Move over Roy Moore... here cums Al

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

Update:

Second Woman Accuses Sen. Al Franken of Stalking, Harassment

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.

And he responded to Weinstein's apparent history of serial sexual-assault last month in a stinging Facebook essay, saying that 'the disappointing responses women often face when they go public both embolden harassers and encourage victims to stay silent'."

But allegations from TalkRadio 790 KABC morning host Leeann Tweeden, who was a 23-year-old model at the time, could send Franken into the same reputational basket with him.

A spokesman for Senator Franken, who has served in office since 2009, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

A California radio host and former model, Leeann Tweeden, claimed Thursday that Democratic Sen. Al Franken groped her while she slept on a military transport plane (pictured) and forcibly kissed her backstage during a 2006 USO goodwill tour

Leeann Tweeden says she's still angry at Sen. Franken and has found the courage to speak about her experience because of other women who have described similar mistreatment at the hands of powerful men

Franken is a Democratic lawmaker who excoriated Harvey Weinstein and supported his many accusers last month, ultimately giving a women's charity in Minnesota all the money Weinstein had donated to his political campaigns

On Thursday morning Tweeden posted a lengthy essay describing Franken, before he ran for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, writing a script that called for him to kiss her – and insisting on a full-contact rehearsal backstage.

And she later was shown a photograph of Franken groping her breasts while she slept aboard a military transport plane on the way home to the United States.

Tweeden and Franken were both veterans of USO tours, entertaining American military troops; she had already completed eight such trips before the one in question.

Country singers came along to croon, and some of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders provided window-dressing. Tweeden had already appeared, clothed, as a cover girl on FHM, Maxim, and Playboy.

But Franken, the comic writer whose ideas propelled much of the first 20 seasons of 'Saturday Night Live,' was the main draw. 

'I was only expecting to emcee and introduce the acts, but Franken said he had written a part for me that he thought would be funny, and I agreed to play along,' Tweeden wrote Thursday.

'When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a "kiss." I suspected what he was after, but I figured I could turn my head at the last minute, or put my hand over his mouth, to get more laughs from the crowd.'

But on the day of the show, she recalls, Franken insisted on rehearsing the kiss.

'Relax Al, this isn't SNL. ... we don’t need to rehearse the kiss,' she remembers telling him.

But nevertheless, he persisted.

Instead of letting Tweeden turn her head upstage to avoid his lips – a common sleight-of-hand bit of stagecraft – 'he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.'

'All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth,' she writes now. 'I felt disgusted and violated.'

Franken's version of the real kiss was never repeated on stage, and she never told the USO brass what happened because 'I didn’t want to cause trouble. We were in the middle of a war zone, it was the first show of our Holiday tour, I was a professional, and I could take care of myself.'

On Christmas Eve, after 2 weeks of performing in the Middle East, the troupe headed home on a 36-hour journey.

Tweeden fell fast asleep in her bulletproof jacket and helmet. 

Later, when a photographer passed out CD-ROMs of candid pictures from the trip, she saw one depicting Franken grabbing her chest. 

'I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep,' she wrote Thursday.

'I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?'

Like other women in similar situations at the mercy of powerful men, Tweeden says she kept quiet for more than a decade out of fear of what pointing fingers might have done to her career as a broadcaster. 

But a recent appearance by California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier on her show gave her courage.

Speier told a story about being sexually assaulted when she was a young congressional aide, an episode where a powerful man 'held her face, kissed her and stuck his tongue in her mouth.'

'At that moment,' Tweeden recalled Thursday, 'I thought to myself, "Al Franken did that exact same thing to me".'

And she's still angry about it.

'Senator Franken, you wrote the script. But there's nothing funny about sexual assault,' she wrote.

'You wrote the scene that would include you kissing me and then relentlessly badgered me into "rehearsing" the kiss with you backstage when we were alone.

