Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold abruptly resigns amid sexual harassment allegations.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned abruptly Friday, months after sexual harassment allegations against the Texas Republican surfaced. 

Farenthold, who has represented Texas' 27th District since 2011, said in December he would not seek re-election this year. The 56-year-old becomes only the latest member of Congress to resign in recent months following sexual misconduct allegations. 

"While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it's time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve," Farenthold said in a statement Friday. 

A 2014 harassment lawsuit brought by a former staff member against Farenthold was settled using $84,000 in taxpayer money. The congressman's former communications director, Lauren Greene, accused him of making sexually inappropriate comments. Other former aides have spoken to media outlets about a toxic work environment.

Pajama boy is out?

Aww. what a shame. 

Personally I have no idea how he lasted as long as he did.

I mean the guy's like a poster boy for inappropriate sexual behavior.

Some of the allegations about the conduct in his office, and among his staff, are quite shocking.

Looks like we can chalk up another win for the #MeToo movement, and the Blue Wave.

CPAC panelist requires security to escort her out of the building after she calls conservatives out for supporting Donald Trump and Roy Moore.

Mona Charen bravely discusses the hypocrisy against women in the WH at #ustoo panel during @CPAC

She specifically mentions the Roy Moore endorsement. Audience boos.

pic.twitter.com/rrG5fmEAmq

— Scout 🕊 (@about_scout) February 24, 2018

Courtesy of Raw Story:

Right wing pundit Mona Charen had to be protected and escorted by security officers when leaving the CPAC stage Saturday afternoon after voicing her opinion on Republicans who hypocritically support “sexual harassers and abusers of women,” specifically, President Donald Trump and former Senate candidate Roy Moore. She also called French neo-fascist Marine Le Pen a “disgrace.” 

Charen was part of a four-person panel at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, who was asked what riles her up. 

“I’m disappointed in people on our side for being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women who are in our party, who are sitting in the White House, who brag about their extra-marital affairs, who brag about mistreating women,” Charen, speaking about President Trump, told the audience. They reportedly booed her. 

“The Republican Party endorsed Roy Moore for Senate in the state of Alabama even though he was a credibly accused child molester,” she continued. 

Several people in the audience booed and shouted, “Not true!” 

“You cannot claim that you stand for women, and put up with that,” Charen insisted.

Now before you get too excited about this woman you should know that she writes books attacking liberals and  the LGBTQ community, and is essentially a fairly terrible person.

She just happened to speak a little truth in a place where truth is defined as an enemy of the people.

How the take down of Al Franken was orchestrated by the Right Wing and supported by Russian Twitter bots.

Courtesy of Newsweek:

While everyone has been focused on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election to support Donald Trump, the Franken take-down originated in—and was propelled by—a strategic online campaign with digital tentacles reaching to, of all places, Japan. Analysts have now mapped out how the initial accusation against Franken by Hooters pinup girl and lad-mag model Leeann Tweeden was turned into effective propaganda after first being hinted at by right wing black ops master Roger Stone.

A pair of Japan-based websites, created the day before Tweeden came forward, and a swarm of related Twitter bots made the Tweeden story go viral—and then weaponized a liberal writer's criticism of Franken. The bot army, in tandem with prominent real live human right-wingers with Twitter followers in the millions, such as Mike Cernovich, spewed thousands of posts, helping the #frankenfondles hashtag and the "Franken is a groper" meme effectively silence the testimonies of eight former female staffers who defended the Minnesota Democrat before he resigned last year. 

The operation commenced on November 15, when Roger Stone— who is now banned from Twitter for racism and profanity—tweeted from one of his accounts “Roger Stone says it’s Al Franken’s ‘time in the barrel.’ Franken next in long list of Democrats accused of ‘grabby’ behavior.” 

On the same day, a web domain called realusa.site was registered in Japan by a developer named Atsufumi Otsuka. A fake-news website was then established at that web address, and then a second one was created a few days later, according to research shared with the voting rights research outfit Unhack the Vote. 

