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MSNBC's Kasie Hunt Says Senator Al Franken's Actions 'Not Actually Groping'

So if Im at work and put my hand cupped around with in 1/4 an inch but dont touch..from a females breast and grin at the other males...its not sex harassment?

It would be sex harassment if you did it. But if you're a comedian it's not. You posted another photo where he pretends to grab another female comedian's breast and you see her acting like she's outraged.

Are you saying this is groping or sexual harassment too?

 
Does this look like groping? He was a comedian. His fingertips are just barely touching her thick vest. This is getting out of hand.

171116-al-franken-leeann-tweeden-airplane-se-1105a_cdbd11d4ba4f856a53dca9fe3803882f.nbcnews-fp-360-360.jpg


And I'm not partisan because I think the groping by G. H. W. Bush in a wheelchair is silly. He's an old man in a wheelchair who grabbed a butt. It's just not a big deal. You cut old folks some slack. They mentally degenerate.

He was a comedian in another lifetime. He cannot hide behind that excuse.

He is now a sitting Senator who should not be invading a woman's space as he did, sleeping or not.

If he does something like this on camera, what does he do when the camera is not there?
 
I don't count kissing a woman as sexual harassment unless you're her boss. Way too many men have tried to kiss a woman who didn't want to be kissed. It's wrong but it's not some huge moral problem. Grabbing her ***** is different. Going for a kiss and getting slapped is bad behavior but doesn't rise to any great moral crime.

I'll qualify that it depends on how much force is applied to the kiss.

Real sex crime is getting mixed up with this petty nonsense like old man Bush I in a wheelchair grabbing butts.

Do you take into account that Franken's action show who he is today, but Moore's actions show who he was 40 years ago?
 
He was a comedian in another lifetime. He cannot hide behind that excuse.

He is now a sitting Senator who should not be invading a woman's space as he did, sleeping or not.

If he does something like this on camera, what does he do when the camera is not there?

He wasn't a Senator at the time.

Leeann Tweeden, a radio news anchor with KABC in Los Angeles, said she met Franken in December 2006, before he became a lawmaker, at a USO show for service members that included a skit he wrote that featured a kiss between the two.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/co...ccused-forcibly-kissing-groping-woman-n821381

1. There's no groping
2. The kiss part of a skit so even if he took it too far it's not sexual assault. She consented to a kiss.

He behaved badly but it's not sexual assault. I've frequently heard of actors taking advantage during kissing or sex scenes. I do think that's a problem with actors. I can only imagine how many male actors have tried to slip in the tongue during a kissing scene that didn't require it.
 
Do you take into account that Franken's action show who he is today, but Moore's actions show who he was 40 years ago?

Moore used to cruise the mall for high school girls. You can't compare him to Franken. I probably do lie a little on my taxes sometimes. Does that make me equal to someone using shell companies to hide income?
 
I can't stand Franken, although I'd accept that the man has grown as a Senator. But this just seems pretty stupid to me. When did Americans become such sexually shackled victims and prudes? What young man, who isn't gay, hasn't done something awkward or inappropriate to a female friend/acquaintance as a joke, for a laugh, or out of an over abundance of testosterone and occasionally booze/drugs? The pic of Franken simply looks to me like a college prank, similar to any number of hazing or initiation type stupidity that goes on in ever college everywhere.,

Just like the pet rock, cabbage patch dolls, the slinky, etc. this sexual victimhood fad will soon pass and you'll feel silly you bought into it.

Lighten up folks before it's too late.

This is a very honest post. His justification is 100% authentic IMO.

This is the attitude, IMO, of many males in western society (if not globally)...the entitlement to casually fondle and objectify women to "the point where they think they can get away with it." It's an entitlement and mentality...and I'll agree hormonally-driven (but still controllable) ...since prehistoric times firmly ingrained in males.

In another thread a poster admitted that he and most males, in his opinion, remained 17 yr old boys in many respects, all their lives.

