Al Franken was railroaded out of a Senate seat.

[Tommy Carcetti]

In part because well-intentioned but faint-hearted colleagues of his were too worried about the media hysteria as opposed to the actual facts of the situation.

Deja fucking vu, man.

[badhair77]

1. Exactly.

[beaglelover]

2. Kirsten Gillibrand, anyone?

[delisen]

9. Chuck Schumer. I trust the word of Al Franken

[DFW]

16. Al does not make shit up

Take it from one who knows.

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. Kamala Harris was the first to go on National TV to call for Franken to step down

[DFW]

15. Needs no commentary.

But you are not in error with your observation. I would hope she has grown in her time as Joe Biden’s VP, although she has grown enough to have the decency to offer Al an apology, which she certainly still has the time to do—and nothing to lose, either.

[brooklynite]

21. Why ruin one of the oldest conspiracy theories on DU?

What could be better than a junior Senator with the power to sway the entire Democratic Caucus?

Except for.....Joe Manchin.

[shrike3]

53. Gillibrand asked for it. She tried to make political hay out of the thing.

I can recall her on at least two programs putting herself out there as a shining light for women's rights.

[orleans]

61. yes, it was gillie's face and voice that i saw and heard. i fucking hated her for that shit. i still do.

imo she was/is nothing compared to what al franken was & would have been.

i don't recall kamala in the mix.

i remember when durbin jumped on that fucking bandwagon i lost a lot of respect for him. (never really got it back either)

[shrike3]

63. Gillibrand was the one who appeared on comedy shows.

She was on Full Frontal right after Al's ouster to offer up herself as the great champion of women. Then there was the 60 Minutes interview. "What about my right to speak out?" That the pile-up on Al was a group effort is true. Gillibrand may not have led the charge, but she was the one to try and make hay out of it. The result? Her name is the one we remember.

[delisen]

34. How does re-fighting the past help us save democracy now?

Let’s take the anger to ABC and CNN.

[SocialDemocrat61]

58. It doesn't

Amazing how some are still upset that a rich, white, male TV celebrity lost his job.

[orleans]

62. if you're talking about al franken maybe you should stop and consider what we lost when we lost his voice in the senate

[SocialDemocrat61]

65. What's wrong with Tina Smith?

She’s a very hard working democrat who does a good job. Doesn’t seem like a loss to me.

[orleans]

66. well, if it doesn't seem like a loss to you then maybe everything bad that happened to the "rich, white, male, tv

celebrity who lost his job" is okay

[SocialDemocrat61]

67. Again

What's wrong with Tina Smith? She seems like a fine Senator.

[orleans]

68. god, go ask someone else; i am absolutely not in the mood to deal with this crap

also, take tina smith out of the mix; i wasn't talking about her

[SocialDemocrat61]

69. So then you agree

that Tina Smith is a fine Democratic Senator.

[orleans]

70. no offence but just piss off

[SocialDemocrat61]

71. Hey

We're all democrats. We should stick together.

[Trueblue1968]

43. And mark warner is trying to do it to president biden

[B.See]

3. as i'd suggested herein some time ago.

[regnaD kciN]

4. It really does seem familiar...

Oh, what did we get out of giving Al the tar’n’feathers treatment? Arguably, a couple of years of a Democratic centrist as Alabama senator…only to be replaced by an even more batshit Republican at the next election. Not a deal (with the devil) worth making, IMO.

[DFW]

13. It was not worth losing Al over Doug Jones.

Someone drives a poor bargain. I’m not naming Schumer, er, I mean, names.

[Emile]

5. I don't like what they're doing to a very good president.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Yes he was

[DemocraticPatriot]

7. President Biden hasn't been accused of groping or 'fake groping' anyone

in a photograph...

Meanwhile, his opponent is an adjudicated rapist, who was accused of raping a 13 year old girl, refused her pleas to use a condom, and then throwing money at her and telling her "go get an abortion".... We have yet to hear the convicted felon respond to any questions about that, since the amount of death threats directed against that now grown-up women frightened her into dropping her lawsuit.... AND, he refused the opportunity to be interviewed on ABC tonight...

