During Friday’s White House Press Briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders fielded questions about President Trump’s Thursday night tweets calling for an investigation of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) in response to accusations of sexual assault. Sanders rejected any suggestion that Trump should likewise be investigated for any of the accusations made against him.
“This was covered extensively during the campaign,” she said. “We addressed it then. The American people spoke very loud and clear when they elected this president.”
When asked to clarify how Trump and Franken were any different, Sanders responded, “I think in one case specifically, Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing. The president hasn’t. It a very clear distinction.”
So in Trumpland taking some responsibility for your actions toward one accuser makes you MORE guilty than the guy facing more than a dozen accusations who does not?
WTF?
And while we are on this topic let me share this tweet with you of the actual rehearsal that Leann Tweeden claims was the setting for her "assault."
That is a script clutched in Tweeden's hand so this is definitely the rehearsal.Is this the horrifying Al Franken kiss?— Bravenak is over this shit. (@bravenak) November 18, 2017
I'm sorry but, I am very skeptical now as to whether he forced an unwanted kiss on her. Mostly because she is clutching him so tightly. pic.twitter.com/QizbiPYexh
Here is a wider shot.
In her accusation Tweeden said that Franken, "came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."WIDER SHOT!!! (Please note that they are not alone and this is rehearsal) pic.twitter.com/nnx0ae7HU3— Bravenak is over this shit. (@bravenak) November 18, 2017
Now I don't want to call this young woman a liar, but this does not really seem to back up her accusation.
Here's a fact that I am certain I have never shared with you all before.
I attended college with my girlfriend who happened to be the star of every play, musical, and performance at our high school.
She wanted us to have at least a few classes together, so she insisted that I take an acting class with her. (I was not thrilled at first, but it was fun.)
Of course we performed together, and in one of the performances it called for a kiss.
I was thrilled, because kissing her was what I wanted to spend every waking hour doing anyhow.
Both she and the acting teacher informed me that for our performance we would be expected to do a "stage kiss" instead. That is when you kiss next to, but not on, each other's mouth. And then you exaggerate it so that it seems more passionate to an audience sitting in an auditorium or theater.
It seemed silly to me, but that is what we did.
And that is what it appears is happening in this picture.
The whole dramatic clutch, and bending over of the female, is meant to show a passionate kiss to the back row of a theater, even though in reality your lips are nowhere near touching.
However for the rest of it I am waiting to see what an ethics investigation shows before I pass any judgement.
Right now in my opinion Al Franken is a bigger man for taking responsibility to what he did than Donald Trump or Roy Moore could ever hope be.
I am guessing that the reason Al Franken called for an ethics investigation so quickly is because he knew her story was not completely true. Yes, he took part in the mock grope photo where he is acting like a moron. The kiss story never rang true to me and the new pictures show that to be the case. Hopefully a full ethics investigation will clear the air more.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought when he asked for the ethics investigation.
DeleteI am sure there will be many witnesses to the trip and the shows. Meanwhile Leeann can go on TV and talk all she wants, she can plug her work and her witnesses can talk and plug what they want. I will like to know what the investigation will have to say, if she and her husband are up for it.
It's weird that roger stone tweeted that this was coming beforehand. Just like he tweeted about the emails before they came out.
DeleteKind of hard to call that an "assault" when she has a flak jacket on, now isn't it?
ReplyDeleteDistasteful joke, yes.
Hannity can wear the flak jacket and have someone grope his breast. He did it for water boarding to prove his case. It will make a good show and he will have better ratings, I am sure he will do it right away. Tweedwon can appear with him in one of her professional outfits and give her first hand account of her accusations.
DeleteJust to clarify one thing, 3:05: Hannity never actually *did* undergo waterboarding.
DeleteThat's right 521 pm, he couldn't man up. I think he can handle a flak jacket.
DeleteI think the second photo was staged for a joke.He is not wearing a helmet or flight jacket,so they are not in the air.why would she be sleeping sitting there on the ground while others are not.
DeleteI think it's because Republicans are bullies who excuse their behavior and Democrats are the dumb little kids that the Republicans set traps for and they walk right in trusting that the Republicans will do what's right. My older sister use to bully me like that and I fell for it all the time. To this day, I am gullible.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans know this method works. Faux news has been encouraging this kind of lie to your face and deny it attitude for years. Now people are brainwashed.
Al Franken will be persecuted and Donald and Roy will dance away because God is on their side.
Also, notice how the Republicans have convinced the public that God is on their side and not the Democrats. Yin and Yang.
It's a quandary. But propaganda does work. If you say something over and over and with such conviction and force people's minds will give up and accept what they hear.
