Reflecting can often be a good thing. Ralph Northam is still governor of Virginia, though it seemed that he would be run out on a rail when the story or stories of him being blackface surfaced on Friday, Feb. 1. Just about every progressive with a PC bone in his or her body called for him to immediately resign.

The situation became further complicated when shortly thereafter accusations were made public that Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax had sexually assaulted two women, one while they were both students at Duke University. To further compound, Virginia’s Attorney-General Mark Herring acknowledged that he too had worn black face.

As of now, all three are still in office and if you don’t live in or near Virginia, you hear very little about it. What does it mean that they remain in office. Here are a few hypotheses:

1. Each, or perhaps all, is very lucky.
2. Each has his own reason for trying to weather the storm, and it’s working:
   1. Northam believes that what he did was not a disqualifier to stay in office and by remaining, he can walk along the “road to redemption.”
   2. Fairfax did not do what he is accused of, or he did them but does not consider them serious, or he is trying to run out the clock until evidence is presented.
   3. Herring got a reasonable break because what he did was not that unusual, not illegal, and he owned up to it rather than being the target of accusations.
3. By taking a chance that the storm would pass, Northam and Fairfax won their bets and for now are in office. The storm was just breezy for Herring.
4. One, two or three of them will have to resign or will be otherwise removed from office once more information comes forward.

Truth be told, none of us on the outside really knows what happened, except in the case of Attorney-General Herring. The fact that we don’t know should be reason alone to keep us from hastily jumping to conclusions. But that does not seem to be the way it frequently works.

Most of us believe in the axiom of innocent until proven guilty. But we also know that in cases of urgency, we cannot afford to operate that way. If a bus driver causes an accident and he is found to have been drinking, he should be fired, or at least put in a rehab program and not allowed to return to work until he successfully completed the program. If a president shoots and kills someone on 5^th Avenue in New York, he/she should be impeached and convicted as quickly as possible, even if the case has not been fully adjudicated in court.

Should Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring still be in office? The answer is murky. What is clear is that none of them should be forced to leave office because of a loud and frenzied outcry at the time of the initial accusations. As real evidence grows, then their vulnerability should increase.

This conversation cannot end without mention of former Minnesota Senator Al Franken. It was if he was surrounded by a lynching crowd in his own Senate. His “possible” answers did not count. Some were anxious to wipe him off their radar screen.

Maybe that was good, maybe it was hasty and we lost “one of the good ones.”

Kudos to Northam, Fairfax and Herring for not succumbing to the noise. But if evidence and reason gets them, then they have to go.

The post Do you remember Virginia Governor Ralph Northam? appeared first on Occasional Planet.

I feel fortunate in my work life because for the most part I have worked with more women than men. At the risk of generalizing, it seems to me that the women with whom I have worked have more of a balanced view of life and can find the fulcrum that establishes a healthy balance between reason, empathy and irony.

I have supported the notion of more women in public office, not just because it is fair and just, but also because it seems that more women have insight into the issues that confront us and are skilled at developing solutions. Last, it’s about as proven as proof can be that women are less corrupt than men.

The 2017 revelations of men behaving badly is surprising, except it’s not. Sex and power are driving forces in human nature and they both lead is into the land of “where do I draw the line?” The #Metoo movement has been healthy as more and more women reveal their knowledge of men behaving badly.

But there is collateral damage with this. Not only are they shining the light on men behaving badly; the illumination extends to men who …. are just behaving. There does not seem to be any difference in the intensity of the light on those who commit egregious acts such as rape, and those who unknowingly cross a poorly-defined line into the land of “that offends me,” or even, “that makes me feel uncomfortable.” We could all learn more from Claire Berlinski’s article, The Warlock Hunt in The American Interest.

Let’s face it, we are all works in progress; actors on a stage often looking for our lines. We want to make ourselves feel good, and we want to gain the respect, friendship, and sometimes affection of others. Saying that we should all know how to behave in every situation is like saying that tragedy occurs because it is “God’s will.”

When we’re on our games, we have insight and sensitivity. We can think through the short-term and long-term ramifications of our actions. I’m not sure that I can say that about Kirsten Gillibrand and the other Democrats in the U.S. Senate (mostly women) who in a matter of a few short hours, made it virtually impossible for the self-mocking “Giant of the Senate” (Al Franken) to even report to the police that a crime was in progress. If it wasn’t a lynch mob, it must have felt that way to Franken.

What had he done? We’re still not sure. Did it warrant further investigation? Yes, because as a public figure, the public has a right to know a little more about his life than it does of others.

Where should this be adjudicated? Probably not by his peers, at least not by them when having so few facts. I will disagree with the Senator when he suggests that the Senate Ethics Committee would be the proper place for adjudication. Normally Franken can pick up on oxymorons like Senate Ethics Committee. Maybe what would be needed would be a special independent wing of the press that receives public money to investigate the alleged transgressions of certain public figures.

Franken was not given a chance. But, perhaps more long-lasting, may be the chances that Gillibrand et al took away from themselves. This was truly women behaving badly, and not in a fashion that would give one confidence in their governing ability. They essentially ignored rules of evidence and due process, two consequential elements of making sound decisions.

