MPLS Star Tribune Editorial Board: Franken should resign He's lost the ability to be an effective
After today, I think the writing is on the wall for Al.
Editorial
Star Tribune Editorial Board: Franken should resign
He's lost the ability to be an effective U.S. senator.
http://www.startribune.com/star-tribune-editorial-board-franken-should-resign/462346243/
By Editorial Board Star Tribune
December 6, 2017 — 6:03pm
FILE - In this July 12, 2017, file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two women are alleging, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, that Franken touched their buttocks during events for his first campaign for Senate. The women spoke to Huffington Post on condition of anonymity. The women said the events were in Minneapolis in 2007 and 2008. Franken said in a statement, "It’s difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don’t remember those campaign events.”
The drumbeat of those seeking the resignation of U.S. Sen. Al Franken grew significantly on Wednesday. After a seventh accuser came forward — this time a former Democratic congressional aide — a growing list of U.S. senators called for him to step down, including many female lawmakers.
We expressed deep concerns about his ability to continue effective representation of this state even after the first accuser and the infamous groping photo. Now added to those concerns are more accusers and the defection of a string of important Democratic senators from Hawaii to New York. No senator can function effectively when he has lost the confidence of so many colleagues.
Franken is only partway through a second term and had only recently started to become a larger voice on the national stage, particularly with the publication of a new book. But the incidents of alleged sexual misconduct have become too damaging for him to continue. Franken has said he will make an announcement on Thursday: It should be that he is resigning.
If this is to be an actual turning point in our culture, there must be real and lasting consequences to behaviors that never should have been accepted. That these incidents came so late in Franken’s life should make him all the more accountable. Instead, he has mostly offered hollow apologies that failed to acknowledge what happened.
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