Should Al Franken resign? Whoa, take a breath

It’s admirable, in a way, that so many left-leaners are calling for Al Franken to quit the Senate. Columnist Paul Waldman says Democrats have “a good opportunity” to take the high road against sexual harassment. Activist-podcaster Sally Kohn tweets, “Wrong is wrong. Democrats need to show they strongly and consistently stand for women’s rights.” The same sentiment is echoed by progressive groups like Credo Action and Indivisible. But let’s not be hasty here.

I’m warning against haste not because Franken is a Democrat; if he were to quit, Minnesota’s Democratic governor would keep the seat blue anyway. I’m warning against haste simply because, amidst the flood of raw info about predatory misogyny in high places, and with so much we still don’t know, the allegation-and-punishment process threatens to veer out of control before we’ve even established a fair and balanced system of justice.

I’ll explain what I mean in a moment. But first, here’s Waldman’s argument. He wrote on Monday that Democrats should call for Franken to resign, as penance for the two accusations lodged against him, because “it would demonstrate that they’re willing to put their actions where their principles are, that they want to take this opportunity to begin really changing the culture of male supremacy … If Democrats want to show that they’re different [from Republicans], now’s their chance.”

I get what he says — with one massive caveat. He’s basically advocating unilateral disarmament. Democrats can walk the high road and set whatever noble example they want, but there’s no way Republicans will follow suit. At virtually the same time that Waldman and other liberals were calling for Franken’s head, Trump propagandist Kellyanne Conway was telling Fox News that Roy Moore, accused repeatedly of pedophilia, was perfectly acceptable because “we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.” If self-policing Democrats stand up for morality, amoral Republicans will try to leverage that to their advantage. In that view, I’m hardly alone. Kate Harding, a feminist author and podcaster who wants Franken to stay, points out that, like it or not, we have a two-party system, and that unilateral Democratic disarmament will empower the other party: “If we [compel Franken to quit] in the interest of demonstrating our party’s solidarity with harassed and abused women, we’re only going to drain the swamp of people who, however flawed, still regularly vote to protect women’s rights and freedoms. The legislative branch will remain chockablock with old, white, Republican men who regard women chiefly as sex objects and unpaid housekeepers, and we’ll show them how staunchly Democrats oppose their misogynistic attitudes by handing them more power.”