'You knew exactly what you were doing. You forcibly kissed me without my consent, grabbed my breasts while I was sleeping and had someone take a photo of you doing it, knowing I would see it later, and be ashamed.' 

'I want the days of silence to be over forever,' she added. 

Franken wrote in his own October 11 Facebook essay that '[t]he women who have shared their stories about Harvey Weinstein over the last few days are incredibly brave. It takes a lot of courage to come forward, and we owe them our thanks.'

'And as we hear more and more about Mr. Weinstein, it’s important to remember that while his behavior was appalling, it’s far too common,' he wrote then.

Move over Roy Moore... here cums Al

Didn't take long

O.J. Simpson reportedly booted from Las Vegas hotel after drunken disturbance

O.J. Simpson is out of jail but isn’t staying out of trouble. The star was reportedly booted from his Las Vegas hotel on Wednesday after allegedly causing a drunken disturbance.

According to TMZ, the 70-year-old reportedly got drunk and hotel staff claim he was being disruptive to other customers at the Clique bar located inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

Eventually, glasses at the bar reportedly broke because of the former NFL star’s behavior, prompting a call to hotel security. When they arrived, O.J. was reportedly cooperative as they removed him from the premises. The gossip site reported he’s been permanently banned from the Cosmopolitan.

Representatives for the hotel did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

As previously reported, Simpson was released from jail last month after serving nine years for a botched hotel robbery in 2007. Simpson became an infamous household name in 1995 after he went on trial for the murder of his estranged wife and a waiter. He was later found not guilty of the charges in one of the most controversial rulings in American history.

Since he’s been out, O.J. has reportedly been frequenting bars and other social gatherings in Las Vegas. He was granted parole upon his release and it’s unclear at this time if the incident in the hotel will affect his parole standing in any way.

Didn't take long

Think about this next time you see one of these scumbags take a knee

On a tip from Ed Kilbane

Children raised in fatherless homes, especially black children, are far more likely than children raised in two-parent homes to engage in criminal behavior and thus, have contact with police. Therefore when they father a child with a woman to whom they are not married - or at least living with - they are contributing to the problem against which these football players are taking a knee. If you look at many of these players' records on out-of-wedlock children, you find that they are contributing significantly to the problem against which they are protesting.

For example, Antonio Cromartie has 12 children by 9 different women. Apparently, the NFL had to shell out $500,000 before he could even play football for them. Travis Henry has 11 children by 10 women, Willis McGahee has 9 children by 8 women, Derrick Thomas has 7 children by 5 different women, Bennie Blades has 6 children by 6 women, Ray Lewis has 6 children by 4 women and Marshall Faulk has 6 children by 3 women. Before these guys take a knee they should take a good look in the mirror.


And then there's this:

They still breed even after being neutered!!!

Antonio Cromartie says it’s ‘a blessing from God’ he's been able to father three kids since getting a vasectomy

BTW...this article mentions the word 'records'.
 Some of these dogs have one... and we ain't talking football. 

Think about this next time you see one of these scumbags take a knee

'Kneel' Kaepernick... citizen of the year in GQ cover story

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Colin Kaepernick has been named "Citizen of the Year" by GQ magazine, which published a feature story Monday about the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and his emergence as a polarizing figure since his decision to protest during the national anthem.

Kaepernick is not quoted in the story, titled "Colin Kaepernick Will Not Be Silenced."GQ states in the story that Kaepernick, who has rarely spoken publicly since becoming a free agent earlier this year, has "grown wise to the power of his silence."

GQ also writes that Kaepernick agreed to participate in its project because "he wants to reclaim the narrative of his protest." The majority of the story consists of perspectives from people that GQ describes as Kaepernick's "closest confidants."

"Colin also made it clear to us that he intended to remain silent," GQ states in the story. "As his public identity has begun to shift from football star to embattled activist, he has grown wise to the power of his silence. It has helped his story go around the world. It has even provoked the ire and ill temper of Donald Trump."