Nothing is going to change the past...and most of us women have had to deal with this groping and sexual innuendo and touching and then *shaming* when the guys say 'we couldnt take a joke,' or 'it's no big deal, dont be a bitch about it' or 'she's just on the rag,'....but going forward maybe culturally parents will teach their sons that this is not acceptable.
 
This is a very honest post. His justification is 100% authentic IMO.

This is the attitude, IMO, of many males in western society (if not globally)...the entitlement to casually fondle and objectify women to "the point where they think they can get away with it." It's an entitlement and mentality...and I'll agree hormonally-driven (but still controllable) ...since prehistoric times firmly ingrained in males.

In another thread a poster admitted that he and most males, in his opinion, remained 17 yr old boys in many respects, all their lives.

Nothing is going to change the past...and most of us women have had to deal with this groping and sexual innuendo and touching and then *shaming* when the guys say 'we couldnt take a joke,' or 'it's no big deal, dont be a bitch about it' or 'she's just on the rag,'....but going forward maybe culturally parents will teach their sons that this is not acceptable.


Parenting, now there is a topic that is ripe for debate!
 
Parenting, now there is a topic that is ripe for debate!

I think it starts there. We have alot of impetus right now in the media...we need to continue it.

OTOH, they've been doing sexual harassment training in larger corporations...required...for about 15 yrs now and I'm not sure if that's been successful. To some extent I'm sure but from all I've read the past couple of weeks since the Weinstein fiasco, it's just submerging men's behavior but not changing their views of how to treat women...it just makes them more resentful.

But hey, I cant speak for all women but keep your hands to yourselves, dont grab us or yourself, and keep it in your pants and that's a start!
 
This is a very honest post. His justification is 100% authentic IMO.

This is the attitude, IMO, of many males in western society (if not globally)...the entitlement to casually fondle and objectify women to "the point where they think they can get away with it." It's an entitlement and mentality...and I'll agree hormonally-driven (but still controllable) ...since prehistoric times firmly ingrained in males.

In another thread a poster admitted that he and most males, in his opinion, remained 17 yr old boys in many respects, all their lives.

Nothing is going to change the past...and most of us women have had to deal with this groping and sexual innuendo and touching and then *shaming* when the guys say 'we couldnt take a joke,' or 'it's no big deal, dont be a bitch about it' or 'she's just on the rag,'....but going forward maybe culturally parents will teach their sons that this is not acceptable.

I agree, it's not appropriate or acceptable, but my point is that it's not life shattering or in any way a "scandal" as it's being portrayed by partisans on both sides of the aisle. And males don't just do it to females - males do embarrassing and inappropriate/unacceptable things to their male friends as well, all the time. What's also inappropriate/unacceptable, in my view, is raising such antics into life shattering, career ending, death sentences to those involved. I'm talking Franken here, and the "cop a feel" photo op that led this thread. Calls for Franken to resign from the Senate because of this pic are outrageous, in my view. It's a prime example of political correctness and social media piling on that is ruining civil society and discourse today.
 
I think it starts there. We have alot of impetus right now in the media...we need to continue it.

OTOH, they've been doing sexual harassment training in larger corporations...required...for about 15 yrs now and I'm not sure if that's been successful. To some extent I'm sure but from all I've read the past couple of weeks since the Weinstein fiasco, it's just submerging men's behavior but not changing their views of how to treat women...it just makes them more resentful.

But hey, I cant speak for all women but keep your hands to yourselves, dont grab us or yourself, and keep it in your pants and that's a start!

You can't "train" people to be something they're not. Humans are innately sexual beings - to train a man not to be attracted to a woman and to not sometimes act on that attraction is the equivalent, in my view, to those who think they can train gay people to become heterosexual. Women's magazines are full of articles that describe their attraction to men who are masculine, strong, "dangerous", aggressive and also turned off by men who are timid, shy, deferential, etc. That doesn't mean that men have a free pass to treat women poorly - it simply means that men are going to be men and sometimes that will lead to encounters that a woman may find objectionable - most women, over time, learn to deal with it in a mature and reasonable way and don't need to portray themselves as victims or in today's jargon, "snowflakes".

