but which one tho

Because it’s a promotional image, not a technical drawing?

In fact, I think almost no one should be shot as part of politics.

Nah. Politics isn’t criminal justice, and we knew that his situation was politically untenable. He needed to resign for, basically, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe (probably!) it wasn’t fair, but that’s how it goes.

It may actually help her to have been so thoroughly overlooked this time — it’s almost like she didn’t even run, so she’s not going to get beaten up too badly. Look at Biden: he flamed out so quickly each time he ran that no one remembered by the next one.

I mean, I sympathize with his annoyance at having suffered more consequences than literal serial rapists — that’s super unfair.

Yup yup yup. Although I kinda feel like he’d be making the right call now if he were getting appropriate recognition for making the right call then, so as a practical matter I want his public defenders to switch approaches.

“I was confused about where these allegations against me were coming from, but I did what I thought was best for the movement/the party/Minnesota, which are more important than my Senate career” is a savvier starting point than “I was framed and they treated me so unfairly.”

There was pressure on Bob Menendez, Ralph Northam, Ricky Rossello, etc. to resign and they chose (so far in the last case) not to. Al Franken’s not dumb. He knew he could stick around if he was shameless enough, but he’s a good person so he didn’t. He made a smart and decent choice, he helped the party and the…

For real. Franken was an excellent Senator, he stepped down rather than be made into an attack ad (lookin’ at you, Bob Menendez), and we should just accept that and be grateful/relieved. If all his would-be defenders could focus on his actual political heroism (Politics operates on a different scale, OK?) instead of…

And it’s perfectly possible to like him and think stepping down was the right thing to do — indeed, part of why you should like him.

And the resignation wasn’t even a mistake! It was excellent politics that saved him and his family, friends, and party tons of pointless suffering. Let the guy take credit for doing the smart and right thing without being forced.

Nah. He vaporized a carefully planned right-wing scandal campaign, made sure he was replaced by a popular Senator who’s voted essentially the same way, and let every Democratic Senator point to their exacting ethical standards.

she’s losing for looking like HR

Yeah, I wish there were more Franken apologists treating him as a martyr rather than a victim (Admitting that using either of those words in this context is pretty gross). Dude made a politically savvy, selfless decision that almost certainly moved a marginal House seat or two in exchange for his career. That’s the…

Here’s my defense of Al Franken: He made a politically heroic decision to help his party instead of himself. People who want to remind us he’s a good guy ought to focus on that instead of trying to undo the good his sacrifice did.

Yeah, you make a good argument and I just get irrationally grumpy whenever someone in power promises to depoliticize politics. Sorry to be pointlessly contrary at you.

I think part of the problem is that we, as a nation/society/world, are kinda just fucked. Like, clever thoughtful people aren’t going to come up with solutions that are mutually acceptable to decent humans and the deranged death cultists voting for the GOP. Our options actually are ‘win’ and ‘perish.’

The thing is, Planned Parenthood is never going to reach a detente with the right, because they hate public health organizations AND women AND sexual health. If your plan is to “depoliticize” an organization like that, you just don’t know what you’re talking about.

Nah, they’d rather hire the actual righties trying to kill us (e.g. Jonah Goldberg and Erick E. Ericksen).