I'm not happy that Gillibrand was an aye.

[Quiet Em]

I'm going to let her know my feelings.

[AkFemDem]

1. She made it clear yesterday

That she was absolutely opposed to a budget shut down

[Cirsium]

49. Who isn't?

That's not a position, it's an excuse.

[Skittles]

2. I'm not surprised that Gillibrand was an aye

[SocialDemocrat61]

25. She does whatever Schumer tells her to do

[Emile]

3. She must think Trump has a mandate?

[LoisB]

4. I have strongly "disliked" her since what she did to Al Franken.

[milestogo]

6. Indeed.

[hlthe2b]

8. Ditto.

I have a LONG memory, and I will NEVER believe her actions were anything other than self-serving.

[LoisB]

12. Me too and I agree. I thought maybe she was a tad bit jealous of him.

[rzemanfl]

9. Me too. n/t

[MichMan]

11. How come others aren't held to the same standard as Gillibrand?

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Patty Murray of Washington and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin kicked off the stampede on Wednesday, all putting out statements within minutes of one another saying it was time for Franken to go.

By the evening, at least 35 Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — were calling on him to quit, and Franken's office said the senator was planning an announcement from the Senate floor Thursday morning at 11:45. Some fellow Democrats said they believe he will announce he is resigning.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-women-senators-call-franken-resign-amid-sexual-misconduct-allegations-n827036

[LoisB]

13. She was the first one on the bandwagon.

[hlthe2b]

15. Yes, the one who made herself the media "face" of the effort and exploited the issue for her own benefit.

There is always someone who points out how many others went along. That's true, but they did not drum up the lynch mob. That was Gillibrand and she soaked up every chance to benefit herself in that debacle. And yes, Gillibrand did so before Harris-despite CNN's claim to the contrary as posted by Celerity.

[SocialDemocrat61]

20. No, the corporate media made her the face of it

And Harris was the first to go on CNN. All Gillibrand did was make a Facebook post which was what others did at that point.

[hlthe2b]

22. No. Not true, despite CNN's claim. It was debunked several years ago. Believe what you want

but I have a close colleague who has known/once worked with Gillibrand ( "known forever" in their words) and was very aligned with her then- until she showed herself for what she is- a self-serving exploiter who sought and got every one of those interviews. You are totally misled.

That said, Harris and all the others who went for the "chum in the water" did not do themselves well, either.

[SocialDemocrat61]

24. Debunked by who

Please provide links that prove what you’re claiming. Otherwise it’s all just hearsay and unreliable.

[hlthe2b]

26. I am not your lackey. Do your own homework.

There were plenty of blogs articles way back then. As I said, I don't give a GD if you believe it or not. I honestly do not, but you are being strongly misled. Yes, the rest latched on and bear blame as well. But SHE was the ringleader.

[GreenWave]

30. As I remembered it too.

Franken had to wait about 6 mos for the state Repugs to even let him take a seat. Then came the knife in the back.

[hlthe2b]

33. Yup...

i wonder about the motives of those denying what happened and by whom.

[SocialDemocrat61]

31. I have

And that you’re say is true. And I’m not the one being misled. Gillibrand was a very junior Senator at the time and didn’t have the power to force Senators like Warren, Sanders, Harris and Booker to do anything.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. If you have any proof of your accusations please present them.

[hlthe2b]

36. When you rudely demand from others that they do your research RIGHT NOW, what the hell do you expect?

Given it has been over a decade and DU archives only go back a year or so, you know the amount of archival research required to address your demands. A lot was written by responsible journalists on the issue-- but CNN is/has been all too happy to blame it all (credit?) Harris who was only one of the subsequent mob.

Given I don't give a damn what you believe or not--especially given how you addressed me earlier, then I will leave it at that, end my all-too-short break-- and go see patients. Have a good day and continue to be deceived if that makes you happy.

[SocialDemocrat61]

38. You're making an accusation

It’s up to you to prove them. Celerity had no problem backing anything with links to credible sources for the same event.

