As much as I love being right — Hey, I’m as egotistical as the next person! — I hate being right this time. Yesterday, I predicted that where there was one accusation of groping, there’d be more because this type of behavior don’t happen in a vacuum. It builds over time. Today, there are more.
I also gave Al a bit of advice: get it all out before the others start telling their stories. It is the only way to make good on what you’ve done. To maybe retain your senate seat or some influence or some semblance of honor and dignity. You’ve been blessed with a halo by your admirers. It isn’t completely gone, but it will be soon. Once it’s gone, once you’ve wasted the benefits of the halo affect, then no body cares what you do.
Kevin Spacey wasted his. Don’t you waste yours. You’re far more important to the liberal-progressive cause that you have championed. You owe us that much. You owe us every effort to preserve your ability to hold a seat for the progressive side, to vote for the progressive causes.
Seriously, Al, you gotta just come clean. You gotta say that you made a habit of or regularly or often grabbed women’s asses when you posed for pictures with them. You’ve got to say whether you’ve grabbed women by any other body parts, too. You’ve got to say whether you’ve forced anyone to endure a kiss. You’ve got to make a complete accounting of every type of sexual transgression that you’ve committed.
You don’t hafta account for each one because you’ve groped your constituents so consistently and so often over the years that you can’t possibly remember them all. But, if that is true, you gotta say that, too. You’ve gotta say that you are an arrogant prick of a narcissist who thought the rules didn’t apply to him. You’ve got to say that you took advantage of these women with your stature and celebrity, that you took advantage of your wife’s good nature, that you fooled your staff and friends. You’ve got to say that you’re a serial groper… and you’ve got to say if you’ve done anything worse because you know, Al, if you’ve done worse, it’s coming out now, too. And, oh god, please don’t let there be worse.
You cannot make excuses. You cannot remember the rehearsal differently. You cannot say that anonymity makes addressing accusations more difficult. You cannot whine and complain and bitch about your accusers even a little bit. You cannot make excuses. You cannot sound like the goddamned Celebrity Perv Apology Generator, you disappointing son of a bitch.
It’s difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don’t remember those campaign events.
— Al Franken, Two More Women Accuse…
So, the fuck what, Al. What are you trying to say? Are you saying that if you saw their ass again, you’d remember whether you groped it or not? Are you saying that you didn’t make it a habit of grabbing women’s butts when you posed for pictures with them? Because if you’re saying anything less than, yeah, I groped women when I had the chance, then fuck that you deserve the comeuppance that you’re about to get.
You’ve got to be honest and sincere and be especially hard on yourself. And you’ve got to stand in there and take it because you, sir, deserve it.
Then after you’ve convinced us you’re sincere in confessing your transgressions and that you’ve accounted for every possible accusation that may come out of the shadows, you’ve got to invite those women to come forward and tell their stories.You’ve got to provide a forum and a place for that to happen if they need it.
You’ve got to promise not to ever do it again, and invite any future victim to contact the media immediately should you ever do it again.
And, last, you’ve got work to make it up to each and every individual victim, your constituents, and your admirers. You’ve got to work to pass laws protecting women and equalizing the playing field of sexual assault, harassment, predation.
Senator Al Franken, you’ve let us down, but you can still go through this and provide some help for our society as a whole and for your victims, but you’ve gotta do it before any more women can step forward to accuse you.
I’ve been right before. I’m right about this. This is really your only shot now that there are four accusers.
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Categories: Quick Thought, Violence Against Women
The Psy of Life 
Nope. Sorry. I don’t believe Al Franken did anything wrong beyond posing for a juvenile photo. I think Tweeden is an opportunist and a liar. I don’t believe Al Franken is stupid enough to grab a woman’s ass in public in front of her father and her husband, especially when they are standing there with cameras, I think people’s memories can be easily influenced. Oh, someone said that Al Franken grabbed someone’s ass. I remember meeting him once, and I thought he might have accidentally brushed my ass with his hand, but now I am convinced that it wasn’t accidental! If a woman has a history of being sexually abused (the soldier who accused Franken was sexually assaulted just months before she met him), she is hyper-aware of any touching. Something that is accidental can be construed as deliberate and malicious.
