Miriam,
And these brave Democrats are the folks voters put in office to look
out for them.
I view the behavior of the Democrats who voted against impeachment, to
be sellouts to the American People. It's obvious that they put their
own political future first. But even though they chose what looked
like the safe course, protecting future contributions from big
corporate donors, they do run some risk of being "found out" by their
constituency, and be "out placed" anyway.
But I'm still convinced that in the long run the American Working
Class cannot win with either political party the way they are now
structured and the way they have sold out to Corporate First Class
Citizens. After I check to see if Murray and Cantwell voted for
impeachment, I'll know if I can support them in future elections.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/7/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And today, I hear that the Democratic leadership voted against the articles
of impeachment brought to the house by a Democratic congressman. This is a
time when it's appropriate to use my favorite epithet. Why, in God's name,
didn't they vote for impeachment? Because it would be politically
inconvenient and embarrassing to do so. What hypocrits! They go on and on
about Trump's campaign colluding with Russia. They waste time and taxpayers'
money playing games with this stuff. They have the big tech companies
censoring what we see to prevent Russian influence because of this mythology
they're pushing. But they can't impeach Trump for doing in spades, what they
tried to impeach Clinton for doing, or for financially benefiting from his
presidency, which he is clearly doing, or for putting the country at risk
with his threats and his actions. There are actually some people saying some
of this stuff on podcasts like on Citations Needed and Intercepted. But
that's preaching to the choir. Which reminds me, Chris Hedges was on
Citations Needed yesterday and sounded, a bit more down-to-earth than he
does in his writing. Example, he said that if the Democratic Leadership
hadn't rigged the primary, Sanders would have won, and and probably, would
have won the election, and he didn't say that it wouldn't have mattered.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2017 10:27 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: jamesjarvis98 <jamesjarvis98@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Another Woman Says Franken Tried to Forcibly
Kiss Her
You're right. It's all very troubling. Can it be that folks, especially
women, to the Left of Center are really so bent on proving that they are
playing fair that they bend over backward to defend women accusing Liberal
and Progressive members of Congress, while leaving it up to conservatives to
do the same for women accusing Conservative members of Congress?
Are Democrats really backed into a corner by the Republican Bully Boys, and
afraid to demand that Donald Trump and his Locker room Boys receive the same
treatment as they are demanding of the Democrats?
Of course, after ranting a bit, I remind myself that this pushing match is
between the various factions of the Ruling Class. It does not really
involve the Working Class. If it was of a National concern, then when my
wife, prior to my knowing her, went to the director of the agency and
complained about one of the male staff supervisors foundling her breast, the
director would have taken the appropriate action. But despite his
assurances that he would "Talk to Don", nothing positive came of it. Over
and over I have witnessed women being forced to behave like whores in order
to hold onto a crumby low paying job. Bosses demanded certain shapes and
certain dress codes and certain manners from "the girls". But where were
these deeply concerned congress members? Probably the congressmen were too
busy ogling their own staff Barbie Dolls.
Frankly, I get sick and tired of the posturing and mouthing of public
officials, when it serves their personal needs. These people do not
represent the American People. They are owned by Corporate Masters, and
they parrot the words that are whispered in their puppet ears.
If the American Working Class ever cuts through the fog and the verbal crap
being dumped daily on our working class heads, perhaps a future Sun will
rise on a better world. But in the meantime I will not bother to join in on
either side of this farce of a witch hunt between the warring Corporations
that make up our nation's ruling class. One thing for certain, when they
get it all worked out, the Corporate Bosses will push a buzzer and their
personal Barbie Doll secretary will flounce into the office to take down the
bosses words.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/7/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
2 things bother me. Most important, why is the accuser remaining
anonymous?
Certainly, her career can't be hurt by coming forward . Other women
who've made accusations against powerful men, have been willing to
give their names. The second thing that bothers me is that women in
the Democratic Party are so quick to assume that the people accusing
Franken are not doing so for partisan reasons. The first accusation
seemed, to me, to be clearly a partisan attack. Why aren't the
Democratic female office holders insisting that Trump step down, given
his sexual assault history? Why isn't that a basis for impeachment
rather than all this Russia nonsense?
Miriam
Senator Al Franken. (photo: Getty)
Another Woman Says Franken Tried to Forcibly Kiss Her By Heather
Caygle, Politico
06 December 17
The Minnesota senator is accused of making an unwanted sexual advance
after a taping of his radio show in 2006. He denies the allegation.
former Democratic congressional aide said Al Franken tried to
forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006, three
years before he became a U.S. senator.
The aide, whose name POLITICO is withholding to protect her identity,
said Franken (D-Minn.) pursued her after her boss had left the studio.
She said she was gathering her belongings to follow her boss out of
the room. When she turned around, Franken was in her face.
The former staffer ducked to avoid Franken's lips. As she hastily left
the room, she said, Franken told her: "It's my right as an entertainer."
"He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me. It
was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like
'Wait, what is happening?' But I knew whatever was happening was not
right and I ducked," the aide said in an interview. "I was really
startled by it and I just sort of booked it towards the door and he
said, 'It's my right as an entertainer.'"
The former staffer, who was in her mid-20s at the time of the
incident, said she did not respond to Franken.
The woman said she had never met Franken prior to the incident.
Franken was elected to the Senate in 2008 but began ramping up his
political activity in 2006.
Franken, who has been accused by six other women of groping or trying
to forcibly kiss them, denied the accusation.
"This allegation is categorically not true and the idea that I would
claim this as my right as an entertainer is preposterous. I look
forward to fully cooperating with the ongoing ethics committee
investigation," Franken said in a statement to POLITICO.
Two former colleagues of the woman independently corroborated her
version of events, including Franken telling her he had the right to
try to kiss her because he was "an entertainer." The first former
colleague interviewed by POLITICO said she was told of the incident in
2006, shortly after it happened. The second former co-worker said she
was made aware of the encounter sometime in 2009 or 2010.
Hours after this story was published, more than a dozen Democratic
senators, led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, called on
Franken to resign.
"While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee
conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if
he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our
society isn't acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve,"
Gillibrand said in a Facebook post. She was referring to a Senate
Ethics Committee investigation of the sexual harassment claims against
Franken.
Franken will be making an announcement on Thursday, his office said
after the first wave of senators called for him to step down.
Franken's office did not provide information about the announcement,
only saying "more details to come."
Franken is one of several lawmakers and candidates facing sexual
harassment allegations, amid a national outcry over misconduct that
has roiled Hollywood, media and politics. On Tuesday, Rep. John
Conyers (D-Mich.) resigned after multiple former female aides accused him
of harassing them.
Conyers, the longest-serving member of the House, faced a drumbeat of
demands from top Democrats to step down. No Senate Democrats have
called on Franken to resign, though a smattering of House Democrats have
done so.
The former congressional aide, a longtime Democrat, said she is not
attempting to force Franken out of office by coming forward now. Her
aim is to encourage the former comedian to acknowledge that his
behavior towards her and other women was intentional.
"His resignation is not the top of the list there. That's not my point.
It's
not up to me what he does," the former staffer said.
Franken has said he was "ashamed" about the prior reported incidents
but has also said through a spokesperson that he "never intentionally
engaged in that kind of conduct."
The former staffer said a more direct statement of culpability - not
just differing recollections of events, as Franken has offered in
apologizing to other women - could help shift the national
conversation about sexual assault and push harassers to take ownership of
their behavior.
"I don't want to be in the position of deciding whether to tell this
story but I'm not the person who put me in that position. He did
that," the woman said. "I think for this moment in time to lead to
meaningful change there has to be more than 'I'm ashamed but I remember
things differently'
accounting."
The former staffer said she mostly kept the encounter to herself, not
even telling her boss at the time. But she started to talk more openly
about it to close friends after the "Access Hollywood" video was aired
in October 2016. In the now infamous tape, Donald Trump is recorded
saying his fame gives him carte blanche to grab women's genitals.
"When it really started impacting me in more of a 'I'm really angry
about about this' way was last fall when the Trump tape came out," the
former aide said. "Hearing Donald Trump say essentially the same thing
that Al Franken said to me, which was 'It's my right as an
entertainer,' that was a real trigger," she continued.
The former staffer says she was particularly shaken after seeing
Franken on TV responding to the Trump tape last year. Franken
dismissed Trump's excuse that he was just engaging in "locker room
talk" and joked that maybe Trump worked out with Roger Ailes, the now
deceased Fox News chairman who was forced to resign in 2016 amid
allegations he sexually harassed several Fox employees.
"It was a moment in time where I told a number of my friends about my
experience with Franken because I saw him on the news being asked
about the Trump tape and I felt like it was really hypocritical," the
former staffer said. "It's a power dynamic and the fact that Donald
Trump could say that was not much different from the fact that Al Franken
could say it."
Franken took pains to separate himself from Trump earlier this year
before he was accused of sexual harassment, saying just because the
two were "both in a branch of show business" is no reason to lump them
in the same category politically.
"I consider myself a polar opposite of him, I mean I really do,"
Franken said on CNBC of Trump in September, two months before the
first sexual harassment allegations against the Minnesota Democrat
surfaced.
Franken has agreed to cooperate with a Senate Ethics Committee
investigation into his behavior.
"I do feel this very heavy responsibility to speak the truth," the
former staffer said. "I don't think that there are different versions
of truth and that's what's bothered me a lot about [his] responses."
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