Kaepernick tweeted Monday morning that he was "honored" to be recognized by GQ.

Niners linebacker Eric Reid, who joined Kaepernick last year in his protest and has continued to kneel during the national anthem this season, was one of the individuals who spoke to GQ about his former teammate.

"My goal this year has been to get the narrative back on track," Reid said. "We started having communications with the NFL, and they said they're going to help us make progress on these issues. But the next step is to get Colin back in the NFL. Because he's the one that started this. I think we're finally getting where me and Colin envision this going. Now it's time for him to get back in the league."

GQ also published multiple recent photos of Kaepernick posing with people from Harlem, stating its hope to "connect him to a crusade that stretches back decades."

Kaepernick, who led San Francisco to consecutive NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl appearance, has remained unsigned since opting out of his contract with the 49ers in March. He filed a grievance last month that NFL owners colluded against him because of the protests, which are aimed at raising awareness of police brutality against African-Americans and other issues.

'Kneel' Kaepernick... citizen of the year in GQ cover story

OMG...say it ain't so

Beyond Gitmo: The lonely existence of former Guantanamo Bay prisoners who have been released and shipped to rebuild their lives in foreign countries without a phone, bank account or driver's license

Who wrote this sniveling piece…Barry right?

 No, it was the politically correct DM. 

Now you know why England will morph into Englanastan by the year 2035.

If they were as pure as the driven snow why were they behind bars?

BTW...what is the 'lovable' Taliban 5 up to? No one knows where they are or what they're doing. But you can bet it ain't gonna benefit mankind.

Tried to find a section in this article where it explains why 116 affable Gitmo detainees returned to terrorism. I was looking for the climate change and or a plea for jobs excuse. 

No luck.

DNI: 'Confirmed' That 116 Former Gitmo Detainees Returned to Terror or Insurgencies; If More Are Released More Will

-----------------------------------

The men were found to be innocent of any wrong-doing against the United States but were unable to return home after being released from Guantanamo after spending more than a decade there in some cases

The reality of life after Guantanamo Bay for former prisoners is revealed in a new photography exhibition.

New-York based photographer Debi Cornwall visited the Guantanamo Bay detention center over the course of two years, chronicling the day-to-day life of military personnel stationed there. Afterwards, she tracked down some of the men spread across nine countries who had been released to discuss their adjustment to life after Gitmo. 

Their experiences were wide and varied, and for the most part, extremely lonely.

Cornwall told DailyMail.com: 'There's a range of emotion – and this is one of the questions I've been consumed with throughout my professional career: what are the ingredients of resilience? 

'How does someone survive this sort of trauma?' 

Cornwall followed the stories of 14 men who were incarcerated for years at Guantanamo before being declared innocent and released. Many of the men, like this anonymous Chinese Muslim photographed in 2015, couldn't return home and were instead sent to third countries. This man was held for four years before being transferred to Albania to rebuild his life

In Beyond Gitmo, Cornwall tracked down former prisoners who were cleared of any wrongdoing against the United States. Sami, a Sudanese former prisoner pictured here, was held for five years before military decided he had not committed any crime. He was then transferred to Qatar in 2008 to start anew 

Murat, a Turkish German, was one of the few men who was permitted to return to his home country after being released. He went on to become a refugee counselor and is pictured at a refugee housing unit in Bremen, Germany 

Widespread allegations of torture and abuse have been reported to have taken place at Guantanamo Bay - the forefront of America's war on terror that was taken on in earnest after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Pictured here is a 'Compliant Detainee Media Room' at Camp 5 in 2014

Five of the men, of Chinese and Uzbek descent, were transferred to Albania after their release. The Chinese men who were held at Gitmo were Uighurs – indigenous Muslims – who faced retribution from their native people were they to return to their home country.

'Although they were cleared of any wrongdoing against the US, China would consider them to be treasonous separatists as practicing Muslims,' Cornwall explained.

