How @alfranken got railroaded: my story here https://t.co/zNzRMPRoa2— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) July 22, 2019
No, I haven't read it yet. I was never convinced he should have resigned, and the arguments raised about "believing the women" have always been a short-circuit, to me, to jump from accusation to conviction without even the bother of a kangaroo court. And this time, we have Twitter to decide the really important issues!
Sometimes the first draft of history is wrong- especially when no one fact checks it. https://t.co/W9UmYJ9o7n— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) July 22, 2019
That's the one that directed me to this, and some of the responses are classic "men deserve it because accusations!" stuff. Which is nothing more than concluding that if someone, anyone, is accused of an infraction, either social or criminal, they are guilty, end of discussion. That's an old problem, but arguing that in some cases you are righting old wrongs, doesn't fix it. Two wrongs, as my mother insisted in my childhood, don't make a right.
Thank you! https://t.co/irtxKssQFY— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) July 22, 2019
Of course, the simple narrative is always preferable to the complicated reality, and punishment is always preferred over consideration of complexity. Or, as Lucy once said after she punched Linus in the middle of an attempt at mediation: "I had to hit him quick. He was beginning to make sense!"
Thank you! https://t.co/UOOZR7BNyV— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) July 22, 2019
Aside from Jane Mayer taking bows for her article (it's her Twitter feed, after all), this is a good point to contemplate:
Your book on SNL was very illuminating https://t.co/50q62Dwoze— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) July 22, 2019
So what does "guilty" mean? And how pure is our purity test for who is allowed in the sandbox? This, for example, is the kind of thing Twitter loves:
While this is useful as a point of information, I want to point out the "geeky" guys who do not engage in public "macho excess" can, and do, still visit sexist abuses on women individually.— Erin Conroy #SaveOurState #CloseTheCamps (@chargrille) July 22, 2019
Which is true, but does that mean Al Franken is guilty? Of what? Being male? Being accused? Being a Senator? Being "geeky"?
Inquiring minds want to know!
His big mistake was working with a right winger. I wouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteAl Franken should never have resigned without insisting on the investigation being completed.
I read the piece and found myself too angry to write about it. Considering what someone like Jim Jordan is credibly accused of by multiple people in the wrestling program he worked in, it's especially clear that this kind of thing is only going to be used against Democrats. The least Democrats should do for their fellow office holders is to insist on due process. That's as much a legal right as any other legal right there is. Including for victims to be heard and taken seriously. Taking them seriously is part of due process, not a short circuiting of it.