Should Al Franken Resign?
The Bloomberg Administration ‘s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, used to run a public service announcement (PSA) in the NYC subways directed at helping abused individuals. The PSA advertised support they provided for victims of abuse, http://www.nyc.gov/html/ocdv/downloads/pdf/Campaigns_That’s_Abuse_Poster_English_Spanish.pdf. Notably, the Office to Combat Domestic Violence knew that they had to help these people understand they were victims; that victims don’t recognize that “battered, manipulated, put-down, threatened, frightened, and broken down” were symptoms of abuse. They didn’t know they were victims, rather they thought they were worthless, incompetent and incapable of being loved. Furthermore, as the present-day accounts of abuse attest, they are victims of a perpetrator who “can get away with it,” who takes their victim offguard and degrades them for their own aggrandizement.
As Bloomberg is a visionary and a businessman, he has focused on health and the environment in developing his business models. He knows the epidemiological aspects of abuse and how it destroys human capital. (Abuse tears families and relationships apart from the inside out and an untreated victim of abuse is at great risk of becoming a drag on society because their humanity, their self-worth is robbed from them if it is left untreated).
What is sheer genius about this PSA is that it recognizes that abuse spreads because neither the victims, nor oftentimes health professionals (including mental health professionals) and, I would argue, the perpetrators themselves, see themselves as victims or perpetrators, respectively. What I believe is critically important to the present firestorm over sexual abusers and sexual predators and their victims is that it begins to help us to bring abuse and its pervasive, destructive impact out into the open.
This brings me to Senator Franken. I believe that given the destructiveness of abuse and its widespread impact, and the difficulty we have identifying this phenomenon outweighs Senator Al Franken’s current status as a prescient leader and an effective counter weight to Trump and an effective advocate on behalf of women’s rights. Also, I believe it outweighs the fact that his offense(s) happened long ago and are not in the same category of sexual abuse as Roy Moore’s or Trump’s or most of the others who have currently been exposed. IF Senator Franken’s abusive behavior as a young man over-powered, denigrated and humiliated one individual, Senator Franken very regrettably, needs “to take one for the team” – i.e. to resign for the sake of The Democratic Party. (I understand that there is growing credible evidence that his accuser is lying – victim’s behavior is often counterintuitive so as Franken has requested – there needs to be a meaningful investigation). Otherwise – this seems to me the only way we can combat abuse and its destructive impact which has laid the groundwork for our current national crisis. The Democrats must pick up the mantle left to us by our Founding Fathers of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and lead by example.
