Open Thread Dec. 7: Careful What You Wish For
The Al Franken affair should come to its conclusion today. But who engineered his ouster? Wasn’t Republicans. They got more than they ever could have bargained for in raising a fuss about Roy Moore. All they wanted was to get a guy off the ticket because they thought voters would flee from him as they did Todd Akin. Now they’ve learned that their guy will get elected anyway, plus they’ve taken out one of the most progressive voices in the Senate.
But they didn’t have to lift a finger. It was neoliberal climber Kirsten Gillibrand making her play to lead the party. She’ll get my vote approximately 100 years after hell freezes over. Remember, gals, she’s a Blue Dog Democrat with a New York senator’s usual soft spot for Wall Street. Just what the party needs to lose another national election.
What about due process? According to Ana Marie Cox, Franken doesn’t deserve any because he’s only losing his job. This “logic” overlooks the fact that there is now no precedent for an investigation of Roy Moore, which there would have been had Kirsten Gillibrand’s ambition allowed for one.
Delaware held a task force meeting Wednesday to discuss legalizing marijuana, and naturally the police trotted out their objections, including their main one:
Tom Brackin, president of the Delaware State Troopers Association, agreed legalization would hinder police. Serious cases involving drug trafficking or illegal firearm ownership often start with police detecting marijuana. If cannabis is legal, law enforcement would potentially be unable to get some criminals off the street.
Gee, now they’ll have to go the Baltimore PD route and start planting the incriminating evidence on suspects themselves. If someone hasn’t stolen it all from the evidence locker, that is.
Turns out Republicans in Congress are learning a lesson they should have learned when they stayed up all night writing a paper sophomore year: Scribbling a bill in the middle of the night and then voting on it before anybody can read it is a recipe for failure.
Frankly, I’m too disgusted with politics to find any more today. Have at it.
What type of discrimination should lead to an automatic resignation? Sexual? Verbal? Emotional? Physical? Racial? Because with Franken, et al. i dont think any tax payer money has been spent in restitution, lost wages, etc. However, KHN just lost supervisory powers but still holds her position and that COST us all money…
http://www.wdel.com/news/harassment-claim-by-hartley-nagle-s-ex-aide-costs-new/article_538a93b2-d9e1-11e7-a3b3-dffd5c88bd62.html
Nothing should lead to an automatic resignation, unless they find a body and the politician is holding a gun.
If nothing else, I hope this puts to rest the notion that government by women would be any better than government by men.
The shrewdest possible move would be for Franken to switch parties.
Ellison should 100% replace Franken.
“The shrewdest possible move would be for Franken to switch parties.”
Absolutely! Franken would still get elected because his constituents don’t care what party he is since they mostly voted for the person not the party. Unfortunately, because he does have values (along with his imperfections), he probably wouldn’t consider that.
Franken is an actual progressive.
The article I linked to yesterday said the front-runner is the current lieutenant governor, who, like our Ted Kaufman, would be a place-holder until the 2018 election; word is she is not interested in running for the seat, which will leave this as a wide-open Democratic primary.
Forget flu season — the contagion loose in the land right now is moralism. The dickwads at MSNBC fired contributor Sam Seder for a tweet he sent in 2009, unearthed and weaponized by a conservotroll. Now they’ve sheepishly rehired him, because of course his supposedly “pro-rape” tweet was satire, meant to shame Roman Polanski.
Unfortunately, powerful men don’t have to answer for any actions but sexual ones, so the asshole who fired him in the first place will face no consequences.