Basically
DeleteRepublicans think everyone is 'bad'
and Democrats think everyone is 'basically good'
Fox & the alt-right have banged away for so long on the brains of these nitwits, they have softening of the brain.
Delete‘evangelical world is overdue for a reckoning.’
Deletehttp://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article185408543.html
6:05pm
DeleteThe religious are so messed up that I almost wish there was such a thing as "god" to actually punish their lame hypocritical asses, and that their day of reckoning was a real thing.
Also too hell, I wish that was real so most of them would end up there.
But alas, it's not to be, we sane folks are just stuck with a bunch of idiotic cultists who, as a whole, live less kind and ethical existences than those of us who know better.
I find the timing of her complaint dubious, and her immediate acceptance of his apology convenient. It's he said/she said about the kiss -- one kiss -- and the prank photo was stupid, but clearly involved at least one other person, the photographer, who also thought it was "funny." He was pretending to touch her, but wasn't, and she was wearing a flak jacket, in any event.
ReplyDeleteSo, sorry. Al Franken may or may not have been out of line with the kiss. If the woman was so disgusted by the kiss, what about the people standing there at the rehearsal -- let's hear them testify about how humiliated she acted at that moment. I doubt she was upset or showed any reaction. He was foolish with the photo.
He did not assault anyone. He did not assault 16 women, as the President has done. He did not pursue teenage girls, or rape women in his hotel rooms.
The mayor of Mesa, Arizona just called the President a "fool" on a hot mic. That seems to be the universal verdict. So is Ms. Sanders.
On the View, she claimed that he kept badgering her to rehearse the kiss,so she gave in.must have been others around to witness his "bad behavior ".
DeleteShe also managed to plug her show a few times,not feeling too violated to miss a chance for self promotion.
I'll say it again.if it is a democrat, they are guilty.if it is a republican, it is the fault of those lying slits.
No, he wasn't foolish, prudish nitwit @2:03. He was an entertainer earning his money with a site gag.
DeleteTweeden has made a career of showing off her body. Nothing wrong with that, many women have done so. Someone else using that body as a prop - in a stage skit, or in a photo, the later without even touching her, in the time and way she had signed on for, is called work, not assault.
DeleteYou know, I' am getting a little tired of this shit. There have been lots of actresses who didn't engage in the highjinks (using that word becuase I'm thinking Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont) and made a great living in acting because she was a very good actress. Too many bimbos today willing to take the short cuts via the casting couch, then bitch about it.
5:10PM, Lupita N'yongo and Annabella Sciorra are no talent bimbos? Fuck you very much.
Delete6:34pm
DeleteThere are plenty of women with talent, those who play casting couch roulette are the ones that actually get work.
Careers at USO
Deletehttps://www.uso.org/careers
I think they both signed up for this as volunteers. It is possible they do work for the organization.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the last person to pass judgement on anyone. She is a pathological liar with no moral compass just taking advantage of a situation. Fuck Her. She even looks as twisted as her psyche. She has the face of someone who has been a dishonest POS their entire life. It's all twisted up. She was raised that way. "He isn't guilty because he doesn't admit it". Unbelievable dishonest stupidity is an integral part of the Sanders heritage. They are slime people.
ReplyDeleteI agree about her face. She usually appears full of contempt for people as if she is in charge of what is said despising questions.
DeleteI’ll give Tweeden the benefit of doubt because these photos may not have captured the alleged tongue in mouth. I give Franken the same. Overall as a woman I would be angry about a man acting stupid objectifying me sexually to amuse other males especially if asleep.
DeleteI once heard a very young man say that as long as you don't get caught, it's not cheating. JHC. It's logic as daft as Saunders'. Grow up. Take responsibility. And GOP congressmen -- stand up to this Trump crap once and for all.
DeleteBoy hell is sure going to get a little overcrowded with all these lying Christians.
DeleteThe worst people I've ever know in my life are religious people, any of them and all of them, bad people.
DeleteNurse Ratchet?
DeleteOT: KRACKER! Kelly Koch$ucker
ReplyDelete"“General Kelly owes the nation an apology,” “When he lied about me, he lied to the American public.”"“Never,” Kelly said. “I’ll apologize if I need to. But for something like this, absolutely not. I stand by my comments.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wilson-frederica-john-kelly-apology-lying-speech-nation
Wonky eye Sanders needs to be reminded the molester in chief only got 39% of the vote,the rest of us think he is guilty.
ReplyDeleteI am still wondering about the timing of her announcement, why didn't she come forward when he first ran for the senate?
Popular opinion is this is hardly in the class with trump or Moore,it is just another diversion for republicans avoiding responsibility for their criminal behavior.
