A Constitutional Republic, where the First Amendment is Essential to OUR Survival
Why the Left Is Reconsidering Al Franken
Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.
On Monday, The New Yorker printed a lengthy piece by reporter Jane Mayer about the sad fate of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Franken resigned from the Senate in 2017 after a bevy of women accused him of sexual harassment; their accounts ranged from unwanted kisses to unsolicited a-- grabbing. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Franken stepped down, all the while decrying President Trump's own record of allegations concerning mistreatment of women.
At the time, there were two possible interpretations of events. The first was more inspiring: After decades of defending sexual misconduct by powerful Democratic figures, Democrats and their media allies were finally willing to reset a social standard. In the wake of #MeToo, they had reconsidered their worship of Teddy Kennedy, their pathetic willingness to cover for Bill Clinton. A new day had dawned.
Then there was the second, more cynical theory: Democrats and their media allies were looking to set a new standard out of pure partisanship. They weren't really concerned about Franken's victims any more than they had been about Clinton's victims. Instead, they were looking to establish a level of morally superior ground upon which to attack Trump and demand that Republicans disown him.
This week, we found out which theory was true.
Mayer, the New Yorker reporter, rose to public acclaim just last year when she reported on then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's supposed sexual evils. With no supporting facts other than the hazy accounts of decades-old events, she attacked Kavanaugh with alacrity. Now, however, she has flipped: She's concerned with Franken's lack of due process; she questions the political motivations of one of his accusers; she points out that the evidence is supposedly scanty. Democrats, too, have risen to Franken's defense. Many now claim that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was the real villain in this scenario, having rushed for Franken's scalp precipitously.
In other words, Franken was kicked out of the party when Democrats were trying to build a case against Trump. Now that they've concluded that case won't work, they want Franken back again. Presumably, they'll soon be back to praising Clinton, too.
This sort of behavior is deeply destructive to American public discourse. That's because a standard upheld only as a weapon to target political opposition is no standard at all. What's more, the partisan interpretation of the standard creates an incentive for opponents to violate their own commitment to the standard. It's a classic prisoner's dilemma: The person who actually abides by a common moral standard and speaks out against bad behavior on all sides ends up the sucker. Only a fool would call out his own side to the cheers of opponents while his opponents defend their own degenerates.
The problem of politically motivated standards isn't restricted to sexual abuse. It extends to race: Why should Republicans condemn President Trump's tweets about the so-called Squad while Democrats maintain support for Rep. Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism and Rep. Ayanna Pressley's racism? Why should Republicans provide ammunition to their ill-motivated opponents?
The only way to restore a common standard in politics is for both sides to rebuild trust, step by step. And that can only happen when both sides share common goals and values. Otherwise, everyone will decide that losing by abiding by the rules must take a back seat to victory by any means. And that means the destruction of our standards, one by one, until there are no standards left.
We're getting pretty close already.
Go Back
On Monday, The New Yorker printed a lengthy piece by reporter Jane Mayer about the sad fate of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Franken resigned from the Senate in 2017 after a bevy of women accused him of sexual harassment; their accounts ranged from unwanted kisses to unsolicited a-- grabbing. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Franken stepped down, all the while decrying President Trump's own record of allegations concerning mistreatment of women.
At the time, there were two possible interpretations of events. The first was more inspiring: After decades of defending sexual misconduct by powerful Democratic figures, Democrats and their media allies were finally willing to reset a social standard. In the wake of #MeToo, they had reconsidered their worship of Teddy Kennedy, their pathetic willingness to cover for Bill Clinton. A new day had dawned.
Then there was the second, more cynical theory: Democrats and their media allies were looking to set a new standard out of pure partisanship. They weren't really concerned about Franken's victims any more than they had been about Clinton's victims. Instead, they were looking to establish a level of morally superior ground upon which to attack Trump and demand that Republicans disown him.
This week, we found out which theory was true.
