So, here is a picture of Leanne Tweeden grabbing the guitar players ass & dry humping

[womanofthehills]

No wonder she accepted Al's apology so fast. She knows all the pics are coming out.

Link to tweet

[womanofthehills]

1. and dry humping

Link to tweet

[Cattledog]

76. This is the pic that says it all. That's a soldier from the audience.

So much for her "holier than thou" routine.

[Not Ruth]

2. Edgy thread

[Hekate]

61. Didn't you say that about another thread on the same topic? Just don't stand too close...

...to the edge.

[wolfie001]

112. Ha ha!

Touché!

[snooper2]

154. reminds me of a song...see if you can finish this- It's all about ... ....

[Maraya1969]

156. "That base, no treble. All about that base, no treble

Sorry I just like that song

[kacekwl]

3. Oh my !

[Jim Beard]

4. Good fact finding thread

[VOX]

5. Hadn't seen these until now. Wallpaper the fucking planet with them.

Show it for the partisan political hit job it really is.

[dalton99a]

7. +1

[Cattledog]

77. +2

[red dog 1]

128. + 3

[VOX]

134. + 4

Shameless, plus-four-ing my own post.

[GeorgeHayduke]

143. + 5

We'll step it up to a big ol' plusfiver.

[rzemanfl]

6. But she has gloves on. Oh, wait, flak jacket. Nevermind. n/t

[riverwalker]

8. Here shes humping Robin Williams

Link to tweet

[Grassy Knoll]

24. So Mrs. Grabby Accuses Al Franken Of Being Mr. Grabby....

...So That's Why Franken Invited An Investigation?

What A Sad Foolish Fox News Lier.

[trixie2]

47. I think you are dead on

[George II]

50. That's a year before she went on the tour with Franken.

[Grassy Knoll]

55. Yes It Is...

...So That's Ok?

[oasis]

9. I'm shocked, just shocked, I tells ya!

[ProudLib72]

10. How much did Pootie pay her to tell on Franken?

Or was it the Dotard campaign?

Time for her to fess up!

[Nitram]

104. It wasn't Pootie, it was Hannity.

Which makes it treason of a sort.

[They_Live]

108. Or Roger Stone

maybe?

[ProudLib72]

113. Yeah, last night I was playing catch up

Now I know it was Hannity.

[womanofthehills]

126. Leeann was a regular on Hannity's show for a year

Link to tweet

[womanofthehills]

11. and a little backward motion

Link to tweet

[pangaia]

22. Looks like we may have a porn starlet on our hands, so to speak.

If all these stories and pics are accurate, she's done, toast, kaput....

[oasis]

74. Oops! No goofy look on his face, so this one's an accident.

[groundloop]

83. That video was posted in another thread.... Looks like Mark is trying to push her away

He was playing a song when she started rubbing her butt on him, looks like he was trying to gently push her away. She moved on, but grabbed his ass as she walked away.

[Kaleva]

12. Leanne, you've got some 'splaining to do!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. I'll say... ohh my! Doesn't necessarily excuse Franken's bad behavior...

but, it does speak to the atmosphere that SHE helped create and to what consequences, if any, there should be.

[LenaBaby61]

36. "I'll say... ohh my! Doesn't necessarily excuse Franken's bad behavior...

but, it does speak to the atmosphere that SHE helped create and to what consequences, if any, there should be."

+ 1,000

[mythology]

121. That's some interesting logic

For example it would imply that if a woman was drinking and flirting, well she helped create an environment that got her sexually assaulted.

[LenaBaby61]

132. What it means for me is that ....

From Tweeden being a right-winged nut job and birther buddy of Hannity & contributor to Faux Noose, to her showing that picture of her and Franken to Hannity a while back and the backstory being bought up NOW, to Roger Stone (Minion of Lee Atwater, the king of racism, slime and filth) KNOWING about her going public with her allegations of Franken before they came out, because Stone knew that Franken "was the next fish in the barrel," just like he knew Podesta "was the next fish in the barrel" concerning Wikileaks/Hacked DNC emails etc. to knowing how Stone/Bannon et all LOVE practicing dirty tricks to no end, has me now comfortable feeling that this whole thing appears to me to be a take down job on Franken because he so destroyed beauguard's credibility. I put nothing past Atwater acolyte Roger Stone, or Nazi Bannon or ANYBODY in that racist, RWNJ crew.

