DC, heal thyself

[SeattleUte]

I read Jane Mayer's super-long piece in the New Yorker reassessing the accusations against Al Franken and Senate democrats' decision to purge him. The first thing that is striking is the irony, and the hypocrisy. Mayer wrote hit pieces on Justice Kavanaugh. Yes, you can make a case that Franken was victim of #Metoo excesses, his colleagues' excessive desire to avoid collateral damage, and rush to judgment. But the New Yorker would never, after the dust settled, write a similar investigative piece on the thin accusations against a conservative--for example, Kavanaugh.

But ultimately, what struck me about the piece was that every character in it isn't very likeable, mostly Franken. Franken is just a boorish person. He's an jerk. Just look at the title of his book released a few months before his fall, "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate." Seriously? Yes, he was once a star on Saturday Night Live, and his schtick was being a jerk, but when the book was released he was a 66 year old US Senator and likely presidential candidate. Interview after interview, you get the idea that Franken's accusers and colleagues who ultimately orchestrated his fall just didn't like him at all, or hated him. And you can see why.

The lesson the different treatment of the democrats of Joe Biden and Al Franken is that Biden is a nice guy people like, and Franken is an asshole.

[Pelado]

I read Jane Mayer's super-long piece in the New Yorker reassessing the accusations against Al Franken and Senate democrats' decision to purge him. The first thing that is striking is the irony, and the hypocrisy. Mayer wrote hit pieces on Justice Kavanaugh. Yes, you can make a case that Franken was victim of #Metoo excesses, his colleagues' excessive desire to avoid collateral damage, and rush to judgment. But the New Yorker would never, after the dust settled, write a similar investigative piece on the thin accusations against a conservative--for example, Kavanaugh.

But ultimately, what struck me about the piece was that every character in it isn't very likeable, mostly Franken. Franken is just a boorish person. He's an jerk. Just look at the title of his book released a few months before his fall, "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate." Seriously? Yes, he was once a star on Saturday Night Live, and his schtick was being a jerk, but when the book was released he was a 66 year old US Senator and likely presidential candidate. Interview after interview, you get the idea that Franken's accusers and colleagues who ultimately orchestrated his fall just didn't like him at all, or hated him. And you can see why.

The lesson the different treatment of the democrats of Joe Biden and Al Franken is that Biden is a nice guy people like, and Franken is an asshole.

So you're saying if you want to get away with sexual improprieties, don't be a dick about it?

[Commando]

So you're saying if you want to get away with sexual improprieties, don't be a dick about it?

Don't be an jerk.

[Uncle Ted]

A new first...

Katie Hill becomes first female lawmaker to face House ethics inquiry over sexual relationship after naked photograph leaked

Rep. Katie Hill, the subject of a new House Ethics Committee inquiry over an alleged relationship with a staff member, is the first female lawmaker to face such a charge.

The first-term California Democrat denies she ever had an inappropriate relationship with her legislative director, Graham Kelly, as alleged by her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep. The pair are in the midst of divorce proceedings, and Heslep also alleged that he, Hill, and a staff member on her successful 2018 campaign for a northern Los Angeles County seat were engaged in an intimate relationship, including explicit photos that appeared on the conservative site RedState.

Hill admitted Wednesday night to having an affair with a campaign worker and promised to work with the House Ethics Committee.

Dozens of House members have been involved in Capitol Hill sex scandals, but to date, they've all been men. Members of both parties have been implicated.
[...]
Another male Democratic House member told the Washington Examiner, “I don't think that [Hill] will be treated unfairly. She needs to be treated fairly, and you can't jump to any conclusions, just like if it was anybody else, man or woman. We just need to drive out and focus on any unethical behavior."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...related-matter

Whoa... WTF? Apparently the "male Democratic House member" didn't look at the pictures. NSFW: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ONG-NAKED.html

How do these bong smoking, nazi, white supremacists, pervert democrats get elected to congress?

"What are you afraid of? What is in your past?" LOL

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[Commando]

lol maybe this is a double standard, but that doesn't seem like a big deal. The ex is just snitching.

[Pelado]

lol maybe this is a double standard, but that doesn't seem like a big deal. The ex is just snitching.

I read somewhere that a sexual relationship with anyone on your Congressional staff is considered an ethics violation.

[Bo Diddley]

I read somewhere that a sexual relationship with anyone on your Congressional staff is considered an ethics violation.

I gotta plead ignorance!

[Pelado]

I gotta plead ignorance!

Ignorance of the law is not a valid defense.

[Uncle Ted]

lol maybe this is a double standard, but that doesn't seem like a big deal. The ex is just snitching.

Very entertaining:

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Besides having affair when someone on her campaign staff she apparently had an affair/"sexual relations with that woman" with a congressional staffer. She will most likely get a pass on this from the Dems on that but maybe not for having that Nazi tat. I don't think the Dems like Nazis. Maybe we can get a ruling from Frank on this.

[Commando]

Very entertaining:

Embedded Tweet

Besides having affair when someone on her campaign staff she apparently had an affair/"sexual relations with that woman" with a congressional staffer. She will most likely get a pass on this from the Dems on that but maybe not for having that Nazi tat. I don't think the Dems like Nazis. Maybe we can get a ruling from Frank on this.

Is it clear whether it's a nazi tat or a generic punk tat?

[MartyFunkhouser]

Very entertaining:

Embedded Tweet

Besides having affair when someone on her campaign staff she apparently had an affair/"sexual relations with that woman" with a congressional staffer. She will most likely get a pass on this from the Dems on that but maybe not for having that Nazi tat. I don't think the Dems like Nazis. Maybe we can get a ruling from Frank on this.

One point of clarification here, it isn't an "affair" if the spouse consented to it.

[falafel]

One point of clarification here, it isn't an "affair" if the spouse consented to it.

I don't think infidelity is the major issue here.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I don't think infidelity is the major issue here.

Agreed.

[YOhio]

One point of clarification here, it isn't an "affair" if the spouse consented to it.

From what I understand the husband didn’t consent to her affair with the male staffer.

[Walter Sobchak]

Besides having affair when someone on her campaign staff she apparently had an affair/"sexual relations with that woman" with a congressional staffer. She will most likely get a pass on this from the Dems on that but maybe not for having that Nazi tat. I don't think the Dems like Nazis. Maybe we can get a ruling from Frank on this.

Has frank mentioned that Rep. Hill could be the target of a blackmail campaign by those pesky Rooskies yet?