So, as the weekend wears on, I am seeing more and more calls from the Times, on Twitter etc. for Franken to step down. I am also seeing several diaries here pointing out a) That this was likely a targeted attack against Franken b) Franken’s issues do not compare in any way to those of Moore and c) Numerous accounts of people’s personal histories in which they show that many of us, if not all of us, have something in our past, a comment, a gesture, an exchange, which, taken out of context, can reflect very badly on us.
Before I start, I’d like to look at little back in time: What was one of the most famous American cases of improper sexual behavior in the 20th century? That would be Bill and Monica Lewinsky. I feel about that like I did 20 years ago — it was very poor judgement on Bill Clinton’s part but in the end, it was a consensual affair before two adults. But the figure of interest here is Linda Tripp. When she got some juicy stuff on Bill Clinton, she didn’t give a rat’s ass about Lewinsky’s innocence, it was the fact that this could be weaponized against the President and the media was all too happy to oblige with it. It was instant tabloid fodder and the media loved it. Of course, many, many of the same people who so strongly criticized Bill Clinton has had their own sexual scandals, some involving pedophilia. How many Americans over 25-30 can remember the Lewinsky thing? A whole lot! By how many will remember that former Speaker Denny Hastert went to prison over his financial machinations to cover up his pedophilia? Not so many. And that is the way it always seems to go: Republics, conservatives and the media can turn the morality detector on and off at will. When it suits them politically, great. When it doesn’t, most sins, no matter how egregious are all forgiven.
Now, getting back to Franken: First, which one of these things is not like the other: a gay man who makes a statement against another gay actor who has a decades-long history of these actions; second, a woman in Alabama who voted for Donald Trump who reported on assault by a man who has a decade’s long reputation of this same behavior; three: a comedian at an event where a lot of grab-assing occurred, mugs for the camera with a photographer and a person sitting next to the alleged victim and supposedly inappropriately kissed the person when he asked to rehearse a kiss for a show. Oh, and the accuser has been on Hannity many times (had to go to the cashed version of the article). Am I saying that this woman’s claims have no merit? No. But I am saying her account appeared exactly at the time for some false equivalence, so they can tell Alabama voters “see, they all do it.”
I think what bothered me about this instance was, for example, Steven Colbert. His show tapes in the afternoon. But he went right on with the blanket condemnation within hours, before the facts were even fully explored. Yes, of course, real actions of assault and abuse should not be tolerated no matter the party as we all have made clear about fellow liberals Cosby, Spacey and Weinstein. But do Franken’s deeds really need to be put on the same list as Cosby, Trump, Roy Moore? That is literally what I am seeing on Twitter. The Times basically says Franken should step down — because purity. Even here, people refer to Franken’s actions as wildly appropriate But really? What if this were a gag photo set up with the awareness of everyone in the room? Most assaulters don’t smile as they take a picture of the act. And yet, despite these many mitigating circumstances, many progressives want the blanket dismissal of Franken. It just takes moments to make A = B, even though A does not equal B at all.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that the straight white conservative male patriarchy wants to keep sexuality within their scope of rules. Are gay and wanna get married? No way! Wanna have six wives or a wife and a mistress? Meh, it happens. Even Ted Nugent’s (not-so-)latent pedophilia was widely glossed over. Because the straight white conservative male patriarchy says liking young p***y is pretty much ok. But remember when Janet Jackson’s boob popped out at the Super Bowl? Immoral, indecent! Because a woman of color was showing her body, NOT part of the straight white conservative male rulebook. We have allowed conservatives and the media to make equivalencies for us and to write what is moral and what is not.
While it is good for us progressives to treat everyone equally, it is important that we actually DO treat people equally. Franken should resign for a mugged up shot at a grab-assy event who is accused by a media-saavy Republican vs. Roy Moore, a man with an extensive history of abuse. How is this equation equal at all? (Now if other people come forward, it will, of course, be a different story?)
I would also like to add some of my own history and ask all of you: Was there even a moment in your life when you said something which could be called upon later as being sexually inappropriate, racist, homophobic, misogynistic etc.? I think virtually all of us has at least of few of these. But what if the person who took issue with what you said or did could go to your boss tomorrow and get you fired for it? I’m not talking about a history of abuse, I’m talking about some action or comment long ago.
When I think about my own life, I think I’ve been a pretty decent person. But as I flip through pictures, there was a couple of times when I gag chocked a woman, in one, the friend is laughing and in another, as planned for the pic, the friend looks deadly serious. If that picture came out in the wrong context today, I’d look like a pretty horrible person. Or another example: I am a gay man. If you think the dynamic between men and women is complicated, try between two men. Sometimes, but not always, there can be a good deal of aggression involved in the encounters. I have been in bars before when another guy would directly touch my genitals or even try to go into my pants, right there in the bar. And I’ve seen something like that many times with other people in bars. I have been in numerous instances, as a gay man, where the environment can become quite sexualized. I can’t think of an instance in which I crossed the line with someone but it could well be that someone says, in 1994, Gladkov and I were in a bar and he kissed me and… Things are not always so cut and dried.
Remember too that it’s hard to retroactively change the culture of the past. I’m not talking about actual cases of assault, rape, demeaning behavior etc. but those inappropriate cases when “it was just done that way back then.” Who here has been at a party when a man jokingly grabbed a woman’s boob? I have. Who has been in a fraternity who can speak to inappropriate actions in the past? When I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley in the 1990’s, a pretty liberal place, the word was that if you were a woman and went drinking at a frat party, anything that happened was kind of all on you. Our culture was very different not so long ago. And all of this is confused by the fact that the conservative straight white male patriarchy is again trying to assert its own definition of morality on us, one that is always both convenient and politically expedient for them.
I’m just saying that maybe we are playing into the hands of Republicans and the media when we immediately run out with the torches and pitchforks, without looking at all of the facts. Conservatives understand our sense of justice and want to exploit it. By loudly declaring Franke=Moore, they are able to distract from the severity of the latter’s actions and exploit our sense of justice for their own political aims. I don’t find that equal or just. And I don’t find it good when we are pawns in their false equivalency games. Sure, if there is real abuse there, I don’t care if it is Roy Moore or Kevin Spacey. But if there is a whole lot more smoke than fire, maybe we should stop to ask why.