The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

She has been a guest on Hannity. Hannity went from saying Moore had 24 hours to hand-waving Moore, saying it's up to voters. And now this comes out. 

 

I think that McConnell likely doesn't want Moore in the Senate - even beyond the allegations he's mostly been a huge headache and attention whore who is only popular with the base, which is the last thing McConnell would want more of - and that all of this is happening from the Bannon side of the GOP. 

 

I do believe her, as Franken spent 20 years in the meat factory of SNL (a horribly sexist place), and his generation of men certainly had carte blanche when in positions of power, but the timing and motivations are something I am struggling with.

 

Again, if this is true I think he should resign, but what bothers me is that this is being pushed by people who worship men like Trump and Moore as gods. This is essentially exploiting sexual harassment for political gain. And I have a feeling this won't be the last time either. 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I think he should step down too, but Trump needs to resign before anyone else does. I feel like Pandora's Box is opened and even more people on Capitol Hill are gonna be exposed for their acts. I'm wondering if he was one of the 2 Jackie Speier was referring too. 

 

This is just a mess. 

[hsfolk]

 

McConnell doesn't want Moore in because he knows that the judge would vote to get him out of his leadership position

[JaneAusten]

Heck there is more than 2 people. A journalist I believe with WaPo posted a list on twitter of the number of sexual harassment claims by year with the total number of claims and total dollar amount spent for each year for just the House.  I wish I could find it but the $$ amount was over 25 million dollars and the # cases were over double digits each year. Actually I was surprised it was that low so perhaps there were some that were taken care of personally. I frankly don't understand why the hell taxpayers are paying for sexual harassment settlements and why we don't have the right to know who the perpetrators are.

[Juliajms]

I don't find her timing odd at all.  Just like I don't find the timing of Roy Moore's victims suspect. They are coming out right now because there is strength in numbers and women are finally being believed. He didn't just take a picture of her, he forcibly kissed her. She was just on Jack Tapper and I found her credible.  It was very sad when JT mentioned her children and she broke down.

[Khan]

 

Agree.

 

So much for "The Al Franken Decade."

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Do they make both parties sign an NDA or some sort of gag order to prevent us from finding out about the settlements? 

 

That's what Wikileaks need to damn do if they wanna be resourceful. Release the damn list of offenders on Capitol Hill. Do that!

[sivad40]

Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio state legislator Wes Goodman (R) has resigned after admitting he was busted having sex with a man in his office. The married conservative Ohio state lawmaker was known for his anti-LGBTQ stances.

House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger (R) said he spoke to Goodman after learning of the allegations and the now-former representative admitted to having consensual sex with the man in his Riffe Center office.

“I was alerted to details yesterday afternoon regarding his involvement in inappropriate behavior related to his state office,” Rosenberger said in a statement to the Columbus Dispatch. “I met with him later in the day where he acknowledged and confirmed the allegations. It became clear that his resignation was the most appropriate course of action for him, his family, the constituents of the 87th House District and this institution.”

Goodman resigned after the meeting citing “inappropriate conduct.” No charges of sexual harassment will be brought since the sex was consensual and the man was not a staffer or legislator.

“We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life. That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service,” he said in a statement. “For those whom I have let down, I’m sorry. As I move onto the next chapter of my life, I sincerely ask for privacy for myself, my family, and my friends.”

On Twitter, Goodman described himself as “Christian. American. Conservative. Republican.”

Several GOP insiders have intimated that there is video of the encounter filmed inside Goodman’s office, but the speaker’s spokesperson denied that allegation.

 

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/11/family-values-legislator-quits-caught-sex-man-office/

 

Just another conservative hypocrite.

Edited November 17, 2017 by sivad40

[JaneAusten]

So how did Roger Stone know these allegations against Franken were coming out 24 hours before they did?

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/360726-stone-appeared-to-know-franken-allegation-was-coming

 

And please don’t take this in any way to think I’m defending Franken but this is all suspect.

[Khan]

 

I came across this story earlier this evening thanks to one of my friends on FB.

 

The part that irks me, of course, is his calling the affair "inappropriate conduct."  If, by "inappropriate conduct," he means that he was wrong to cheat on his wife at all, or that he was wrong to do "on company time," so to speak, then okay, I'm fine with the language.  But something tells me that's NOT what he means by "inappropriate conduct."

 

Oh, well.  At least it was consensual, with someone who was age-appropriate and not working FOR him or alongside him.  So, when Wes is ready to come out officially, we'll be here and all will be forgiven (...I guess).

Edited November 17, 2017 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

Having sex in the office? If the president of the U.S. can get busted for this, what made him think he wouldn't get caught? Either he just didn't GAF at that point or he thought he was shielded by being a member of the party in power.

How clueless. Not to mention, his rabid anti-gay posture before all of this was revealed.

[JaneAusten]

This tax bill as we all know is another GOP supply side economics flop. How many times folks are people going to fall for this. Under St. Ronnie we did this and we started building the wage gap. We also had the savings and loan collapse and don’t forget Black Tuesday the second greatest drop in the stock market in a day since 1929. Bush Jr did this and what happened. Continued wage gap growth leading to its greatest levels since right before the 1929 stock market crash, slowest job growth since the Great Depression,  and what did we have, a market collapse, and Wall Street bailouts, and we are doing it again.

 

The joke here is this being sold as some sort of middle class miracle. seriously. 

- Corproate tax cuts are permanent, middle class cuts expire over the next 5 to 10 years. Middle class taxes actually go up.

- Simplifying taxes by decreasing tax rates and removing deductions, oh well only middle class taxpayers lost valuable deductions. Guess who doesn’t corporations. So the loop holes are still there and they get a mass cut

-  Moving expenses are no longer deductible if you relocate for a job. But the corporate write off for companies moving their businesses overseas. Still in place.

 

Im convinced with the removal of the student loan interest deduction, that’s going to be the next catalyst. I think a ton a young people just won’t be able to afford it and will just be walking away from many of them even with the hits to their credit history and burden they will continue to carry since bankruptcy doesn’t clear these.

 

the fear should be for everyone as we take more loans out from China to pay for the increase in our deficit by trillions and our decreased influence and position in the world, will we recover? And we got nothing from Trumps Asia trip. No independent trade deals, just a lot of ego puffing by a bunch of leaders in China ie playing him with a red carpet and ceremonies but not one deal. They hold so much of our debt and they are the next super power.

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by JaneAusten

[DRW50]

 

Some men want to be caught, deep down. 

[GMac]

 

So it looks like Trump has tweeted about the Franken accusations.  LOL  The man has no shame or self-control.

 

I'm not excusing or defending AF, but another stark difference is the way in which he has responded to her claims.  He released that picture himself, and has come across as honestly regretful and apologetic of what he did.  Trump and Moore have attacked their accusers.  

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Apparently, what "trophy hunting" provides is only a meager amount towards these countries GDP compared to eco-tourism, which brings in a much larger amount of money--but hey, just so Trump can be petty and overturn another Obama-era regulation while giving his whiny brats more opportunity to reclaim their lost manhood, I guess it's worth the possibility of depleting the elephant population.

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