General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: There is only one argument in support of Franken [View all]luvtheGWN
(1,336 posts)for an Ethics Committee investigation. He knows perfectly well that when all the evidence is presented, he will be cleared. Not only that, he may well be able to sue Tweeden for slander.
From all I can see from watching and listening to Franken, my take is that he is naturally affectionate with people -- both male and female. I have a friend who he reminds me of, about the same height (5'6" , who always greets me with a hug and sometimes even pats my bum. That IS NOT groping. A cousin says she encountered him when taking her class on a trip to Washington, and she claims he gave her a "creepy massage". What she really meant was that he casually rubbed her back when the group photo was taken. I'm betting Franken would be horrified to know that an affectionate gesture on his part was mistaken for a "creepy massage". Herding a big class of youngsters in a strange place deserved a casual back rub, I suspect he was thinking.
Overtures of a sexual nature (either verbal or physical) are out of place in today's society, so I suggest that any male over the age of 55 need to adjust their behaviour. On the other hand, we females do ourselves no favours when we make mountains out of molehills (such as has happened in our own Canadian Parliament where a female MP had the figurative vapours and made a huge fuss over sexually explicit joke made by a male MP -- hey, get a grip, lady!).