For The Greater Good. Maybe.

OK, I knew that if there was one accusation of inappropriate sexual behavior, there would be another, and another, and another.  The Bloodletting has taken a third and fourth swipe at Senator Al Franken.  I have been OK with the apology the first woman who accused him of groping, Leeann Tweeden, accepted from the senator.  The second woman's accusation seemed to be a blow people thought would happen and thus be absorbed.  But three and four women?  Yeah, that's a pattern.

I cannot defend this anymore.  When you have this many people say Franken grabbed him, and when the last two said it happened while he was a senator, well, that establishes a pattern of immorality and creepiness as a public officer.  So he must resign.

But ...

Yeah, I'm reconsidering.  Even thinking about equivocating makes me sad, because this feels like I have committed to go down a road I don't know if I can come back from.  However, I also believe that everybody has a line, and that everyone has a breaking point.  What I wonder is if that line and that breaking point changes depending on the circumstance.

This all began from a tweet coming from a source close to Roger Stone, noted Republican PR hitman.  Franken has been a notable progressive figure in the Senate, publicly going toe-to-toe with Republicans, especially when it comes to Net Neutrality.  The Republicans would love to get Franken's scalp (and by God, in these times, I wonder if I have to apologize for using the Native American stereotype "scalp").  And while his resignation may not tip the balance of power in the Senate -- Democrats don't have the majority and we have a Democratic governor who would replace Franken with another Dem -- he has been a leading voice for so many subjects that, I think, Republicans would be emboldened to take advantage of a humbled, quieted opposition to ram through their agenda.

And what would that agenda include?  Well, for example, there's that huge tax bill that would shove what remaining wealth the poor and the middle class have to the 1%.  And since Net Neutrality has been a passion for Franken, there won't be anyone who is ready and able to stand in the FCC's way in deregulating and thus turning that utility into the province of the rich as well.  Now, it doesn't really matter that a certain person is or is not in the Senate to fight this.  There has to be other Democrats who can stand up and fight Net Neutrality with Franken felled and maybe on his way out.  But way too often the political winds blow when those fighting those winds feel that they can't, or they shouldn't, or they don't deserve to.  What I'm trying to say is that I know that the remaining Democratic senators, or the Democratic voters in Minnesota, or the zeitgeist, will not cause enough of a ruckus that would somehow force Republicans to reconsider.  In other words (and to appropriate/twist a phrase often used in government), Republicans will enact their hateful, racist, divisive laws with the consent of the governed.

OK, that might not make any sense.  What I am trying to say is that we, as The Resistance, stands to lose a lot if Franken leaves.  We have someone who has the will, the intelligence, and the wit to fight against the oligarchy and for the rest of us, The Real Americans.  And it's an unassailable fact that we have someone who has also fought tirelessly for women's rights, whether it be control of their bodies or equality in the workplace.  Yes, someone like him also groped several women.  (I want to add that several women who have worked for him wrote a letter saying that he treated them with the upmost respect.  That too has to mean something.)  Both facts exist, both facets reside in the same man.  So are you really going to cut him loose when The Resistance will be significantly weakened with his departure?

I hate purity tests, almost as much as I hate bitching (can I say the word "bitch?") about purity tests.  I hear those who hate being told to shut up about being touched inappropriately so we can fulfill our political aims.  But you know what?  I'm willing to tell sacrifice them.  You know, those who say that Franken unequivocally has to go in order for someone to finally listen to them will lead us to a political beatdown that will eventually result in an anti-choice agenda, poverty for more Americans and rule by the rich.  As much as I hate to say this, those who demand this purity test on Sen. Al Franken believe they can withstand any totalitarian rule by Donald Trump and his Republicans.  And those who will suffer if this tax plan goes through, and if Net Neutrality becomes a dusty story in history books?  Those who demand this purity test on Sen. Al Franken won't listen to those people.  You only get angry if your ax is being gored.  That's how it usually is in life, but that means that different people will look at the same situation very differently.  They need to recognize that.

And remember that while we're squabbling over how much of a pig Al Franken is, Republicans are laughing their asses off.  There is manipulation behind this -- that I have no doubt.  It's very likely that all of this is a Stone-orchestrated hit, although Franken apparently gave Stone enough ammunition to kill off his political career.  Or more likely (although you'll have to work with me here because it has to do with mind games), Stone and Tweeden knew that this is a climate where, if one woman speaks out against Franken, other women who have been groped by Franken would feel safe to also speak out.  The Bloodletting would occur organically, and down goes a progressive voice.  And the Republicans win again.

The Republicans win again.  That's where I wind up.  That's the bottom line for me.  So yes, I can look away somewhat from these new accusations.  I don't want to say that his actions of fighting for pro-woman legislation means more to me than these gropes ... but it does mean more to me.  I want those who want Franken's head to think long and hard about what taking out Franken will mean -- not just to them, but to The Resistance, to the country, and to the forces of good, currently being assailed by this fat orange asshole, his morally bankrupt party, and Russia.

While writing this, my line and my breaking point have moved.  Yes, open up an investigation to Franken, and if his conduct is bad enough to warrant sanction or censure, good.  If he wants to serve out his term and announce he won't run for re-election ... uh, get back to me on this., I don't know how to feel about it right now.  But resign?  With the stakes so high, and the sanity of our country hanging in such a precarious balance?  As impotent as people think Franken is now -- and possibly as he thinks of himself now -- no.  Hell no, fuck no.  For the greater good.  Yep, I said it; for the greater good, Al Franken still needs to stay.