[hlthe2b]

39. I and EVERYONE else here owe YOU NOTHING.

[SocialDemocrat61]

41. So you can't prove your accusations

Ok

[hlthe2b]

42. John SJ just provided you the proof in the link before, that you will undoubtedly not read

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20139688

I seriously doubt anyone else gives a damn which person you want to make excuses for--who was primarily instrumental in removing an invaluable voice for us in the US Senate.

We all lost-- thanks largely to her--and you defend it. Indefensible as hell.

[SocialDemocrat61]

43. I never asked everyone

I just asked you to prove your accusations.Which you haven’t. And what was lost? A democrat resigned and was replaced by another democrat, Tina Smith, who has been a fine Senator.

[hlthe2b]

44. As expected. JohnSJ provided you proof and you refused to read it--which is very very telling

(and NOT in a good way).

I get it. You hate Al Franken. Well, despite his being replaced by a good Senator, his was a unique voice and we all lost because of attitudes/tactics like those of Gillibrand's. The RW was very happy, though, because he could uniquely get his (and our) points across in a way that totally humiliated the RW and reverberated for days.

[SocialDemocrat61]

48. I read them. Did you?

Because none of of them prove your accusations or disputed what Celerity posted. Plus they were all several years after the fact while Celerity’s links were real time as the events were unfolding.

And I don’t hate Franken, but I don’t see him as some god either. He was a good democratic Senator who was replaced by another good democratic senator.

[OnDoutside]

46. Well said, hlthe2b

[MichMan]

16. Do you think Franken would have resigned if Gillibrand was the lone voice ?

Maybe she was just one of those who "went along" with Fetterman & Schumer on this vote.

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. Of course not

She’s a junior Senator with little power, even less back then. Some act like she went to Franken’s office with a resignation letter and a gun and told Franken either his signature or his brains would be on the letter before she left. 😉

[Nixie]

54. Because Gillibrand was also smearing Bill Clinton, saying he

should have resigned over Monica Lewinsky, yet she took the Clinton’s help years prior and campaigned with Bill so she could get a leg up into Hillary’s senate seat. That’s why she’s looked at differently.

And before the Clinton’s are further bashed, it isn’t loyalty to the Clinton’s that is the issue, it’s about her throwing them under the bus to jump on the MeToo bandwagon. So it’s the phoniness.

[Celerity]

14. Kamala Harris was the first Democratic Senator to go on national telly and call for Franken to resign.

Female Democratic senators coordinated a wave of calls for Franken's resignation

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation

Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down.

Some comments were elaborate, lengthy and loaded with a moral message. Others, like that of Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, were straight to the point. “Al Franken should resign,” she simply tweeted.

Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats – 10 of them women – and one Republican senator – Susan Collins of Maine – had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat.

snip

[SocialDemocrat61]

19. Thanks for presenting facts

[Polybius]

61. Post #29 links NBC News saying Gillibrand was indeed the first

"After Gillibrand became the first senator to publicly call for Franken to step down, setting off a wave of over two dozen other Democratic senators to also call for his resignation, many elite donors who had once supported her hesitated. Some said they viewed Gillibrand’s actions as opportunistic and self-serving, especially as the presidential election neared."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/ghost-al-franken-mystery-gillibrand-campaign-s-failure-launch-n1023366

[Celerity]

62. I said the 1st to go on national television. Gillibrand did a FB post, then within minutes multiple other Dems followed

her, including Harris on live telly. It was all coordinated in advance, as the article I posted with the video shows.

In the end, every single Dem Senator excerpt for 5 told Franken in public or private to resign. Schumer signed off on it all and of course called for Franken to resign.

Of the 5, only Manchin told him not to resign. Three (Coons, Schatz, Shaheen) couldn't say anything as they were on the the Senate Ethics Committee, and Menendez refused comment as he was under federal indictment and in his first corruption trial. He lost the second trial and now is going to prision for 11 years.

4 of the 5 would have very likely called for Franken to resign if they could have or if they (Menendez) were not in a federal corruption trial.

[Polybius]

63. My mistake

Sorry, I misread.

[Celerity]

64. All good!

[DiamondShark]

65. One more reason Biden should have stayed in the 2024 race.

Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.

[SocialDemocrat61]

17. Do you strongly dislike the 38 other Senators

who all did the same thing on the same day including Sanders, Warren, Booker and Harris (who was the first to go on national tv calling for Franken to resign).