I just can't believe that this is where we are, now.

It is time for the 'media' to PROVE that they are 'fair',
by demanding accountability from Donald Trump.

President Biden shouldn't be the only candidate from whom they demand answers to 'difficult questions',
or whom they ask to take 'cognition tests'....

[orleans]

64. i have no idea what you're talking about:

It is time for the 'media' to PROVE that they are 'fair',
by demanding accountability from Donald Trump.

the media doesn't have to prove shit to us.
they don't have to "prove" they are "fair"
they don't care if they don't come off as "fair" or not.

they have an underlying mantra which is: fuck us.
they do what they want. and we can kiss their ass.

[LisaL]

8. My feelings exactly.

NT

[enough]

10. Had he been given Due Process our entire recent history would have been significantly different.

[SocialDemocrat61]

20. How so?

Tina Smith has been a good Senator for Minnesota.
And he wasn’t accused of a crime so how is due process, a judicial standard, even relevant?

[yliza]

46. He was never given a chance to defend himself from the ratf*cking

He should have been allowed to defend himself in an ethics hearing (I don’t think it would have gone to court). If he had, the rightwing ratf*cking would’ve been exposed for what it was, with the added benefit of making it harder to do next time.

Also, believing that Al Franken was unfairly railroaded does not imply that Tina Smith isn’t a good senator, it’s possible to believe both of those things.

[SocialDemocrat61]

48. A Ethics committee hearing is not anything like a trial

He can’t call his own witnesses or present evidence. He can’t even attend or testify unless the committee calls him. Also, all the committee determines if senate ethics rules had been violated or not. It would not determined if the allegations against were true or not. And committee hearings are not public, they are closed. Nothing would have been exposed.

[DFW]

12. One of our more shameful episodes for sure.

I keep telling Democratic Senators that trashed him then to not ever bother me for donations until they have apologized to Al (some have, most have not). I also made a point of not wanting any of them as our nominee for president in 2020, meaning Gillibrand, Booker, Warren, Sanders or Harris.

Luckily, I got my wish, because while I of course would have supported our nominee, I was nevertheless disgusted with the cowardly actions of all five of them with respect to Al. None of the five named above have offered an apology. The DU terms of service mercifully insure that I not elaborate in great detail.

[BigmanPigman]

18. I'm glad you haven't forgiven or forgotten

the actions by these particular Dems. Stick by your guns. I admire and respect that.

[DFW]

33. I have been told that I harbor a grudge

I don't dispute that. But I do not forget an injustice of such deep-cutting proportions, especially when it's personal, or when the victim is someone I care about.

[BigmanPigman]

36. Holding a grudge isn't a bad thing

More people should hold grudges, that way maybe when another Election Day rolls around Americans seem to forget everything and that is NOT a good thing. That's how we get GOP reelected time and again when Dems did all the good, hard work for 4-8 years.

As far as supporting a pal, that shows you have self respect and and loyalty. We need that more than ever!

[shrike3]

51. Forgiveness is over-rated.

So is being the bigger person.

[kelly1mm]

54. VP Harris was one of the first Senators to call for Senator Franken to resign. nt

[SocialDemocrat61]

22. 5?

There were over 30 if I recall

[DFW]

25. Don't tell me that all 30 of them ran for president in 2020 and I missed it?

I was talking about the ones that ran for president, not the other 28.

Angus King is an independent who did not run for president, so I don't include him, and Bill Nelson of Florida WAS a Senator at the time, but he has apologized to Al, as have Jon Tester and Tammy Duckworth, who are still in office.

[SocialDemocrat61]

27. Sorry

Didn't realize the context.

[calimary]

30. Wow - both my California Senators went that way.

And my two Oregon Senators, also. Shame!

I thought Franken did a good job. They sure ganged up on him. SHAMEFUL!!!

