Update 2:52pm, 11/20.
Progressive groups are calling for Franken’s resignation now that a second woman has come forward to accuse him of touching her inappropriately.
Credo Action and Indivisible called for Franken’s resignation Monday after a second woman accused Franken of groping her without her consent.
“Sen. Al Franken had the chance last week to take full responsibility for past sexual harassment, sexual assault and any other behavior that demeaned women. He failed to do so,” Credo said in a statement. “We believe that Sen. Franken should immediately resign from the U.S. Senate and that Gov. Mark Dayton should appoint a progressive woman to replace him.”
“We believe Lindsay Menz. We believe Leeann Tweeden. Senator @alfranken should be held accountable and he should resign,” Indivisible tweeted Monday.
Last week, Franken was accused of groping and kissing a morning radio anchor without her consent in 2006.
-The Hill
Update 10pm PST:
The reaction to my story has been, frankly, disturbing.
This site has descended into the worst kind of group-think: protect our own. Treat Republican accusers and Democratic accusers differently. Hold Democratic politicians to a different set of standards. He’s one of our own, the thinking goes, and he’s not a serial offender, so what’s the issue here?
Here is the issue: either you accept the fundamental right of every human being to be treated with dignity by their coworkers, or you don’t. This photo, direct touching or not (a matter of millimeters), would have gotten Franken fired from any job in corporate America. With that standard in mind, why should he continue to be employed as a public servant?
Leeann Tweeden called his actions belittling and humiliating. Yes, she accepted his apology. Will Minnesotans? Should they? Or should we hold our senators to a higher standard than this? Should we really be setting a lower standard for professional behavior towards colleagues than the standard set in corporate America?
As a proud Minnesotan, I don’t want a Senator who has ever humiliated and belittled a sleeping man or woman like this. Period. End of discussion. Maybe you think the joke is funny, but the Star Tribune and other locals do not.
Of course there are qualified men who could take Franken’s seat. But why not take this opportunity to promote gender parity in a Congress rife with men behaving badly?
Ultimately, Minnesota will be the arbiter in this if Franken does not step down. Knowing how close his first race for Senate was, with a months-long recount in a blue wave year (2008), I could guess that we would have better luck keeping this seat blue if someone else was on the ballot.
And if you think I’m a russian bot just because I have a differing opinion than you, then perhaps InfoWars would be a better fit for your paranoid worldview than a site dedicated to electing more and better Democrats. You might not care about keeping MN blue in 2018 and 2020, and how this might reverberate across the political spectrum in upcoming elections, but I do.
Original Story:
Sen. Franken: resign and allow Gov. Mark Dayton to appoint a qualified woman to succeed you.
Here is what Leeann Tweeden, pictured above, has to say on the infamous photograph of her being groped by Sen. Franken.
“I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated.
How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?
I told my husband everything that happened and showed him the picture.
I wanted to shout my story to the world with a megaphone to anyone who would listen, but even as angry as I was, I was worried about the potential backlash and damage going public might have on my career as a broadcaster.
But that was then, this is now. I’m no longer afraid.”
On this site, I have read attacks against Ms. Tweeden’s character and her past work as a model. I have read vocal defenses of Al Franken’s behavior, when the Senator himself has said: “There's no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself.”
Disgust is the only appropriate reaction when a man is caught groping a sleeping woman. The political affiliation of the man or the woman only matters if you put partisanship ahead of gender equality and fundamental human dignity.
The Atlantic’s Megan Garber published a commentary on the #MeToo moment in America, noting the humiliation that Sen. Franken inflicted upon Ms. Tweeden in 2006.
I’m no longer afraid. It’s a sentiment that has been steadily spreading among those who have been sexually harassed and preyed upon in recent weeks—not among all of them, certainly, but among many more than before. Tweeden, however, had another reason not to fear coming forward: She had, unlike so many other victims of harassment, hard evidence. This was not a case of her word against his, he said against she said; Tweeden had, via that photo of Franken groping and grinning, the receipts. Because of that, members of the public had no other choice but to do the thing that so many people, for so long, have been extremely hesitant to do: Take her at her word. Trust the woman and the story she tells.
-The Atlantic
The Minneapolis Star Tribune expressed its disappointment with Senator Franken in an editorial.
“We’ve heard the humor defense before. Franken’s initial Senate run suffered over his history of profane and at times misogynistic humor, which included a 1995 proposed “Saturday Night Live” sketch on the comedic “rape” of CBS reporter Lesley Stahl. In apologizing to the DFL Party convention in 2008, Franken resorted to saying he had come to realize some of his jokes “weren’t funny.” The apologies are wearing thin.
…
Minnesota DFL Party Chair Ken Martin commended Tweeden for “courageously coming forward” to share her story and said “we are incredibly disappointed in Senator Franken. … There is no excuse for his actions, whether they occurred before he was in the U.S. Senate or not.” We share that disappointment.”
-Star Tribune
There is nothing left to probe. The photo is out there. It is never okay to grope, or panto-mime grope (with your hands less than a quarter inch away), a sleeping woman or man, let alone to do it while smiling for a photograph.
I grew up in Minnesota, and I know the state has so much more to offer than someone who has ever felt comfortable denigrating women like this. The proper show of contrition is resignation.
Here is a partial list of qualified women who could be appointed to Al Franken’s seat:
- Margaret Anderson Kelliher, former State Speaker of the House
- Betty McCollum, U.S. Rep (MN-4)
- Tina Smith, Lieutenant Governor
- Lori Swanson, Attorney General
- Rebecca Otto, State Auditor
There are also 64 women serving in the Minnesota state legislature, many of whom are Democrats. The list includes DFL gubernatorial candidates Rep. Erin Murphy and Rep. Tina Liebling.
Democrats need to draw a clear line as to what behavior will not be tolerated by our officeholders. Sen. Franken’s resignation would send a powerful message: touch women or men without their consent in order to humiliate them, and there will be consequences.