With Donald Trump occupying the White House and Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, the news will soon resume its discussion of Al Franken. The New Yorker has just published an article that depicts the story that ultimately ended Franken’s career as a political hit job. The article’s undeniable viewpoint is that Franken got a raw deal.
The story that broke in 2017 was that, in 2006, Franken had posed for a picture with a sleeping Leeann Tweeden. Tweeden was and is a conservative radio talk-show host who had performed with Franken on a USO tour. In the photo, Franken appeared to be groping Tweeden’s breasts. Tweeden also complained publicly that Franken had kissed her without her consent as part of a USO sketch that called for such a kiss, a sketch that Franken had written himself. Shortly after Tweeden made her allegations public, several other women accused Franken of kissing them without their consent or touching them inappropriately while posing for pictures.
Was the Tweeden story a political hit job? Perhaps, but that does not necessarily mean that Franken should not have resigned or that Democrats should have supported him. The job of Senator is a political job, and senators have to be cognizant of the politics of the situation. Democrats had to consider whether support for Franken would have been hypocritical, or even have appeared hypocritical, if they were to treat Franken differently from Donald Trump.
We know (and we don’t need to say “alleged” when we all know fully well that he did it) that Donald Trump has, over the course of many years, sexually assaulted many women. It is terrible that he has gotten away with it. We also know that Brett Kavanaugh has also suffered no consequences for having attempted to rape Christine Blasey Ford. And it is tempting to say that Franken’s misdeeds were not nearly so bad as those of Trump or Kavanaugh. But even if that is so, Franken’s situation called for Democrats to respond. And it doesn’t matter how giddy Republicans may have been at the thought of bringing down a Democrat or how hypocritical they were.
Two things are certain about Franken. First, he definitely posed for an inappropriate picture without Tweeden’s consent. With her consent, it would have been fine, but there is no disputing that she did not consent. Second, he definitely kissed her as part of a comedy sketch that he had written himself. Apparently Tweeden never really wanted to be kissed and thought she could do the sketch without it. Was that reasonable? Was it reasonable of Franken to believe she was consenting to a kiss that she didn’t actually want? Perhaps, but it seems fair to say that she did not actually consent to those kisses.
As for the other kisses and the many photographs with others, it seems fair to say that he must have kissed some women who did not actually want to be kissed at the time, even if Franken had no sexual intent. It seems equally fair to say that Franken must have put his arm around the waists of many women with whom he was posing for photographs. It isn’t a big leap to assume that a few of those women may have found themselves uncomfortable with the particular way he was touching them. Should these women have said something at the time? Perhaps, but part of the MeToo# movement is that we are no longer going to blame women for not saying anything at the time of an inappropriate encounter.
So on the whole, the most generous view of Franken’s conduct is that he made a few minor mistakes, not nearly at the level of rape or any other criminal sexual conduct, as have Trump and Kavanaugh. Of course, if a full inquiry had taken place, it is possible that we would have found the facts to be more sinister. But even taking the more generous view, does it follow that Franken should have remained a sitting senator?
What the cases of Trump, Kavanaugh, and Franken prove is that, despite the fact that we like to say that sexual assault is not a partisan issue, we all know now that it really is: Democrats care about sexual assault, and Republicans do not. And Democrats should be pushing that fact much, MUCH harder than they have been. Democratic senators should all have argued on the Senate floor in opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation that any vote for Kavanaugh proves unconcern about sexual assault and that Republican support for him proves that sexual assault IS now a partisan issue, that anyone who thinks that sexual assault is unequivocally wrong should be voting for Democrats. Because without a doubt, if a Democratic president had nominated a liberal judge to the Supreme Court, and then, subsequently, credible allegations surfaced that that judge had sexually assaulted a woman, we know that that Democratic president would withdraw that nomination in a heartbeat.
Is there a difference between Franken and Trump/Kavanaugh? Of course there is a huge difference in degree, but what would the politics say? How would Democrats have made the distinction if they supported Franken? Perhaps one could simply say, “There is a big difference between kissing someone in a comedy sketch and trying to rape someone.” But as much as that distinction sounds rational, I firmly believe that most voters cannot make that distinction, particularly with Fox News and every Republican doing everything possible to eliminate the distinction. And the real problem was the photograph: if Franken appeared to be fondling Tweeden’s breasts, then news outlets would always say, as they did, that Franken was doing so. And that is sexual assault. And sometimes the appearance is all that matters in politics.
Thus, the politics of the situation demanded Franken’s departure. By demanding it, Democrats preserved the party as the one that cares about sexual assault. Democrats need to be saying often and loudly that Democrats care about sexual assault and Republicans do not. They need to because people need to hear it and believe it, and because it is the truth.