**Written by Doug Powers

Al Franken managed to deliver a resignation speech without the actual resignation part, at least for now:

Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota is resigning following allegations that he touched women inappropriately, he announced on the Senate floor Thursday.

“I am announcing that in the coming weeks I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate,” Franken said in an emotional address in which he said some of the allegations against him weren’t true.

Key part of that quote: “In the coming weeks.” Is there some unfinished groping business to attend to? Does he have so many Ted Cruz dartboards in his office that it will take weeks to pack them up?

But at least Franken apologized to the affected women, right? Nah:

Franken said some of the sexual misconduct allegations against him “simply aren’t true” and others he remembers “very differently.” pic.twitter.com/mHibRtHjdN

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) December 7, 2017

Sorry Al, but Hillary taught us that all women are to be heard and believed, so take it somewhere else.

I’m still a little confused about why Franken would say he’s resigning over allegations he claimed were mostly untrue or at least overblown. But there’s the rub. He didn’t really resign — at least, not yet.

It’s possible some conversation like this took place in Franken’s office at some point:

Franken: What’s the least D-baggy way to get a national audience in order to call these women liars?

Staffer: Dress it up as a resignation speech?

Franken: LOVE IT!

*****

Franken wasn’t the only one delivering on the mixed messages: Some of the female Democrats who called on Franken to resign didn’t seem to want him to go:

Many of the female senators who called on him to resign visibly emotional as they hugged him

— Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) December 7, 2017

Just perfect.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe