Tag Archives: sexual abuse

national news, political news

Franken bows out … with no apology

Well, there wasn’t much contrition today in Al Franken’s announcement that he’s quitting the U.S. Senate.

Indeed, the junior Democratic senator from Minnesota said some of the allegations from women that he groped them were “untrue” and said he remembers others “differently” from what the women have alleged.

But he’s gone. He should be gone. The accusations were too credible to be denied. Sen. Franken couldn’t possibly continue in that body, particularly when most of his Democratic colleagues had demanded that he quit.

The culture in Washington well might be changing. Women have come forward to level serious accusations against powerful men. Those men are now being held to account for their behavior. Franken has been caught in the sausage-grinder that is pulverizing careers.

He did take note, however, that while he is quitting the Senate, a man who has admitted to committing acts of sexual assault — Donald John Trump — still occupies the White House as president of the United States.

Life ain’t fair, right?

While much of the political attention was focused on Al Franken, another member of Congress — Rep. Trent Franks — announced his resignation. Franks is a Republican — and a deeply conservative, deeply religious one at that — who is now the subject of an ethics investigation into, um, sexual harassment.Ā 

Franks supposedly discussed surrogate parenting with some female staffers. He says he regrets having that discussion and the discomfort it caused “in the workplace.”

Now he’s gone.

My trick knee is telling me the congressional purge is just beginning.

political news

Politics, just like life, sometimes ain’t fair

My mother and father more than likely told me a time or two when I was a kid that “Life isn’t fair.”

I’ve passed that bit of wisdom on to my sons. Perhaps I’ll tell my granddaughter the same thing in due course.

It can be said, too, that politics falls into that category of unfairness. People say things about politicians and we tend to think the worst of them.

The political world is reeling at this moment as a prominent U.S. senator appears ready to call it quits over allegations that have come forward from women who have accused him of sexual misbehavior. One of the women produced photographic evidence of it. Sen. Al Franken acknowledged complicity in what she alleged — more or less.

More women have come forward. The word is swirling that Franken is going to announce his resignation from the Senate.

Is the senator entitled to what’s been called “due process”? Yes, to a point. But let’s remember that Franken isn’t charged with a crime. He has been accused of making a serious political mistake. If he doesn’t quit the Senate soon, he damn sure should leave that body. He’s damaged beyond repair.

Now, about that fairness matter.

Franken is likely toast as a national political leader. Why? Because women came forward and accused him of misbehaving.

Franken’s career, reputation destroyed

Meanwhile, the president of the United States has actually acknowledged that he has grabbed women by their genitals, he has kissed them against their will. He said he could do that because he’s a “celebrity,” which he said gives him license to act like a boor.

These revelations came forward in the waning weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, while the candidate — Donald Trump — was seeking the presidency.

What kind of price did that politician pay? None. He got elected president.Ā 

Oh, there’s more. Another politician has been accused of sexual misbehavior. Women have said that a Senate candidate, Roy Moore, sought an improper relationship with them when they were underage; one woman said Moore made advances on her when she was 14 years of age.

Roy Moore, an archconservative, God-fearing, “family values” Republican, is now expected to win the Senate seat in Alabama. He denies doing anything wrong.

So, a sitting U.S. senator is likely to leave public service because he has been accused of misbehaving badly. Another politician gets elected to the highest, most exalted office in the nation — if not the world — after telling the world he did hideous things to women. And yet another man is likely to win election to an important Senate seat after being accused of pedophilia.

How is any of this fair? It’s not. We’re talking about politics.

political news

Best guess: Franken soon to become a ‘former senator’

The late “Dandy Don” Meredith, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and football commentator, was fond of singing “turn out the lights, the party’s over” when a pro football team was blowing another one out on national TV.

Um, U.S. Sen. Al Franken? The party appears to be over.

More women have come forward to accuse the Minnesota Democrat of groping and unwanted kissing. Droves of Democratic senators now are singing the same chorus: Franken has to quit.

It sounds to me as though the party is over.

Senators turn on one of their own

As a friend of mine noted on Facebook, Franken is about to “spend more time with his family,” but he wonders whether his family will want to spend more time with him.

Let’s all understand something here. There have been no criminal charges filed against Franken. This is purely a political matter. There’s an element of “due process” to follow, but it’s not nearly as critical as it would be if there was criminality involved.

The process is supposed to include an ethics investigation by a Senate committee charged with looking at these matters.

But just as Rep. John Conyers was damaged beyond repair over the allegations that took him out of office, the same appears to be said of Franken.

If his fellow Democrats are turning on him in this fashion, Franken cannot possibly continue to serve in the Senate.

So much for a 2020 presidential campaign, eh?

media news

They have initiated a change in our culture

Time Magazine has done it!

The publication has hit a grand slam home run with its selection of its 2017 Person of the Year — and, no, Donald J. “Grandstander in Chief” Trump, it ain’t you!

It selected the Silence Breakers, the women who came forward to found a movement called “Me Too” to sound the alarm against sexual predators.

The magazine’s cover features several women who have been at the forefront of this movement. In reality, they symbolize a much larger segment of a population that has been terrorized by powerful men.