If Al Franken resigns, you are telling any person with a grudge or a dislike of anyone in public office that all they need is a picture with that person, and all they have to do is swear up and down that something inappropriate went on right before or after. Others with the same mindset with jump on board.
We need to stop walking on eggshells and apologizing for every damned thing that someone at Faux News doesn’t like. Instead of throwing Al Franken under the bus, we should be defending him. He has never been accused of using his office to demean women. He has never prevented a woman from pursuing her career goals.
Al Franken is not Roy Moore. He’s not Harvey Weinstein or Twitler or John Conyers or Matt Lauer. Every time a moronic lazy talking head throws out the bullshit question, “But then what should be done with Al Franken?” when discussing the other cases, Dems (and any decent people) should answer them with disdain instead of giving them the stupid sound-byte they are fishing for.
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Howdy Nonnie!
I don’t think he necessarily has to resign. In fact, I think it will be unfortunate if he did. I think you missed the part where I never mentioned resignation. Another part you seem to have missed is the part where I advocate for listening to accusers and not opting for protecting the man’s life, career, and reputation. We need to balance the two as we investigate. Plenty of accusations have fallen apart upon investigation.
What is clear is that our reaction as a society to an accusation is to cover it up rather than investigate.
And, I believe Franken could be narcissist enough to try and squeeze an ass in front of god and everybody thinking it is okay to do so.
Huzzah!
Jack
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I suspect that his Attorney has educated him to some degree…. that may not encourage him to “confess all” we shall see.
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Howdy Francese!
Thanks for the insight! That is probably it. In this day and age, any man who confesses to sexual predation can be sued, fired, or convicted in a court of law. Boy, don’t that just take all the fun out of it! And, makes it much harder for a truth and reconciliation commission to work.
Huzzah!
Jack
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the hard truth…… and we know that there are more out there ,,,,,more of the same with other gropers in congress, not just this man who at least didn’t wait to be nailed by the opposition . How many more are in the ranks along with him that have not come to the attention of the press…. there are more out there ,,,,,,, and if this man goes down , the others should too….. no favoritism . Guaranteed if they catch them all in congress…. the country will shut down! Lets see if it happens!!
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Howdy Francese!
I recall Texas Senator John Tower being voted the Congressman that the Capitol Hill secretaries would least like to be trapped in an elevator with. That was back in the late ’70’s. And there was Oregon Senator Bob Packwood who was forced to resign in disgrace after allegations of sexual misconduct and general assholishness when it came to women back in 2995. I don’t think that it has gotten any better.
It is depressing, but a necessary cleansing.
Oh, and, uh, Happy Thanksgiving!
Huzzah!
Jack
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happy Turkey day to you too!! and here’s a toast to getting the other men in the senate etc to ” come clean” before they are outed …. and then we will likely get more women in the political arena. Not a bad thing either….. of course it could cause a panic among men all over the country LOL
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Reblogged this on cabbagesandkings524 and commented:
Calico Jack returns with some advice for Al Frankin.
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Thank you sir! And, Happy Thanksgiving!
Huzzah!
Jack
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This is excellent advice. The question of whether a serial groper can remember every, or even most instances got me thinking. Behavior that becomes habit tends to drop out of conscious attention. That, after all is what habits are for, to take routine actions out of the limited (average of 7) number of items that can be carried in conscious attention, and also part of why habits are hard to break. Al probably has no idea how many times he may have grabbed/touched a woman’s behind without permission. He will have to ask them. The good news is that, unlike some recent others, he seems willing to believe them, or at least allow them the benefit of any doubt.
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Howdy Bob!
Al does seem to be handling it better than most, but his last comment on noting being able to address anonymous accusers struck me as a bit of wavering along with his, I don’t remember the rehearsal that way. I do hope he turns this into a showcase of how to respond in the way that promotes healing and reconciliation and not further harm and division.
Huzzah!
Jack
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