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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho is Al Franken?
From a friend's page with permission:
Not like the others?
Another woman has come forward about Al Franken and this is a story you must read (below) I've been pretty quiet on this one but I feel like we have processes and procedures in Washington set by our founding Fathers and they are there for a reason. This current body of government is completely out of control. I believe the woman that did come forward but there are different degrees of misconduct and I wish they had let the ethics investigation happen and they had followed due process.
I have permission to share this story from my FB friend Sandra Levinson:
When my niece Francie was dying of colon cancer and about to celebrate her last birthday, i couldn't imagine what gift to send her. But I knew she adored Al Franken so I wrote to Al, whom I had never met, asking him if he would send her a flower, a card, anything, because he was her hero and her greatest hope was that she'd live long enough to see him elected.
Within the hour of receiving my note he answered saying he would be in Minneapolis that weekend and could visit her in the hospital Saturday or Sunday, which would be better? I told him that Saturday was her birthday and he said he'd be there about 4. I called my sister to tell her but of course warned her not to tell Francie. How could we be sure that a well known comic running to be senator would show up?
That Saturday In June I sat in my office in New York waiting, 4, 5, 6, almost 7 my sister called to say that Al had just left after nearly two hours w Francie. He'd brought all of his books (which she already owned), signed them with her (she insisted he sign one "to my greatest fan," , schmoozed w her and when he left she announced to her mom that it was
The best birthday she'd ever had.
But that was not all. He called her every week after that to see how she was doing. She was home then. One night In September i came home to a phone message from a very excited Francie, "Tía! I went to a fundraiser for Al, it was a garden party and when he came in he walked all across the garden to ME, to hug me and ask me how I was doing!"
The next night Francie collapsed and was taken to hospice in a Minneapolis hospital, in a coma. I flew there to spend nights with my sister in Francie's room. Al and Franni Franken came to visit Francie, stood at the foot of her bed and wept. When she died later that month Al came to sit shiva with the family.
These are kindnesses one never forgets.
This is Al Franken.
Mister Ed
(5,945 posts)OnDoutside
(19,982 posts)Rene
(1,183 posts)Meowmee
(5,164 posts)Made me cry 😢
and to think it was democrats railroading him is spirit-breaking.
Disgusting really. This is not something Ill ever get over or forgive. On so many levels. What they did was disloyal and cowardly.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)It is his humanity he shared with this person and her family. He is the kind of person we need in Congress and high office--not a kick to the curb.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)nolabear
(42,001 posts)oasis
(49,433 posts)mountain grammy
(26,661 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)spooky3
(34,508 posts)stonecutter357
(12,698 posts)demmiblue
(36,907 posts)Nitram
(22,922 posts)I came away with a very strong sense of who he is - exactly the person you describe in your anecdote. I am very sad that he has not been given the benefit of the doubt after apologizing and volunteering for an ethics investigation. I thought he chose an exemplary way to handle the situation, and should have been allowed to remain in office at least until an ethics investigation could be completed.
rainy
(6,095 posts)rzemanfl
(29,576 posts)Then apologize.
luvtheGWN
(1,336 posts)who should read this (looking at you, Gillibrand and Schumer).
calimary
(81,550 posts)But ESPECIALLY Gillibrand. Gillibrand and Schumer, too.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)mythology
(9,527 posts)My biological dad does legitimately good work with kids with HIV and AIDS. Yet he verbally and emotionally abuses his family. Just because somebody does good things doesn't mean they can't do bad as well. We aren't cartoon characters either all good or all bad.
LakeArenal
(28,863 posts)There have been so many threads to share that tidbit. Just wow..
ProfessorGAC
(65,297 posts)Roy Moore isn't someone i would suspect would make the follow up calls and revisit and help the family grieve unless there was something in it for him.
"It" would probably not do it at all.
The sociopathy includes their abuse and harassment.
This is what's called a pattern.
You gave one example, but behavioral patterns are real things.
You haven't refuted one thing anybody else here has said with a single data point, apropos of little.
ms liberty
(8,615 posts)And then after he is slandered by a few women as a guy who gropes women in public but all of the women who've worked for him for years sign letters of support and share stories of his treating them in private with respect and equality, well that's how you can tell the groper stories are bullshit.
calimary
(81,550 posts)AND beyond that, I CANNOT ignore that Roger "the Ratfucker" Stone was involved, along with a former Playboy bunny now CONservative talker working at a low-rated hate radio AM station here in L.A.
ms liberty
(8,615 posts)This whole business with Al Franken stinks like dirty tricks, the media's coverage has been abysmal, and our democrats and independents in Congress have left me frustrated and angry with their handling of the situation.
Jakes Progress
(11,123 posts)But that disqualifies you for recognizing good people vs. bad people.
BlueWI
(1,736 posts)with a chant of all lives matter? Wouldn't surprise me if you do.
Stuart G
(38,454 posts)Bettie
(16,138 posts)A kind and decent man who is willing to fight for what is right.
And we're probably trading him in the Senate for Roy Fucking Moore.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)DFW
(54,462 posts)But MY five minutes gave me the impression that this story is typical and very indicative of who Al Franken is. It will stay my impression of who he is until I see concrete unbiased evidence to the contrary.
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Is he grabbing your butt in that pic? It so looks like he's grabbing your butt. You need to run tell the press. It looks like he's being totally inappropriate! What a monster...
</sarcasm>
DFW
(54,462 posts)I bit off his hand when he tried. If you look closely, he has been wearing a prosthesis ever since.
Denzil_DC
(7,286 posts)But I'm impressed with the commitment of time and emotional involvement.
It would be a very mean-spirited person who'd play whataboutery and gripe after reading an account like this.