And the movement has inflicted plenty of casualties in this fight against sexual harassment, abuse and predation. Good … for … them!

Media stars have tumbled off their pedestals. Politicians have fallen, too. Movie and music executives stand accused. Careers have been trashed — and deservedly so!

Read about the Silence BreakersĀ here.

The Person of the Year goes to individuals or groups of individuals who have made a profound impact on our world. It has gone to some notorious and downright evil monsters: Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and the Ayatollah Khomeini come to mind immediately.

This year? The Silence Breakers symbolize maximum courage and grit in the face of a culture that for too long looked the other way as men preyed on their victims.

Great call, Time.

national news, political news

If Moore wins, his victory will be pyrrhic

Talk about “pyrrhic victories.”

I am beginning to believe that Alabama voters are going to send a man accused of sexual abuse of children to the U.S. Senate. Republican Roy Moore well might become the Senate’s newest member.

If that happens, it will be to the ever-lasting shame of those who backed this guy.

There now also appears to be zero chance that the Senate will expel its newest member. Republican Senate leaders don’t want him among their ranks. Democrats damn sure don’t want him anywhere near Capitol Hill.

But, by golly, he has the endorsement of Donald J. Trump Sr., the president who’s also got his share of difficulty involving accusations of his own behavior with women. If Moore wins, Trump will crow about it. He’ll take all the credit in the world for pushing this twice-ousted state supreme court chief justice over the finish line ahead of his opponent, Democrat Doug Jones.

It’s going to be sloppy, chaotic and confusing as Moore takes his seat.

I cannot get past the prospect of a U.S. senator being politically neutered — yes, I meant to use that description — the minute he takes his oath of office.

And that brings me back to the question I cannot shake: Do the voters of Alabama really want to elect someone who can do nothing for the folks who sent him to the U.S. Senate?

Sure, he’ll have a vote. He’ll be able to have his voice heard that way. He’ll be the only voice one will hear. I cannot imagine his fellow Republicans standing with him as he makes policy pronouncements or declares his loathing of the “fake news” mainstream media, or the so-called godless heathens who oppose him on, oh, just about everything.

Yes, indeed. Roy Moore’s possible election is likely to sink the level of policy discourse in the halls of the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body to depths it hasn’t seen since, oh, the days of Joe McCarthy.

God help us.

political news

Conyers has ‘retired in disgrace’

John Conyers has given us a new definition of how a politician leaves public life.

The Michigan Democratic congressman today has announced his retirement effective today. By my standard, he has decided to “retire in disgrace.” He didn’t just resign. He didn’t wait until the end of his term to walk away.

Conyers, facing sexual harassment allegations — and a settlement he paid to one of his accusers — has called it a career.

It’s a fascinating and correct end to a lengthy career in politics.

Conyers is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House. He’s been on the job for 53 years. He has held positions of extreme power and influence and, according to several women, allegedly abused his power and influence in disgusting and disgraceful ways.

Here’s a serious non-shocker: Conyers is citing factors unrelated to the allegations as his reason for retiring. According to The Associated Press: “Conyers’ attorney, Arnold Reed, has said Conyers’ health would be the paramount consideration in whether he decides to step down from his House seat. He has already stepped aside from his position as ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”

This is what politicians do. Faced with mounting pressure stemming from misbehavior, they cite other “reasons” for deciding to give up the fight. Those “reasons” might have merit or … they might be made up to divert attention from the reality of the moment.

I don’t know about Rep. Conyers’ health, although he is past 80 years of age. So, I suppose his health might be an issue.

Whatever the case, the man needs to go. He’s served long enough and from this moment forward every single day he remains in office will be clouded by the hideous allegations that have become all the talk in Washington, and Hollywood … and even on Main Street.

national news

Get ready for a real donnybrook in the U.S. Senate

Donald John Trump wrote this via Twitter …

Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!

The president has endorsed a man — Roy Moore — who stands accused by several women of sexually abusing them.

U.S. Senate Republican leaders say they believe the women. They have asked Moore — a twice-ousted chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court — to bow out of the race for the Senate seat in Alabama.

Given that I no longer predict these things, I won’t forecast a Moore victory next Tuesday over Democrat Doug Jones in that special election to the Senate. I’ll just suggest that Moore appears to be picking up some momentum.

Alabama Republicans just cannot stomach the thought of a Democrat filling the seat once occupied by Jeff Sessions, who’s now the attorney general of the United States. GOP voters appear to be standing by their guy, an allegedly God-fearing politician who speaks their language.

He’s called the accusers liars. He blames it all on the “liberal fake news media,” Democrats, those who oppose Moore’s brand of Christian values. They support LGBT rights and want to “change our culture.”

Man, it’s resonating in Alabama. Or so it seems.

Doug Jones? Oh, he’s just a former federal prosecutor who has fought for the civil rights of those who’ve been denied them. He’s a mainstream politician who is far from being “soft on crime.”

If Moore manages to win, we ought to prepare ourselves for a serious donnybrook in the Senate.

Oh, wait! That presumes that GOP leaders who say that Moore doesn’t belong in the Senate are going to hold fast to that belief … or whether they’ll cave in.

