Al Franken is probably my favorite officeholder of all time. I love his politics; I love his humor; and I loved his public persona. He seemed like a genuinely good dude. Well, maybe not -- or at least maybe it's more complicated. In light of the recent allegations that he groped and sexual harassed member of the military model Leeann Tweeden while they were both on the same USO Tour, I posted on Twitter and Facebook yesterday that I thought he should go. Now, after reading scores of articles on the matter, including many written by thoughtful women, I'm not so sure. I'm still leaning that way, but if he doesn't, I'm honestly not going to be that outraged.
Here's what I think...
The reason my initial response was for him to step down was twofold:
(1) Several of my female friends whose opinions I respect were saying he should step down.
(2) If you're going to call out sexual misconduct, you have to do it even against people you like. That's what it means to be against something. You have a woman, who seems credible, saying she was assaulted by Franken, and then you have a picture of him either groping her or pretending to grope her (it's tough to tell if he's actually touching her and she's wearing a big flak jacket) while she's sleeping. Put those two things together, and he probably did something untoward. Was it the worst thing in the world? Of course not. It's not even close to what Roy Moore (allegedly) did or what Donald Trump (allegedly) did. But it seems perfectly reasonable to me to say -- if you physically violate a person in sexual manner, you shouldn't serve in public office, period.
But then again, there's this logic, which I find at least somewhat persuasive. The idea, essentially, is that the vast majority of powerful men have done something as bad Franken in the past, on both sides of the political aisle. But if Democrats are the only party who calls on members to resign over something this, which, given how the Alabama GOP and voters are treating Roy Moore, seems to be the case, then it can be weaponized by the alt-right. Start exposing Dems in red states, and then when their party forces them to step down, as is new the moral protocol, replace them with a Republican. This, ironically, would only further hurt the very people you intended to protect (victims of harassment and women in general) because it would give more power to the more ruthless party, and they would enact all sorts of terrible legislation.
I follow the logic, and admit that is a concerning possibility, but I don't totally buy it. For one thing, it's true that most Republicans don't hold their own accountable when it comes to sexual assault -- Trump never would have won if they did. But that's one of the main reasons why I'm not a Republican. Not being in a party of hypocrites and shady old fucks who live an alternate reality is important to me. For another thing, the fear laid out by the author requires a very specific set of circumstances -- blue congressman in a red state with thinly veiled skeletons in his closet. I'm not sure how many people there are who actually tick that box.
Also, saying somebody needs to go doesn't necessarily imply they need to go immediately without any thought of the consequences. Somebody can be removed in a way and on a time-frame that minimizes the damage his vacancy will have on his constituents. In Franken's case, I don't think it's hypocritical or a great compromise of liberal principles to argue that he should step down but not until the governor (a Democrat) chooses a suitable replacement. And if it was the case that the governor was a Republican, then you could give him the boot after he finished his term. And actually, this is more or less what the author of the article advocates for in Franken's case (along with him doing penance, which I agree he should do), but she's insistent that he not resign, lest he become a precedent. But the precedent that should be set, as I said alluded to above, is transgressors will be removed in a way and on a time-frame that minimizes the damage their vacancies will have on the causes they support. And, by the way, this cuts both ways: If Republicans can get rid of Roy Moore, in a legal and ethical manner, and hold onto their seat (like, say, via a write-in candidate), then they should do that.
Anyway, anytime stories like this break. I immediately think of my own past. (I've weirdly fantasized, in elaborate detail, about what I would do if I was ever falsely accused of a sexual misdeed.) As to Roy Moore's behavior, I can immediately dismiss the notion, because I've certainly never done anything as fucked up as he did. As to Al Franken's behavior, it requires more thought. I feel fairly confident I've never forcibly kissed somebody who didn't want to kiss me back -- even as part of a misunderstanding. That's just never been my way. Honestly, I can't even remember a time I went for a kiss and got denied. I think a combination of good judgement and a damn-near paralyzing fear of rejection kept me out of trouble.
As for the picture -- for groping a woman without permission -- I can't think of a time I've done something like that either. But I've definitely seen friends do it -- often in the guise of a joke (as was the case with Franken), but it wasn't always received that way. I have a good friend from college, sweetest guy in the world, who used to declare himself a member of the DGP -- Dick Grabbing Posse -- and then he would walk around parties and randomly grab guys' dicks, just to be silly. Most the time he was among friends, so nobody cared, there was an implied consent. But I definitely remember once he did it to one of my friends, who wasn't really friends with him, and my friend was like, "What the fuck? Why is that guy grabbing my dick?" And my response at the time was "Don't worry about it, man. Mellow out. Don't be such a homophobe." But he wasn't being homophobic, at all. He just didn't want somebody else touching his junk, which, obviously, is a very reasonable request. I was wrong. My dick-grabbing friend was wrong.
This is just one example, one person, but if I rack my brain, I could probably come up with many, many more. In fact, another one just popped into my head. I went to a New Year's Eve party once, and afterward several of my female friends came up to me and told me that another one of my friends kept trying to grope them on the sly. I just said he was good guy, but maybe he got a little handsy when he was drunk. In retrospect, I wish I would have confronted my friend and told him not to behave that way and tried to get him to apologize, but I didn't.
The thing is, though, the vast majority of my examples would come from a time when everybody was really young. The DGP died out by the time we could legally drink; the New Year's Eve party was over 15 years ago. Kids do stupid shit like that. I'm not saying "boys will be boys"; I'm saying people under the age of 25 don't really know how to treat their peers, in general. They're harsh to each other and do stupid shit. They make bad decisions. They have little impulse control. But with a little luck they survive and grow up and act how adults should act.
