The election was pretty close. If Republicans had been able to credibly say “—see? The Democrats don’t care about sexual harassment and misconduct when their side does it!” then it might have not only tipped the balance in that race but kneecapped much of the #MeToo movement as a whole.
I’m not saying that Al Franken is an unforgivable, irredeemable monster. I am saying that his actions were serious enough to warrant a serious response.
I just think that I haven’t heard credibly what he did while in office that would warrant that serious a response. I wish there had been an investigation to see how true or serious any accusations would be. It’s far from a certainty that booting him=moral high ground=win Alabama. Even if that’s true, the decision to sacrifice him for PR reasons so that Alabamans don’t elect a child molester is hardly noble or laudable.
Due process is much preferable and more reliable than naked political calculation, every time. We don’t really know what he did or did not do, and that’s a shame. It should have been fully laid out, and appropriate punishment or absolution given. You think it’s all worth it, for an abstract goal. I don’t.
I have to start work now, so if I don’t respond, that’s why, not deliberately ignoring you if you do respond!
Well if we’re limiting ourselves to “things our elected officials did while holding their current office” then I guess it was also unfair to note that Roy Moore was a child molester.
Due process is appropriate for anyone facing criminal charges in a court of law. In Franken’s case it wasn’t his freedom or even his property at stake, it was his reputation (which isn’t a matter for the law) and his ability to function as an effective leader of his party.
Voters decided that Moore was unacceptable to them. Same way as Minnesota voters decided on Franken, and would have done again the next time Franken was up for re-election. Franken was forced from office. So if you would like to harp on consistency, Franken’s fate should have been up to the voters, right?
You still don’t know what Franken did and didn’t do. Being forced from a Senate seat is a pretty heavy punishment. There is censure, and other sanctions through established ethics processes. Sorry I misused due process, and hit your pedant button, but the point remains the same.
Letterman did issue an on-air apology at the time, which surprised many, but it wouldn’t have cut it today and he wouldn’t have gone right back to hosting. The consequences have changed.
Except that voters knew about the allegations against Moore when they went to the polls.
I’d say “pressured to leave office” is more accurate. He could have resisted the calls for his resignation. Instead he recognized the damage his continued presence would create for the party and he reacted accordingly.
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