Lastly, I don't think that there was anything wrong with Tweeden going public with her accusations against Franken for what she felt was him groping/touching her and making her feel wholly uncomfortable, sticking his tongue down her throat. Franken also didn't help himself out with that stupid, sophomoric picture either. He rightfully apologized for what he says is not taking Tweeden's feelings into account about the incident surrounding the picture, but he also said vehemently that he didn't remember the tongue/kissing incident the way Tweeden did. Whose interpretation is accurate? We may never know. Also, unless more pictures, perhaps film in the realm of him/Tweeden interacting surface, or unless other Franken accusers come forward indicating a pattern of him acting in a crude sexual manner with women, then this incident would "appear" to be an anomaly. Personally, I've always felt that Men and women should keep their hands to themselves. I've NEVER been the "touchy feely type," or the type to touch a strange man's man's hair, hug or kiss them, especially as an adult because acts of affection, no matter how innocent the person initiating them may think they are, may be misconstrued or unwelcome by the other person. Now here it is, a few days later, and coming to light are pictures/videos of Tweeden at the same 2006 USO show she was in with Franken where she appears to be grabbing/touching a guitarist's rear end, and there's also a USO video clip /pictures from a 2005 USO show showing her doing a "skit" with Robin Williams where she's physically interacting with/touching him. Tweeden must have felt comfortable with the physical contact between her & Williams & her the guitarist. Some people seeing those film clips/pictures could interpret her actions towards those 2 men as inappropriate. I guess she felt "comfortable" with the guitarist & Williams

Thank Goodness Franken's called for an Ethics Investigation into this situation because for me, this whole thing is starting to REALLY stink to high heaven with it's "coincidences" and because of WHOSE involved in it on the outer edges (Stone, Hannity, Faux Noose). I'm now feeling this is a concerted effort to take down Al Franken, or at the very least become a Godzilla-sized distraction away from Moore, tRump & ruSSia and that disastrous GOP tax cut bill for the rich that came out of the Congress.

We'll see what happens as we move on.

[Mr.Bill]

136. It would be hard to believe

that there is no video of these shows. Either amateur or video done by those that produced the shows. You don't travel halfway around the world with name personalities and put on a show without taking video of it.

It will be very telling, and snips of it taken out of context could be very damaging to either side, just like what is happening with snapshots. I'd like to see a video of the whole performance, the atmosphere of which could exonerate everybody. I'm thinking it's all a bunch of playful adult humor with everyone consenting to it all when it happened.

[Kaleva]

155. To me it's showing very selective outrage on her part

She doesn't seem at all upset about her grabbing that guys ass.

[magicarpet]

13. Quick someone call Hannity and Roger Stone...

so they can call the Princess Virgin Mother Superior and get these nasty slut photos down and off the web.

What a set up/con job to trash Al Franken.

[pangaia]

14. HOLY SHIT !!! All of it.....

She should be toast !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Am I allowed to say fuck that lying piece of shit ????

[BlancheSplanchnik]

27. If you're not allowed, I'll say it for you.

She's a fuckin puke, as slimey as the rest of them. Loathesome. 🤢

[GoneOffShore]

89. And, like Dolt45, she's one of Putin's putains.

[whathehell]

97. "putains"?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

101. French for "hooker"

which is maybe a bit much, but Ms. Tweeden can't very convincingly play the part of the offended ingenue, n'est pas?

[whathehell]

142. I get where you're coming from, but

you would admit that there's a lot of room between an "ingenue" and a hooker, n'est pas?

[GoneOffShore]

147. A little bit more complicated than just a straight translation to hooker.

Here's an article from The Local with a bit more context - https://www.thelocal.fr/20160301/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-french-word-putain

[BigmanPigman]

15. I am sure the Ethics Investigation that Franken welcomes

Will turn up even more material to prove that this is a BS set up by Stone and the GOP PROPAGANDA machine.

Now, can we please focus on priorities on the real actions that are occurring while we are falling into their "DISTRACTION" campaign?!

The GOP TAX SCAM is what they are trying to stop us from reacting to and delaying...STOP IT! FOCUS!!

There is very limited time until they vote and every single Dem needs to at the very least make a phone call! Check this out to find info on what YOU MUST DO NOW! Bernie, Indivisible, MoveOn need all of us. If you do not take the time to make a 3 min phone call than you forfeit every right to bitch and complain about the Tax Scam and Healthcare in the future. Period.

https://www.trumptaxscam.org/

[7962]

80. Ethics investigation: stupid waste of time & money. He's admitted, she's past it. Over.

Just a stupid waste of time and an opportunity for a few GOP senators to get in a couple news worthy sound bites.
She's accepted his apology and said talk of him resigning is ridiculous. There nothing to investigate

[Chemisse]

82. Not necessarily.

He was gallant, accepted blame, and apologized. The investigation will find that the whole thing was bogus, and Franken is cleared (as well as martyred). Sounds like a winning strategy.

[Susan Calvin]

93. Bingo. nt

[pandr32]

99. Also sends a message

Better not fake accusations for political purposes again.
They would have been happy to see our current liberal lion (original was Edward Kennedy of course) resign because of it, and a false equivalency that "both sides" are full of abusers would have taken the focus off Moore and Trump.

[bluestarone]

123. right on and

maybe an ethics investigation of her too??????? Why stop with 1 ethics investigation?

[bagelsforbreakfast]

16. Let's see what her supporters here have to say - "Crickets" it looks like

[riverwalker]

17. So Joan Walsh ran into Roger Stone today

In Harlem cafe. She asked him how he knew about “time in the barrel”. He said EVERYONE at FOX knew!

Link to tweet

[OnDoutside]

67. That doesn't make sense, unless he means that she had been in

discussions with Fox/Hannity that she had this photo they could use ? Otherwise why wait so long ?