[betsuni]

47. [phone]

[shrike3]

50. I remember sending a very pointed message to the DNC.

Also to Gillibrand's office, because she tried hardest of all of them to make hay out of it. Samantha Bee had her on her show, hailing as her as a hero for getting that awful Al Franken out of office. Gillibrand then made her little speech about women's rights to close the night. Never felt the same way about Bee after that.

[Evolve Dammit]

14. After what the last 9 years have revealed, what Franken did in the stupid photo PALES to mob boss criminality.

[MyOwnPeace]

40. My Gawd, compared to the MAGA people in congress........

Al's looking like he should be a champion for AARP 'Early Dinner Meals' and making sure you have your MediCare and MedicAid information up-to-date!

Yeah, I'm talking about you, GAETZ (prom-stalker), and you, Empty Greene (not enough room to 'describe' her!).

[Evolve Dammit]

60. One stupid poor taste photo. Thanks Gillibrand

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Spot On !

[delisen]

19. Maybe we are taking the bait here. We are killing ourselves now

The issue is staying united not fighting among ourselves and letting our democracy be killed.

Calling and emailing the network might be a lot more productive than bringing up past battles among ourselves.

I can almost see the 2025 thugs smirking.

[et tu]

23. ditto

unite and vote blue in roevember!

[MyOwnPeace]

42. You are SO right!

And we need to be showing the difference between a party that cares about AMERICA and a party the cares about POWER FOR THE RICH!

THAT has to be our message - we need to support JOE - and make sure that he has both HOUSE and SENATE so that we can start to fix some of this shit!!!!

[LexVegas]

24. Franken needed to step down. Biden does not. Not comparable. Still salty? nt

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

29. No He Did Not

That opinion IS the problem. Opinions like that got us here.

[Goodheart]

26. Those two situations are nothing alike.

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

28. Embarrassing For Us

Dimwits arguing over dumb little things while our country was about to burn. Egos. People obsessed with the sound of their own voices or their insignificant online opinions. I remember it well. Crap like that got us Trump. Remember that whoever participated.

[DFW]

35. Howard Dean put it so very well:

"Self important pundits"

[HandmaidsTaleUntold]

37. Don't Forget Some Of Us Too

Some democrats didn’t stick up for their own. They are very selective in who and what deserves criticism and who and what doesn’t.

[brooklynite]

39. Why do I read this as: "if only you women hadn't gotten so worked up about sexual harassment"....

...."those faint-hearted colleagues might have had a backbone"?

Personally, I have more respect for women's concerns than that.

And how long has it been since we've had a good "I hate Gillibrand" thread?

[betsuni]

49. What "sexual harassment"?

[brooklynite]

57. The entirety of the "Me Too" movement is what triggered the response by the Senate Democrats.

[Deek1935]

41. Yup!

[orangecrush]

44. All over again.

[tritsofme]

45. This seems like a terrible analogy to me. Ultimately Franken was replaced by a less problematic Democrat, with zero

electoral consequences.

[Silent Type]

52. Last I saw from Franken on X was, " Expecting a surprisingly energetic Biden" at debate.

I’d really be interested in his take now.

That’s exactly how I felt. We were going to knock trump out because good is on our side. Wonder how he feels?

[applegrove]

55. Considering what Agent Orange has gotten away with

it is a travesty Fraken is not in the Senate.

[MOMFUDSKI]

56. Democrats are still following the edicts we

girls of the fifties were taught. Be nice, smile, mind your manners, don’t cuss. They could learn a lot if they had a round table of female boomers. We could learn ‘em a thing or two.

[Silent Type]

59. Al hasn't said much about the debate aftermath. But, here's a short 1 minute video on his facebook page--

https://fb.watch/t9jIFvA9yX/

For those that don't want to look, this is a clip of Norm Onstein who appears on Franken's podcast often.

In the clip with Franken, Onstein says Biden should have nailed trump on abortion when trump said babies are killed late in term, etc.

Onstein says, Biden meant to say women were dying without treatment, But, then, Biden go mixed up and turned it back to immigration and gave an example that was about an migrant killing a woman. Franken chimes in to clarify, "Biden did that."

Then, Onstein said, if this isn't fixed in a few days, we are in a heap of trouble.