Sigh …

 

national news

Hoping that Democrats can flip Alabama U.S. Senate seat

State elections for the U.S. SenateĀ have national implications.

The individuals elected to any of the 100 Senate seats get to vote on national laws that affect all Americans. Thus, I remain intensely interested in the race down yonder in Alabama. Indeed, my interest in that race is a good bit more than usual.

Republicans are running Roy Moore; Democrats are pitting Doug Jones against him. I want Jones to win. If I could vote in that race I most certainly would cast it for Jones.

Moore is not just a man accused of committing sexual abuse of underage children, he is a man of questionable political judgment at many levels. I’ve spoken already about him.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2017/09/roy-moore-would-bring-a-scary-element-to-u-s-senate/

I want to turn my attention here to Jones, who is hoping the state’s large African-American voting bloc can deliver the votes to him. Jones has plenty of leverage with black voters.

He is a former federal prosecutor who sent two men to prison for their role in the infamous and dastardly bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 that killed four young African-American girls. He reopened the case and then prosecuted two Ku Klux Klansmen. They were convicted of the hideous crime and are now serving their time in prison.

Politico profiles Jones’s campaign

And yet, Donald Trump has said Jones is “weak on crime” while backing Moore’s “total denial” that he did anything wrong with the accusers who allege he made improper sexual advances toward them. The very idea that Donald Trump would have a single word to say about an accusation of sexual misconduct is laughable and disgraceful at the same time, given his own acknowledged behavior toward women.

Moore is a dangerous man to have helping shape federal legislation. Jones is much more of a mainstream candidate who understands the U.S. Constitution and grasps the founders’ goal of creating a secular government.

I hope Doug Jones can send Roy Moore packing.

national news, political news

Ronald Reagan would be aghast at GOP’s internal strife

I wasn’t a fan of President Ronald Reagan. I voted against him twice, in 1980 and 1984.

As the years have gone on and as I look back at the late president’s legacy, I am struck by one element of the manner in which he governed. He governed with a measure of good will toward his foes.

Yes, he could blister liberal Democrats with the best of ’em. He did so with a touch of humor. You’ve heard as well about his personal friendship with the late Democratic U.S. House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill.

President Reagan also crafted what he called the “11th Commandment,” which was that “Republicans shall not speak ill of other Republicans.”

That “commandment” has been tossed into the crapper, onto the scrap heap, burned, torn to shreds. You name it, today’s Republican Party has abandoned the 11th Commandment with a vengeance.

Don’t misunderstand: I don’t have a particular interest in seeing Republicans lock arms, hug each other’s necks, sing from the same hymnal page. I’m just amazed as I watch GOP officials lambaste each other how irrelevant their idol’s admonition has become in today’s climate.

The most glaring and daring example of Republican cannibalism involves Roy Moore, the Alabama candidate for the U.S. Senate. He is accused of making improper advances on underage girls. Congressional GOP leaders want nothing to do with this guy. Moore in return as all but declared political war on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; other senators are backing McConnell, with many — if not most — of them withdrawing their endorsement of Moore. They believe the accusers’ account of what Moore allegedly did.

What might the former president think of all this? What might President Reagan say to his fellow Republicans? Indeed, would the president stand with the Alabama candidate or would he choose to believe the man’s accusers?

This isn’t The Gipper’s Republican Party. Of that I am certain. Indeed, my strong hunch is that President Reagan’s affection for the likes of Speaker O’Neill might subject this once-beloved political figure to much of the intraparty condemnation he once banned.

local news, political news, State news

Bad behavior claims another one

Now it’s Joe Barton who’s bailing out of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Barton is a Republican from Ennis who reportedly sent some nasty pictures of himself over Twitter while he was engaged in a relationship with a “mature, adult woman.” The scorn poured over him. Barton, the senior member of the Texas congressional delegation, hung tough for a little while.

Then he announced his retirement, effective at the end of his current term in 2018.

Barton had to go. His departure should not be a surprise to anyone. The mood across the country has revealed a diminishing tolerance for public officeholders’ lewd behavior. Barton, of course, was careful to explain that the recipient of the hideous pictures was engaged in a consensual relationship with him.

Fine, congressman. Hit the road, will ya?

Barton is just the latest in a long list of Texas lawmakers who are calling it quits. His announcement, to no one’s surprise, contains no mention of the trouble he brought onto himself.

Read more about Barton’s announcementĀ here.

***

With the departure of the Texas congressional delegation’s dean, the longest-serving member from Texas is Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, who took office in January 1993.

And, hey, that means the Panhandle’s GOP House member, Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, who was sworn in just two years later, in January 1995, becomes the No. 2-ranked tenured member of the delegation.

I mention that only because Thornberry was elected in that 1994 Republican wave that ran on the Contract With America, a lengthy platform of government reforms that included term limits for members of the U.S. House and Senate. Thornberry has voted for term-limit amendments to the U.S. Constitution whenever they were presented to House members; they just haven’t gotten the votes needed to be referred to state legislatures for ratification.

And, no … he never made a personal pledge to bow out after three terms in the House.

I just thought I would bring it up because it seems oddly relevant.