That's one of the things that bothers me about Franken's photo -- he's like a 50-year-old man then. He's not some dumbass 19-year-old. He should have known better. This is also one of the reason's Trump's "locker room talk" excuse was so weak. Sure, it was locker room talk -- if you're an insecure high school student.
Anyway... fun stuff! I gotta go.
Until next time...
Here's what I think...
The reason my initial response was for him to step down was twofold:
(1) Several of my female friends whose opinions I respect were saying he should step down.
(2) If you're going to call out sexual misconduct, you have to do it even against people you like. That's what it means to be against something. You have a woman, who seems credible, saying she was assaulted by Franken, and then you have a picture of him either groping her or pretending to grope her (it's tough to tell if he's actually touching her and she's wearing a big flak jacket) while she's sleeping. Put those two things together, and he probably did something untoward. Was it the worst thing in the world? Of course not. It's not even close to what Roy Moore (allegedly) did or what Donald Trump (allegedly) did. But it seems perfectly reasonable to me to say -- if you physically violate a person in sexual manner, you shouldn't serve in public office, period.
But then again, there's this logic, which I find at least somewhat persuasive. The idea, essentially, is that the vast majority of powerful men have done something as bad Franken in the past, on both sides of the political aisle. But if Democrats are the only party who calls on members to resign over something this, which, given how the Alabama GOP and voters are treating Roy Moore, seems to be the case, then it can be weaponized by the alt-right. Start exposing Dems in red states, and then when their party forces them to step down, as is new the moral protocol, replace them with a Republican. This, ironically, would only further hurt the very people you intended to protect (victims of harassment and women in general) because it would give more power to the more ruthless party, and they would enact all sorts of terrible legislation.
I follow the logic, and admit that is a concerning possibility, but I don't totally buy it. For one thing, it's true that most Republicans don't hold their own accountable when it comes to sexual assault -- Trump never would have won if they did. But that's one of the main reasons why I'm not a Republican. Not being in a party of hypocrites and shady old fucks who live an alternate reality is important to me. For another thing, the fear laid out by the author requires a very specific set of circumstances -- blue congressman in a red state with thinly veiled skeletons in his closet. I'm not sure how many people there are who actually tick that box.
Also, saying somebody needs to go doesn't necessarily imply they need to go immediately without any thought of the consequences. Somebody can be removed in a way and on a time-frame that minimizes the damage his vacancy will have on his constituents. In Franken's case, I don't think it's hypocritical or a great compromise of liberal principles to argue that he should step down but not until the governor (a Democrat) chooses a suitable replacement. And if it was the case that the governor was a Republican, then you could give him the boot after he finished his term. And actually, this is more or less what the author of the article advocates for in Franken's case (along with him doing penance, which I agree he should do), but she's insistent that he not resign, lest he become a precedent. But the precedent that should be set, as I said alluded to above, is transgressors will be removed in a way and on a time-frame that minimizes the damage their vacancies will have on the causes they support. And, by the way, this cuts both ways: If Republicans can get rid of Roy Moore, in a legal and ethical manner, and hold onto their seat (like, say, via a write-in candidate), then they should do that.
Anyway, anytime stories like this break. I immediately think of my own past. (I've weirdly fantasized, in elaborate detail, about what I would do if I was ever falsely accused of a sexual misdeed.) As to Roy Moore's behavior, I can immediately dismiss the notion, because I've certainly never done anything as fucked up as he did. As to Al Franken's behavior, it requires more thought. I feel fairly confident I've never forcibly kissed somebody who didn't want to kiss me back -- even as part of a misunderstanding. That's just never been my way. Honestly, I can't even remember a time I went for a kiss and got denied. I think a combination of good judgement and a damn-near paralyzing fear of rejection kept me out of trouble.
As for the picture -- for groping a woman without permission -- I can't think of a time I've done something like that either. But I've definitely seen friends do it -- often in the guise of a joke (as was the case with Franken), but it wasn't always received that way. I have a good friend from college, sweetest guy in the world, who used to declare himself a member of the DGP -- Dick Grabbing Posse -- and then he would walk around parties and randomly grab guys' dicks, just to be silly. Most the time he was among friends, so nobody cared, there was an implied consent. But I definitely remember once he did it to one of my friends, who wasn't really friends with him, and my friend was like, "What the fuck? Why is that guy grabbing my dick?" And my response at the time was "Don't worry about it, man. Mellow out. Don't be such a homophobe." But he wasn't being homophobic, at all. He just didn't want somebody else touching his junk, which, obviously, is a very reasonable request. I was wrong. My dick-grabbing friend was wrong.
This is just one example, one person, but if I rack my brain, I could probably come up with many, many more. In fact, another one just popped into my head. I went to a New Year's Eve party once, and afterward several of my female friends came up to me and told me that another one of my friends kept trying to grope them on the sly. I just said he was good guy, but maybe he got a little handsy when he was drunk. In retrospect, I wish I would have confronted my friend and told him not to behave that way and tried to get him to apologize, but I didn't.
The thing is, though, the vast majority of my examples would come from a time when everybody was really young. The DGP died out by the time we could legally drink; the New Year's Eve party was over 15 years ago. Kids do stupid shit like that. I'm not saying "boys will be boys"; I'm saying people under the age of 25 don't really know how to treat their peers, in general. They're harsh to each other and do stupid shit. They make bad decisions. They have little impulse control. But with a little luck they survive and grow up and act how adults should act.
That's one of the things that bothers me about Franken's photo -- he's like a 50-year-old man then. He's not some dumbass 19-year-old. He should have known better. This is also one of the reason's Trump's "locker room talk" excuse was so weak. Sure, it was locker room talk -- if you're an insecure high school student.
Anyway... fun stuff! I gotta go.
Until next time...
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