This Cunt Again

We need to impose the Gillibrand rule... you know, the one she wielded against Al Franken costing him his seat: fuck up once — even when you recognize and apologize for it — and you're out.

I thought that was Eve Plumb, and "cunt" is appropriate!

I'm offended by her hair style, makeup and jewelry accessories. WTH is THAT?

She probably belongs to The Mortimer Club because of the free parking and yummy breakfast buffet.

Send some minoxidil to this balding bitch.

I still miss Al Franken, waah..

Man, menopause did a number on her.

She's 58???? 58????!!!

Pushing 70 more like it.

She should apologize for nothing!

[quote]We need to impose the Gillibrand rule... you know, the one she wielded against Al Franken costing him his seat...

JESUS H. CHRIST! Is that LIE ever going to stop being parroted by women haters who refuse to admit that ALL "HANDSY" FRANKEN ended his own career! There is NO mechanism to remove a sitting senator really, and certainly none commanded by Kirsten Gillibrand!

A group of about THIRTY senators spoke out against Franken, she was among them, but many others spoke out. Franken called for an investigation but within a few days he decided that with a list of eight women already ready to talk, the majority of them DEMOCRATS, adding to this humiliation was bad for everyone, mostly HIMSELF, and he chose to quit his seat. NOBODY made him, he decided to cut and run like a coward. He's lucky his wife stayed with him.

Why does not one of these Gillibrand haters ever ask her if Al Franken had been grabby with her? I'm guessing he probably was, but sure, she's the villain!

I’m guessing you’re probably a humorless don’t you know everything.

Geez r9, reel it in a tad. Yes 99.9% of men think with their testicles but blowing a gasket isn't going to dispel the all-lesbians-are-reactionary-crazies-myth that DL so desparately clings to.

So you have zero facts to add to the facts I noted, right r10? Just name calling?

I thought it was a good thing to use facts to make decisions? Otherwise you're no different from any MAGA ideologue, no?

r11, calling someone a "Cunt" six years after they didn't do something needs no "reeling in"? I think standing up for women as opposed to grabby men who think it's fun to act like jerks is kind of a good thing.

Repeat after me, "Al Franken ended Al Franken's career." He wouldn't even stick around to defend it.

I'm Mattress Girl and I support this cunt.

She's a HUGE cunt. I'll never forgive her.

New York once again has two worthless senators.

She’s the one who touted Mattress Girl like an idiot.

Amen, hope both senators are primaried.

I’m more of a centrist Democrat politically. I think moderate progress is the best way to win elections.

But I do love watching a political progressive make the heads of conservatives explode. It’s totally amazing how Mamdani’s candidacy is triggering them into bouts of utter insanity.

Plutocracy, Zionism,, racism, fascism — all of these rightwing movements are losing their shit over his candidacy. I love it! They’re spewing the most ridiculous absurdities.

r9 and r12 is living a fantasy.

Franken reminded me of the smartest kid in class who was secretly resented by his classmates. He was probably the Dem's most popular senator, very sharp, combative and funny, and wildly popular with his constituents. He was specifically targeted by the Republicans, who trotted out an old comedy video made before he got into politics as evidence of his "harassment" of women. This was when "MeToo" was a very hot topic, and even though Frankens entire female staff testified that he had never been disrespectful and was in fact uncommonly receptive to their ideas and concerns Gillibrand and others decided to make him an "example to Republicans" to show how pure they were. The press went crazy over the story and even though Franken agreed to a full investigation, the continuing media frenzy made him realize the only thing to shut it down was for him to resign.

The Democrats are so good at eating their own. They did the Republicans work for them.

r18, you know absolutely nothing of anyone's internal motivations, and when asked to deny the accusers' stories specifically (eight women and counting), all Franken said was "I don't remember it like that". Wow.

It's ok, you probably have that "I Believe WOMEN" t-shirt, but really you don't. They must all have been lying, right?

Why wouldn't an innocent man who fought for six months in court to win his seat even fight for six days to keep it, before cutting and running? By the way, I contributed cash to both of his elections and I believe a re-count fund, but I'm not in a cult of personality.

No, I will not stop calling Gillibrand a cunt, and I'd do it to her face in front of my mother and my sister (who told me as a child that if they ever heard me use that word they'd wash my mouth out with soap). It was Gillibrand's harping on Franken that drove him to resign; he realized that with her on the side of the accusers his chances of survival were slim and the damage this hearing would be devastating to the Democratic party.