True, criminal, assault is an entirely different matter and should be punished to the full extent of the law - but turning an unwanted kiss or hug or "feel" into more than it is just turns the serious cases into less than they should be.
 
I agree, it's not appropriate or acceptable, but my point is that it's not life shattering or in any way a "scandal" as it's being portrayed by partisans on both sides of the aisle. And males don't just do it to females - males do embarrassing and inappropriate/unacceptable things to their male friends as well, all the time. What's also inappropriate/unacceptable, in my view, is raising such antics into life shattering, career ending, death sentences to those involved. I'm talking Franken here, and the "cop a feel" photo op that led this thread. Calls for Franken to resign from the Senate because of this pic are outrageous, in my view. It's a prime example of political correctness and social media piling on that is ruining civil society and discourse today.

I am no fan of Franken, but he should not be forced out of the senate for this. Now, had this happened a year ago while he was sitting senator, that would be a different story. As it is though, much is being made of little.
 
Does this look like groping? He was a comedian. His fingertips are just barely touching her thick vest. This is getting out of hand.

171116-al-franken-leeann-tweeden-airplane-se-1105a_cdbd11d4ba4f856a53dca9fe3803882f.nbcnews-fp-360-360.jpg


And I'm not partisan because I think the groping by G. H. W. Bush in a wheelchair is silly. He's an old man in a wheelchair who grabbed a butt. It's just not a big deal. You cut old folks some slack. They mentally degenerate.

He is touching them without permission that is groping.
Thank you for acknowledging it.
 
I am no fan of Franken, but he should not be forced out of the senate for this. Now, had this happened a year ago while he was sitting senator, that would be a different story. As it is though, much is being made of little.

If you were to do that to a co-worker you would be fired the same day no excuses.
So why do these people get a pass?
 
I agree, it's not appropriate or acceptable, but my point is that it's not life shattering or in any way a "scandal" as it's being portrayed by partisans on both sides of the aisle. And males don't just do it to females - males do embarrassing and inappropriate/unacceptable things to their male friends as well, all the time. What's also inappropriate/unacceptable, in my view, is raising such antics into life shattering, career ending, death sentences to those involved. I'm talking Franken here, and the "cop a feel" photo op that led this thread. Calls for Franken to resign from the Senate because of this pic are outrageous, in my view. It's a prime example of political correctness and social media piling on that is ruining civil society and discourse today.

Do that in you company and see how long you have a job.
You will be fired in a heart beat. So why does he get a pass.

Yahoo for our two tiered system.
 
If you were to do that to a co-worker you would be fired the same day no excuses.
So why do these people get a pass?

Maybe he should have been fired from the job he had at the time, but I don't see why he should be fired from future jobs. And who knows? maybe he will be fired. The voters of his state may see this as reason to fire him next time he seeks re-election.
 
Maybe he should have been fired from the job he had at the time, but I don't see why he should be fired from future jobs. And who knows? maybe he will be fired. The voters of his state may see this as reason to fire him next time he seeks re-election.

congress has ethical behavior clauses. the fact is that sexual harassment charges don't run out.
 
congress has ethical behavior clauses. the fact is that sexual harassment charges don't run out.

They can, but I don't think they should. Since he is in the senate, he should be judged by his behavior while in the senate. The same holds true for Moore. If he is elected to the senate, the senate should not expel him for things he may or may not have done 40 years ago.
 
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/n...ictim-kasie-hunt-frankens-action-not-actually

Gee. Trump SAYS “grab um by the *****” and the media has a collective cow. Here, we have a photo of a sitting Senator grabbing a woman’s breasts when she’s asleep and they have to make up an excuse for him.