Mayer, the New Yorker reporter, rose to public acclaim just last year when she reported on then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's supposed sexual evils. With no supporting facts other than the hazy accounts of decades-old events, she attacked Kavanaugh with alacrity. Now, however, she has flipped: She's concerned with Franken's lack of due process; she questions the political motivations of one of his accusers; she points out that the evidence is supposedly scanty. Democrats, too, have risen to Franken's defense. Many now claim that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., was the real villain in this scenario, having rushed for Franken's scalp precipitously.
In other words, Franken was kicked out of the party when Democrats were trying to build a case against Trump. Now that they've concluded that case won't work, they want Franken back again. Presumably, they'll soon be back to praising Clinton, too.
This sort of behavior is deeply destructive to American public discourse. That's because a standard upheld only as a weapon to target political opposition is no standard at all. What's more, the partisan interpretation of the standard creates an incentive for opponents to violate their own commitment to the standard. It's a classic prisoner's dilemma: The person who actually abides by a common moral standard and speaks out against bad behavior on all sides ends up the sucker. Only a fool would call out his own side to the cheers of opponents while his opponents defend their own degenerates.
The problem of politically motivated standards isn't restricted to sexual abuse. It extends to race: Why should Republicans condemn President Trump's tweets about the so-called Squad while Democrats maintain support for Rep. Ilhan Omar's anti-Semitism and Rep. Ayanna Pressley's racism? Why should Republicans provide ammunition to their ill-motivated opponents?
The only way to restore a common standard in politics is for both sides to rebuild trust, step by step. And that can only happen when both sides share common goals and values. Otherwise, everyone will decide that losing by abiding by the rules must take a back seat to victory by any means. And that means the destruction of our standards, one by one, until there are no standards left.
We're getting pretty close already.
Comment
|
Stan Deatherage said:
( July 26th, 2019 @ 5:35 am )
This post by the venerable Ben Shapiro is as much about the motives of Fake News journalist Jane Mayer as it is Al Franken's.
|
Latest Op-Ed & Politics
 |
Biden abuses power to turn statute on its head; womens groups to sue
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 8:28 pm
By: John Steed
|
 |
The Missouri Senate approved a constitutional amendment to ban non-U.S. citizens from voting and also ban ranked-choice voting.
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 12:33 pm
By: Daily Wire
|
 |
Democrats prosecuting political opponets just like foreign dictrators do
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 10:58 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
populist / nationalist / sovereigntist right are kingmakers for new government
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 10:04 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
18 year old boy who thinks he is girl planned to shoot up elementary school in Maryland
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 8:46 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
Biden assault on democracy continues to build as he ramps up dictatorship
Published: Friday, April 19th, 2024 @ 8:26 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
One would think that the former Attorney General would have known better
|
 |
illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic
Published: Thursday, April 18th, 2024 @ 8:10 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
UNC board committee votes unanimously to end DEI in UNC system
Published: Thursday, April 18th, 2024 @ 7:54 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
this is the propagandist mindset of MSM today
Published: Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 @ 3:04 pm
By: John Steed
|
 |
Police in the nation’s capital are not stopping illegal aliens who are driving around without license plates, according to a new report.
Published: Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 @ 8:59 am
By: Daily Wire
|
 |
same insanity that created Covid
Published: Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 @ 8:58 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
Davidaon County student suspended for using correct legal term for those in country illegally
Published: Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 @ 7:23 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
Lawmakers and privacy experts on both sides of the political spectrum are sounding the alarm on a provision in a spy powers reform bill that one senator described as one of the “most terrifying expansions of government surveillance” in history
|
 |
given to illegals in Mexico before they even get to US: NGOs connected to Mayorkas
Published: Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 @ 11:36 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
committee gets enough valid signatures to force vote on removing Oakland, CA's Soros DA
Published: Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 @ 10:32 am
By: John Steed
|
 |
other pro-terrorist protests in Chicago shout "Death to America" in Farsi
Published: Monday, April 15th, 2024 @ 9:13 pm
By: John Steed
|
 |
Weighing both sides
|
Home
Contact
About
Service Rates
Privacy Policy
Follow on Facebook
Subscribe to Newsletters
Rss Feed
Keywords
Eastern NC Now & ENC NOW © Copyright 1998-2024 All Rights Reserved.
