Gillibrand is trained as a lawyer, surely she would never allow a client to be railroaded based on alleged accusation. A simple apology for her exploitation of the me-too rabble would have sufficed. What is that Jewish proverb about digging two graves?
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She is my Senator and I feel divided. Long before KG lobbied her colleagues to call on Franken to resign, her nickname among her staff was âRachel Flick,â because even then she was effortlessly ruthless. Franken would probably resigned even without KGs push; for good reason he didnât want to go through a death of a thousand cuts. If there were a couple of groping incidents Franken might have survived. But not eight. And unfortunately there is no middle ground between resigning and not resigning. As a father of sons and daughters I donât have a problem with KG invoking her son and in fact these are the conversations we parents have been and need to have with our kids.
But again: Rachel Flick; her brazen ambition, opportunism and ruthlessness. She seems to believe in everything, and nothing. Itâs hard to see her as the nominee but she is one tough pol and of course if she is the nominee I look forward to her cutting Trumpâs balls off. (Harris and Klobuchar can also do that; Warren cannot. I am getting to really like Harris.)
I donât see a lot of folks here who blame Gillibrand for Frankenâs actions and resignation. Just for kicking him when he was down. Took away his options. To throw in âas if he has no personal agency or responsibilityâ is farcical and insulting. Nobody said that. I see people blaming her for HER actions.
Not only young Dem women, but ANYBODY would find what you describe as absurd. Young Dem women are no better, smarter, moral, or infallible than old Dem women or young Dem men. Or old Dem men. Gillibrand is in the big leagues now. She stepped into the arena and struck a pre-emptive blow. Against her own team. If she pays a price for doing that, or gets bopped in the nose in the processâŚit isnât misogyny. Its called the big leagues.
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Itâs not okay just because itâs someone you like. Period.
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It is still politics. It isnât kindergarten. It is the Senate where the history is you donât even knife a Senator from the other team. You let them implode, you let the investigation come to itâs end, but you donât go after each other or the otherâs integrity.
And this is still politics. We arenât going for sainthood here. If she wanted to be champion against misogyny there were plenty of real slimes to go after. If her bag of scalps contained plenty of RWers and one FrankenâŚthat might be different.
You say you canât let someone off the hook just because you like themâŚbut that appears to be her only foray into the field and it was an Own Goal.
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The problem of his sexist, juvenile and oppressive behavior is nobodyâs fault but his own. I like the guy, personally, at least in his senate years. But Gillibrand, a member of half the population that has to live within that oppressive system, never quite able to relax due to vigilance against predatory behavior even from men that they consider allies, said enough was enough and she couldnât defend him anymore. And I respect that. Sheâs right.
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You obviously havenât informed yourself on the Franken accusations. Too bad for you and your comments.
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You are talking like Gillibrand was a victim of Frankenâs. Or like she was the judge and had to make a tough call. All she had to do was NOT knife, and dispatch, a fellow Dem senator. I donât disagree with your moral points, and am agreement on the matters of sexism. But this wasnât some purity test or Glee Club. This is hardball politics at the highest level, and THIS Dem did not appreciate having one of our stalwarts dispatched so easilyâŚespecially while watching R Senators sitting in the majority who have done much worse.
Somebody decided Al wasnât going to get an ethics investigation, and even though Al said the wordsâŚI believe the decision was not his or his alone.
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Iâll offer this thread for you to read as it closely tracks with my own thinking. If you read this and still think Gillibrand is deserving of blame, then we probably arenât going to agree.
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Bull Shit Gillibrand. You shot first and are now trying to aim. Your quick and easy attack on due process and justice disqualified you from holding any office of honor or trust in the United States.
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Thank you. I was not aware that Schumer had advised Franken to resign before KG said anything, so this is useful information. I still maintain without either Schumer or KG saying or doing anything that Franken would have resigned. He might have survived a couple incidences, but not eight. And he wasnât going to put his wife through that special hell.
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Iâve had this discussion with Dems, even female Dems who remain furious with Gillibrand (who groped no one!) and I simply say, âYou either believe women, or you donât, and I do.â
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Iâm stunned by the Franken-stanning and selective outrage here! Iâm surprised no one has asked âWhat the women were wearing at the time?â
Do you Gillibrand haters REALLY BELIEVE that any investigation wouldnât have turned up MORE groped women? Stunning naivete, imo.
Examine your crypto-misogyny people, ladies too! Sen. Handsy had NO ONE to blame but HIMSELF! Attempting to tie this in to a Senate vote?? Are you freaking kidding!? Why not ask if Franken had grabbed Sen. Gillibrandâs ass in the cloakroom? For all we know she is graciously leaving that part out!
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The Onion predicts she will withdraw in February 2020.
But defended Big Tobacco which has helped kill people. So, thereâs that.
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Really weird given how fast she started running away from her own agency in this matter.
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Neither is ruthless and ill judged ambition whether or not you like her. She has a history as a weathervane with an inability to imagine the emotions of other people unless directly involved in the situation. Her explanation for her turn around on guns is that she didnât get it until she actually met an inner city parent who lost a child.
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Yep. Since quite a number of the accusations against him are flimsy â what pray tell is the Biblical distance for selfies? â not to mention the ways in which Tweedenâs account is suspect. â letâs invent a nonexistent offense against Gillibrand herself about which she â noblely? â remained silent.
Franken was able to see the ways in which his joke photo with a sleeping Tweeden was offensive to her right to her own agency despite her own propensity for raunchy jokes on stage during her tour in skits that had nothing to do with him. He gave true apologies. Nothing he did deserved a political death penalty which Gillibrand was for.
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Excuse me? You expect us to admire an unthinking belief in Tweeden? The women I believe are the fifty or so female staffer who had worked with him.
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No, you either believe one particular woman about one particular instance, or you donât.
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