Tweeden works for Faux Spew. I wonder who put her up to it.
DeleteBut,but,but Sarah Huckstert if winning the election is your only defense, trump told us the election was rigged, so that makes him guilty: )
ReplyDeleteI think she may have accepted his apology so quickly because he immediately called for an ethics investigation -- which might call witnesses to the kiss and the photo who might throw her testimony in a different light. She suddenly wanted to have it go away.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Franken for doing that.
DeleteI have always admired him for the work he has done while in office - and was so sorry to see this story come out. Not only for him and the lady involved but because it gives the pious cons something to latch onto.
Hope it all ends well for him.
Pat Padrnos
Let's not forget that Roger Stone and Infowars were tweeting at one in the morning that it was Frankens turn in the barrel, then a few hours latet, boom! Speaking of collusion. And my respect for her when down when she read Frankens personal apology to her on tv.
DeleteWhen Al first ran for office I was concerned for the pictures of the skits he did in diapers. Funny, but not his best look while working.
DeleteExactly!
DeleteDo you get the feeling republicans are trying to make this a new standard. If I won't admit I did it I cannot be guilty. Think we will probably see this alot when the trials and congressional investigations get rolling.
ReplyDeleteLogical consistency then (though that is beyond almost all ReTHUGS, says it should be the same across the board. How many innocent men have they killed with the death penalty?
DeleteFOCUS: "he’s focused more on his own petty dramas than on improving their families’ lives.
ReplyDeleteTrump’s behavior and the endless parade of controversies he drums up? They’re how he lo$es."rump is more focused on helping the rich and picking fights on Twitter then he is with making people’s lives better."
"Since we started this research back in March, a debate has developed within some of the Democratic Party about whether we should focus on the white working-class voters or what pollsters call the “rising American electorate,” which is usually defined as Millennials plus people of color and unmarried women. And while I hope the recent election—in which Democrats rode a cresting tsunami of enthusiasm and engagement into office from coast to coast—will quell this debate, I want to reiterate that Democrats don’t need to adopt an either/or strategy, treating support from each group as though it’s mutually exclusive." Resist!
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/18/donald-trump-tweets-polls-swing-voters-215840
Zombie drumpf
ReplyDeletehttps://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/green-day-zombie-donald-trump-they-live-music-video_us_5a0fff78e4b045cf437197fe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira,_Mistress_of_the_Dark
DeleteI don't believe Leeann Tweeden any further then I could throw her.She is a right wing friend of Hannity. Sounds like a little collusion right there .And what happened to innocent until proven guilty concept. This stinks to high heaven.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree.I think that's why she doesn't want an investigation. She knows it will not pass the test.
DeleteShe lost me. She needs to do more TV and bring her husband. She said she told him she was violated and how awful it had made her feel. She was too shy or something to say anything to the assistants or anyone else on this trip or in the show.
DeleteFranken and the USO people may want him to do more shows. If he violates women, he would be out. Our soldiers have an interest in this. The entertainers matter. Remember how they loved Bob Hope. What if he had been violating.
Even if "guilty" what is it that he's guilty of? Taking a stage kiss too far. A failed sight gag, with a perhaps sleeping cast member.
DeleteCompare to Moore: stalking and sexually assaulting non-consenting teens. Compare to The Rump: assaulting 16 women and claiming it's OK because of celebrity status - which presumably means he'll do it again? Walking in on nekkid young women because you "own" an event they are participating in, in an area where they expect privacy?
Bill Maher said it quite well.
How many seasons of "Law and Order" do we need to watch to know that "I say I'm not guilty, so that means I didn't do it" is not going to fly as an alibi?
ReplyDeleteCalling Sam Waterston. I'll bet he could take Donald J. Trump apart within an hour, even with commercial breaks.
When you see the other pictures of folks on the flight you can see that nobody is wearing protective armor. Nobody. People are lolling about relaxing.
ReplyDeleteBut the most interesting thing I learned today is that Franken's immediate demand for an inquiry (that she said she definitely does not want) is because it's all bullshit and an inquiry will show that.
People keep saying Al Franken is very intelligent. Given the position he was put in and his handling of it I have to agree with them.
But I'm glad it made Sarah rear her head because I'm still laughing about peoples' responses to the mental picture of X-eyed Sarah Palin 'packing' a loaded handgun. Doesn't she know we've seen her shoot?
Have you ever seen the video of Al Franken draw the US? It's pretty impressive:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HfcrqXtxOM
Tweeden performing with Robin Williams. She is playful, may be like that with all her fellow performers. It could go both ways. She and others will be able to answer more about the atmosphere and comradship of all the people on the USO trip.
ReplyDeletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DO7atgVUQAApZMH.jpg
Part of her act?
DeleteLeanne Tweeden walked behind the guitar player and grabbed his buttocks while he was playing.
https://twitter.com/pacelattin/status/932050905087721473
‘More women are sexual predators than men’: South Carolina pastor Leeann Tweeden WARNING and blames ‘war on men’ to defend Roy Moore
Deletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/more-women-are-sexual-predators-than-men-south-carolina-pastor-blames-war-on-men-to-defend-roy-moore/
Tweeden and her ilk participate in propagating misogyny by using their sexuality to give masturbation material to males. Males generally don't understand that naked playboy models aren't accessible and they tend to exercise transference of the availability of the naked posing women onto every woman feeling that women are chattels, playthings and masturbatory material, regardless of whether they have consensually posed nude, fucked a bunch of guys or just be the available church lady in the basement after the potluck.
ReplyDeleteMen have trouble with sexual boundaries, women who engage them through permissive sexual advertising put every other woman in danger.
There's a reason for all of the movie and comic book imaginings of men put into shackles and imprisoned only to be milked for their sperm. Really, it's all they are good for.
Good post. Yep, let's talk about all the women at Faux who agree to the thigh high skirts on couches. None of the guys are wearing wife beaters to show their assets. Those women need to end it too. No one can tell me ANY woman wants to dress like a cheap street walker on a daily basis.
DeleteGood post. Yep, let's talk about all the women at Faux who agree to the thigh high skirts on couches. None of the guys are wearing wife beaters to show their assets. Those women need to end it too. No one can tell me ANY woman wants to dress like a cheap street walker on a daily basis.
DeleteMore photos of the tour - I'll give Tweeden the benefit of the doubt on the ass grabbing, just like I do that Franken didn't even touch her body armor, let alone grope her boobs.
DeleteLooks like a USO tour where the cast was into adult play and innuendo, but her handlers at Faux decided to make use of the ambiguity.
Yes, I am waiting for the investigation to have it's determination.
DeleteAlso the USO needs to deal with any wrongdoing happening on their tours. Are sex assaults an ongoing problem? We know the military has severe problems. They can't keep on covering everything up. Women will never get a better work place.
Billy Bush was fired when he participated and encouraged Donald Trump in the bus incident that was filmed.
The photographer was participating in whatever was going on with Leeann and he produced her only evidence. Both the Senate and USO must deal with the other participants.
5:22pm
DeleteSo right! Faux needs to have their men wearing tight tank tops and skin tight short shorts and we need to have a "banana cam" to highlight the men's "assets" (or in their case lack thereof).
I'd like to see smooth-shaven or waxed skin, smooth from lots of lotion and shiny from some light oil. Fair is fair, right?
Disclaimer: I'd like to not personally witness any of this but I feel in the spirt of equality that the men at Faux should be treated equitably with the women.
'xactly!
DeleteIt does appear he is kissing the side of her face. She certainly doesn't look "traumatized".Also there are a number of witnesses to this.Someone told me Jake Tapper came out and asked her if she was doing this for political gain.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lousy lying chic to exaggerate an innocent uso skit. How much did they pay her to bring this crap up? America does not need to hear every dirty nasty touchy example. Don't lose focus. The so called head bully and rapist has committed treason and colluded with communist dictators to harm America. DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE REMOVAL and Impeachment of this fraud.
ReplyDeleteGood catch. Looks like he's actallly kissing her lower cheek.
ReplyDeleteUnless LeeAnn has a Huckabee face with both eyes on one side of her face, Al is NOT kissing LeeAnn on the mouth.
DeleteI wish Republicans could face the problem head on.
ReplyDeletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ctd7JkqVUAAuDQC.jpg
They might be able to help him a little.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ctd7MgQUIAQI9Z9.jpg
Some people are now saying that the photo appears to have been altered. Are we going to make him resign for a photoshop and a lie?
ReplyDeleteDon't go over into Alex Jones territory like the nuts on the right. Franken himself immediately admitted that the photo was authentic.
DeleteWasn't she hired for the US show because she was a playmate?
ReplyDeleteDid she feel violated because they only hired her for her body?
Sure has done a good job of taking the spotlight off the molester Moore.
Molester Moore and I heard it is revenge for what Franken did to Senile Sessions.
DeleteUSO on stage with Al Franken in Afghanistan. Tweeden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWwGM9x2Gxs
I'm not into blaming the victim, but . . . it's beginning to appear that Leeann Tweeden is not as innocent as she claims to be.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.democraticunderground.com/10029861640
Robin Williams (married here) was assaulted and grabbed without permission by Leann Tweeden.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/pacelattin/status/932059886518640640
It's okay, it was just a skit. They rehearsed it before in front of other people.