[womanofthehills]

18. Leanne seems to have no problem with Al in 2006 & 2011

Link to tweet

[Bernardo de La Paz]

122. She was happy to link herself to a Senator, for publicity for herself (as always & with her accus.)

[womanofthehills]

145. Here she was 3 yrs later at a gala in Al's honor -

Link to tweet

[tavernier]

157. I bet what hurt Franken the most

was that he probably thought she was a friend.

This POS doesn’t deserve to be called a woman.

[SunSeeker]

20. K & R

[videohead5]

21. OMG!

Link to tweet

[moondust]

25. And the truth gets its pants on...

[jberryhill]

31. Indeed

[bagelsforbreakfast]

28. "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong as when you find a trout in the milk."

-- Henry David Thoreau

[Pluvious]

109. Great quote, had to look that one up lol

And indeedy, this whole kerfuffle is smelling a bit fishy

:-/

[BamaRefugee]

29. This is why Franken said BRING IT ON...he knew there'd be tons o dirt

[democratisphere]

30. RW sexual harrassment hypocracy.

Nothing new here.

[LakeArenal]

33. wow wow wow...

Man o man o man.. Once again, speechless at how low they go..

[Bernardo de La Paz]

34. She gonna regret starting this. Opening her own can of worms. . . . . nt

[Old Vet]

120. Thats what i was thinking, Talk about double standards........

[Grassy Knoll]

35. So This Was Nothing More Than Bullshit To Distract Roy Moore's Pedo Story?

Well Played Dumb Fucking Con Jobs, Well Played.

Big Time Backfire On The Sawdust Brained Trump Cultist.

[dalton99a]

37. Kick

[stevenleser]

38. I had someone on another thread tell me these pics and videos proved nothing. So...

... I will repost my response to them:


The atmosphere and antics have EVERY bearing on what happens offstage. Because offstage is where those antics are practiced.

This stuff didnt just magically happen on stage. The folks all figured it out between them and then practiced it off stage and then did it on stage. Leeanne herself indicates that the kiss happened in the context of practicing a skit. Did this suddenly escape your attention?

When you put this all together, it paints a very different picture of what happened here. This isn't something that happened between office workers in the next cubicle. This happened between entertainers practicing for a raunchy exhibition, one where the accusor worked out skits where she grabbed the ass of the guitar player, grinded up against him, dry humped Robin Williams each time she introduced him (there are multiple videos of this happening at different events) and various other antics. We're supposed to believe that between comedians and actors, a skit that involved a kiss was over the line? Without all the other raunchy antics that were going on that would be hard to believe. This is acting and entertainment after all. How many movies have you seen people kiss other people?

And I dont care for what you do and don't have patience. If you can't handle the discussion stop responding.

[Pepsidog]

40. Im sure all the wives and girlfriends of Tweedens sexual

assault victims are pretty upset at her entangling, groping and throwing her body at these men. She is an opportunist and saw a chance to grab national headlines maligning the character of a very decent man, husband and Senator. “Have you no shame Tweeden?”. You diminish the stories of the real victims of sexual assault who bravely came forward to tell their stories. But I guess because you are very pretty that gives you the right to inappropriately, and without consent, touch, rub and grind on men. Go away Tweeden and take all your republican douche bag friends who put you up to this.

[Denzil_DC]

63. For the record, I did actually pen a detailed reply to that post of yours.

In the mean time, an earlier post of mine on that thread got hidden (some folks don't get in-jokes), so I couldn't post it.

You may have gotten the last word as a result and I'm certainly not going to bother trying to re-type my reply as life's too short, but your post didn't actually rebut what I said, which focused on the dynamics of consent in rehearsal (about which, as far as we know, only two people know the truth, and one of them isn't arguing the toss at this stage) and willingness to put on a raunchy performance in front of an audience, like a professional entertainer. I'm still surprised that has to be explained to you.

But since you've chosen to parade it again like some sort of trophy, I thought I'd point out why I stopped responding. It wasn't because your points were unanswerable or I couldn't "handle the discussion".

[stevenleser]

115. Yes, it did completely rebut what you said

The fact is, if I agree to be part of a raunchy comedic exhibition like the USO show, my consent to things like my rear end being slapped, or potentially being kissed by a fellow performer I find completely unattractive is implied, as is my willingness to practice those things in rehearsal.

And if I am uncomfortable with that I need to either not accept that kind of performance job or make my boundaries clear with everyone once I get there with the understanding that this may make me unacceptable as a performer.

[Denzil_DC]

125. As in your previous posts, you completely miss my point.

I don't know why that is - partisanship, lack of exposure to women who've actually been abused by men in your offline life, whatever.

You can make this a big male ego point-scoring exercise, or you can actually address the issue of consent in an offstage setting, as it appears Franken has had the savvy to do (strategically in the face of the allegations, or genuinely, it doesn't matter at this point).

I set this out in clear terms in the post of mine you were replying to, and you're still, for some reason, refusing to address it now.

Somebody can in the hurly-burly of performance act in a certain way, as expected and as the context (a USO performance in this case) requires. (You can object to the antics of all or any onstage on principle if that it's distasteful to you, but that's a different argument.)