[questionseverything]

53. The only two that surprised me by bailing so fast were

Elizabeth and Bernie

And as huge fans of those two, i was deeply disappointed ( pissed off) at their lack of backbone

[LoisB]

58. Some, yes; some I have no opinion of; some I still respect.

[SocialDemocrat61]

59. Bit of a double, or triple, standard

Seems unfair.

[LoisB]

60. Yes.

[DiamondShark]

66. If your friends jump off a bridge, would you jump as well?

[SocialDemocrat61]

67. You sound like my grandma 😉

But it really depends on why they jumped off the bridge. If a boat was sinking and they jumped to save people from drowning, I’d say yes.

[Nanuke]

52. Me too. That was the worst thing she could do. He was my senator.

[Scrivener7]

5. I will vote for her primary challenger when the time comes. Chuck's too.

[JohnSJ]

7. Gillibrand also led the charge against Al Franken.

[hlthe2b]

10. Yup

Many of us have a LONG memory...

[SocialDemocrat61]

18. Not true

There are no facts to back that up. Even according to Franken’s own account of events it was Schumer who pushed him to resign.

[iemanja]

21. Focusing on Gillibrand rather than the many male Senators who pressured Franken

fuels the misogyny that surrounds the entire narrative of those events.

That is not to say I agree with her on this vote. I absolutely do not.

[SocialDemocrat61]

23. I don't agree with this vote either

Elected officials should be held accountable for their votes and actions. But I don’t like unfair demonize of someone based on fiction.

[Quiet Em]

27. Agreed.

I'm not comfortable how this thread became a discussion about former Senator Franken. My intent was to express my disappoint in today's vote.

[SocialDemocrat61]

32. Whenever Gillibrand is brought up

The Franken bots come out of the woodwork. It’s been over 7 years now, they really need to let it go.

[JohnSJ]

29. I beg to differ. She was the first senator to publicly call for Franken to step down.

"After Gillibrand became the first senator to publicly call for Franken to step down, setting off a wave of over two dozen other Democratic senators to also call for his resignation, many elite donors who had once supported her hesitated. Some said they viewed Gillibrand’s actions as opportunistic and self-serving, especially as the presidential election neared."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/ghost-al-franken-mystery-gillibrand-campaign-s-failure-launch-n1023366


"WASHINGTON (AP) — Kirsten Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for her colleague Al Franken’s resignation in 2017 as he faced allegations of sexual misconduct, building a profile as a leading advocate for women that became the centerpiece of her 2020 presidential bid.

But the New York senator is taking a different approach when it comes to sexual harassment allegations hitting closer to home, those against her state’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo."

https://apnews.com/article/kirsten-gillibrand-andrew-cuomo-al-franken-resignation-a3735f0f78ed6a8949b34cbc82239023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gillibrand-says-she-continues-to-have-no-regrets-about-leading-the-call-for-frankens-resignation/2019/07/23/2625385e-ad3f-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html

[SocialDemocrat61]

34. Yes she was

She made a Facebook post which was followed minutes later by posts by other Senators. That’s a coordinated effort. Harris was still the first to appear on national television to call for Franken to resign. Harris also got Franken’s seat on the Judiciary committee.

And people do have their own views, but it doesn’t make it fact.

[Quiet Em]

45. It was Schumer who called on Al Franken to resign.

I had to look it up because it's been awhile. But I remember reading this statement at the time.

https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-statement-calling-on-sen-franken-to-resign

[Duncanpup]

28. I understand.

Here in Pennsylvania we have Mcormick and Fettermanchin.

[Trueblue1968]

35. I can not stand her.

[BannonsLiver]

37. She's usually on the wrong side of things at critical times.

A rolling disappointment.

[DonCoquixote]

47. may aoc

primary her.

[rubbersole]

50. Neither is Al Franken.

[c-rational]

51. Agreed.

[kansasobama]

55. She was the driver for this

Outside of Fetterman. She is chair of DSCC. We will get request for funding from her.

Good luck.

[PatrickforB]

56. No surprise. I am still mad at her for the Al Franken railroad job. n/t

[ButchMcMuffin]

57. Would you ask her one question for me

"Have you gained weight?"