Tweeden’s account of being groped by Franken was first amplified by a network of right wing media, including KABC in Los Angeles, where Tweeden has a radio show, The Hill, Infowars and Breitbart, which mobilized within hours of Stone's tweet and the release of a picture of a Tweeden and Franken clowning around at a USO performance before he was a senator.

By November 17, the trending of “Al Franken” was officially also a Russia Intelligence operation, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, an organization tracking Russian social media accounts, based on a sample taken that day of 600 of the fake accounts.

There is apparently a sophisticated botnet called "The Voty botnet" that was instrumental in pushing a story by a liberal writer called “Dear Al Franken, I’ll Miss You But You Can’t Matter Anymore” out to millions of people.

That article provided legitimacy for actual liberals to pile on Al Franken as well, and before you knew it Democrats like Kirsten Gillibrand were calling for his resignation. 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

And this serves as yet another reminder that it is not only the Right Wing who can be manipulated by Russian tactics online, but also seemingly intelligent liberals.

We have to examine literally every bit of information we see to discover its roots, and to determine if it is indeed accurate, before we accept it as fact.

This puts a huge burden on each of us, but right now this is essentially our only defense against allowing ourselves to be used to spread and weaponize misinformation.

Real Time returned last night and Bill Maher wasted no time in courting controversy by talking about the #MeToo movement.

Maher is making some very good points here, that I think a number of us have also discussed in the past.

The #MeToo movement is overall a very positive thing, but it can render itself completely ineffective if those participating do not exercise a little objectivity.

LA police department launches investigation into sexual assault charges against Steven Seagal.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a sexual assault investigation against actor Steven Seagal, who in recent weeks has faced several allegations of sexual misconduct including rape, according to multiple reports. 

A spokesperson for the LAPD told CBS News that the incident allegedly occurred in 2005. No other details of the case have been made public. 

Several women, including actresses Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies and Rae Dawn Chong, have recently accused Seagal of sexual harassment. In a November tweet, de Rossi claimed Seagal “unzipped his leather pants” during an audition in the actor’s office. Margulies said Seagal had attempted to sexually harass her in his apartment when she was 23, and Chong accused Seagal of once showing her “his junk” in his hotel room and leaving her multiple “sex messages” on her machine. 

A woman named Regina Simons, who worked as an extra on the 1994 film “On Deadly Ground,” which starred Seagal, told The Wrap this month that the actor raped her at his home.

All in all more than a dozen women have accused Seagal of sexual misconduct.

Now this is important. not so much because Seagal is a Hollywood star (He isn't.), but because of who he is now associated with politically.

In recent years Seagal has become besties with Vladimir Putin (He was even awarded Russian citizenship.) and has gone out of his way to defend him a number of times, including most recently against charges that he interfered in our election:

Seagal defended Russia by responding that “every country is involved in espionage,” and denied that Putin had “anything to do with fixing” the U.S. election – all while pronouncing Putin’s name with a hardcore Russian accent. 

The actor concluded that the belief that Russia interfered with the U.S. election is the result of “astronomical propaganda,” and meant as some sort of “diversion.”

Seagal is also, of course, a Trump supporter, and has been a friend for years.

He has even been photographed hanging out with other Russian agents.

So yes this case will prove very interesting to watch for a number of reasons.

Now about Oprah Winfrey's Golden Globe speech...

Now that was a powerful speech!

If you are someplace where you cannot watch the video, USA Today has the full transcript here. (However it should be noted that Oprah's delivery is half the magic.)

There is now talk about an Oprah Winfrey presidential run in 2020.

I am certainly not ready to jump on that bandwagon, but I have to say that if my two choices were Tangerine Hitler, and one of the most beloved figures in America, that would not be a hard choice to make at all.

Oprah Winfrey is more compassionate, more intelligent, and simply more competent than Donald Trump has ever been in his entire life.

Trump accusers unite to call for a Congressional investigation into Donald Trump's history of sexual misconduct.

NEW: Women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual harassment and assault will speak at a news conference, hosted by @bravenewfilms, Monday at 10:30 a.m. ET. The women are calling for an investigation by Congress of sexual misconduct by the president. pic.twitter.com/MSPevMF0os

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 11, 2017

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct will call for Congress to investigate the allegations at a press conference on Monday. 