It doesn't imply that that person as a result has no right to exercise choice in how anyone interacts with her offstage and the boundaries she chooses to set. I gave the examples of a stripper or a lapdancer - the logical conclusion of your line of argument would be that they have no right to object to any racy or unwelcome behavior they might be subject to in rehearsal or offstage. Do you really want to stand by that?

We have to argue in principle here, as only two people in the world so far have come forward as knowing what really happened during rehearsal offstage, and those two have agreed to differ on their memories, with an apology proffered and accepted for any line that may have been overstepped. All very civilized as far as it goes and pretty much all one could hope for in the circumstances.

How can anybody be expected to predict whatever unexpected behavior may occur that may overstep those boundaries, which is what you're insisting they should do? You're setting an unrealistic standard, and it smacks of special pleading. It's what a Republican would do faced with similar allegations, and it's not the path Franken's chosen, to his credit.

Why would he choose to react like that? Maybe he's genuinely surprised and regretful, maybe he's just playing with the cards dealt, usually no-win without witnesses unless somebody wants to get into the weeds of character assassination with the extended arguments and unpredictable further allegations and revelations that might entail (Franken's never pretended to be squeaky clean; who knows what other skits that don't look great in the modern light of day and the current atmosphere are lurking out there, for him and Tweeden?), and reacting in the most savvy way he can.

Maybe he has an eye on an agenda beyond selfish concern about his own position and career.

Since you sometimes have a platform larger than many of us to promote your views, you may want to consider giving some air time to this aspect which I've posted elsewhere but have chosen not to make yet another Franken OP among so many:

Here's a sad aspect to the story:

Al Franken wrote a bill to help rape survivors like me. He can’t lead on it now.

In November 2014, I was raped.

I’m certainly not the only one something this awful has happened to, but afterward, I felt as though I was. I was a 19-year-old college student. My life changed overnight. I faced an incredibly long fight to bring my attacker to justice: Daniel Drill-Mellum was wealthy, well-connected, and willing to throw me and my reputation under the bus. The #MeToo culture I’ve seen develop publicly over the last month wasn’t around to help me then. I was nearly harassed off the University of Minnesota campus for reporting. I was turned away by the Minneapolis Police Department despite the mountain of evidence in my case.

Over the next two years, I learned how to hold my frustration in, because I had an end goal in mind. I knew that my attacker belonged in prison, and I was determined to get the justice system on my side. I made mental notes about everything that was going wrong. I tried to have patience that someday I could make a different world. When my rapist was sentenced in August 2016 to six years in prison, I finally had my chance.

I sought help from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). He took up my cause without hesitation, and he worked with his aides to draft legislation to pay for training to help police departments treat assault survivors with more concern for what we’ve been through. But now that allegations have come out that Franken himself assaulted a woman years ago, I want another lawmaker to sponsor the bill we worked so hard on. This work deserves to be led by those without a history of sexual harassment or assault.

The news this week was especially disappointing for me because of how effective an advocate Franken has been for my cause. I felt my heart sink when I saw the news, but I was prepared to support the woman involved. I remember what it was like to be shamed and not believed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/18/al-franken-wrote-a-bill-to-help-rape-survivors-like-me-he-cant-lead-on-it-now/

If anybody wants to click through, they'll see the sort of work Franken's been involved in, and how sensitively he and his staff have handled the process of helping this woman frame the bill. She now wants to find a female congressperson to sponsor it instead.

I hope it's an overreaction to the early forms of this story, and she may revise her decision. Or perhaps it would be better if she can find a female senator to sponsor it, and Franken can offer whatever support is necessary, behind the scenes or from the floor. The problem with his involvement is Republican whataboutery. You'd hope a bill like this could find bipartisan agreement, but I doubt it.

It may shed some light on why Franken reacted like he did. The larger picture than his own career is the legislation he wants to pass and the changes he wants to come about - exactly as set out in his long statement. That's integrity.

I don't think any number of videos or pics of Tweeden cavorting onstage are likely to make Abby Honold feel differently, certainly not if Franken were ever to have a hand in relying on them as some sort of "defense" - especially in view of her own experience of the attempts to "throw me and my reputation under the bus". Or maybe she'll realize that this is more or less what's happened to Franken as her ally and change her mind.

What probably won't help change her mind is targeting somebody who comes forward with an allegation for her past behavior, however raunchy, given what she says above. Or maybe she'll join some here in resenting Tweeden for making false allegations, but that could be a slippery slope and she may not be able or willing to go there.

These are the stakes. This whole operation hasn't just targeted Franken, it's targeted the current wave of revulsion at revelations about how (especially powerful) men sometimes conduct themselves.

That's why I think Franken's reacted as he has, and why he's right to do so.

I might have made the above an OP, but I think we've had quite enough OPs about all this recently.

If you still have access to a media platform beyond that which most of the rest of us humble DUers are privileged enough to enjoy, you could maybe choose to spread this aspect of the story, which is sad, but reflects well on Franken and opens up the wider issues of a possible Republican agenda beyond concern for Franken's seat etc.

