Is Franken Staying?

   

 By Florida Bill 

                                     On December 7, Minnesota's Al Franken  announced that he would be resigning from the U.S. Senate.  Currently, he has reset the date of his exit to January 2 at which time he can commence collecting his annual benefits of $122,000 and perks.
                                      Meanwhile, colleagues that had pushed him to hand in his resignation are now asking him to reconsider and allow allegations against him that he is a harasser of women to be investigated by the Ethics committee.  If he decides on that course, he will remain a Democrat member of that august body, as the last time that the Ethics committee expelled anyone was in 1861. 
                                      Who would be surprised if Franken, elected in 2008, opted to remain as a senator?   He is really an empty suit who votes the party line and endorses a left-wing, anti-Trump philosophy. His replacement will be a carbon copy.                                                                     Franken's troubles began when seven or eight women claimed that he hit on them in a sexual way--kissing them and pushing his tongue into their mouths.  One woman said that he pawed her as she took a nap, and then he was so amused with his tom foolery that he had a photo made of his smiling face with his cupped hands on the woman's breasts so as to memorialize the moment.
                                      It is certainly not the worst story of sexual harassment and it really does not make the 67-year-old Franken into a monster predator. A useless senator--yes.  A predator--no.   It doesn't rise to the level of the charge of rape made against Bill Clinton or his infamous blue-dress moment; nor the abuses endured by the comely staffers of U.S. Reps Conyers and Hastings and other congressmen. 
                                      Thirty-six other Democratic senators initially called for Franken to resign, and he acquiesced with an announcement that he would leave in the coming weeks.  It was a "painful " matter to watch, said Sen. Dick Durbin, assistant minority leader in the senate.  He was "my friend," he added.
                                        In announcing his intention to resign in the coming weeks, Franken never acknowledged any improper behavior toward his lady friends, and he never apologized.  He was leaving, he said, but will remain "an activist" in promoting a left-wing agenda for the nation.
                                         Personally, I look upon Franken as a dim bulb and one of the most inept and unlikeable senators in Washington, but it makes no real difference if he quits or stays. If  he stays in the senate and allows the Ethics committee to review the matter, he might be censured or reprimanded, but expelled--never.  The last senator to be expelled from the senate was during the Civil War.  
                                          Gov. Mark Dayton has announced that he will appoint the female Lieutenant Governor, Tina Smith, to take Franken's place until a special election can be held. Smith, like the grinning Franken, is a Democrat who shares the anti-Trump agenda on all matters, and the fact that she is a woman suggests Democrats' endorsement of the "MeToo" fad. 
                                    Franken has a background as a "funny man" on TVs "Saturday Night Live."  Also, he has appeared in some movies, including "Trading Places" in which he played a simple-minded baggage handler on a train who tended to an ape being transported.  He was elected eight years ago to the Senate by a margin of 312 votes over the Republican incumbent, and was reelected two years ago.
                                      Franken's alleged misbehavior with women was boorish, but Franken saw himself as a comedian and figured that that is the way he should act.  No doubt, he figured that he was increasing his popularity by patting women on theirs butts and delivering an unwelcome kiss, but he did not walk about in his shorts as did another congressman who reportedly had women brought to his office to provide him the sexual relief he needed. He never dropped his drawers to display his package as some celebs and newsmen have done.                                 
                                      At one point, Franken has said that he would allow the Ethics committee to investigate the charges made against him and that he will cooperate fully.  In past years, congressional ethics committees in both the House and the Senate have been kind and forgiving of members who came under fire.  Ted Kennedy, for example, was the "Lion of the Senate" despite his felonious conduct in the death of a young woman he was driving home in Chappaquiddick some years ago.  Robert Byrd, a KKK leader who wrote prolifically of his dislike for Blacks, was welcomed into the Senate from West Virginia and hailed for his greatness.  
                                       In the House, the former Massachusetts Representative, Barney Frank, was reprimanded by the Ethics committee for fixing 33 traffic tickets for his homosexual lover with whom he lived, but was given a pass for the operation of a gay brothel being operated out of the basement of his residence. He retired with a package of more than $100,000 per year, and perks.   
                                       Yes, Franken is a fool who should never have been elected to the Senate because he had nothing to contribute, and has contributed nothing. It appears that not a single piece of legislation with any guts or any amendment to important legislation carries his name. He is simply an obsequious know-nothing who votes as he is told, whether good or bad for citizens. 
                                        Will Franken seek forgiveness and get teary-eyed as he announces that he will remain a senator?    We'll have to see. 
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