The women will unite for the first time to demand the probe and share details of their allegations against Trump, according to a press release. 

The conference is being hosted by Brave New Films, a film and campaigns organization that works for progressive causes. It released a film about the allegations against Trump in November. 

More than a dozen women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump during his presidential campaign. 

Trump has denied the reports, and the White House has said its official position is that the women are lying.

Ah. the old "the bitches are lying" excuse.

That is such pre-2017 thinking right there.

You know typically I might say that I would like to be a fly on the wall in the White House right now, but I am not sure that my little insect ears could handle all of the screaming and destruction of furniture that is probably going on at this moment. 

Women of Hollywood launch initiative to protect all women from sexual harassment.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Driven by outrage and a resolve to correct a power imbalance that seemed intractable just months ago, 300 prominent actresses and female agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives have formed an ambitious, sprawling initiative to fight systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood and in blue-collar workplaces nationwide. 

The initiative includes: 

— A legal defense fund, backed by $13 million in donations, to help less privileged women— like janitors, nurses and workers at farms, factories, restaurants and hotels — protect themselves from sexual misconduct and the fallout from reporting it. 

— Legislation to penalize companies that tolerate persistent harassment, and to discourage the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence victims. 

— A drive to reach gender parity at studios and talent agencies that has already begun making headway. 

— And a request that women walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes speak out and raise awareness by wearing black. 

Called Time’s Up, the movement was announced on Monday with an impassioned pledge of support to working-class women in an open letter signed by hundreds of women in show business, many of them A-listers. The letter also ran as a full-page ad in The New York Times, and in La Opinion, a Spanish-language newspaper. 

“The struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard and acknowledged in male-dominated workplaces must end; time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly,” the letter says.

During the holidays my mother asked me what I thought it was that triggered the #MeToo movement.

I told her that was simple, Donald Trump. 

My mom thought it was the Harvey Weinstein scandal, but I told her that Harvey Weinsten would very likely have kept right on treating women like shit and getting away with it, if women had not been shocked, angered, and mobilized by an admitted abuser of women defeating the first viable female candidate for the job of president.

That was why the day after the inauguration we saw women lead the biggest protest in this country's history, and that is why we are seeing women coming together to not only protect themselves from the Donald Trump's of this world, but to chase them out of positions of power and influence forever.

Time Magazine had it exactly right when they chose the #MeToo movement for their "Person of the Year," and I think we are only seeing the very beginning of what this movement is capable of achieving.

More women than every before are entering politics, and I am telling you that chances are far more than just 50/50 that the next President of the United States will be female.

This is going to be the era of the woman, and you can take that to the bank. 

Congress is about to get submerged under a huge wave of sexual harassment claims.

Kirsten Gillibrand, who introduced the #MeToo Congress Act.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Not surprisingly, the end-of-the-year political news coverage has been dominated by midterm election predictions. They usually point to the abundance of surveys showing Democrats with a big lead in generic congressional polls. Other pundits predict the public's response to the GOP tax reform law will play a key role in the November results. 

But leave it to those pundits to miss what could be the top "x-factor" in the midterms: sexual harassment. Sexual misconduct has already been dubbed the top story for 2017: Complaints against the Department of Justice's handling of many sexual harassment cases is just the latest scandal to arise.

Potential cases could likely hit both the House and Senate throughout 2018. But it's the Senate where the impact is likely to be greatest, and the reason is simple math. The GOP majority in the Senate is already a dramatically low 51-49 margin post Doug Jones' victory in the Alabama special election. Just one lost seat either pulls the Senate into a tie or gives the Republicans some much needed breathing room. 

Those 260-plus settlements yet to be unsealed hang like a sword of Damocles over all of Capitol Hill.

Sources say that pressure is leading to a widespread fear factor on Capitol Hill. Dozens of staffers have told CNBC they're starting to make contingency plans in case their elected bosses get ensnared in the next sexual misconduct allegation to go public.

There is no real reason to think that more Republican than Democrat politicians will necessarily be affected by this, after all men are still men despite their political point of view.