DeleteIt's okay, Leeann rehearsed a skit with Franklin.
DeleteI think @pacelattin was exaggerating to make a point. Not because anyone thinks Robin Williams or any male was assaulted by a woman going after their butt.
DeleteI think Bill Maher addressed this adequately.
ReplyDeleteLet the “investigation” move forward but Franken has apologized, Tweeden has accepted it and no one is paying much attention any more.
As for Huckleberry, since when is this liar relevant? If anything Franken’s admission and apology makes Trump look EVEN WORSE. Because we KNOW those 16 women are not lying, we’ve heard his tape, he admits he went through the dressing rooms to watch teenage girls undressed to “inspect” his merchandise. He’s disgusting and he WON’T ADMIT IT. He WON’T APOLOGIZE. He’s the fucking president of the United States and he is not quite the predator, pervert and pedophile as Molester Moore but he is damned close. *That* is serious. A lot more than a two bit comedian with poor judgement.
Dumbedt country of the world, usa-rse
ReplyDeleteIf the picture taken while the woman is sleeping is proof and as horrible as some claim... what are all the pictures of Donald Trump kissing, entwined, embracing, groping Ivanka Trump?
ReplyDeleteAs a child there is no consent, they are underage. No matter how much Ivanka looks like she is romantically lusting and madly in love with big daddy she is not of age to give consent. Many of those pictures look like a crime scene.
Ivanka deserves a break I suppose. Her husband has a worse memory than our AG. Her husband keeps neglecting to turn documents into the law that he is to cooperate with.
Woah, woah, woah--this is not the way to do this. I think it is possibly to believe BOTH accounts.
ReplyDeleteTweeden was there to entertain, but its' entirely possible that she was not a professional entertainer, i.e., had experience on the stage. Therefore, rehearsing a kiss, unremarkable to those of us with a theater background, may have really struck her as wrong. News alert: lots of actresses have to kiss guys they really don't want to as part of their job and yeah, that can involve tongue. If you're not really an actress, of course you're not going to be comfortable with that idea, but you're probably also not going to feel comfortable speaking up.
Franken says he doesn't remember the rehearsal the same way, and of course he wouldn't. Rehearsing a kiss wouldn't be super weird for a guy with a performance background, and being a man, he didn't pick up on her discomfort, or ascribed it to something else.
I don't think this has to be a "someone is lying" situation. It's a situation where a woman (once again) did not feel like she could speak up.
Franken has handled this exactly right, and absent a string of similar stories, I see no reason not to believe BOTH accounts, which add up to someone being in an uncomfortable situation they didn't realize seemed perfectly normal to the other person.
Leeann Tweeden is not an actor, not even a movie star, she is an entertainer. Sports model, commentator, bit player on TV, News Anchor. She has a family and does various work for causes. She looks like a nice person.
Deletehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1204486/bio?ref_=nm_ql_1
Part of her act is to simulate various sexual acts, flirt, tease and play the Hooters/Playboy type female.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DO8UT1kXcAA_LFv.jpg
It is hard to believe she doesn't know what a stage kiss is, she could have learned that in high school. She was born 1973, in 2006 she would have been in her early thirties. You can follow her on Twitter or many other sites. Leeann Tweeden External Sites http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1204486/externalsites?ref_=nmbio_ql_4
Again, the point is that she can still feel uncomfortable with the situation and not feel empowered to speak up at the time.
DeleteAnd she still wouldn't have spoken up had she not found that picture of her face and mock molesting on the internet. That was totally wrong. I would be upset to find out that happened and plastered on the web for everyone to laugh at.
I don't see why we have to victim shame her here.
Sorry about anyone feeling uncomfortable.
DeleteLeeAnn accused a man of career ending behavior. She didn't just accuse someone of making her feel uncomfortable. She could have handled that one on one. She decided this was her 'metoo' moment and went public at this time, she could have waited. But this was the best time for her.
The matter has not been fully exposed so I don't know what to believe. I know that what she said makes many people say Franken must immediately step down from his work in the senate. And Al Franken needs to quit the USO since they believe he is hitting on unsuspecting women in such a gross and hurtful way. Hence he has no moral leadership. He can't help or entertain soldiers or women. He has to go now.
After months the senate may complete an investigation and he may or may not be vindicated.
Stating and showing who Tweeden is, is NOT victim shaming. It is NOT a shame to work in the sex industry. It is a shame if a sex worker uses their position to damage others.