Posted on 07/24/2019 2:32:06 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Monday, The New Yorker printed a lengthy piece by reporter Jane Mayer about the sad fate of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Franken resigned from the Senate in 2017 after a bevy of women accused him of sexual harassment; their accounts ranged from unwanted kisses to unsolicited a-- grabbing. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Franken stepped down, all the while decrying President Trump's own record of allegations concerning mistreatment of women.
At the time, there were two possible interpretations of events. The first was more inspiring: After decades of defending sexual misconduct by powerful Democratic figures, Democrats and their media allies were finally willing to reset a social standard. In the wake of #MeToo, they had reconsidered their worship of Teddy Kennedy, their pathetic willingness to cover for Bill Clinton. A new day had dawned.
Then there was the second, more cynical theory: Democrats and their media allies were looking to set a new standard out of pure partisanship. They weren't really concerned about Franken's victims any more than they had been about Clinton's victims. Instead, they were looking to establish a level of morally superior ground upon which to attack Trump and demand that Republicans disown him.
This week, we found out which theory was true.
Mayer, the New Yorker reporter, rose to public acclaim just last year when she reported on then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's supposed sexual evils. With no supporting facts other than the hazy accounts of decades-old events, she attacked Kavanaugh with alacrity. Now, however, she has flipped: She's concerned with Franken's lack of due process; she questions the political motivations of one of his accusers; she points out that the evidence is supposedly scanty. Democrats, too, have risen to Franken's defense. Many now claim that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was the real villain in this scenario, having rushed for Franken's scalp precipitously.
In other words, Franken was kicked out of the party when Democrats were trying to build a case against Trump. Now that they've concluded that case won't work, they want Franken back again. Presumably, they'll soon be back to praising Clinton, too.
This sort of behavior is deeply destructive to American public discourse. That's because a standard upheld only as a weapon to target political opposition is no standard at all. What's more, the partisan interpretation of the standard creates an incentive for opponents to violate their own commitment to the standard. It's a classic prisoner's dilemma: The person who actually abides by a common moral standard and speaks out against bad behavior on all sides ends up the sucker. Only a fool would call out his own side to the cheers of opponents while his opponents defend their own degenerates.
he problem of politically motivated standards isn't restricted to sexual abuse. It extends to race: Why should Republicans condemn President Trump's tweets about the so-called Squad while Democrats maintain support for Rep. Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism and Rep. Ayanna Pressley's racism? Why should Republicans provide ammunition to their ill-motivated opponents?
The only way to restore a common standard in politics is for both sides to rebuild trust, step by step. And that can only happen when both sides share common goals and values. Otherwise, everyone will decide that losing by abiding by the rules must take a back seat to victory by any means. And that means the destruction of our standards, one by one, until there are no standards left.
We're getting pretty close already.
What’s he been doing since leaving office? He’s really disappeared from the radar...until now.
There’s an important difference between Kavanaugh and Franklin. We have photographic evidence Franklin did what he was accused of.
I was surprised he stepped down, but assumed it was because the Dems felt it was a “safe seat”. The picture of him with his hand over the female soldier’s breast was just bad optics, and I think the article is correct in that Dems thought it would give them leverage against Trump. When Franken wasn’t joined by the TOP THREE Democrats in Virginia who had blackface and sexual assault scandals, I’m sure he felt like a jackass for stepping down; the Senate is the best gig going (six-year terms instead of two for representatives and four for president, with no term limits) - it really is our “House of Lords”.
Bwahahahaha! That’s all we need is another comedian in Congress.
Traffic cone liberals need a second chance—two scoops.
Compared to the squat, Franken looks positively statesmanlike.
Duh! Good of Ben to finally figure this out in time to make a buck off selling a column about this blindingly obvious point.
With all the PEDOPHILES and COMMUNISTS in the DEmocrat Party, the really Dumbass Franken looks like Churchill.
He may as well get back into office. Look at Virginia. The top officials there are still in office after doing stuff that would sink you decades ago. Franken is the kind of guy you just want to smash his face in. But his face already looks that way.
I hope Jane Mayer wiped her chin when she finished that slathering media-splain in the New Yorker; it was an amazing act of dissemblance for Franken. Rarely have logical gymnastics been put through such vigorous paces.
As for Franken, karma’s a bitch.
He’s spent his entire career as a sneering SOB (not just playing a character— actually being one). I hope he has a long retirement to think about that, and the betrayal of his ‘friends’ like Schumer...
Who is the other comedian? And by the way, Franken used to be in Congress, until he was forced (rightfully) to resign.
All the Demoncrats are comedians, and yes of course I knew Franken was previously in Congress.
Jane Mayer’s crowning achievement as a zealot footsoldier for the Democrat Party was her hitpiece on Linda Tripp, which in no small part saved Rapin Bill’s presidency.
This failed comedian, failed politician pervert is still failing. What a jerk.
Hey, when you’re a democrat you change laws, morales, and the mores of common decency at will. Lis become truth and truth becomes lies. History becomes fantasy and fantasy becomes history. Your reality becomes totally plaztic and is what you say it is. Convenient if you’re a politician.
And he will last about five minutes. And that’s only because the other women he groped were away from their phones for four minutes.
He is a pig.
This is an exercise in futility!
Because, compared to the new wave, he looks like a prize...diapers and all...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.