Poll: should Sen. Franken resign tomorrow?

[spooky3]

Please take my poll. Also, thanks to DUers who posted Sen. Franken’s voice mail # and email address on other threads. And thanks to another DUer, I just used the Resist Bot text to send messages to my Senators. You you can, too, by texting RESIST to 50409. You’ll get (slow) replies to walk you through composing your messages.

108 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes (please comment if you wish).
	7 (6%)
	No, because he should let the investigation play out.
	76 (70%)
	No, because I believe the accusers, but think Trumps acts were worse.
	0 (0%)
	No, because I dont believe hes done wrong that warrants resignation.
	18 (17%)
	No, because I think hes being targeted by GOP tricksters.
	6 (6%)
	No, because he needs to stand up for having a spine.
	0 (0%)
	No, for other reasons; please specify in replies.
	1 (1%)
	No, for multiple reasons; please specify in replies.
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. No, but we mustn't offend the GOP.

[spooky3]

2. :-)

[Sophia4]

3. I voted pass because I don't know the facts. Lots of emotion but few real facts.

Apparently one of the accusers has come forward, identified herself and proved her claims, but I have not seen that evidence. So I pass.

[Alice11111]

16. That's why we need the investigation, to get the facts.

[Pacifist Patriot]

18. Perfect argument for No, let the investigation play out.

[ClarendonDem]

4. Maybe some more yes options

Such as yes, because the Dem party seems to think he should, or yes, because it is best for the party going forward. I'm not sure if he should or should not, but the poll needs more options.

[spooky3]

5. The poll allows you to choose yes, and then to reply with

Your reason(s).

[ClarendonDem]

7. Fair enough

Thanks for posting.

[Kimchijeon]

6. Franken suggested the investigation, so I say go for it

I don't think it is worth any attention, this garbage should have been laughed away for the horseshit it truly is.

So, I say No, he shouldn't resign. I don't think any investigation is warranted, but if he wants one (perhaps to embarrass and expose the liars) then GO FOR IT.

[Ms. Toad]

8. I picked the one closest - none fit precisely.

I largely believe his accusers (although I have a hard time envisioning him claiming privilege because he is an entertainer - at least not in that language - or as anything other than a joke).

But I am still impressed with his response to date. He appears to be genuinely surprised that his actions crossed the line, willing to learn from the experience, and I do not believe his actions (as alleged) are serious enough to warrant resignation.

[Perseus]

10. you believe the accusers?

Do you know that five of them are anonymous? No one seems to know who they are? For all we know it could be five Russian men (trolls) making up stuff to hurt Franken.

The first one who accused him is this woman who was on a show for the Soldiers, she rubbed her butt against a country music singer, then he grabbed her butt and she didn't complain or has called on the guy to be reprimanded, then she turned around and grabbed the country singer's butt. She also gave a soldier a very wet kiss, someone she had never seen before...and she has been in these sort of skits with sexual innuendos many times, and I almost forgot, she has appeared with Hannity many times...So I have a hard time believing this woman. There is also the story of a marine who was designated as a chaperon for Franken, and in his own words, he was always with Franken, even when Franken went to the bathroom he had to follow.

And for those who have not shown their faces? Why would you believe people you have not even seen, or know to be real? I repeat myself, but for all we know, these could be Russian trolls making up stuff.

[Ms. Toad]

12. Yes. I believe the accusers.

As to the first one - nothing she was wearing, nothing she ever did consensually with anyone else, and nothing she did consensually with Franken prior to or after that incident has anything to do with whether she consented this time. To suggest it does is extremely misogynistic - and synonymous with every tactic ever used to discredit rape survivors. Using that kind of basis to casting doubt on someone who has alleged sexual assault has no place on progressive website like DU. Comments like that would likely be hidden if made against accusers of anyone of a different political party.

As to this specific accuser, Franken has acknolwedged bad behavior - and still people are looking for ways to discredit the person he acknowledged behaving badly toward.

The other accusers have disclosed their identities to the reporters and in most, if not all, of the instances contemporaneously to family and friends. I am sure you expressed the same concerns about "deep throat," who took down Nixon and whose identity remained secret for more than 3 decades, right?

More significantly, I am a sexual assault survivor - from mild incidents, nearly identical to those described by Franken's accusers, to rape. I also spent more than a decade working at the rape crisis center in a large urban area. The kind of character assassination of accusers going on on DU is the same that was directed at me - by police (even though they knew I was telling the truth becuase they identified a dozen other women who were also the victims of the person who raped me), and at other women I've spent countless hours comforting over the years.

The accusers' stories ring true to me. As I noted, I've been in a nearly identical scenario - public, with someone I trusted and admired - who fondled my buttocks in a very public place when it appeared to everyone watchng that I was merely being hugged, under circumstances that made responding forcefully very emotionally/politicaly challenging. After the fact, until it became necessary, I was not inclined to drag it out into the open becaue the incident itself was relatively minor, on the scale of what I've been through in my own life. If I reported every sexual assault - they woud number into the hundreds. Ultimately, he and I talked about it - but before that (about 18 months later) I was forced to disclose it when the character flaw it represented became relevant to whether he should be appointed to a particular committee.

As to Franken's accusers, the only exception to ringing true to me is the comment attributed to Franken that he was entitled to kiss the penultimate accuser because he was an entertainer. That just isn't something I can imagine him saying. Perhaps not surprisingly, I had that reaction when i read her accusation - before I read his one and only categorical denial in this entire series of accusations (that he didn't make that comment).

[Stuckinthebush]

19. Well said, Ms. Toad

I stand with you and the accusers.

[wasupaloopa]

9. He has not been proven guilty of anything

[scarletwoman]

11. K&R. I voted no, let the investigation play out. But I could have chosen several of the other "no"

options.

Overall, I think this is a right wing ratfucking project.

[Alice11111]

17. !!!

[TomSlick]

13. I think there needs to be an Ethics investigation.

First, the facts need to be established. I am getting nervous about the assumption of guilt.

Second, if there is an ethics investigation for Franken, there must be one for Moore.

In Franken's shoes, I'd probably quit. For the good of the country, he ought not.

[rwsanders]

14. Previously he was a comedian, his "job" or "persona" was outrageous behavior

while not an excuse, I think he is genuinely ashamed and seeks to make amends. This is contrary to the right wing nut jobs included the whacko in chief who refuse to even acknowledge their crimes.

[hvn_nbr_2]

15. No, but if he does...

No but if he does, he should make the effective date and time "one minute after the effective date and time of Donald Trump's resignation as president."