Maybe you should actually read the article before commenting on this?

Warning: it's a terribly written article that spends a lot of time on completely irrelevant details, also very NSFW, but to summarise (quoting from article):

When Ansari told her he was going to grab a condom within minutes of their first kiss, Grace voiced her hesitation explicitly. “I said something like, ‘Whoa, let’s relax for a sec, let’s chill.’”
...
She says Ansari began making a move on her that he repeated during their encounter. “The move he kept doing was taking his two fingers in a V-shape and putting them in my mouth, in my throat to wet his fingers, because the moment he’d stick his fingers in my throat he’d go straight for my vagina and try to finger me.” Grace called the move “the claw.”

Ansari also physically pulled her hand towards his penis multiple times throughout the night, from the time he first kissed her on the countertop onward. “He probably moved my hand to his dick five to seven times,” she said. “He really kept doing it after I moved it away.”

But the main thing was that he wouldn’t let her move away from him. She compared the path they cut across his apartment to a football play. “It was 30 minutes of me getting up and moving and him following and sticking his fingers down my throat again. It was really repetitive. It felt like a fucking game.”

Ansari wanted to have sex. She said she remembers him asking again and again, “Where do you want me to fuck you?” while she was still seated on the countertop. She says she found the question tough to answer because she says she didn’t want to fuck him at all.

End quoting.

I find it difficult to believe Ansari is "inexperienced". He's 34, famous, good-looking and funny. Hell, he wrote a damn book on the subject.

Now, even though I've lost count of the number of times I've said this, to be perfectly clear: I DO NOT THINK ANSARI IS GUILTY OF A CRIME.

But I also don't think that behaviour is acceptable. He acted like a total asshole.

But since we're talking about degrees of harm, you can still be an asshole and do actual harm without committing a crime.

Should his accuser have just left? Probably. Does that excuse his behaviour? Nope.

Being held accountable for what we do is a good thing, but ignoring degrees and distinctions can turn it bad.

Weinstein out of a position of power, out of a job, and quite possibly into jail: good. Deserved, and sends an important message to those that might want to abuse their power in similar ways in the future. Precedent set -- however things worked before, we won't stand for that shit anymore.

Louis CK out of favor, and on record for doing creepy things which reduces opportunity to continue doing said creepy things. Also removed from positions where he could exert pressure to "consent" to said creepery where consent likely wouldn't be granted if the threat of job repercussions wasn't implied or patently stated. Again, good outcome -- in my opinion including the fact that he likely won't face criminal charges while Weinstein may.


Franken, on the other hand, was held accountable for actions in a way that I found troublesome for two reasons:

1) He was under scrutiny for past actions, yet placed under the judgement of current (bleeding edge current, even) behavioral standards. That is trending towards ex-post-facto law. I can't pass a law in December making it illegal to wear white shirts, then throw you in jail for having worn a white shirt in November before the law was in effect.

It isn't the same thing because sexual harassment has been illegal all along, and because he wasn't really facing legal trouble, just professional / political trouble -- where "ex-post-facto" judgments aren't prohibited. Still, it seems like when standards change we should try to limit judgement under current standards to current behavior. There's a reason why it works that way in law.


2) Furthermore, a lot of the scrutiny Franken was under completely stripped the behavior from context. Context is extremely important. That's why Weinstein "asking" women to "consent" to his rapey behavior wasn't OK, even though asking for consent is sort of the baseline "good"/expected behavior -- they weren't actually completely free to tell him to shove it.

Ignoring the context of Franken's behavior means that it is immaterial that he was working for the USO at the time, where on-stage suggestive stuff and raunchiness was/is pretty much the whole idea. Immaterial that on-stage "groping and kissing" stuff may well have been scripted as such, and basically consented to by the actors -- part of the show.

Combine that with ignoring degrees of offense, and we're listing Franken's name in the same sentence with Louis CK and Harvey Weinstein, which is ridiculous. Franken "had to" be a sacrificial lamb to demonstrate that Democrats are willing to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on this issue -- but did he really?

If more Democrats were willing to "tell it like it is", as I'd argue Maher is doing here, Franken could have said that the photo where he mimed groping a sleeping Karri Turner was a mistake, a joke in poor taste done in the context of an entire tour that seems in poor taste by modern standards, and that could have been the end of it. He could still be in office, and the Democrat party at large would have been better off, as would the net balance in Congress with regards to women's issues.

But nope. Context, distinction, and degrees are all meaningless, so Franken's name is in that same list of dirty sleazeball asshole men, no asterisks or footnotes necessary. I don't think the outcome of that game goes in a favorable direction.

So far, 94 and counting…
94. James Levine – Iconic Artistic Director/Composer at the Metropolitan Opera House

Suspended over three allegations of child molestation.

93. Israel Horovitz – Playwright
Nine Allegations of sexual assault.

92. Geoffrey Rush – Oscar-Winner
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Resigned as the president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts following allegations of “inappropriate behavior.”

91. Nick Carter – Former Backstreet Boy
Accused of rape.

90. John Lasseter – Top Disney Executive
Forced leave of absence after numerous accusations of harassment, unwanted kisses, groping.