LakeArenal
(28,863 posts)lark
(23,181 posts)of this man's kindness and keen intellect where it is so needed.
snacker
(3,619 posts)PatrickforO
(14,600 posts)his constituents.
I've seen story after story after story of how he truly cares about people.
I guess the party figured that this made him an excellent sacrificial lamb. So they sacrificed him, his kindness, his caring and silenced his voice.
For what? So they can call on Trump to resign based on his harassment of women?
They couldn't have just gathered 'round Franken in support, sent a big 'fuck you' to the right wing for trying to smear him and STILL called on Trump to resign?
Was the railroading of Franken without due process really worth it politically?
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I honestly believe that Senator Franken is a good, decent man who works hard for the people of this country and not for his own self-interest. This whole fiasco has just been a rotten shame.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)He is just not going to do it.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)dchill
(38,578 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)pazzyanne
(6,560 posts)for reinforcing what I already knew about Al Franken. My heart weeps for what we are about to lose in the US Senate. I just sent him an e-mail this morning asking him to fight to reinstate the CHIP program for the 9,000,000 children who will be without health insurance after December 31st because our congress has let it expire. I am hoping that he will continue to fight for us until his last day in the senate. We need him so badly in our fight against the evil this country is now facing.
WyLoochka
(1,629 posts)This man cares about all of us.
seta1950
(933 posts)😢😢
Paladin
(28,280 posts)hurple
(1,307 posts)Right there in your story, yet more proof of what a perverted deviant monster this man is... He *hugged* her in public without getting written consent signed in triplicate and notarized, then filed with the Gillibrand Agency and awaiting approval from the appropriate-physical-contact-overlord?
I bet he even *squeezed* her waist...
HOW DARE HE!!!
</sarcasm>
UCmeNdc
(9,601 posts)110liberal
(21 posts)We truly are loosing a giant in the Senate to a smear campaign. Thank you Kirsten for showing the nation what you are like.
ananda
(28,888 posts)It was clear to me all along that Franken was such a good
guy with a big heart! And strong when he needed to be ::
against Reeps!
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Ive been looking at photos of his USO tours, such sheer joy on his face and the troops. He loved making them laugh. I absolutely hate Tweeden for turning his USO devotion into something ugly and sordid.
Botany
(70,623 posts)"The next night Francie collapsed and was taken to hospice in a Minneapolis hospital, in a coma.
I flew there to spend nights with my sister in Francie's room. Al and Franni Franken came to visit
Francie, stood at the foot of her bed and wept. When she died later that month Al came to sit
shiva with the family."
Egnever
(21,506 posts)The guy has a track record of being a caring individual. So glad we threw him out to make a point with no consideration whatsoever of his character.
orleans
(34,086 posts)whathehell
(29,100 posts)Just beautiful.
flamingdem
(39,333 posts)Thanks for this lovely story
eissa
(4,238 posts)not the guy people like Gillibrand and Leeden are trying to lump in with the Roy Moore crowd. I DON'T BELIEVE THE ACCUSATIONS. Franken was railroaded, period.
Collimator
(1,639 posts)Both in regards to the motivation behind bringing them forth at this time and the details regarding the degree of contact and the resulting emotional impact that has been claimed.
This is why an investigation was/is absolutely warranted.
What I do NOT question is Senator Franken's ability to listen with respect, validate the feelings of others with empathy and respond with a committment to learn from these experiences and modify his behavior going forward.
eissa
(4,238 posts)I cannot, for even a nanosecond, take this allegation seriously. It not only sounds like an obvious play of "when you're a star you can do anything," it sounds completely uncharacteristic of Franken.
snort
(2,334 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)What a lovely and genuine person he is.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Amaryllis
(9,526 posts)have lost.
dragonlady
(3,577 posts)Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)PatSeg
(47,682 posts)Everyone needs to read this about Al Franken.
Demsrule86
(68,735 posts)I won't vote for them in a primary.
SunSeeker
(51,771 posts)Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)I still can't believe this man was railroaded out of the Senate like a convicted criminal without a hearing and unable to face his accusers.
It's a damn travesty of "justice"!
KT2000
(20,597 posts)all along. He is a giver, not a taker. I wish this story could go to everyone who participated in this crime.
yonder
(9,683 posts)That kindness is how a person should be measured
mn9driver
(4,428 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,178 posts)stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)What a beautiful story
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)A Good Man (a mensch), like President Obama.
Makes what was done to him even more upsetting.
I pray for a life partner like him, someday.
💔😭💞
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,748 posts)Hekate
(90,914 posts)And some of us know a sight-gag from a comedian when we see it.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)KT2000
(20,597 posts)Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell
That they were a part of this just makes me sick. They are so inside their bubble, they have forgotten why they have their jobs in the first place.
no_hypocrisy
(46,250 posts)The author was the aunt of the unfortunate woman. Her name is Sandra Levinson, Executive Director at Center for Cuban Studies.
KT2000
(20,597 posts)I will pas that on.
flamingdem
(39,333 posts)We've lost so much potential in losing Al Franken.
It sucks
LisaL
(44,974 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)This pisses me off. What a hit job. I pray Justice be done.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,924 posts)I met Al Franken in 2002, just after Paul Wellstone was killed. He came to a DFL phone bank where a bunch of us were calling for Walter Mondale, who took Wellstone's place on the ballot. And he was so involved and sincere and encouraging. He's the real deal. I just can't believe what those short-sided knuckleheads have done - not just to him, but to us.
MustLoveBeagles
(11,666 posts)That say's it all. I hate what happened to him. I always knew he was good guy. Thank you for posting this.
C Moon
(12,225 posts)colorado_ufo
(5,739 posts)But I believe in miracles come and I hope we have one with Senator Franken returning.