Or you can stick to your guns and insist on continuing to try to tar this woman as deserving of whatever she claims was dished out offstage because she acted a role onstage.

Your choice, among a number of others.

[stevenleser]

135. There is no point to miss. You don't have one. You are very adroit at not getting the actual facts

It's quite telling that in this latest response, you trot out an appeal to emotion with an unrelated situation in an attempt to bolster a weak argument and lack of understanding of what acting and entertaining in the situation at hand would be like regarding Franken and Tweeden.

You talk about my comment on boundaries, it's very simple. You say so, when it happens. That is the responsibility of the actor in the situation. In Tweeden's case, she claims that instead of saying she wasn't comfortable with that, she told Franken she didnt think they needed to rehearse it and then said 'OK'. So, in her own words, she never gave Franken the opportunity to know that she was uncomfortable, if in fact she was. We don't know that she was, and her own actions in these performances suggests she was not uncomfortable at all with performing raunchy actions on stage and by implication, with practicing them offstage.

Without telling Franken that what he was asking was beyond her boundaries, she can't later claim he overstepped them.

And let's be clear, a passionate kiss is not raunchy, certainly not like simulated sex by grinding yourself on other people. So another performer who is putting together a skit with you in mind would certainly not think that this was beyond your boundaries. Again, that is up to you to make clear when the moment occurs.

Actors and actresses do this all the time regarding much more intimate subject matter.

The other obvious point here is that she never asserts that there was any real pressure to not assert that this was beyond her boundaries. In fact if we accept her account as fact, there were zero repercussions to her job for refusing to do the scene as Franken planned it. She makes some silly assertions about how she was the subject of some jokes after that. I find the entire episode contrived. She had two decades to think about how to couch it all in a way that would harm him and at an opportune moment for the party she supports, she came out with that account.

And by the way, as another poster pointed out here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9863182 Franken had done this kiss skit at the USO with another performer in the past. It was part of the act. This wasn't done specially for Leeann so there was no intent to make her uncomfortable or to exceed her boundaries.

You are simply wrong here. Now the question is whether you will acknowledge it.

[Denzil_DC]

140. I see a lot of words, but no sense, and apparently no social conscience.

"you trot out an appeal to emotion with an unrelated situation in an attempt to bolster a weak argument"

What, you mean like pointing out that part of Franken's work has been to work with a woman who was raped, to draw up legislation about rape, which is now hampered by recent events?

That's an appeal to emotion with an unrelated situation? And it doesn't engender any emotion or concern or even anger, or any sense of a wider context that could be addressed?

Just dismissed, like that. Wow. This is eye-opening.

So it's more important to you to go after Tweeden on a web board than try to find a constructive route to address a wider concern and wider political issues? You'd rather conjecture pointlessly online about what was or wasn't done or could or shouldn't have been done between two people who've apparently settled the issue as amicably as the mess allows for the moment since nobody else seems to have witnessed it. All the while fudging the issues of consent, coercion, public performance versus private rehearsal because it suits your agenda.

I've changed my mind. Probably best you don't use your position to try to address any of this with a wider audience. You'd be a disaster.

[stevenleser]

141. I see a lot of words in your posts and zero understanding of the situation and industry

And worse, no attempt at all to understand what happened here. You are stuck on autopilot.

[Denzil_DC]

144. Really. Maybe head for an optician, then. Via a seminar in logic.

You may not have been around when I displayed sufficient understanding of the situation and "what happened here" to put up an OP that helped avoid a bunch of folks going off half-cocked on the basis of the invented claims of a Twitter scam artist and risking making fools of themselves and muddying the water even further than it is already.

But yeah, yeah, yours is the only valid view, you've got your finger on the pulse, man. You can see into the past and project yourself right there into the rehearsal area and tell it like it is, and someone who sees it differently is an idiot. Impressive.

There's been a massive focus on DU from many to seek to protect Franken against the current efforts to smear him.

Many have seen those as a strategy to distract from (far more serious) allegations against Republican figures and disarm an effective voice who could help to call them to account.

If protecting Franken has any value, it's because of what he does with his position and what he stands for. Otherwise he's just another Al.

I've mentioned a key aspect of the work that Franken's been doing - efforts well worthy of defending, now sabotaged. Infuriating.

You've glibly dismissed my description of them and my placing of them in a wider context as "an appeal to emotion".

Well, yes. There's a lot of anger around at the moment. Much of it directed at Tweeden and the Republicans, a little from a small minority at Franken, and a whole bunch at each other.

Yours seems to be reserved for me for daring to stand up to you, and for Tweeden, who may have been a key player in this, but in the grand scheme of things, is passing show and quite possibly ultimately an expendable fallperson.

Kind of a waste of an emotion, really. And words.

[stevenleser]

152. I'm not the one who needs it. At some point facts need to have an impact on you. nt

[Denzil_DC]

153. Oh, you're back.

Still nothing to say other than male ego-bashing and horn-locking. It's kinda boring.

[benld74]

39. Just saw the video on Twitter

[mucifer]

41. I hope the msm explains this instead of using Al Franken and roy moore in the same sentence.

I'm getting sick of that.