However if I were a betting man I would think that the Republicans would probably fear this more than members of the other party, simply because the GOP's attitude toward women is a little more Cro-Magnon and even their propaganda network (Fox News) is rife with allegations of sexual misconduct.

In the end I think this might mean that it benefits the Democrats a little more, but I am absolutely certain that it means we are soon to see a huge influx of female Congresspeople and Senators.

Both Bretibart news and James O'Keefe believed Roy Moore's accusers, and yet they attacked them anyway in the name of politics.

Breitbart editor in chief explains that he believed Moore accuser Leigh Corfman but that they had to discredit her to protect Trump. https://t.co/ACeAGaFpd5

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 22, 2017

Courtesy of CNN Money: 

Though Marlow concedes that Breitbart made coverage decisions around protecting Trump, before the sexual misconduct allegations against Moore, Breitbart had been hammering the news media and Hollywood for supposedly protecting individuals like Harvey Weinstein. Asked about the view from critics that Breitbart had done exactly that with Moore, Marlow claimed the website has been "much more careful" than other outlets when covering ongoing allegations of sexual harassment and assault, saying the website looks for "certain factors," such as "a certain level of detail" in allegations. 

Marlow also stressed that he was personally uncomfortable with the behavior attributed by The Post to Moore, and noted that he did believe the accusations from Leigh Corfman, who said Moore assaulted her while she was 14 -- they were "not perfect," he said, but had "a lot of credibility." He also noted that he, and much of the Breitbart audience, initially supported Mo Brooks in the Republican primary, and only shifted support to Moore because of his opposition to Strange as the establishment candidate. But he said he saw political motivations behind The Post's reporting on Moore and wanted to home in on the "coverage of the coverage."

So the editor-in-chief of Breitbart actually believed at least one of Moore's accusers, but because the Washington Post was accurately reporting on the allegations, and it hurt the conservative candidate, he thought it was appropriate to attack their credibility?

Now does somebody justify that while arguing that they should be taken seriously as a news outlet?

And it should come as no surprise to any of you that James O'Keefe, who you may remember had a woman pretend to be one of Roy Moore's victims in order to discredit the Washington Post reporting,  had essentially the same attitude.

I spoke with James O'Keefe and he said he *actually believes* Roy Moore's accusers, even though he payed a woman to pretend to be a rape victim in a failed effort to discredit the allegations https://t.co/86E4WonAzJ

— Caleb Ecarma (@calebecarma) December 22, 2017

Courtesy of Mediaite:

After initially dodging questions regarding the credibility of the at least nine women who have accused Moore of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior, O’Keefe admitted to believing these claims during a sit-down interview with Mediaite. 

“Yes [I believe them], but it’s not my subject matter,” said O’Keefe. “That’s not what my investigation was about. It wasn’t about the victims, it was about the bias in the media.” 

Just let the irony that these two outlets justify these tactics because they are convinced that the MSM reports "fake news" sink in a little.

Do you feel that wave of nausea?

I inoculated myself against it by purchasing subscriptions to both the Washington Post and then New York Times.

We need to support factual reporting at every opportunity.

That is the only way we get our country back. 

Al Franken's last day in the Senate will be January 2nd.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

U.S. Democratic Senator Al Franken, who earlier this month announced his plan to resign following sexual misconduct allegations against him, will step down on Jan. 2, a representative for the lawmaker said on Wednesday.

The 66-year-old former comedian from Minnesota had been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, but faced growing calls from fellow Senate Democrats to step down as allegations against him mounted. 

Franken is one of several influential men who have lost their jobs after being accused of sexual misconduct, assault or harassment, including Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and journalists Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley. 

He will be the third lawmaker facing misconduct allegations to depart from Congress following Democratic Representative John Conyers and Republican Representative Trent Franks. Two others, Democratic Representative Ruben Kihuen and Republican Representative Blake Farenthold, have said they will not seek re-election next year.

I'm just really saddened by this so I don't have much to add here. 

Al Franken was a much needed voice in the Senate and losing him will be devastating to the progressive cause.

Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly have now filed new defamation lawsuits after being called liars.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O’Reilly joined a defamation lawsuit against Mr. O’Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday, asserting that statements that he and the network made depicted them as liars, political operatives and extortionists. 

