I was perusing Facebook awhile ago when a friend of mine simply wrote out, “I’m done. Men, you are on your own. Stop dehumanizing women.”
I figured this was about Sen. Al Franken and the latest accusation about him grabbing a woman in her behind at the Great Minnesota Get Together (The Minnesota State Fair) in 2010.
She was supporting him up until this point. She took some heat for it. I supported her and thought that maybe Al was getting a raw deal. After all, he was still disputing the alleged his first accuser’s (Leann Tweeden) accusation that he planted a big kiss on her over 10 years ago (and still is, by the way).
I was on the fence about this, but when my friend said that she was done, I figured this was really bad. I am still wondering what the hell is going on. Look, I am a man. I have no personal experience with sexual harassment. We have now a total of seven accusers (not counting noted liberal writer Tina Dupuy’s account of how Al handled her at Obama’s first inauguration). Most of the accusations are in the shadows, which is sketchy, in my opinion, but what do I really know?
The thing that angers me is that, even though this looks bad, other people on the other side of the aisle are getting unequivocal support, though the accusations against them are much more heinous. First, we don’t know for sure that Al kissed the first woman they way she said and most of his accusers haven’t unveiled themselves. Second, the first picture is bad (and he admits it), but the second and third picture from other accusers pose questions. They look normal. We have to take their word that he actually groped them. But, if we dismiss them as being some kind of agent provocateurs, what does that say about us? Why don’t we believe them? I don’t have a good answer for that.
What is especially galling is there is no forgiveness here, especially from the conservative Christians for whom this behavior is supposed to be a chief attribute of their religion. This is especially hypocritical because their political leader, the President of the United States, has admitted he has groped women in their crotches and, even though he can barely recall any Bible verses (though he has called it the “greatest book ever” next to his ghost-written autobiography “The Art of the Deal”), they still support him completely. The schadenfreude from their side is palpable and dripping with sarcastic hypocrisy-and they don’t even realize it.
Because of this hypocrisy, I still want to support Al. He has been a good senator. We have seen good work from him. The 85% rebate rule in the Affordable Care Act is his baby. It’s the rule where health care companies need to rebate their customers if they don’t spend at least 85% of their profits on their customers. I truly believe that has been a factor in keeping health care costs from going up by double-digits the last several years (this year being an exception because of the sabotage of the program enacted by the Republican Congress). Why raise prices if you just have to give back the money? Up until this year, my rates have only gone up by 3-4%. One year, it went up by 10 cents every two weeks. That is not a typo.
However, what he allegedly did to these women is awful. The Republicans in Alabama, where Roy Moore is accused of molesting little girls, is using his sickening, religious-based candidacy for a very powerful position: a membership in the United States Senate. I can see the political calculus here. “Democrats are showing they do the right thing, while the Republicans do not. Perhaps the voters of Alabama will finally wake up from their slumber and keep this alleged criminal (Moore) out of office.” If this is the heart of the strategy, I feel it’s a Hail Mary pass to attempt to win the game. First, these almost never work. I can only think of three times out of hundreds where this actually worked and none of them are examples in politics. Second, the fact that they are treating this as a game should trouble us more than the alleged “right thing” they are supposedly doing. The fact that he said he’s sorry only seems to make it worse for him not better. However, if this brings out more women to the polls in favor of Democrats for at least doing something, then maybe (maybe) this puts us in a better direction. Also, this feels more like the right thing to do rather than just to try to sweep it under the rug.
Meanwhile, I think we know how the other side feels about this. This actually might help the Republicans win that seat from a very good man in Doug Jones. Remember him, the man who put the killer of those four innocent teenage African-American girls in Birmingham in prison?
I also want to actually fight back here. Leann Tweeden knows conservative political operatives, such as Sean Hannity who also knows known rodent fornicators such as Roger Stone (who had it publicly known that he knew about this hours before the story broke). However, the second accuser seems to have no connections to any of these types. She says she even voted for Al and other Democrats. The third is allegedly a former Democratic aide. And then there’s Tina Dupuy.
So, what do we do now? I have read as much as I can over this and I am more confused than ever. If this was me doing this in an ordinary workplace, I probably would have been fired. Why not hold that standard for Al? At the same time, I would at least get a hearing with Human Resources. Why not hold that standard for Al as well?
Also, what the hell about Roy Moore? I think bringing up the lack of equivalency is appropriate. I mean, Al allegedly grabbed people, fully clothed. Roy Moore allegedly picked up little girls and nearly raped them. Seriously?
It looks like he will be resigning today. This makes me sad. I think he has done some very good things for the state of Minnesota (of where I am a resident) and the entire country. And a part of me feels like we are just eating our own and not setting an example for others to follow. This also makes me a bit mad. The other side loves this and the paranoid part of me says that there are some Roger Stone-like machinations going on here. This seems just too convenient and too well-timed. I feel like we are just going to be portrayed as weak, that we back down from a fight. At the same time, when do we put a stop to this type of behavior? Like I said before, actions like this would get me fired. That just makes me more confused.
We can now only wait to see how this all shakes out.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mueller can you please speed up the investigation?