Last year seemed to be marked by a flood of celebrities passing away early, this year seems to be marked by a flood of sexual harassment and abuse accusations. A few other important things happened too. Right now though I am specifically angry with a writer and online publication that I had always previously supported, Ben Cohen and The Daily Banter. He just posted an article calling for Senator Al Franken of Minnesota to resign in light of a second accusation that he touched a woman inappropriately. An accusation. So Franken has to go "because he is a serious liability for Democrats." Upon reading the headline, I immediately imagined the corpse of Chez Pazienza clawing out of his grave, shambling to Cohen's house, and kicking him square in the nuts.
This is part of the problem, Chez was something of the anchor of The Daily Banter who refused to submit to the politically correct flavor of the moment. His influence served as a restraining force on the other Banter members, now that he has passed away that restraint is gone. I'll throw out my entire bias list and let you decide how much it influences my thoughts here. Ben Cohen started the banter as an independent progressive news and analysis source, his own writing tends to be shorter, less insightful, and more to the point than any other writers I regularly read. As such, his opinion is not as well reasoned or supported and in calling for Senator Franken to be thrown under the bus he is just falling for the bait. If the right wing authoritarian media complex stumbles on this attack campaign and the oxygen is sucked out of it, we'll all look pretty silly for giving it any attention.
By jumping in full force like this and leaving no possibility of saving face in the light of further information, Cohen has exposed himself and the credibility of his business on a possible scandal du jour. Before the banter, before podcasts, before the progressive blogosphere congealed into a source of comfort and strength for liberals during the dark, dark days of the bush crime syndicate, there was Al Franken. His book Lies: And the lying liars who tell them was one of the first audiobooks I ever bought and it got me through many a night at my boring, repetitive job at the time. Then I got some of Franken's other books and started listening to his radio show on Air America.
The rules do not apply to republicans... at all. And for some reason, liberals want to apply them double to Democrats. An elected or even appointed Democrat has to be as pure as new fallen snow or they get the Hillary Clinton treatment. And what does Team Blue gain from constantly giving in to republican whining? Let's recall the case of Van Jones and Shirley Sherrod, two scalps claimed early on by the powerless and utterly discredited right wing at the time. The Obama administration gained absolutely nothing by throwing those two qualified officials under the bus and republicans were empowered by the administration's weakness.
Say Cohen gets his wish and Senator Franken does resign, does anyone really think that will end the "controversy"? No, "Al Franken" will be the screech of choice for any right wing authoritarian follower who is even asked about the potential "problematic" nature of claiming to be so "pro-family values" while supporting the pussy grabber in chief or the possible Senator pedophile from Alabama no matter how far Franken may go from public life. Just as Rod Blagojevich is the first and last word from republicans about Illinois and political corruption. Just as "Chicago" is synonymous with lawless immigrants and African-American violence while simultaneously a knee-jerk deflection about gun safety laws. Just as the "tax cuts will unleash growth" myth never dies, neither will any of these myths. The right wing noise machine penetrates and permeates all truth, bending it to its will. Without Senator Al Franken (who also has several female staffers swearing that he treats them will utmost respect) and other Democrats standing up to lawless authoritarianism, these women coming forward to accuse anyone of misconduct will find it "problematic" to do so in the future.
Shame on you Ben Cohen for taking this reckless stand.
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