The women are Andrea Mackris, a former producer on Mr. O’Reilly’s show on Fox News who sued him for sexual harassment in 2004, and Rebecca Gomez Diamond, a former host on Fox Business Network who reached a settlement with Mr. O’Reilly in 2011 after coming forward with sexual harassment allegations against him. Both women had recorded conversations with Mr. O’Reilly, and he paid both settlements, according to people briefed on the matter. 

They joined a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, a former Fox News employee who reached a settlement with Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly in July 2002 after she repeatedly complained about his behavior to the network’s human resources department and other executives. Ms. Bernstein is also suing for breach of contract. Her allegations did not include sexual harassment.

Andrea Mackris was the one that O'Reilly tried to seduce by offering to rub a "falafel thing" all over her.

I would imagine that Fox New is probably going to want to buy them off again, but I'm really hoping hey refuse the offer.

Personally I would love to see this whole thing argued in court so we can actually get a chance to hear what a pervert O'Reilly was to these women  on those recording, and of course to watch him get thoroughly humiliated again.

And you may have guessed I really do not like Bill O'Reilly.

NBC confirms that it paid off former assistant producer after she brought a sexual harassment complaint against Chris Matthews.

Courtesy of Fox News: 

The website, citing two sources, reported that NBC paid the woman $40,000 to settle her claim against Matthews in 1999. An NBC spokesperson told The Daily Caller the network paid a smaller, unspecified amount as part of a severance package. 

The woman complained to executives that Matthews, now 71, had made inappropriate comments to her and made inappropriate jokes about her to others. 

An MSNBC spokesman told The Daily Caller that Matthews had been slapped with a formal reprimand at the time the woman made her complaint. The website reported that the network decided that the complaints were "inappropriate and juvenile," but were not intended as propositions.

There is no way that this should be unexpected to people who watch Hardball. 

Matthews' often uncomfortable remarks toward female guests has been prominently on display for decades.

Even as a male viewer of the program, I have been creeped out by Tweety more than a few times.

However let's keep in mind that according to this story Matthews was NOT trying to sleep with these women nor using his power to bully them. At least as far as we know right now.

And that should puts him in a separate category than the Roy Moore's or Donald Trump's of this world.

I still think he is going to lose his job however.

Female Democratic candidate running for a Congressional seat in Kansas drops out over sexual harassment allegations. Well you knew it had to happen sometime.

Courtesy of the Kansas City Star:  

Andrea Ramsey, a Democratic candidate for Congress, will drop out of the race after the Kansas City Star asked her about accusations in a 2005 lawsuit that she sexually harassed and retaliated against a male subordinate who said he had rejected her advances. 

Multiple sources with knowledge of the case told The Star that the man reached a settlement with LabOne, the company where Ramsey was executive vice president of human resources. Court documents show that the man, Gary Funkhouser, and LabOne agreed to dismiss the case permanently after mediation in 2006. 

Ramsey, a 56-year-old retired business executive from Leawood, was one of the Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder in 2018 in Kansas’ 3rd District. 

She was running with the endorsement of Emily’s List, a liberal women’s group that has raised more than a half-million dollars to help female candidates who support abortion rights.

Ramsey will drop out on Friday, her campaign said.

It was really only a matter of time before a Democratic female candidate was taken out by the #MeToo movement as well.

And in some ways this is the very example of gender equality.

Of course women can sexually harass male co-workers, hell it's happened to me.

However they are typically not as crude, and certainly not as physically threatening while they do it.

But still it happens, and when it does we need to respond to it just like we would if it were a Republican male.

By the way I was first tipped to this story by a tweet from the Wasilla Wendigo, who has been largely silent about charges directed at Donald Trump and Roy Moore, but can't resist going on the attack when it's a Democrat in the crosshairs.

Democrats are brooding over another one of their own who is being forced to drop out of a congressional race due... https://t.co/wtR7JuGxOM

— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) December 15, 2017

Yeah we Democrats were "brooding" so hard that most of us did not seem to even know about this story.

Majority of Americans believe that Donald Trump should resign over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Courtesy of Public Policy Polling:

PPP’s newest national poll finds that a majority of voters think Donald Trump should resign from the Presidency because of the allegations of sexual harassment against him. 53% think Trump should step down to just 42% who think he should remain in office. 53% of voters believe the women who have accused Trump of harassment, to 31% who think they aren’t telling the truth.

The pressure is building from all sides and it does not seen viable at this point that Trump will serve out his entire four years.

Personally I do not care how Trump is removed from office, whether it be due to the Mueller investigation, or due to these allegations of sexual harassment and assault, just so long as he is removed from office.

Blake "Ducky PJ's" Farenthold will not seek reelection amid accusations of sexual harassment.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Representative Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican who settled a lurid sexual harassment claim with his former communications director for $84,000 and faced accusations from other aides that he ran a hostile workplace, announced Thursday that he will not run for re-election, saying the allegations have become “a political distraction.” 

He is the fourth lawmaker in two weeks to announce his eventual departure from Congress amid the swirl of sexual allegations and the sixth this year. 

In a nearly five-minute long video posted on his campaign’s Facebook page, Mr. Farenthold denied the sexual harassment allegations from his former communications director, Lauren Greene. But he admitted, with unusual candor, that he had run an “unprofessional” workplace and that his own temper sometimes got out of hand, describing himself as “profoundly sorry” for his conduct. 

“I’d never served in public office before. I had no idea how to run a congressional office, and as a result I allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional,” Mr. Farenthold said. 

“It accommodated destructive gossip, offhand comments, off-color jokes,” he went on, adding, “and I allowed the personal stress of the job to manifest itself in angry outburst and too often a failure to treat people with the respect that they deserved. That was wrong.”

Gee ya think?

By the way that "I'd never served in public office before" excuse is extremely weak.

Farenthold was first elected in 2010, when he was about 49 years old.

He was a fucking adult! He was not some frat boy who suddenly got to play Congressman for a day.

By 49 years old you should know not to talk about your female employee's boobs, get shit faced on the job, and act like an out of control asshole to your staff.

As it turns out Farenthold may have been given a little shove by Speaker of the House, and Eddie Munster lookalike, Paul Ryan.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Rep. Blake Farenthold, who's under fire for accusations of sexual harassment, is not planning to run for re-election, a Republican source familiar with situation told CNN on Thursday. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke with Farenthold, a Texas Republican, twice late Wednesday. Rep. Steve Stivers, who chairs the House campaign arm, also met with Farenthold. 

"Look, I had a couple of conversations with Blake Farenthold," Ryan said at his weekly news conference. "I think he's making the right decision to retire. There are new stories that are disconcerting. Unacceptable behavior has been alleged in those stories. And I think he's made the right decision that he's leaving Congress. And that reflects on the conversations we've had."

This is now becoming a thing with Ryan who also recently had to give the boot to Trent Franks, who was trying to get at least one of his female staff members to let him plant his demon seed in their womb.

This new role has Ryan talking about leaving Congress as well:  

House Speaker Paul Ryan has had soul searching conversations about his future with friends, some of his close friends tell CNN. 

Those people close to Ryan told CNN they believe it is possible that he could leave Congress after the 2018 midterm elections, if he can achieve his goal of passing GOP backed overhaul of the US tax system. Some say his departure could possibly happen even sooner. Some friends indicate that Ryan may be suffering from a bout of "Trump-haustion," but others believe there is serious contemplation of leaving Congress in 2018.

Ryan is now denying the accuracy of this reporting, but that is what they all say right before they resign.

So we will see.

One of the guys behind "pizza-gate" tries to accuse Senator Chuck Schumer of sexual misconduct using a forged document.

Wait, what did they day I did?

Courtesy of he Daily Beast:  

A forged document accusing the top Democrat in the Senate of sexual harassment copied language verbatim from a real sexual-harassment complaint filed against Rep. John Conyers. 

On Tuesday afternoon, right-wing social media personalities Charles Johnson and Mike Cernovich boasted of obtaining a document that would put a senator out of a job. 

“Michael Cernovich & I are going to end the career of a U.S. Senator,” Johnson posted on Facebook on Monday. 

The senator was Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York, Axios first reported. 

