Sen. Al Franken’s announcement Thursday that he will resign comes as a shock to few. For those with even the tiniest familiarity with politics and the reckoning of perpetrators of sexual harassment and assault, Franken’s resignation is a drop in the bucket compared to the growing number of men who have been accused of engaging in such behavior.
For Franken, the nail in the coffin was a seventh accuser, which spurred Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and dozens of other Democrats to call on the Minnesota senator and former “Saturday Night Live” comedy writer to step down.
While Franken’s defiant speech lacked an apology and was more self-serving than it needed to be, he was right about one thing: “I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.” It could be called a Senate floor subtweet to both President Trump and Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Now that we know where the red line is for Democrats, in Franken’s case, it’s seven women alleging sexual harassment and assault. Where’s the red line for the Republican Party?
Related: Al Franken clears the way for Democrats to hammer GOP all the way to 2018
Nineteen women have come forward accusing Trump of sexual misconduct, from harassment to assault and even rape. Nine women came forward recounting their stories of Moore sexually harassing and assaulting them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.
If we are to believe accusers when they come out against Democrats, in this case, Franken and former President Bill Clinton, why should we then discount the stories and experiences that these women have had when the accused is a Republican?
It’s not enough to just say that what Trump and Moore did were bad. There have to be consequences for the things they did and the people they hurt. And there needs to be some consistency here.
Yes, I understand Trump is the president and Moore hasn’t won any election (yet), but the Republican Party needs to even the moral playing field. The Democrats seized the moral high ground after getting both Franken and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., to step down.
The ball is back in the Republicans’ court. This shouldn’t be hard.
Yet, that’s where the conversation ends. Because, as of now, the Republican Party doesn’t have a red line when their own members are exposed of their own moral indiscretions and failings.
Just like Democrats, Republicans are in it for power. And as Lord John Dalberg-Acton famously said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
