Today, at Mark Evanier's blog, I got the head's up to read Jane Mayer's clinical dissection of the American tragedy known as Al Franken's resignation from the Senate for The New Yorker magazine. And a less clinical, more impassioned critique of Mayer's article by Christina Cauterucci at Slate.com.
I'm guessing you know where I fall in this debate from my opening statement. I want to warn you: I will not follow my usual practice of using a derisive nickname for the current holder of the office of President of the United States in my public (and private) writings. He's named because humour doesn't always seem to do what it is intended to do. Provoke laughs and maybe a thought or two. So, nothing oblique today.
Oh, and I did try to make this comment at Slate, but the permissions I had to give ran to some FOURTY sites to ALMOST be able to post my comment. At the point of a fifth failure for it to work, I said enough is enough, Mug Shots will get the post. (A mini-rant I hope doesn't get in the way of a reasoned discussion to follow here).
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Having read this article and the New Yorker one by Jane Mayer I am struck by the confluence of two things: American politics and #MeToo coming together to create a disaster for the American people. I say this as a Canadian.
I'm trying to understand this article. The fact that it's author thinks Franken's resignation saved the Democratic Party's reputation while any unbiased look at the Trumpian political scene of the last four years would suggest that Franken was the best weapon the Democrats had in a running series of political and policy miscues by the President, before and after election. Losing him was not good for the Republic. The critical balance of Justice's Scales tipped badly for society.
Is Franken a cement-headed, privileged white Male? On occasions, the facts are fairly conclusive. Yes. But I think back over my three score and some, and I am guilty enough that a determined person could paint me as a predator too. And that's despite the fact that I am well known amongst my peers as a notoriously NON touchy-feely person. No grabs, no kisses. Clean record.
But I'm sure there's a woman or two who felt badly in my presence. I once asked a receptionist at the company I worked for on a date. And she told me, after the meal, that this would be the last time. She didn't like me, but wanted to say it in public because, "You're management and I'm the lowest-paid person in the place." Ouch! At least I didn't ask her to split the bill. When I was a callow youth, starting out in the newspaper business, I thought it hilarious to buy a G-String for a young co-worker as her Secret Santa at our Christmas Party. I thought wrong. I'm sure there are other instances where I made women uneasy. Those are the two that come instantly to mind when I get too full of myself.
#MeToo is important. And trying to draw a fine line between the Frankens of the world and the behaviour of the Trumps and Moores of the world (and probably the Clintons) is madness in the attempt. Erring on the side of tarring Franken was facile, and apparently necessary by Franken's peers, the politicians. Which proves what a terrible thing a politician is and always has been. I've always used the term derisively. The two pieces leave me absolutely sure of my stance in that regard. Al Franken is better than being a politician. Mayer's portrayal of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand as an opportunist with too much ego after the falseness of many of the claims against Franken have been revealed, makes me no less hesitant to use politician as the slur it has always been.
As for the rest? The ones that failed Franken and due process? Some I still think can contribute to bettering American society. Too many of them, not so much. The anonymity of the charges, the lack of substance of what was claimed, the edging into a the thinnest of fine lines. Nobody, Franken included, covered themselves in Ol' Glory. #MeToo should have asked for the facts before wasting bullets on a sometimes silly white man with delusions of the grandeur of making a difference. Franken failed. But so too did #MeToo.
And if you interested, public advocates are the elected officials interested in bettering society. There are a few, although fewer then they think. The rest are playing politics, with only the future of the world at stake. Ugh!
Opinions aren't facts. It's why simply making claims and refuting those claims doesn't suffice for justice to be served. Facts are needed. The rush to judgment almost never results in actual justice. Some times, even with facts, feelings are used in place of justice. Just because facts are difficult to uncover. And some times, facts never rise to the surface, leaving us in a they said, they said situation. That put a judge on the Supreme Court. In that case, the feelings weren't sufficient. No matter how much you and I believed the professor. At the same time, the same system allows Al Franken to spend time with a clinical psychologist while a self-admitted predator rules by fiat. Those are the facts.
Just one man's opinion from a foreign country.
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