Amber Phillips’ article about Sen. Franken’s attempt to either apologize to the women he groped or his attempted denial nails it in terms of highlighting the conflicting messaging coming from him. For instance, Ms. Phillips quoted Sen. Franken as saying “I’m a warm person; I hug people. I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many.”
Ms. Phillips’ commentary highlights Sen. Franken’s hypocrisy, saying “If you’re confused by what he’s trying to say here, you’re not the only one. Franken’s attempt at clarifying what happened only raises more questions, the central ones being: Did he grab these women’s buttocks or not? If he did, how, exactly, was it unintentional? Were the women mistaken?”
I’d question whether Sen. Franken was trying to deny these women’s accusations or whether he’s trying to rationalize their accusations away. Another thing that I’d wonder is why Franken’s wife Franni hasn’t said a thing through all this. Her silence is deafening. If she knows that her husband is being wrongly accused, why hasn’t she defended him? If she’s seen him act this way before, she should torch him and let him rot in hell.
Further, it’s impossible to trust Sen. Franken after this:
“Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that. I’ve thought a lot in recent days about how that could happen, and recognize that I need to be much more careful and sensitive in these situations.”
By contrast, his accusers left no nuance about what happened: Franken’s hand clearly grabbed their buttocks, they say, when they were expecting a professional photo with a politician.
Lindsay Menz didn’t mince words. She certainly didn’t talk about being turned off by Franken wanting to greet her:
It’s a poorly-kept secret that Sen. Franken is a disgusting person and a pervert with a nasty temper.
Technorati: Temper, Pervert, Al Franken, Franni Franken, Lindsay Menz, Sexual Assault, DFL