But the document was fake. A copy of the document, obtained by The Daily Beast, purports to be draft lawsuit complaint against Schumer by a former staffer. It accuses him of sexual harassment. Schumer’s office told The Daily Beast the document and her signature are forgeries. Schumer’s office said the senator was not in Washington, D.C. or the United States during several dates in the document when he is said to have harassed the staffer. 

“The document is a forged document and every allegation is false,” Schumer spokesperson Matt House told The Daily Beast. “We have turned it over to the Capitol Police and asked them to investigate and pursue criminal charges because it is clear the law has been broken. We believe the individual responsible for forging the document should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to prevent other malicious actors from doing the same.” 

The former staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the document was a forgery.

This Mike Cernovich guy is the same asshole who claimed that coded messages in John Podesta's hacked emails showed that Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats were involved in a child sex ring in a DC pizza joint.

Currently Cernovich is trying to save face by claiming that he was duped by whoever was shopping this around, but the forgery should have been fairly obvious to anybody who was utilizing critical thinking skills.

The genius who forged the sexual-harassment complaint against Chuck Schumer literally copied-and-pasted from John Conyers complaint https://t.co/1HlHd8xdQS pic.twitter.com/2KhiAEgu4E

— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) December 13, 2017

Look we need to listen to women reporting on sexual harassment, even if the person being accused is one of our guys, or even a personal hero.

However we also have to maintain a certain amount of healthy skepticism because this #MeToo movement is a powerful tool, and clearly folks with a partisan agenda can use it to attack and even defeat those who they perceive as enemies of their cause.

And by the way this goes for both sides.

Even if we REALLY want to believe that somebody we dislike did something terrible, we still need to pay attention to the evidence and let THAT dictate their guilt or innocence.

Rep. Blake Farenthold is a naughty naughty boy.

The New York Times has done a rather extensive expose on the goings on in the office of Blake Farenthold and why this guy has not yet been forced out of office is a complete mystery to me.

Here are a few examples: 

As allegations of sexual misconduct rock Capitol Hill — three lawmakers announced their resignations last week alone — Mr. Farenthold, Republican of Texas, stands out as the survivor. He was sued over accusations of sexual harassment three years ago, paid out an $84,000 settlement, financed by taxpayers, and has an open Ethics Committee investigation into his behavior. Yet only a few Republicans have called for his resignation. 

A peek into the inner workings of his office reveals the kind of hostile work environment, rife with sexual innuendo, that prompted Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, to call Congress “the worst” place for women to work.

He's a bully: Former employees also said that Mr. Farenthold had an explosive temper and often bullied his aides, prompting a high turnover.

.........

Ms. Peace and another former aide to Mr. Farenthold, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of harming that aide’s reputation, described an atmosphere in his Washington office that was freewheeling, yet also filled with anxiety. 

The congressman, they said, was volatile. When he was angry, they added, Mr. Farenthold would berate them, sometimes sweeping his arm across his desk, knocking its contents to the floor, and threatening to fire people. Ms. Daniels, who has worked for Mr. Farenthold since March, said she had never witnessed such behavior, adding, “All the staff get along here very well.”

The work atmosphere was sexually charged and Farenthold was a drunk:  

The refrigerator in the “bullpen” — the open area where aides worked — was filled with beer, and sometimes happy hour would begin at 4:30 p.m., which his aides called “beer-thirty.” Ms. Peace said women would discuss which male lobbyists had texted them pictures of their genitals, and both men and women would talk about strip clubs and whether certain Fox News anchors had breast implants. 

“There were numerous lewd comments that were made either about female reporters’ breast size, or other reporters’ breast size as well as female lobbyists and their appearance that would go on,” the other former aide said. “On any given week you were prone to either ridicule, rude comments, acts of aggression or rage.”

 In the office, the congressman was known to like redheads. In her complaint, Ms. Greene said Mr. Farenthold “regularly drank to excess, and because of his tendency to flirt, the staffers who accompanied him to Capitol Hill functions would joke that they had to be on ‘redhead patrol’ to keep him out of trouble.”

There was a "redhead patrol?"