The lengths that liberals go to cement themselves as hypocrites is astounding.

I've already expressed my feelings on Franken, but I just don't understand this groping nonsense. The picture is childish and he shouldn't have done it. But how can you grope somebody without touching them? Can someone explain this to me?
 
You can't "train" people to be something they're not. Humans are innately sexual beings - to train a man not to be attracted to a woman and to not sometimes act on that attraction is the equivalent, in my view, to those who think they can train gay people to become heterosexual. Women's magazines are full of articles that describe their attraction to men who are masculine, strong, "dangerous", aggressive and also turned off by men who are timid, shy, deferential, etc. That doesn't mean that men have a free pass to treat women poorly - it simply means that men are going to be men and sometimes that will lead to encounters that a woman may find objectionable - most women, over time, learn to deal with it in a mature and reasonable way and don't need to portray themselves as victims or in today's jargon, "snowflakes".

True, criminal, assault is an entirely different matter and should be punished to the full extent of the law - but turning an unwanted kiss or hug or "feel" into more than it is just turns the serious cases into less than they should be.

Many...most?...men are strongly inclined to cheat in monogamous relationships. And yet, we 'believe' that they can comply with monogamy in marriage and committed relationships. It is a cultural expectation in most of the West (not a realistic one but a very very clear expectation none-the-less).

This current issue is the same thing, either men commit to something that's not necessarily natural to them to co-exist civilly in society or they dont.

I realize that many men want to cheat and many men want to just grope and touch and "display inappropriately" before women, but my point would be that, if taught from childhood NOT to, then they understand, socially, right from wrong, and then should control themselves.

IMO, this may be the tipping point where society finally agrees on the bold above and really commits to teaching this to young boys and women...and that neither should ACCEPT such behavior either. That there would now be real consequences to that behavior and the victims, male or female, would feel safer reporting it.
 
Do that in you company and see how long you have a job.
You will be fired in a heart beat. So why does he get a pass.

Yahoo for our two tiered system.

Maybe I'm giving him a pass, as you claim, because a) the two people weren't in an employment scenario b) Franken wasn't a Senator when this happened and if the woman was so traumatized, why didn't she make a public statement about it during Franken's initial run for the Senate or during his reelection campaign. It's just the piling on that social warriors like to do when someone catches the public's attention and they want to share the victimhood mantle.
 
Maybe I'm giving him a pass, as you claim, because a) the two people weren't in an employment scenario b) Franken wasn't a Senator when this happened and if the woman was so traumatized, why didn't she make a public statement about it during Franken's initial run for the Senate or during his reelection campaign. It's just the piling on that social warriors like to do when someone catches the public's attention and they want to share the victimhood mantle.

None of them make statements right away. That is just he way it goes for some reason.
I think it hurts their credibility.
 
I've already expressed my feelings on Franken, but I just don't understand this groping nonsense. The picture is childish and he shouldn't have done it. But how can you grope somebody without touching them? Can someone explain this to me?

You can't actually grope without touching. Franken's left hand was several inches from her vest (note the entire shadow is well beneath his hand). The right hand is at an angle one can't really tell, but I strongly suspect it wasn't touching either, because if he had awakened her, picture #2 would have been the woman punching his lights out. It was vulgar, lewd, and apparently was deliberate retaliation for her rather strident rebuff of his advances.

He wasn't a senator back then, and when he ran for congress, if this woman wanted her own retaliation I imagine she'd have released it then. Personally, I'm not invested in Franken one way or the other, but if this is the only evidence available, I don't think he should be kicked out of the senate for it, unless the senate is willing to investigate each and every one of themselves who have ever had a single harassment complaint at any time in their lives.

Meanwhile, I'll turn my concern toward those who have allegations against them approaching or soaring above double digits from people with nothing to gain and much to lose by making those allegations.
 
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