Did Al Franken really grope Leeann Tweeden's breasts as she now claims? I don't buy it.
She concluded that he groped her based on a photo that she later saw. Here's the pic.
What do you see in the picture? That's definitely Al Franken and that appears to be Ms. Tweeden. She's wearing a standard kevlar helmet and a ballistic vest. Franken is posing for the person who took the photograph, yukking it up. He's posing for a picture. Does that mean he's groping the woman? No, it doesn't.
Now you might imagine that Franken is posing for a photograph evidencing himself committing a sexual offence. What he's doing is obviously in atrociously bad taste. That, however, is not the same as groping the woman.
Can a woman's breast even be groped through a bulletproof vest? And if he did that, how would she not wake up? Enlarge the photo. His left hand is plainly not in contact with the vest and the shadows beneath the fingers of the right hand suggest that hand isn't in contact with the vest either. So his hands aren't in contact with the ballistic vest, she didn't feel any such contact, she didn't wake up either. Only later, on seeing the picture, did she conclude that she had been fondled.
What Franken did was extremely stupid but it was not groping. Groping is sexual. Sexual assault isn't done for the sake of a photograph, something that could leave you in criminal jeopardy.
On the strength of this photo I'm not convinced that he groped this woman. Now, if other women come forward with complaints that they were sexually assaulted by Franken, those additional allegations would probably change my mind. Until that happens I think he's just a boneheaded lout.
UPDATE:
Well, well, well. Perhaps the aggrieved Ms. Tweeden figured the rest of the USO tour photos wouldn't come out. Unfortunately for her they did and they don't bear out her story, the poor, innocent thing. Far from being traumatized by Franken's sexual abuse they were getting on very well indeed.
And there was groping that, by today's standards, would constitute sexual assault. That occurred when Tweeden groped a guitarist's ass on stage.
She sure got herself a mittful of butt. You go girl.
As for the offending kiss, well it seems she had no problem wrapping herself around Franken either.
My take? I think the local morning news anchor had a chance to get on the national networks and took it. She made up the stuff about Franken groping her breasts and exaggerated the business about the kiss although she didn't hesitate to grope a guy's ass while she was at it.
Doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't have a Mother or Sister who could "school you", starting in the early '80's there were all these Diversity and Harassment in the Workplace seminar's that made it perfectly clear.
But! Hillary! her e-mails!!! ad infinitem.... The burning question is: was she under age? if so, did Al get permission from her mother?
ReplyDeleteHey - I could be so wrong, but I thought this was the folks from SNL putting together spoofs for their next show.
I do not mean to make fun or question the whole issue of harassment, sexual or otherwise (and there are lots of examples of 'otherwise', trust me) but in this case it looks like a bunch of crazy actors who had few boundaries during those heady days of SNL.
As an ex-sexual harassment trainer, I can assure you there were a number of complaints from males about females in the organization as well as the men. We all need to be aware of how we treat each other, no matter the other is male or female.
I agree, this photo is more along the line of “let’s get a photo doing something weird to a sleeping (unaware) person” kind of stunt. It is likely she was not fondled as she would have awakened and reacted, however that would be. Even Trump comment seems to acknowledge she isn’t being groped as he adds in his comments “pictures 2,3,4,etc.”, where we can only imagine what went on. Republicans are desperate at the moment for a “both sides do it” defence. All of this sexual ‘news’ is after much more entertaining than focusing on tax reform, etc. Even Mrs. Moore says Trump show be grateful to Roy for taking the spotlight off of “Russiagate”.
ReplyDeleteUSO tours have always had a comedian, a musician and a sexy girl. The real purpose is to build entertainment resumes. Ribald jokes, suggestive scenarios and catcalls are all part of the generic script. Anyone on a USO tour consents to being the but ( sorry) of jokes in poor taste. The photo was taken to include in the CD given everyone in the troupe at the end of the tour. It contained a photo in poor taste. quelle surprise.
ReplyDeleteWhat is that "But... Hillary! Her emails!" argument supposed to mean? Or the "Russian bot!" accusation? (Used to be a progressive. Now it's looking more and more like a crazy cult. - A crazy cult with an imaginary booming economy!)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/11/18/1716798/-More-Photos-Emerging-From-Franken-Tweeden-s-USO-Tour-They-speak-for-themselves
ReplyDeleteThe one of her grabbing the guitar players ass is funny.
They are all sexually sick as indicated in the photos. They all need a psychologist to enlighten them how to behave as humans rather than dogs.
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ReplyDeleteAnon, get a grip. It's a USO tour and they're following a pattern that pre-dates the Vietnam War. They're pretty raunchy but that's what the troops like. I'm sure you'll never have to endure that sort of thing.
Because they are following a pattern the pre-dates doesn't make it right. You are the person who needs to get a grip.
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ReplyDeleteWell then, Anon, don't waste your time on lipflap here. Get ahold of the USO and demand they clean up. I'm guessing you won't bother. Am I right?
Have to say that your update on this one is disappointing. While I don’t think Franken should resign or anything, even he is willing to say that his behaviour was inappropriate. Your follow-up attacks his accuser using many of the same tropes that have been used to discredit harassment claims for decades. “Look! She’s in another picture where she’s smiling! Therefore she couldn’t possibly have been offended by what the guy did to her while she was asleep and that she may possibly still be unaware of!” “Look! She’s also acting in a way that could be considered inappropriate! Clearly acting inappropriately towards her is fair play!”
ReplyDeleteGo with it being part of something that has always been of questionable taste and is now getting to be increasingly out of step with society at large. Go with it not being part of a patten of behaviour on Franken’s part and therefore something that should be forgivable given his otherwise well-regarded record on women’s issues. But for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, leave off the smearing of his female accuser. It’s a bad look for anyone on the progressive side of things wanting to be taken seriously on the issue.
Dear BJ:
ReplyDeleteAt one time accusation was automatic conviction. Then we got the Magna Carta.
Progressives should listen to BJB. The only thing they got left is their snowflake ideology. If you drop that on the turn of a dime to ruthlessly defend a neoliberal who admitted doing wrong, you just look pathetic and hypocritical. If all you needed was the hyper-partisan vote, you're progressive champion HRC would've won the election!
ReplyDeleteThe Daily KOS is vile. Crap throwing monkeys!
Well Mound....here is a surprise for you.....I have been doing something about it. You also need to change your thoughts about the USO.https://www.facebook.com/socasusa/photos/a.568587836512441.1073741826.568483433189548/1531306856907196/?type=3
ReplyDeleteBJB....thanks for your comment....covers it nicely.
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