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After going back and forth a bit about Al Franken’s sexual misconduct—he was a comedian at the time and his victim has accepted his apology, but then again, forgiving him could derail the movement to hold sexual predators accountable—Michelle Goldberg concludes that Franken should resign:
It’s not worth it. The question isn’t about what’s fair to Franken, but what’s fair to the rest of us. I would mourn Franken’s departure from the Senate, but I think he should go, and the governor should appoint a woman to fill his seat. The message to men in power about sexual degradation has to be clear: We will replace you.
No. The message to men in power should be: we will treat you fairly. That should be our message to everyone, the guilty and the innocent alike. If we get to the point where we sacrifice individuals just for the sake of movement optics, that’s where I get off the train.
