Franken has apologized for this photo that was included in Leeann Tweeden's post about her experience with the former SNL writer, who is now a senator. (KABC)
Daily Mail: Radio host and former Playboy model says Democratic Senator Al Franken kissed and GROPED her while she was asleep and without consent during a USO tour to Afghanistan in 2006
* California morning radio host Leeann Tweeden says now-Senator Al Franken groped and forcibly kissed her during a USO tour in Afghanistan
* Tweeden was then a cover model who had appeared in Playboy, Maxim and FHM; Franken was an aging comedian and one of Saturday Night Live's first writers
* Tweeden writes that the Harvey Weinstein era has empowered her to speak out about the episodes that made her feel angry and powerless in 2006
* Franken is photographed grabbing her breasts while she slept about a troop transport airplane
* She also says he forced his tongue into her mouth when she expected to be rehearsing a scene where they would fake a 'kiss' for the audience
* 'I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann,' Franken says in a tepid apology
* 'As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it,' he admits
* Just Wednesday he scolded a judgeship nominee over a chuckle-worth tweet, saying that 'sometimes when you don’t get a joke, it's because it wasn't a joke'
* Senate Republican leaders are calling for the Ethics Committee to review the case
Democratic U.S. Senator Al Franken is the latest high-profile man in power to face a sexual assault accusation, after a model-turned-radio host wrote Thursday that the longtime comedian and comic writer kissed and groped her without consent during a 2006 USA tour in Afghanistan.
Franken, a champion of women's causes, last month donated money his campaigns and political action committees have received from disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein to the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: I tend to stay away from these stories ..... I did a few posts on Harvey Weinstein, but I did them because he was a cultural icon, and a big player in Washington politics. But with all the allegations against Republican Senator candidate Roy Moore and now this photo and testimony from Leeann Tweeden on Senator Franken .... sex and politics is what the news media is covering right now. Mind you .... there is a now a media effort to downplay the Al Franken story .... but there is that picture, and I do not see how they can downplay that (but the media will try). But this story does not end there. When I read this story a few days ago on former President Bush, I said to myself there is a problem .... Despite 7 women's statements, Bush unlikely to be prosecuted (AP). And then there is this story .... Sexual harassment settlements in Congress paid by taxpayers (FOX News).
Update: It looks like I spoke too soon on Al Franken. There are more revelations coming out on Al Franken, and they are not helpful to him .... Al Franken Has Long History of Sexual Misconduct Jokes Before Accusation of Groping Woman’s Breasts (Newsweek). The Republican leadership have torpedoed Senate candidate Roy Moore, let us see if the Democrat leadership will do the same to Senator Franken.
Update #2: The culture on these issues have clearly changed in the U.S.. Those who are 35 and younger are making their opinions well known that they have zero tolerance for this type of behavior .... and for this old guy it is both surprising and refreshing to see. But will this behavior change? I do not know, but sexual behavior has now become politicized, and it is making a lot of politicians uncomfortable.