There is good reason to believe that the Democratic Party needs a woman presidential candidate, one who carries a minimum of baggage and has a chance to win. All the women of the Senate who “signed-on” just purchased a heavy load of carry-on baggage. As time goes on and we have further perspective on what happened in the final quarter of 2017, it’s possible that their actions will be seen as rash, ill-advised, and almost cannibalistic.

They are right that there is much for men to learn. Franken, who is perhaps as much on the Irony Channel as anyone who has ever walked the floor of the Senate, could have been the “poster boy” that the women were seeking. Once his initial transgressions came to light (through the empirical evidence of photograph), he acknowledged that he had crossed a line and he apologized for that. He let us know that he had much to learn.

Franken has been an adapter through his life; i.e. capable of learning. He was willing to learn, to try to show men how to curb their enthusiasm and curb their behavior. He could have done it; he still might do it despite insult upon injury. Could you imagine Donald Trump doing that? Roy Moore doing that? Harvey Weinstein doing that?

Franken could have still been “one of their own,” and a well-behaved and reformed one of their own. They discounted the flimsy evidence against him as well as his capability of self-reflection and to learn new behavior.

I hope that Gillibrand et al don’t have to pay too severe a price, nothing as severe as what they have done to Franken. But when they learn, Gillibrand can add an apology to her #Metoo and the rest can jump on the wagon and add their “me-too” to it as well.

The post The conundrum of the Senate Women’s Decisions appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Unlike Donald Trump or Roy Moore, Al Franken seems to have a reasonable level of self-awareness. Hopefully that can put him in a position to provide us with a few lessons to learn from the mistakes that he has made. First, a few basic points about the situation.

1. The obvious – what Al Franken did to Leann Tweeden, Lindsay Menz and potentially other women is thoroughly inappropriate and reflects the lack of boundaries that many men have towards women. At best, Franken seems to have mistaken sexual harassment and assault as mere chumminess.
2. Franken should not be expelled from the U.S. Senate. Nor should Roy Moore if elected, just as Adam Clayton Powell should not have been expelled from the House in the 1960s. In a democracy, our representatives are elected by constituents and they should not be replaced until the voters decide otherwise. This does not mean the Franken should not resign if he thinks that his character has been compromised to the extent that he can no longer function properly and effectively.
3. As a comedian, Franken has lived in a world in which limits are pushed, especially regarding issues of sex. It goes with the territory. As Franken states in his book, Giant of the Senate, he knew at an early age that he wanted to be a comedian. That meant that he was going into dangerous territory regarding most any definition of propriety. It’s a lot easier to be an informal comic than one who makes a living by creating popular humor.
4. There are some social settings that are almost made for “bad behavior.” Going on a tour of U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq as Franken and Leann Tweeden did, created a recipe for bawdy behavior. The soldiers are horny, and sex is a big part of what they want to hear about. At the very least, the want a lot of innuendos about sex.This culture clearly carries over to what the performers are doing when not on stage. It is not altogether unexpected that Franken would take liberties with Ms. Tweeden, just as he did with his audiences.At the risk of sounding like a prude, these sorts of trips are unfortunate opportunities for boys to act like boys. It is further collateral damage from the tragedy of war, and why war should be avoided whenever possible.
5. In Franken’s book, he repeatedly talks about his love for and loyalty to his wife Franni Bryson. It might have been best for him to tone that down in light of his previous indiscretions.
6. There is an obvious absurdity about Franken’s actions being investigated by and judged upon by his peers on the Senate Ethics Committee. Is there anything ethical about the means by which they get into office?

We boys have a lot to learn. Women can teach us a great deal and we have to take ourselves to school. In this case, popular culture is not our friend. We have to think beyond so much of what we read, see on TV or in the movies, or to quote an infamous president, how we behave and speak in locker rooms.

Bill Maher and others have reminded us that taking political correctness to the extreme leads to a very boring world. It is essentially devoid of humor. Maybe Al Franken can take his Harvard-educated mind and help us learn ways to properly respect women and not unwittingly abuse, while at the same time not having us walk on pins and needles in every mixed gender situation. Men don’t want to be like Mike Pence and fear being alone in a room any woman other than their wives. We have much to learn, and maybe Al Franken can help us along the way.

The post A few thoughts about Al Franken’s Current Situation appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Lawrence O’Donnell, host of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” truly insulted me and most of his viewers recently.  He asked us to leave to room, go cook something, do the dishes, or take a walk.  He wanted a very narrow audience, the twelve new Senators elected on November 6.

His point was that their political future would best be ensured if they maintained a low profile with the national media and limited their appearances to local media within their state.  His reason was that voters in their states want to feel special; that their newly elected senator was exclusively dedicated to the interests of his or her constituents and did not have aspirations to rise into the national spotlight.

The example that he used was Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, a one-time high-profile comedian.  Franken has exclusively appeared on Minnesota outlets, with one exception.  That was when he was sandbagged into an interview at the Democratic National Convention by one reporter.  The reporter happened to be none other than Lawrence O’Donnell.  Franken knew that he was stuck; that he couldn’t just run away from an interview.  However he justified his appearance because he was standing in the middle of the Minnesota delegation at the convention.

The post Advice to freshman Senators: Keep a low profile appeared first on Occasional Planet.