In a perfect world Al Franken probably did the right thing by resigning from the U.S. Senate after several accusations of sexual harassment were made against him.
In a world where integrity is part of our political DNA, Christianity actually stood for ALL the teachings of the Bible and our citizens were all educated, invested and well-informed in the comings and goings of our country and the world, it would have made sense.
In the bubble of a strictly honorable society Franken’s decision to take the “high road” would be met with admiration and the commitment of both major political parties to accept the responsibility of addressing this kind of serious issue in the best interest of the country.
Of course, that’s all bullshit.
What we really have is a Democratic Party again leaving us wondering if it has enough backbone to take the fight our country can’t afford to lose against a Republican Party that will lie as much as it can, cheat as much as it can and stoop and as low as it can to achieve political victory and the advancement of its inhumane agenda.
It’s been said here before, if you take the high road and the other guy keeps taking the low road you’re just going to get run over. Just like Franken did.
This is not a defense of Franken’s actions. And it’s not saying that he didn’t have the right to make this decision, because he did.
This is an admonishment of a gutless Democratic Party, starting will all those senators who called for Franken’s resignation even before an ethics investigation was completed.
Church and Congress are probably the two places with the highest number of hypocrites per capita. Cynics will question whether the fact that Minnesota has a Democratic governor to appoint someone from that party as Franken’s replacement came into play regarding the calls for his exit.
And some will trot out ancient history and ask why the party that backed Bill Clinton despite his improprieties is so anxious to toss out Franken for doing a lot less.
There are, of course, political calculations in just about everything our elected officials do. So, what might they be in this case?
After all, as Franken noted in his resignation speech, he’s leaving while President Donald Trump, who admitted to sexual assault, is still in office, and Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore, who is facing credible accusations of stalking teenage girls and sexually assaulting one of them while he was in his 30s, is being backed by the Trump administration and funded by the Republican National Committee.
The strongest case for throwing Franken to the wolves is that it gives the Democrats the chance to take, here it is again, the high road (Should we call it the road less traveled?) as we’re seeing a growing number of accusations of sexual harassment against public figures.
But, do we really expect the GOP to take the high road. In your wildest dreams do you think with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress that there’ll be any investigation into the accusations of more than a dozen women of sexual harassment on the part of Trump.
And what if Moore wins the special election and takes a seat in the senate? Expect more political calculations, this time from the Right: Should they try to throw him out? Do they keep him around for important votes? Do they wait until they’ve used him for his vote and when the opportunity arises then try to throw him out?
Rest assured integrity, character and morality will play no role in the decision. Rather it will be based on which action causes them the least harm in the upcoming primaries and general elections.
If the Democrats really wanted to show some backbone and toughness here’s what their position should’ve been: “After an ethics investigation on Franken is concluded we’ll look at the results and state our position on whether he should resign or not. One more thing, that investigation will start the day after the winner of the Alabama senate race is sworn in, because if it’s Moore we expect to start his investigation at the same time.”
Instead, they caved.
Again, not defending Franken, but it should be noted that the first accusation against him came from a friend of the Republicans and was initially announced by GOP sleazebag Roger Stone. Makes you wonder?
I expect sexual harassment charges to be the new weapon of the Right. Look for them to use it anytime they can against Democrats, particularly during the 2018 elections. If I was a Democrat running for office next year I’d prepare accordingly.
The gate swings both ways. The Left can certainly use this tactic also. The problem is if claims are being fired in both directions it could tend to delegitimize the stories of actual victims. Will they receive increased and unwarranted skepticism? That would be a shame.
The Right doesn’t care. It has no intention of taking the high road if the low road works. Whether it works will be decided at the ballot box next year.
Here’s hoping it doesn’t, because that would be a shame too.
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