Al Franken was the Republican's worst nightmare when it came to the Senate. He is whip-smart, quick witted and as a professional actor, very adept at arguing his points. And worse, he challenged and beat an incumbent Republican, so there was a target on his back. Never mind that Franken was a leading Senator on women's causes and issues, that as R19 pointed out, his largely female staff had nothing but accolades and praise for him, and that Franken could have been a presidential contender coming into politics with a solid reputation and name recognition (like another actor who they just *loved* for those reasons).

It was Franken's mastery of nuance and public opinion that informed him that despite the unfairness of it all, he wouldn't "win" this argument. Franken literally took one for the team.

[quote] but blowing a gasket isn't going to dispel the all-lesbians-are-reactionary-c - razies-myth that DL so desparately clings to.

So? This is an anonymous internet forum, not the real world. You're obsessed with what strangers think and you think others are crazy?

I just wish someone would interview Gillibrand and ask her straight out, "It's years later. Do you regret the accusations you made about Al Franken?" and see how she responds.

I also recall both of them mentioning they had had a good working relationship before the incident.

She went after Franken for a joke but endorsed Cuomo for mayor!!!!!!!

She fucked the entire country for her own ego and opportunism.

Kirsten's good friend, Al Sharpton, has called for Cuomo to exit the NYC Mayoral race. If he does, will that help Mamdani or Almost Felon Eric Adams?

Not the most damning, but enough to warrant comment

R23: She is unrepentent about the Al Franken thing. She appears approximately every month on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC the local NPR radio station here. And more than once she has been taken to task about “hounding” Al Franken out of office. She won’t have it, gets quite militant in defending her position to this day, and as pointed out above, she was far from the only one calling for his resignation.

It was on her most recent appearance on Lehrer’s show last week that she made those inflamatory comments about Mamdani which she has since walked back. She is a political centrist, which means her support of Israel is to the right of where much of America under 50 is leaning these days.

On his latest podcast entry, Ezra Klein and Chris Hayes discuss (in the context of the Mamdani win) how rapidly Israel has squandered its capital and sympathy with younger Democrats. Both seem to think that it’s a mistake for anti-Netanyahu and even anti-zionist positions to automatically be seen as anti-semitic. “Call someone whose views on Israel you disapprove of an anti-semite enough times and eventually they’re going to shrug and say ‘okay, I guess I am.’ And then where are you?”

R26 - a lot of that sounds like bullshit and just horsing around or bad hand/arm placement in a photo op. So many of those women were listed as anonymous.

Still not grounds for getting rid of him. This reminds me of the "Biden likes to sniff hair" bullshit.

Two things:

1) R27 [quote]support of Israel

This really bugs me (not you, R27). I'm a strong supporter of Israel. But I am strongly against Netanyahu. I think it's crucially important that everybody make the important distinction that it is HE who is causing all this horrible turmoil. I believe the large majority of the citizens of Israel are being held captive by this criminal, just like we US citizens are being held captive by the Orange Turd and his administration.

Nety and OT are evil! NOT the countries they "represent".

2) No longer getting mentioned about Franken, (who I adore!). The chief reason he dropped out might have been less about the Dems demand, and more about his mental illness. I don't know if he's bipolar, but he has admitted to periods of severe depression, and the circus surrounding these accusations were a tremendous trigger. He felt defeated and, unfortunately for us and him!, was in bad condition to attempt the fight.

Journalist Jane Mayer wrote a great article for The New Yorker profiling Franken at the time. It's worth searching out for those here who never read it.

I thought this was settled years ago - Gillibrand is an epic cunt

Franken and Gillibrand were both running for POTUS. This was her way to take out the competition. She's awful but better than a Republican.

Has New York State ever produced even ONE non-worthless politician??

Franken would have made a wonderful President.

Sorry. To be consistent, she should NEVER have endorsed Cuomo. I genuinely appreciate R27’s post — but, not being as forgiving, she endorsed a man with multiple and legit accusers (whom he stalked AND sought their gynecological health records in order to humiliate them).

In addition, she wasn’t the only one calling for his resignation— but she was the leader and corralled the rest.

She is despicable.

R32 Fiorello LaGuardia.

r22 Point out where I seem obsessed. I can wait.

[quote]She's awful but better than a Republican.

Barely.

R32, not only LaGuardia, both Roosevelts.

R38 I dunno. FDR, yes, but not Teddy. He was a pain the ass.

R20, what the fuck are you even talking about?