Okay if freaking Al Franken had to give up his job because of the relatively mild by comparison  misconduct he was accused of, it would seem that Farenthold should be run out of town on a rail for his various indiscretions.

I thought that Donald Trump was probably the biggest pervert in Washington, but I may have to reevaluate that assumption.

Victims of Donald Trump's sexual misconduct call for a Congressional investigation.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

As the country grapples with a national reckoning over sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men, three women who accused the most high-profile man in America again questioned Monday why their claims did nothing to stop him from winning the presidency. 

It was “heartbreaking” for women to go public with their claims against President Trump last year, only to see him ascend to the Oval Office, said Samantha Holvey, a former Miss USA contestant who in October 2016 said Trump inappropriately inspected pageant participants. 

“I put myself out there for the entire world, and nobody cared,” Holvey said Monday on NBC's “Megyn Kelly Today” show.

During the television appearance and a news conference, Holvey sat alongside Jessica Leeds, a New York woman who said Trump groped her on a plane, and Rachel Crooks, who said he kissed her on the lips at Trump Tower, to renew their allegations against the president. 

The women also called for Congress to investigate these allegations amid the dramatic shift happening nationwide in response to charges of sexual misconduct against men from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. Claims have erupted across industry after industry, against lawmakers and movie stars alike, as the country has shown a sudden, newfound willingness to take such accusations seriously.

In response to the pleas of these women Kristen Gillibrand called for Trump's resignation.

Democratic US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says President Donald Trump should resign over allegations of sexual misconduct: "These allegations are credible; they are numerous" https://t.co/XNPhM9obx2 pic.twitter.com/KRiPAoxkle

— CNN International (@cnni) December 11, 2017

And she is not the only one calling for an investigation, or his immediate resignation.

Even his own Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said these women deserve to be heard.

That apparently pissed off Donald Trump according to the AP:

Haley’s comments infuriated the president, according to two people who are familiar with his views but who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Trump has grown increasingly angry in recent days that the accusations against him have resurfaced, telling associates that the charges are false and drawing parallels to the accusations facing Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. 

Poor baby. 

Today Sarah Huckabee Sanders' attempts to change the subject seemed especially strained and ineffective.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders addresses allegations of sexual conduct against President Trump:

"The American people knew this and voted for the president, and we feel like we're ready to move forward" pic.twitter.com/Oj7NHOcV9o

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) December 11, 2017

Things even got a little testy.

Question on accusations of sexual misconduct against Trump: “You said he has denied them. Can you say whether or not they are false?”
Sarah Sanders: “I'm not going to respond.” pic.twitter.com/BTOvF82yQ1

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 11, 2017

Let's face it, as this #MeToo revolution continues moving forward the fact that Donald Trump, a man accused by at least 16 women of sexually abusing or harassing them, remains in the White House becomes more and more conspicuous.

At some point soon it may simply be impossible for him to continue in that job as more and more people demand an investigation, or that he simply be removed from office.

Laura Ingraham is concerned that the #MeToo movement might "killing all the fun of Christmas."

Courtesy of Share Blue: 

Fox News host and Trump cheerleader Laura Ingraham is concerned about the growing number of women who are coming forward to report incidents of sexual assault and harassment. 

Well, she’s not actually concerned about the women — she’s worried that they might ruin office Christmas parties this year. 

“Is the #MeToo movement becoming a spoiler for this season’s Christmas parties?” Ingraham asked Friday evening during a segment on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. 

Speaking with comedian Jimmy Failla, Ingraham said she was worried that women who feel empowered to report sexual misconduct might ruin the holiday season by making office Christmas parties less festive. 

“I can see this year it might be — a little less festive, let’s say that. No alcohol and no fun and no lampshades and, I don’t know, maybe that’s better,” she said. 

“Is this just killing all the fun of Christmas?” she wondered absurdly.

Yeah, what a shame that male employees can no longer drunkenly grope their female counterparts or attempt to drag them into a dark corner to sexually molest them.

Keep in kind that this idiot is currently employed at Fox News, which had to fire both founder Roger Ailes and top cable news host Bill O'Reilly for being perverts, as well as paying out millions of dollars in settlements to keep the female victims quiet.