Hopefully, the Minnesota voters will have Al's back. They have a year to figure it out.

[dragonlady]

45. They have three years to figure it out

He was reelected in 2014.

[mucifer]

48. That should help. I hope he can get back to ripping apart sessions soon.

[JI7]

49. and that was one of the reasons behind the attack on him

"I hope he can get back to ripping apart sessions soon."

[dragonlady]

57. Agreed

In his "Minnesota-nice" way, of course.

[cwydro]

60. There have been similar attacks on him here.

Those folks seem strangely quiet now.

[riverwalker]

42. The other context

Is politics. She’s a birther, here on Hannity, where she is a regular asking for Obama’s birth certificate.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ukP-TXdKDjY

I think her only objection to Frankens antics, were because he is a Democrat. Plus an opportunity prodded by Stone.

[Podkayne K]

43. I seriously doubt Leanne's story about Al Franken, but...

on this particular picture I have to say if you watch the video, the frame in time does not seem to be as it appears--just like the picture of Al Franken with her isn't what it appears (or what she says it was). After watching the video, the guitar player grabbed her and she shows she is annoyed. So it seems--though I have no idea what is really happening--that she pinches him in anger and then moves far away.

Obviously, it's impossible to know exactly what was really happening, or if it was all preplanned or what was going through anyone's mind. However, I think this exact picture may be other than what it appears.

But my comments are IMHO because after all it was 11 years ago, and what the hell was really going on we'll probably never actually know.

[LisaL]

44. You forgot to mention the part where she went up to the guiltar player first and rubbed her behind

on his leg. I assume all of this was a part of the skit, that involved groping of her behind by the player and her either slapping or pinching (or grabbing) his behind in response.

[Podkayne K]

51. You're right, but...

she just seems really upset by his action. I'm probably reading it wrong as she is hardly innocent in all of this, but maybe the guitar player went at it with a little more "vigor" than was expected. After she "pinches" him, she moves to the other side of the stage, quickly.

Like I said, we'll probably never, ever know what really happened. But it would be difficult to make a case based on this video alone.

[LisaL]

52. That's not how I see it at all.

[Podkayne K]

53. Thus, on this video alone

arguments can be made from several POV's. It's a real life Rashomon.

[LisaL]

54. I think if you look at the rest of the videos, there was a lot this type of behavior going on

as part of the show.

[Demsrule86]

85. Nope...not true...some have an anti-Democratic agenda.

[Juliusseizure]

62. Me neither - Lets not overthink this

I see her grope his butt playfully, then I see him pinch hers playfully, then she reacts by pursing her lips in playful fashion and walks off. I don't see how it could have been too hard a pinch either. If that's the hypothetical, keep in mind he's playing guitar, he has to quickly lower his hand behind him to perform that butt pinching maneuver. There's very little leverage there.

For her to be offended by his returning the now implied consensual gesture - in the middle of a public musical performance - would be ridiculous.

Instead, it's more likely HE was irritated- he's in mid-performance. Do you know how hard it is to sing and play guitar at the same time? And then be interrupted by her? That would greatly irritate me. I don't care how pretty she is. I'm concentrating on my work.

[Maynar]

73. I sing and play

so yeah, I know about that shit. Fun that it might be to have a pretty woman grab one's ass, save it for after the performance!

[Podkayne K]

114. Not questioning your expertise...

It's just, for me, this video doesn't prove one way or the other about her tendencies or what was truly happening and why. There are so many other holes in her story, I tend to dismiss this video, but that's me.

But like I said about this particular video, it's all Rashomon.

[kimbutgar]

46. I really want to make a bad comment but Ill be blamed for slut shaming.

[NanceGreggs]

56. When the woman in question ...

... has shown herself to be a politically-motivated "slut", I believe that "shaming" is not just appropriate - it is mandatory.

[cwydro]

59. Damn right.

I hope all her supporters here will have something to say for themselves.

[world wide wally]

58. Franken sure played have s cards right in this one

[questionseverything]

118. franken is really dangerous to the repubs

most people would think he was their target because of his fine work in the senate but

I feel they are terrified of him because he had the nerve to actually get the VOTE counted in his first election...took him 8 months but he stuck it out

the repubs can't have that catch on

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029860272

[Juliusseizure]

64. It sure smells like BS/proud of Al

The most damning thing shown is her posting the 2011 photo with Franken. I assume she did that voluntarily. If she were truly disgusted by his behavior, she wouldn't have posted it. She would have felt shame and buried the memory.

Then the rest of the photos give the context for Franken's acts - this was a comedy tour, she dry humped, made lewd gestures, and kissed many men in playful mode.

Guess what? That photo with Al grabbing her boobs - he's posing for someone knowing its being taken. He doesn't seem to be cupping them. It seemed more like a prank for the photo. If he was, she likely would have woken up if it wasn't consensual, unless she was intoxicated. But she's not slouched. She didnt say she was intoxicated.

