Norm Ornstein tweet; "Jane Mayer finally gives us the independent investigation Al asked for"

[Dennis Donovan]

I was going to tack this tweet on the OP about Mayer's NewYorker article, but it struck me profoundly that Senator Franken never got the independent investigation *until* the article.

Link to tweet

Norman Ornstein ✔ @NormOrnstein

@JaneMayerNYer finally gives us the independent investigation that @alfranken asked for, cut short by Gillibrand, Schumer and others. Read it and weep at the injustice and more https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken …


The Case of Al Franken
A close look at the accusations against the former senator.

7:11 AM - Jul 22, 2019

[Me.]

1. And There You Are

I wish he had held out against his colleagues especially Senator Gillibrand. It was a real loss when we really needed him.

[Butterflylady]

20. They should have backed him to start.

They should have had his back till all the facts were in and then if they felt he should resign, so be it. What bothers me is the rush to judgement knowing full well how the honest type of man he is and always was. We all know why they wanted to destroy him, after all he wasn't afraid to challenge the hollow lying sacks of s**t that call themselves republicans.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Most of us understood early on that Franken got thoroughly screwed

and was railroaded out of the Senate by those who wanted to use the MeToo movement to further their political ambitions, and who failed to realize that the whole thing was an engineered ratfucking by right-winger LeAnn Tweeden and her Trump-loving radio station. This article was badly needed, and great thanks to Jane Mayer for doing the investigation the Senate should have done and that Franken asked for. I will be pissed off forever at losing my best senator since Paul Wellstone.

[Bradshaw3]

4. Wellstone and Franken - two of the best senators ever

Decent men, who stood up for progressive principles when others were afraid to.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Like you,I

now feel vindicated for supporting Al in the way I did. Anyone who has worked for or associated with USO shows,knows full well how skits are put together and rehearsed upteen times till the timing comes together.

My guess that the Ratfuckery came from Hannity and Roger Stone was pretty damn spot on. Now that the story is being fleshed out,watch for the bodies under the Bus. Wonder if Tweeden is still playing footsie at Mag-A-shithollie.

[yardwork]

17. We all lost. This was the biggest mistake Democrats have made in years.

[malaise]

25. Ditto

Al is one of the most intelligent of them all.

[lordsummerisle]

34. Just as I was feeling better about the Democrats

they pulled this. One of our best Democratic senators is gone. Some of them are regretting their position to urge him to resign. To be fair, Franken could probably have handled it better, but given the pressure he was under, he did what he thought he had to do. The whole thing is a disaster but I hope Al returns to politics.

[Skittles]

26. it was obvious to anyone with critical thinking skills

yes indeed

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. That's a pretty generous reading by Orenstein of what happened.

Franken neither provided a coherent account of his behavior, alleged or actual, nor refused to resign. He gave nothing for people to support, and as allegations continued to come out, he continued to flail. He may have wanted an independent investigation, but then his resignation gave no one a chance to provide him with out. It was a disaster when it comes to crisis communications and crisis management.

[Bradshaw3]

5. That's a very ungenerous reading by you of Franken's actions

You provide no proof of your accusations, no consideration of him being blind-sided, or trying to do what he thought was best for his party, or other possible positive takes on why he left. You just assume it's all negative, with no coherent account of why that would be.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. I just call it as I saw it.

[pazzyanne]

19. I my opinion, what some people "saw" was incorrect.

Al Franken was my Senator and I had opportunities to meet him several times. He was not the person that was being portrayed. He was railroaded, and by his own party. Really sad to lose that kind of talent to political pressures.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. He's my senator too, and I too have met him many, many times.

He's warm. He's a good person. He's certainly smart about a lot of things. He was also not smart about some things.

[Butterflylady]

21. Then you evidently didn't know who Franken

Really was, did you. He was one of the most decent human beings to come along compared to what the repugs have to offer.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. I do know, actually, having met him several times, and agree that he is generally a good person.

[spooky3]

6. Read the entire article. Nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. I did.

[enough]

9. Have you read the entire article? NT

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. Yes.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. Many seem to disagree with your "reading" of the article.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. It happens.

[klook]

27. Schumer gave him no choice.

That was the final blow.

[Merlot]

33. Franken wrote a very good letter of apology on the subject as well

as asking for a full investigation. What more could he do?

[Karadeniz]

11. I never thought he was treated fairly. .

[barbtries]

16. I'm still reading it.

without having read the entire piece I say he was set up and railroaded. Democrats in congress should be ashamed of themselves, and I've read far enough to know that many of them are. He was a great Senator and i hope he gets back in politics.

[Bettie]

18. It was all a hit job

as many of us suspected from the beginning.

I can't help but imagine how big of a voice he'd have been in recent months. Our party lost in this.

[CaptainTruth]

22. I've heard of this thing called "due process." I thought it applied to everyone.

[Trumpocalypse]

29. Actually due process

applies to criminal and civil cases, not to Congressional hearings.

[mn9driver]

28. This incident did more to damage #metoo than anything else the GOP did

They started it, and democrats finished it, much to our detriment. I think there were some high level calculations being made about what the Democratic Party should stand for in the minds of the voting public, but it turned out that the message the voting public got was that the democrats messed up badly by running Al out. I agree with that.

[Dennis Donovan]

32. It served to dilate #metoo. The message is still intact, though.

Victims of sexual harassment and assault will always have a platform. But, exploiters of the movement for political and nefarious reasons should be shamed.

They keyword above is *exploit*.

[rockfordfile]

30. Gillibrand should resign

Gillibrand should come clean about begging trump for donations.

[Dennis Donovan]

31. She needs to come clean about the timeline...

...but, despite this lapse in judgement, she should still be Senator.