'There were a total of 22 housed in Guantanamo and they've been shipped all over the world - from El Salvador and Palau to places like Albania where I photographed a number of them.'

After being sent to Albania, all five of the men she spoke with were granted asylum, which should have granted them the right to a national identification card. However – none of the men were permitted the ID card, likely due to the reputation they carried as former Guantanamo prisoners.

'In Albania, if you don't have a national ID card, you're basically a non-person. You cannot legally register for a driver's license, a car, a bank account, or a cell phone. Essentially you live under the table,' Cornwall continued.

More of the former detainees, who were from Yemen and Tunisia, weren't allowed to go to their home countries because the political situation was deemed too dangerous.

'Many of the men released from Guantanamo, they don't have court declarations of innocence – there was no formal process for them. There was no court proceeding,' Cornwall said.

'So when they return home they're sort of branded for the rest of their lives from Guantanamo, and in our consciousness, is synonymous with: "you're a terrorist" even if that's not true. And for men who couldn't go home who were transferred to third countries, they are trying to rebuild lives in countries where they don't know anybody or even speak the language.'

Men like Djamel, however, couldn't return to their home countries and were forced to restart in countries where they didn't speak the language. Djamel is now living in Algeria and was able to claim asylum, but has not been able to obtain a national identification card, meaning he cannot get a license, cell phone, or even a bank account 

Cornwall decided to incorporate the 'no-face' rule that applied at Guantanamo Bay to her photography of former inmates, to help demonstrate the disorientation and loneliness experienced by many of the men such as Hamza, pictured here, a Tunisian native held at Guantanamo for 12 years before being cleared and transferred to Slovakia 

Although the 'no-face' rule did not apply to those who have been released from Guantanamo, Cornwall decided to incorporate it into her photographs of the former inmates to illustrate the disorientation experienced by these men. She collaborated with her subjects to decide on an environment that would be most meaningful for them to be photographed in.

One person who particularly impacted her, Hussein, was originally from Yemen - but was sent to Slovakia after being held at Guantanamo for 12 years.

Slovakia is the only country in Europe that has no mosques. As a practicing Muslim, when it is time for him to pray, Hussein has nowhere to go. He is pictured kneeling for midday prayer with his hands on bare rocks, alone in a field with a solitary tree.

'There's a range of responses from confusion and frustration and anger to grace and forgiveness. It really depends on the circumstances each man is facing, his family and social networks, and personality,' Cornwall said.

'I find that released men who have a sense of humor often are quite resilient. Everyone has a sense of humor, but those who can relate to what they've been through with a measure of dark humor are also doing better. Those who have returned to strong family systems or been able to marry and start their own family – that seems to help.'

It is Ms Cornwall's hope that in showing the photographs of what she saw at Guantanamo Bay and in sharing the stories of the men who were detained there despite their innocence, she can encourage a greater discussion about the United States justice system.

Hussein, a Yemeni former prisoner living in Slovakia, prays alone on a rock bank because he lives in the only European country without a mosque. Cornwall hopes that her photography can create a greater discussion about humanity as a whole 

'My focus is more on posing the question that may disrupt an assumption no matter what you think of Guantanamo than the answer you come to. I think by posing the question - what do we have in common – there are new conversations and new relationships that can arise,' she said.

Since the exhibition has debuted, it appears that opposing viewpoints have begun to come together in a more cohesive way. At the Steven Kassler Gallery, where Ms. Cornwall's photos are being shown, there was a recent panel comprised of a former Guantanamo prison interrogator, former inmate who appeared via Skype from Mauritania, an attorney, and Cornwall herself.

It is her belief that it was the first time in history that an open discussion between such a combination of people had taken place.

'To have that range of people with first-hand experience at Guantanamo gave rise to a powerful conversation, and it was different in kind than a conversation that is solely about terrorism or solely about human rights,' Cornwall said.

'As an artist, being able to facilitate that different conversation felt very meaningful. ' 

OMG...say it ain't so