Franken said he doesn't remember the kiss like she did. She said she was offended. But she accepted his apology the same day, did NOT want an ethics probe, and, oh, there's that 2011 photo, and a photo of them kissing in a skit, then Franken watching her dry hump another man, etc etc.

Here's my theory - she's making shit up. Franken knows it. He apologized and said go have at your ethics probe. He knew to start arguing over it would distract from the tax cut that needs to be attended to, and many many more important things. He also knows these photos will come out, and her story will implode like the GOP.

[MFM008]

66. agree

I smell the putrid air of Stone/ Bannon / maggot behind all of this.

[burrowowl]

65. K&R

[IUPACify]

68. Really? A Russian Ushanka hat?

Weirdly coincidental with an added poetic twist.

[dalton99a]

102. +1

[Ligyron]

69. Where have all the DU pearl clutchers gone?

Crickets.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

[bagelsforbreakfast]

75. "Pearl Clutchers" - good one - apt - wish I'd thought of it :)

[Cattledog]

78. +1000

[dalton99a]

103. Trolls are awaiting orders from their factory boss

in St. Petersburg or Moscow

[Bucky]

138. Right here.

This is slut shaming of the lowest order. If she had accused a Republican senator, you'd be up in arms against this effort to use pictures of her performing her job on stage as proof that she couldn't have been sexually harassed off stage.

Please note that Al Franken is not participating in this sickening display of "liberal" hypocrisy. He's left the matter in the hands of the Ethics Committee. And even while contending his innocence of the worst charges, is made sure he's made the point that you believe accusers. And I put liberal in quotes, because if you think it's cool to slander a sexual harassment accuser just because the person she accuses is on our side, you're not really being a liberal right now.

This new story has turned too many DUers into a Fox News mirror image.

[Ligyron]

149. No it's not.

It is hypocrite shaming of the highest order.

[DFW]

70. It's simple to sum up what this is all about in two words:

"Roy Moore"

If not for the Alabama Senate race, no one would even be talking about this.
This is classic Republican distraction tactics. I refuse to fall for it.

[Cattledog]

72. "Hey boys it's all good fun"!

[MGKrebs]

79. And Putin wins again!

Because we can't have a discussion with honest disagreements without attacking each other.

[whathehell]

81. Has this come up on Faux News yet?

or are they just ignoring it?

[Demsrule86]

84. Now did she have permission to grab that man's ass? Isn't she doing what she accused Franken of

doing? Ah well she has signed a book deal...her reward for going after Franken...some DUer's should be very embarrassed to fall for her lies.

[cwydro]

86. Those same DUers never said a peep about Kathy Griffins antics with Anderson Cooper.

She’s grabbed his crotch, simulated oral sex with him, made all kinds of sexual comments to him, and so on.

Cooper has looked distinctly uncomfortable during some of those actions. No one ever says anything about that here.

I’m still trying to figure out why certain posters here defended this woman and were so willing to throw Franken under the bus. Curious.

[IronLionZion]

87. It's disappointing how many DUers fell for right wing lies

Some people want to believe in monsters victimizing people so badly that they will throw our leaders under the bus before getting all the facts.

[HughBeaumont]

88. Normally, regardless of political bent, I'd say "believe the women".

NOT this.

Frankengate had the stench of "Right wing hit job" from jump.

Sean Hannity knowing about the photo years before.
Roger Stone and the Infowars goon knowing this statement was going to happen several hours before it did.
Al welcoming the investigation in the face of Tweeden's strangely quick, "hope this fades" apology
Resurfaced Tweeden USO photos and videos.

[Pugster]

90. It's ok to grab her butt if you're not a Democratic Senator

She will respond by grabbing yours.

[SayItLoud]

91. The F'n MORON wants to know...

Where are her hands going next ...5,4,3,2,1 ?

[bigtree]

92. fuck

...we were played.

[Egnever]

105. What's this we stuff?

It smelled to some of us from the beginning and not because he is a democrat.

For me it was partly the way he handled it. Partly his history of fighting for equal rights issues, and partly the collusion with roger stone and fox on the story along with other things.

It just did not feel right from the get go.

Anothy Wiener is a good example of a democrat that from the second the story hit I believed it and when that story broke he was a very strong liberal voice but in his case the reaction from his side felt much different.
John Edwards is another one that just just felt believable from the get go. Did not want to believe either one because they are Dems but did not really question those the way I did Al's.

I could easily have been wrong and still could be but the gut check seems to have been right on this one from the start at the moment.

[questionseverything]

119. of course we were played,that is all they have

remember the freaking rush to defund acorn after the pimp videos...which turned out to be completely doctored?

what puzzles me is why dems think repubs would draw the line at stealing elections...when no other evil seems to be beneath them

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029860272

[orangecrush]

94. For SOME REASON

I'm not seeing anything about this on "Meat thr Press" this a.m..

They want Franken OUT in the worst way, and if we give it to them they won't call us "principled" - they'll laugh and call us morons.

[Honeycombe8]

95. That looks photoshopped, or not Tweeden. Has it been verified? nt

[LisaL]

96. It's a snapshot from the video which is linked in the video forum.

[Honeycombe8]

98. I watched it. Actually the twerking against him is the more offensive. For shame!

Yeah..she done it, all right. She twerked right up against the singer. He patted her bum, and she patted his in return. Very interesting.

