Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is just the latest voice in a Democratic chorus calling for the New Jersey senator to leave office
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the calls for Bob Menendez to resign, after the Democratic US senator from New Jersey was charged with accepting gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz and other gifts as bribes.
Speaking on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said the charges against Menendez were “extremely serious” and he should step down.
A growing number of Democrats are calling for Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006, to resign.
Menendez is accused of using his position to aid Egypt’s authoritarian government and pressuring federal prosecutors to drop a case against a friend.
This really exemplifies the difference between the two parties.
In the Republican party, when someone is caught taking bribes or luxury vacations from billionaires then the rest of the party rallies behind them and says all the accusations are a fake DemocRAT witch hunt.
In the Democratic party, when someone is caught doing the same thing the rest of the party whines loudly about it and then does nothing to actually force the corrupt politician to face consequences.
Truly the best country on Earth!
No consequences other than the indictment and charges he’s facing?
No consequences from the Party.
Democrats believe in The Process, rather than just forcing him out of the Party immediately.
So you’re mad that they want there to be an investigation into wrong-doing rather than just jumping straight to the punishment?
It’s not like AOC can kick him out of the Senate from her seat in the house.
Where is the investigation?
Seriously? Where do you think the indictment came from?
He’s being charged in federal court. Are you mad that the Democratic party itself isn’t conducting the investigation?
Do you think the Democratic Party has no levers of power that it could use on him right now? It seems pretty damn clear cut - they found fucking gold bars! There’s pictures!
Jesus Christ man, it’s been like two days. If things keep going the way it looks like they’re going, he’ll be gone soon enough.
We’ll see.
Actually, after arguing about it for a while, I feel like the Party will probably oust him if it stays in the news cycle. As long as something newsworthy doesn’t come along and push this out of the headlines, he’s gone. His only hope is something more interesting happens.
What about Al Franken?
Sexual misconduct (with photo evidence!) is a bit different from corruption. You don’t have to grope women to become a Senator. You do have to take money from generous donors. The difference between corruption and politics is a line in the sand.
What was the outcome of the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee’s investigation into Al Franken’s misconduct?
He was forced to resign because of the investigation started by McConnell.
Don’t worry, I found it.
From Wikipedia:
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent Tweeden’s accusations to the Senate Ethics Committee for review, a decision supported by members of both parties, including Franken.”
“Although Franken had asked to be allowed to appear before the Senate Ethics Committee to give his side of the story, on December 6 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him he had to announce his resignation by five o’clock or he could be censured and stripped of committee assignments.”
Got to love due process and justice for all.
Fair enough. I thought he testified - so actually, Democrats are worse than I thought. They don’t care about The Process or ethics lol
It’s… a lot of women though. And looking at the article:
I can’t help but notice he doesn’t say say “these accusations are lies and the women are liars”. He couches everything he’s saying in “I would have sworn” and “I’m sorry you feel that way”. That’s such obvious bullshit he was trained to say by his lawyers lol
I guess people do only what their lawyers tell them to say and not actually go through personal growth; learn that their actions may have negatively affected someone, learn from that experience and grow as a person to become better from what they were before.
They accused him of inappropriate touching and kissing. Am I supposed to believe he didn’t know that would negatively affect people, but now he’s learned better?
If those things actually happened I want him in prison. If they didn’t and those women are all liars, why does he avoid calling them out?
There was no photo evidence though. And that was the problem.
There’s definitely a photo of him joke groping a sleeping woman.
No there isn’t. Even in the photo it’s clear he didn’t touch her. You’re misrepresenting it wildly. Was the photo crass, tasteless and juvenile. Absolutely. Did he actually grope or sexually assault anyone? There’s more evidence that the woman accusing him did herself. Than there is that he did. At least be honest.
That’s what I meant by “joke groping”? Actually groping someone isn’t a joke, pretending to clearly is (like you said).
Also? That’s not “crass, tasteless and juvenile” it’s just harassment. If a man treated me that way I’d raise hell too.
How is it harassment? If someone takes a single photograph of you. In a place where you have no expectation of privacy. Regardless of what they may or may not be doing in it. What makes that in and of itself harassment?
And let me be clear here that the following in no way justifies or makes what Franken did acceptable. But there’s literally videos and pictures of her physically touching and groping enlisted men on stage. Non-consensually at that. I do not find her a trustworthy or reliable narrator. At worst, franken’s photo was a rather benign product of the overly toxic environment in which it was taken. The accuser guilty of much worse. Both were bad. One was worse. What Franken did however doesn’t really qualify as harassment without wildly misrepresenting what it was. A single photo. Not a series. And without any demonstrable larger intent to demean or harass. Definitely inappropriate. As is a lot of what goes on with USO shows. But calling it harassment is a bit beyond the pale.
To my knowledge (IANAL) sexual harassment can, in fact, be a single isolated incident and it does not require intent. That would mean that pretending to grope a sleeping woman and photographing it, by itself and in isolation, is harassment. All the other accusations and the other nine women are suspicious, but that one incident is enough.
And the fact that people are still mad about this is sus as hell
Fellas? Just don’t get photographed pretending to grope sleeping women. It’s that easy.
Democrats believe in The Process, until they don’t.
There was an ethics investigation for Franken. That’s a process.
Let’s see if there is one for Menendez (this time, because this shit has happened before). Maybe Democrats will surprise me!
@queermunist @MicroWave You’re right, but I do not think the US is the best country. I’m not saying Russia and/or China are good, they clearly aren’t.