Never forget, Al Franken resigned when old pictures of him goofing around came out.
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
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Al's problem is the woman's complaint was clearly performative, but there was no way for him to say that without relying on the rhetoric of rape denialists and victim blamers. If he had fought back against it, he would forever be invoked in both sides arguments.
That's the downside of being the party of empathy and human dignity.
And also that Gillibrand was forcing him onto that sword to up her own "Me Too" cred.
At the time, a lot of people wanted Al to push back. I'm glad he didn't because sometimes you have to lose a battle to win a war.
we lost the war. 6 supreme court justices.
Yeah, me too! I'd totally rather die in a camp or be deported than stand for my values and fight for what's right, especially if it might give the appearance that I'm compromising on my values which I'm absolutely willing to compromise in the interest of politics. /s
Snark aside, I wish we'd stood up for Anthony Weiner. Dude was legit amazing back in the day. Corporate media networks were absolutely gleeful to tear him down and people just watched it happen and laughed the whole time. Then again, I think maybe my values are just more in line with the idea of actually accomplishing political goals (read: legislation and policy) and not so much with making performative gestures that only serve to hurt said political goals. Obviously, in Weiner's case dude committed crimes (iirc), but again he was an incredible politician, which is what he was hired for. Politicians are tools, like doctors and mechanics, they're not our friends; they're fellow citizens that provide a necessary service. I wouldn't let Weiner or my mechanic babysit but that doesn't mean they're not skilled at what they do.
Anyway, we're probably going to just continue arguing about bs like this while the right consolidates power and supports ruthless leaders. All while we're asking/tearing down our leaders what pronouns they use or their opinions on eating steak or who knows what. Else Not saying pronouns and the beef industry/climate change aren't important to some/many people - power to em, for sure - but it seriously feels like people need to get a grip. The distractions are real. We need to focus!
/rant
I'll miss Al Franken and I was disappointed he didn't stand up for himself. His supporters and his constituents deserved that, imo
I get it, but the fact that Wiener was later convicted of sending obscene materials to an underage girl really undermines your point. It's pretty obvious in hindsight that he shouldn't have been in a position of power and influence. There are things that can be overlooked - but actual crimes that could create a conflict of interest or leave someone vulnerable to blackmail cannot.
Should he have been forced out in 2011? From the perspective of say, 2012, there is a good argument against it, but 2015 demonstrated that it was, in fact, the correct call after all.
Anthony Weiner is a shitbag who sent photos of his dick to an underage girl if I remember correctly. That is not the same as Al Franken. Even Jon Stewart, his old college roommate, rebuked him harshly.
Weiner was a creep. I live in New York and no one wanted him to fight. Everyone wanted him gone ASAP.
He fought the only way he knew how; by lying.
Dude, Anthony Weiner? Did you skip the second half of his wiki page, or...?
While I don't oppose sex work it is funny that the people trying to legislate these idealized catholic values are all weirdo sex perverts who are willing to spend a lot of money for sex as entertainment.
Classic transference.
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We'll find out eventually that the real investigation is over the fact that he paid in the first place, and didn't follow their Lord and Savior's command to simply grab them by the pussy. Perhaps Gaetz wasn't famous enough at the time, so they didn't let him do it.
“Witness” I’m guessing too young to ~~say a name~~ give names.
Edit: pointless pedantry
I’m guessing too young to ~~say a~~ print the name.
Just a suggestion. I interpreted what you wrote differently than I think you intended.
Pedantic.
I'm not going to insist that what you wrote is wrong, that would indeed be pedantic. I'm just saying that a casual read of that sentence indicates something different than intended and I suggested that perhaps a clearer version might be cognitively easier for some folks to read.
Downvotes obviously disagree so that's fine. But it certainly wasn't intended as pedantry.
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She should have gotten hazard pay on top of her usual rate.
How else is he supposed to get it? His personality?
I did not read the article. However, the headline really makes it sound like I'm supposed to think that paying for sex is a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, Matt Geetz is a fucker and should probably be in prison, but we live in current year. It should absolutely be ok to hire someone to get your rocks off.
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I think this is just part of the republican playbook now. They all seem as scummy as humans can possibly be. tRump was right, it is swamp....filled with conservative scum
Knowing Matt I am not shocked.
I seem to recall that some papers took it upon themselves to publish names and pictures of "Johns" - I guess prostitution is legal for some, but not for others? Some Johns deserve to be named and shamed, but others, not so much?
Does the title not say his name and does the article not have his picture?
What are you saying here?
The “John” is Matt Gaetz. He paid for sex. He allegedly (and very likely did) groomed and raped minors. He is named.
You mean to say that child sex trafficking Matt Gaetz also pays for sex? I'm shocked!
Edit: typo
Today's vocab word is: licentious. Or if he is actually paying a boatload, profligacy.
Just look into anyone that received or requested a presidential pardon from Trump.
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