Also, the skit at the end with Franken. She agreed to be in a crude skit like that. Very interesting. (No kiss, though.)

[GoCubsGo]

100. IOIYAAR

[Fullduplexxx]

106. I was wondering when the right would hijack this and commit fraud

[vi5]

107. Wow. This place.

I'm honestly just dumbfounded by this place over the past few days.

[womanofthehills]

111. the photos just keep coming........

Link to tweet

[vi5]

117. You may have missed the point of my exasperation...

...I'm sort of squeamish about the idea of combing through a female accuser's history and photos and clothes to determine whether they are worth my sympathy. Regardless of whether she's accusing someone on our side or not.

If you can honestly say that if this type of thread on Free Republic about any of Trump's accusers or any Republican would be treated with such glee and joy and as "fair game" then you have a different set of rules than I do. And if you can't honestly say that then you're a hypocrite.

Either way this place has been disgusting over the past few days.

[womanofthehills]

124. I thik this place is always great - we as Dems are not going to sit back

while the right keeps trying to f**k us over. Look what they did during the elections, & now they are going after one of our best.
She worked/works at Fox for gods sake - and appeared on Hannity's show for a whole year. Who the f appears on Hannity? Only the sickest of the sick.

From Wiki -

Tweeden was a correspondent for Fox Sports Networks' The Best Damn Sports Show Period from 2001 to 2007. In 2008, Tweeden became the third hostess of the NBC late night television series Poker After Dark.[4] She has also appeared on the political discussion series Hannity in 2011 and 2012.[1] She was a member of the "Great American Panel" and also occasionally appeared on the panel of Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.[5][6]

Tweeden was seen in pre- and post-game coverage of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Fox Sports West and is currently working on Fox Sports 1's UFC Tonight, with Kenny Florian and Ariel Helwani.[5]

Tweeden is currently on the Los Angeles morning radio show McIntyre in the Morning on KABC, 790 AM from 5 - 10AM as the news anchor. She joined the show on February 7, 2017.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeann_Tweeden

[brooklynite]

137. You know who else "works for Fox"? The cast and crew of THE SIMPSONS...

...the fact that she was a sports correspondent is completely irrelevant.

[womanofthehills]

146. She was on Hannity's show FOR A WHOLE YEAR - sometimes a co-host

and someone posted a video of her on his show asking for Obama's birth certificate.

[vi5]

150. So you are o.k. with this being the process for accusers?

All their pictures are fair game? All their history is fair game? Dragging everything they've done and said into the light to determine whether they are worthy of not being assaulted or demeaned or degraded?

Because that's the precedent this sets.

If that's the process you want from now on then at least be honest and say that.

[Tatiana]

110. Oh so you mean this WAS a right-wing publicity stunt to take down Al Franken.

This story was pushed so hard the first day it "broke" with the Party of Traitors trying to link Franken and Moore.

Moreover, we know they are trying to buy their Crooked Elfin Attorney General some breathing space because Franken was going after him and his perjury.

As a woman, I take sexual harassment and assault very seriously. I have experienced it. And unless there is more to this story, it's just an effective smear campaign against a decent United States Senator who has always supported the rights of women.

He made a joke in very poor taste and apologized. Shame on anyone who called for him to resign and shame on those who had knee-jerk reactions to call for Senator Franken's resignation.

This woman is clearly an opportunist and, as my abuelita would say, a cualquiera.

[maxrandb]

116. To some on DU

The obvious solution is that the guitar player must resign and be castrated.

He was obviously in a position of power over defenseless Leeann

[nini]

127. So basically there was a lot of sexual-undertone goofing around...

... from all kinds of folks on that tour.

But she was offended by it if was directed at her after she was playing the game too?

What really pisses me off about this is real victims get questioned more than they should when this type of thing happens. AND I'm not saying even minor stuff is ok so don't read more into my comment than is there.

[YOHABLO]

129. Okay Leanne, explain that. What a bunch of hypocritical BS. Hannity probably put her up to it.

[TheFrenchRazor]

130. so are they both wrong, or both acceptable? you can't pick and choose. nt

[womanofthehills]

131. Who is picking or choosing? - just showing the atmosphere

Last edited Sun Nov 19, 2017, 10:23 PM - Edit history (1)

[Bucky]

139. It's bawdy and naughty and fun on stage. The alleged harassment was backstage.

That's the difference I see.

Al Franken is handling this right. He's not acting like Roy Moore or Donald Trump or most of the DUers in this thread and playing the slut-shaming game. He said to put it through the proper ethics process.

Good for him. Shame on this website

[red dog 1]

133. This needs to go viral!

This photo needs to be re-tweeted at least 100,000 times!

This photo needs to be posted on at least 100,000 Facebook pages!

This photo needs to be shared with EVERYONE!


(K&R, thanks for posting)

[SpankMe]

148. Oh, wow! With this, the whole AL Franken thing just ended. n/t

[Fullduplexxx]

151. Kr tweeden groping