Life comes at you fast.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) went away from his prepared remarks in a 2010 speech about the military’s then “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to reference “a beautiful woman” … named Leannn Tweeden.
A “beautiful women” the former Saturday Night Live actor allegedly sexually assaulted only four years before.
The former Playboy model and current radio news anchor had been rehearsing a USO Middle East tour skit in 2006 when Franken purposefully wrote a kiss between the two into the script, then “practiced” it aggressively on Tweeden without her consent. He then grabbed her breasts while she slept on the plane ride home.
Given no choice, since Tweeden actually posted a picture of a smiling Franken with his hands on her breasts, the Minnesota senator has apologized and even called for an ethics investigation into himself.
CNN has since located a fascinating blast from the past, a clip of the Minnesota senator waxing eloquent about the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and veering off-script to reference Tweeden. We know the ‘off-script’ part because a transcript of the original speech is on Franken’s website.
“The last four years, I was in Iraq and Afghanistan and Kuwait, and I’d go with a very eclectic tour of guys and women. Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Country western artists,” said Franken. “Almost all of them were very right-wing, and we love each other, because we went on these tours.”
Franken recalled one such show with particular fondness.
“During the show, I was kind of a co-host with a beautiful woman named Leeann Tweeden, and we’d do comedy routines, and we’d introduce music and introduce the cheerleaders, and I’d go out and do a monologue. And this was something I would do—I’d done for a number of years,” said Franken.
For comparison purposes, here is the relevant section from the prepared remarks:
Let me also briefly tell you about my experience. Before I was a Senator, I did a number of USO tours over the years. And on each tour, I was more and more impressed by the men and women of our military.
I always did Don’t Ask Don’t Tell material, and over the years that I did the tours, you could feel the change in the military.
I was on, I think, my seventh tour. As we always did, we had an eclectic show, and it was a long show too. Most of the troops would be standing for four hours during the show, though I remember during this one particular show at one of our bases, there was a group of female soldiers sitting in the bleachers who were particularly enthusiastic.
Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast HERE
Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BizPac Review.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- West Point accepts Parkland student’s application to military academy after his tragic death - February 21, 2018
- Nancy Pelosi is in middle of grandstanding at Arizona townhall when question yelled from audience grinds it to a halt - February 21, 2018
- Columbine survivor blows media’s plan to exploit naive students – here’s what happens when they grow up - February 20, 2018
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
