Drawing the Line

Minnesota Senator Al Franken is the latest politician to find himself in hot water over charges of sexual harassment. There have been calls for him to resign. Some are putting him in the same category as Roy Moore.

A few are bringing up tasteless jokes he has told during his career in entertainment. The most serious charge relates to a 2006 USO tour. A woman claims he forcibly kissed her while rehearsing for a skit. There is a picture of him appearing to grope her while she was sleeping on a plane. The real question is where we draw the line in dealing with these accusations.

As a moderate, neither Franken nor Moore is my cup of tea. Of course that shouldn’t be a factor but it often is. First of all, there is a world of difference between the two cases. The charges against Moore are much more serious. He has eight accusers and many were teenagers at the time. Franken has one accuser, a grown woman.

Franken says the picture was a lame attempt at humor. Since the woman was wearing a garment capable of stopping a bullet, I think she was pretty probably grope-proof. The two disagree on the kissing incident. It is clear that he was certainly no gentleman. He deserves all the embarrassment he is getting. However, he should not have to lose his seat over this.
​
It is high time that Harvey Weinstein and his kind are exposed. However, I am concerned that a single undocumented accusation can be deemed as sufficient proof to take action. They tried that in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It didn’t work out so well.
​