full day to edit its "groping" headline, and yet it's still on page one. Groping requires touching. The photo does not show touching.
Did the Times even check the provenance of the photo? It's not a "selfie", so a third party took the picture. How many other people were watching? Was Tweeden actually asleep? Was the whole scene staged among knowing participants?
Some of these questions were raised in comments last evening. Where is the follow up by the Times?
Franken stated yesterday he had a different recollection of the "kiss rehearsal". Yet this column was rushed into publication mere hours after the public release of Tweeden's statement, which was preceded by its release to Roger Stone -- yes, that Roger Stone -- who tweeted about it the previous evening.
Where is the journalistic integrity readers are led to expect from the newspaper of record?
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Goldberg is wrong. Franken was wrong to spring a disgusting kiss on Tweeden for their skit, but the ‘gag’ photo of him reaching toward her flack jacket is just dumb, not assaultive. If we cannot distinguish grievous violation from stupidity pranks, without coercive or quid pro quo pressure or severe sexual violation...than all efforts to make sane change are in jeopardy. Over reach, witch hunts, lumping all rude behavior with Moore/Weinstein/C.K./Spacey sexual predations and violations makes feminism look ridiculous.
No woman I know has been spared the unwanted swueeze, kiss, hug. It will be much harder for louts & creeps to ever act like that is normal...locker room mentality (boys will be dogs) has been given notice.
But to create a false equivalence regarding damage done, abuse of power, traumaticization is to guarantee a backlash.
Don’ t turn #metoo into McCarthyism.
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What is the matter with us? Moore is a vile creep. Al was acting boorish.
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I am more concern about the rape of our country.
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Cannot agree. you need to wait if this was a HUGE mistake or a way of life. Spend your time doing investigative reporting then you might have a point. Right now you are just being a sensationalist.
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Imagine the stupidest thing you have ever done in your life. Now a photo of it. Now have it as the lead story on CNN and on the front page of the NYT. Not fun, right? If you can say you have nothing in your life that would not be troublesome, then you must be a pretty boring person.
If she forgives him, why is she destroying his career?
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Tweeden's sensational caption is both incorrect and out of bounds. It should have read "Comedian (now Senator) Al Franken ..."
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He should offer to quit only if Trump, another accused sexual predator, quits too.
Ladies men are pigs! The light of day is shining upon them. You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. I tend to agree that he should resign. The Dems should clean house of closet cases, gropers, and apologize for the very pig bill Clinton was as president. His behavior helped pave the way for the bigger pigs that are in Alabama and the oval today.
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If Trump, our sexual predator-in-chief, can remain in the presidency, and Moore, Alabama's pedophile, can stay in the race, Franken (who issued an immediate apology) can stay in Congress!
Appears to grope, like a mime appears to be in a box. If this act deserves resignation, what do Trump's actions warrant? Everyone has been an idiot at some point, some more than others.
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Yeah, he was a jerk. But, he's not a criminal.
This essay is the case of a liberal who wants to show how holier than thou she is than the pederest supporters in the GOP.
Like all of us, Senator Franken has feet of clay. But resigning before an ethics investigation - absurd.
My standard, whether it be Franken, Moore, Trump, Bill Clinton, etc., etc.: Would I trust the man alone with my daughter or niece? With Franken, most likely, with Bill Clinton, probably - neither man is accused of pedophilia.
With Moore and Trump, both strongly appear to believe that men have a right to subject women to subservience as their personal object of convenience. Trump the narcissist, and Moore the religious zealot appear to have no true empathy for others. When a woman says "No", they don't hear. No way in hell would I let either Moore or Trump within 1000 feet of any woman I cared for.
The GOP sympathizers are rationalizing like a whirling dervish, trying like all billy hell to create a false equivalence. At the end of the day, and the ethics investigation, I believe a chastised Senator Franken will be standing. Bill Clinton was impeached, embarrassed, but not convicted. But Moore and Trump will not in hell - not because they're Republicans, but because neither has a soul.
You're kidding right?
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Interesting that you don't call for Trump to resign over his sexual deviances.
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This is dumb. It's becoming harder and harder to remain a subscriber. No, the movement is strong enough that everyone who has committed offenses that land in different zip codes than this will still be called to account. Enough with the rush to hang.
It is questionable whether there is any assault here. I don't like what he did, but there is the context of the theater and performance and after that we're going a lot on what she says which - as far as I understand so far - has no corroboration. He wanted to rehearse a kiss for the skit, she ultimately acceded. Maybe he's just being a theater bully that he's not going to put on a performance that hasn't had the key notes rehearsed. And then he took it too far or just wasn't respectful of a non-performer's boundaries. As to the whole idea that he treated her differently after whatever happened there, that is some seriously subjective stuff and I've seen no back up for her version of those events.
If it's a pattern, then he should burn. But touching her damn Kevlar - the people saying he "groped her" are downright hysterical - and then doing something she didn't feel comfortable with in a rehearsal, it's not remotely the same as the other stuff that's come out. Frankly, I think there can be issues when performers and non-performers collide. I don't like what he did, it was stupid, it wasn't funny, it demands an apology. Maybe even a censure. I think the calls for resignation are bonkers.
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Wow, resignation? Thst's awfully harsh.
Let s/he who is without sin....
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Michelle, I loved your earlier editorials and thought that you were a contender for the Pulitzer Prize some day. Alas, you dropped the ball with this article. Too bad you can’t take it back.
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