89. Russell Simmons – Mogul

Multiple accusations of sexual assault.

88. Murray Miller – Girls Writer

Accused of rape.

87. Adam Fields – Producer

Multiple accusations of sexual harassment.

86. John Singleton – Director

Accused of sexual harassment.

85. Jason Mojica – Executive Producer Vice Documentary Films

Suspended over allegations of sexual misconduct.

84. Cameron Mitchell – CAA Agent

Accused of sexual harassment.

83. Sylvester Stallone – Actor, Director

Accused of the sexual assault of a 16 year-old girl.

82. Al Franken – Comedian, U.S. Senator

Groping, misconduct , bullying.

81. Matt Zimmerman – NBC Exec

Fired for sexual misconduct.

80. Andy Henry – Casting Employee

Accused of manipulating auditioning actresses to get undressed.

79. Benny Medina – Producer

Accused of attempted rape.

78. Peter Aalbæk Jensen – Co Founder of Zentropa

Harassment, bullying.

77. Eddie Berganza – Editor DC Comics

Accused of two decades of sexual misconduct.

76. Gary Goddard – Producer

Accused of child molestation.

75. Andrew Kreisberg – TV Producer

Suspended over allegations of misconduct.

75. Richard Dreyfuss – Actor, Activist

Accused of sexual misconduct.

74. George Takei – Actor, Activist

Accused of sexual assault.

73. Ethan Kath – Musician

Accusation of rape.

72. Matthew Weiner – Mad Men Creator

Accused of sexual harassment.

71. Robert Knepper – Actor

Accused of sexual assault.

70. Mariah Carey – Singer, Actress

Accused of sexual harassment.

69. Jeffrey Tambor – Emmy-Winning Actor

Accused of sexual harassment.

68. Ed Westick – Actor

Accused of rape.

67. Alec Baldwin – TV Actor

Bullying and sexist behavior towards women.

66. David Guillod – Co-CEO Primary Wave Entertainment

Alleged sexual assault.

65. Unnamed Director

Alleged sexual harassment.

64. Adam Venit – Powerful Talent Agent

Suspended for allegedly groping Terry Crews.

63. NBCUniversal

Targeted in lawsuit over “inappropriate gender-based, sexual comments”

62. Kirt Webster – CEO Country Music Firm Webster PR

Multiple allegations of sexual harassment, assaulting and drugging a client.

61. Ryan Ly – CAA Agent

Fired over multiple allegations from female staffers, including groping.

60. Erik Horine – ICM Agent

Fired for “inappropriate behavior.”

59. John Grissom – Actor

Accused of molesting Corey Feldman.

58. Danny Masterson – Actor

Four accusations of rape.

57. David Corn – Reporter, Actor

Accusations of sexual touching of female staffers, rape jokes

56. Brett Ratner – Director, Powerhouse Producer Behind RatPac Entertainment

Multiple accusations of sexual assault, harassment.

55. Dustin Hoffman – Oscar-Winning Actor

Accused of sexual misconduct, groping of 17 year-old actress.

54. Jeremy Piven – Emmy Award Winning TV Star

Accused of sexually assaulting an actress.

53. Hamilton Fish – Documentary Film Producer

Suspended over allegations of sexual harassment.

52. Andy Dick – Actor/Comedian

Fired over allegations of sexual harassment, groping.

51. Warner Bros.

Allegations of sexual harassment by former producer.

50. Andrew Kramer – Lionsgate Executive

Resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment.

This was one of my 8 albums for $.01 from Columbia house, the rest were Kiss albums and a 2 album Star Wars...I still have all the Kiss and Star Wars, but Wild and Crazy Guy was played to death in a few short years.

*nature kiss!

"How to train your dragon (to kiss you)"

Yeah, but this isn't even about sex.... they can't kiss or even date.

It's creepy as fuck and yeah, it's controlling and weird and gives the girls completely the wrong idea about sex.

I really wish that we as a society could ditch our fucking weird obsession with virginity. Being a virgin isn't some badge of honour. There's nothing wrong with it, either, but we place all this massive weight of expectation on "your first time". As long as you're of age and you practice safe sex, losing your virginity should be a simple matter of preference.

Maybe people wouldn't be so fucking uptight about sex then.

He just kissed his job good by.

When will people learn-- don't video your crimes.

Prepare for the collapse of part of the atmosphere? What, by moving? Or stretching to stay limber enough to kiss your own ass goodbye? Pray tell.

at least it signed off with a kiss X

Whoa, I totally missed that line because I was already chuckling at "can't make an appearance?"

That's hilarious (from my perspective anyway), but sure is an outlier in terms of the tone on the whole video -- the rest of the jabs were pretty soft but that's a full-on Glasgow Kiss.

List of Films used:

Yojimbo (1961)
Secret of the Incas (1954)
Casablanca (1942)
Zorro Rides Again (1937)
Stagecoach (1939)
Zorro’s Fighting Legion (1939)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Citizen Kane (1941)

They should kiss.