Why am I getting a feeling of deja vu around this? Why is my memory reminding me of the Socialist Workers Party (UK) and Comrade Delta?
Yet it was the suggestion that the leadership had protected one of its own, and persuaded hundreds of members to collude in a cover-up, that convinced many people it was irredeemably corrupt.
Just a warning to everyone trying to persuade us that Al Franken did no wrong (which even he isn’t doing).
I came here to add my voice to the “Damnit, Franken!” brigade, but now you’ve got me longing for a government, and ideally a police force and army, composed entirely of copies of Brienne of Tarth.
Or you could, you know, read his apology where he owns all. of. it. And welcomes an ethics investigation, and points out that his intentions, and what he does or does not recall don’t actually fucking matter. If he is actually sincere, it’s a pretty damn good start.
He doesn’t own all of it, he owns the photo (which doesn’t show any groping), and says he doesn’t remember the skit rehersal incident the way she described it, but doesn’t go into any details about how he remembers it. The skit rehersal allegation is the worse issue, the picture is just a dumb childish joke a grown man shouldn’t be making, it’s not a sexual assault.
I guess the bit I appreciated was even though he had to point out that he ‘remembers it differently’, he sort of brushed that off as not being the central point. If he’s really, actually grokking this, it is a step in the right direction. If he’s being a silver-tongued weasly devil then at least I’ll be restored to my normal levels of cynicism. 
Harassment maybe, inappropriate yes, but definitely not assault.YMMV, if you’ve ever been groped. In my experience, there is a world of difference between having my breasts grabbed and someone getting too close to my chest and going 'honk honk".
Also. I do not contest that his behavior was very, very wrong.
Second-order question: does him being honest and requesting an official investigation put Republicans in a position that makes holding their own accountable more likely, relative to him just resigning?
Of course not. The party of personal responsibility has been very clear that accountability is for other people.
I think the Democratic leadership’s reaction to these accusations is arguably more important than Franken’s.
If the Senate only conducted an ethics investigation because he gave his blessing to do so then it would send the message that it’s up to the person being accused of misconduct to determine how to proceed.
On the other hand if the Democratic leadership makes it clear that this is NOT something they will tolerate even from a loyal and valued member of their own party then it puts more public pressure on the Republicans to hold themselves to a similar standard of accountability.
That’s a good point.
It would be great to see the Democrats and Republicans unite on this to oust him. It would set a lower bound on behavior they find unacceptable, and then no one thereafter would have an excuse to defend anyone who does something worse than that.
No. Performing sexual acts with other consenting adults for cameras is one thing. One can do that and still treat others with respect.
And when female porn performers accused James Deen of rape and assault a couple of years ago, the porn industry’s response was a lot more resolute than seems the average liberal’s re: Franken.
Agreed. All sectors of the economy have these problems. It’s a societal-wide problem.
http://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/931359375733809152
Meanwhile he doesn’t have a thing to say about Moore.
Well of course not. that’s all fake news! /s
Agree. Should have included sarcasm tag.
ah! Okay. Carry on!
…Aaand here come the almost inevitable disappointing-but-not-surprising groping stories from additional women. He may not be Roy Moore or Donald Trump but that’s still not good enough by a long shot.
